Arsenal 0-2 West Ham United: Five Talking Points

Arsenal welcomed West Ham United to the Emirates in their inaugural Premier League fixture of the season, but were shocked by the Hammers 2-0. Petr Cech had a horrid official debut for the Gunners which saw him concede two goals, as Wengers men struggled to find a cutting edge to their attacks.Dimitri Payet made his first Premier League appearance since joining from Marseille in the summer, and16-year-old Reece Oxford got his first run-out for the Hammers in the central defensive midfield position. Despite maintaining possession for most of the game and creating some good openings, the Gunners were vulnerable from set pieces once again and paid for their disorganisation in defence.A Kouyate goal in the first half followed by low driven effort by Mauro Zarate sealed the three points for the Hammers, who won their first game at the Emirates since they first visited the stadium inbeginning of the 2006/07 season.Here are the major talking points from the game:

#1 Cech\'s disappointing home debut

Petr Cech had conceded just 2 goals in 7 games before this match

Petr Cech joined the Gunners for £11 million from Chelsea in the summer, and there were many suggestions that this signing could be the one to help Arsenal pick up their first Premier League title in over a decade. But all those suggestions fell flat after Cech’s miserable performance in his home debut at the Emirates, which saw him concede two very saveable chances.

Arsenal conceded the first goal in the 42nd minute, when Cech failed to parry a Payet delivery away from the box. Kouyate punished the lax defending by Arsenal to power the ball home into the back of the net, after an outstretched Cech completely missed the ball.

Cech also allowed West Ham to double the lead in the 57th minute, when he couldn’t prevent Zarate from finishing a low driven shot into the right corner. He was a virtual spectator as the Arsenal defense failed for a second-straight time, allowing Zarate to pick his shot from outside the box.

The performance was disappointing and unexpected from Cech, who entered this match having conceded just 2 goals in the past 7 Premier League games.

#2 Arsenal\'s bad organisation

Arsenal missed the pace of Bellerin, although the team’s defensive organisation was poor

Arsenal have been criticized for lacking discipline and going all-out-attack in matches in the past, and they were back to their naive worst once again. After conceding just 13 goals in the back-end of the last season, the Gunners were thought to have solved their defensive issues. But the team’s organisation was all wrong from the first minute, both defensively and offensively.

Despite Cech taking most of the criticism for the two goals Arsenal conceded today, he should have been helped out by his defenders in both situations. For the first goal the players in the Arsenal backline were slow and unorganised, which allowed Kouyate to steal ahead and score the opening goal with a header.

The second goal came about when the defence completely failed to charge at Zarate and press him. The Argentinian forward picked up the ball outside the box and unleashed a low drive towards Cech’s near-post, which left him baffled and unable to do much.

The back four was a decent pick for Arsenal, but the team definitely missed Bellerin’s pace on the right hand side. The Spanish right-back would’ve covered Mertesacker better than Debuchy did, and might have also helped with the defensive organisation of the game despite his obvious talents going forward.

#3 Chamberlain\'s defensive deficiency

Chamberlain blew hot and cold during his performance against West Ham

Alex Oxlade Chamberlain was the star performer during his side’s 1-0 win against in the Community Shield, but he was surprisingly erratic in his first home game of the season. The England international packs a lot of pace and can dribble very well, but it was his defensive contribution that ultimately lead to Arsenal’s downfall against West Ham at the Emirates.

Chamberlain has been known to give the ball away a little too easily, with major examples including Monaco’s home win against Arsenal in the Champions League and his part in several goals in Chelsea’s 6-0 humiliation of the Gunners at the Stamford Bridge.

The winger was almost solely responsible for gifting Zarate the assist for West Ham’s second goal of the match in the 57^th minute. His decision to start a dribble after winning the ball in Arsenal’s box was the right one, but his heavy touch allowed Zarate to rob him off the ball.

#4 West Ham\'s fluent attacks

West Ham’s attack gelled very well, especially on the counter

West Ham were up against one of the main competitors for the Premier League title, and they were at their gutsy best to see them off 2-0. Despite Arsenal having a below-par day, noone can take anything away from West Ham as they claimed the three points with a strong offensive and defensive performance.

Kouyate, Payet, Sakho and Zarate were a source of constant threat for the Hammers, launching quick counter-attacks whenever the Gunners lost possession. Their often direct running and good passing play was integral to them keeping possession during the important parts of the match, as they made sure West Ham looked strong even when they were on the back-foot.

It was a nearly perfect away day performance from Slaven Bilic’s side with the players working hard to maintain shape of the formation throughout the match, which allowed their attackers to get the most out of the created chances.

#5 West Ham debutants make a mark

Reece Oxford held his own despite only being 16

Dimitri Payet was set to make his official league debut for West since joining from Marseille, and the Frenchman was joined by 16-year-old Academy product Reece Oxford. Both players made a huge impression on the result of the match, as Dimitri Payet picked up his first assist of the season and Reece Oxford ruled the game from the middle of the park.

Payet started in the hole behind the strikers and was influential there, making a number of telling passes throughout the match and holding up play very well during counter-attacks. Despite an assist for the first goal and a flashy performance from the French international, it was Reece Oxford who took all the plaudits at the end of the match.

The 6ft 3inch tall defensive midfielder bossed the game, routinely intercepting Coquelin, Ramsey and Ozil and feeding passes to players around him with an amazing 95 percent pass success rate. The youngster held his own despite his young age, and became the seventh-youngest player in Premier League history on his debut at the age of 16 years and 237 days.