If we play the way we can and should then the threat of Palace should be an after thought. Famous last words and all that but if we can play with the same speed and mobility that we showed at Everton and home to Watford then the likes of Özil, Iwobi, Welbeck and Alexis could prove a little too much for a team that will have an eye on the FA Cup
7 minutes into the second half however and we trailed, 3-2, to an Andy Carroll hat trick. The firsts of which was an absolute disgrace on our part, West Ham countered after a move broke down and there was no attempt at any point from any Arsenal player to interject. It was clear that we switched off and that the three points were already secure in our mind. Creswell put in a great ball and everyone in the box was static apart from Andy Carroll who connected and brought West Ham back into the game. That should have been our warning sign that we needed to focus and the game wasn’t over. They’ve just used Andy Carroll as a battering ram and is clearly going to be their game plan, watch out for that and try to stop it.
I'm not sure we can get through a preview of the game without talking about the threat of Dimitri Payet. He has been pretty damn fantastic since signing for West Ham. His free kick goal last weekend against Crystal Palace was pretty special wasn't it? I hope Arsène has been having plenty of words to Gabriel, Koscielny and Coquelin about being careful not to give away cheap free kicks in and around our penalty box. Especially in our penalty box, that wouldn't be good
Alexis Sanchez should return to the squad after a lengthy period out with a hamstring problem. As much as I'd love to see him up against Ivanovic, I think the sensible decision would be to place him on the bench and ease him in gently. Theo Walcott was not at his best at Stoke at all so I could see Arsène wanting to give him a chance to rectify his performance. Arsène likes to do that. Not only this but Theo Walcott has a habit of turning on the style in big games against Chelsea.
Without the creative passing of Mesut Özil and the individuality of Alexis Sanchez we lacked that bit of quality in the final third when it really mattered. I thought we had enough about us to have beaten Stoke, we looked the stronger of the two sides but in games where the legs do not move as freely as you would wish, you sometimes need that additional bit of quality to unlock the door
In today's Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast: Paul (@PoznanInMyPants), Elliot (@YankeeGunner) & James (@GoonerFanatic49) discuss the heartbreaking 3-3 draw at Anfield. The pod talk midfield problems, Giroud's improvement, Campbell's rise and new signing Mohamed Elneny
Joel Campbell once more. His pass to Aaron Ramsey for the first equaliser was beautiful. Mesut Özil better check himself before Campbell assists wrecks himself, or something. I have a little bit obsession for chipped goals and reverse through passes, Campbell is satisfying the latter obsession. He tried it again for Giroud's second goal and it was Ramsey once again making that run. Wonder if we will see some more of that during this season. From 78th choice on the flank for Arsenal, Joel may have moved to number 2 on current form. All the credit should go to him for his desire and commitment to work himself into this position, then of course his quality which is becoming clearer and clearer as the weeks roll by
How we could do with a winter break at this stage. While it would benefit all the teams in the league, I think it would be massively beneficial for us right about now. I get the feeling that we are not physically ready for some of the games coming up while City with this win under their belts have winnable games. So if I was a betting man, I would predict Arsenal to drop a place or two for now but with players coming back or coming in from the transfer market I suspect we will find another late run of form as we have done so often so we will come back again for the home straight
You have to imagine that Mesut will have to deal with more and more attention both on and off the pitch given his stupendous form. The good news however is that Mesut Özil is no ordinary footballer, is he? He is the master of finding space where there seems to be very little. Imagine how tough it would be to mark a player like that. You can be next to him one moment, watching the ball then you turn around and Özil is on the opposite side of the pitch in a neat little pocket of space that didn't even exist only a moment or two before
Arsène said post match that the team started with the trauma of the Southampton game in their system as the visitors started brighter but we wrestled control of the game and that is when Mesut Özil stole the show once more with a ridiculous array of passes that sliced open Bournemouth. The German was once again on another level to those around him on both teams