What Mikel Arteta did at half-time in Arsenal win at West Ham as Man Utd secret weapon ready

It is a wonderful gift for Arsenal to have a player who can produce a goal that has that sense of inevitability to it and while Gabriel Magalhaes should rightfully be lauded for his defensive exploits, what he is producing at the other end of the field feels almost like a cheat code at times. That said, West Ham United should be questioned on whether they have ever watched an Arsenal match before.

How the Brazilian was allowed to be left as a free man before heading in a near-post header to give Arsenal the lead was, if you’re of a Hammers persuasion, maddening. Thankfully, I am not, and able to enjoy the spoils of yet another headed goal from a corner.

Gabriel would be a nuisance as well in the build-up to the fifth goal, winning the penalty after receiving a smash from Lukasz Fabianski. His bravery in these situations whether under pressure, as he was in this instance, or not, as in the case of the first goal, should not be lost on anyone.

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Both his goal involvements came at such a crucial time and this is far from it being the first time. Be it at Manchester City or Tottenham and other increasingly frequent examples, Gabriel is proving to be as important to this team as any of the top stars in Mikel Arteta’s plethora of talent.

Unnecessary palpitations

Gabriel receiving that smash from Fabianski leading to Saka’s penalty conversion was perhaps the most important moment of the game. West Ham earned themselves a position that frankly no team should get when 4-0 down.

Of course, my mind was cast back to Newcastle and other ridiculous Arsenal instances of dropping leads. Four goals to the good and coasting, the threat of a comeback came as quickly as the Gunners’ third and fourth goals had arrived.

There is a rather large caveat that while I have my criticisms of the defending which allowed Lucas Paqueta to play in Aaron Wan-Bissaka for the first, Declan Rice makes a very clean tackle that should never be given as a foul. It might be a brilliant take from Emerson, of course, but the free-kick should never happen.

I guess it balances out with there being some contention about Jurrien Timber in the first goal and the second Arsenal penalty. But these are nowhere near as clear and obvious as the free-kick – VAR cannot however get involved with these.

A game of two halves

Usually this relates to two sides having opposing success in each of the two halves of the game, but instead the match was split into a chaotic neutral-fulfilling footballing fiesta and a rather dull controlled second half. This should however delight Mikel Arteta who brought in all his players, including the substitutions at the start of the half-time break.

I asked Arteta about the importance to do this, and while there were some enforced reasons due to injury, he provided a little glimpse behind the thought process tactically and the plan to play differently for the final 45-plus minutrs.

“Yeah, very important,” he said. “We had an issue with Gabby and then an issue with Ricci as well.

“Obviously, yesterday we lost Thomas [Partey] and Mikel [Merino] and Myles [Lewis-Skelly] which was very bad news but what I am really happy about is Jakub has to come in, he does really well, Alex the same, Jorginho I think he was exceptional. That’s the level, every three days we’re going to need everyone at their best and it’s a good sign the team can do that.”

He said in a previous answer: “I think it was great to score the fifth one as that calmed everything down and we could play a very different game that was much more suited to us.”

It was evidently by design that the side approached the second half with more caution. Especially with a changed left side of defence, having that presence and calmness was always going to be pivotal to seeing out the game.

Rest easy Martinelli

After the win over Sporting CP in such frivolous goalscoring fashion it must be tempting to not change anything. For Arteta, this was, in part, taken out of his hands with the injury to Thomas Partey in the training session before the trip across London.

However, Leandro Trossard started on the left flank and scored. The Belgian starting meant that Gabriel Martinelli could be rested and thanks to the scoreline he was able to not be brought on at all during the game.

Asked about Trossard playing from the start Arteta said: “Yeah and scoring. The fact that they know that everyone is on their toes, everybody has to elevate the level and earn the right to play and when you have the chance the moment to talk. That’s what they are doing.”

And talk Trossard did, with his finish while simple it was his presence of thought and the determination to be in the position that rewarded him on the night.

There had been some online discourse and even scrutiny that Trossard’s muted celebration in Lisbon was something to talk about. While his stern look at Aston Villa might have been, this was not and he rightfully enjoyed the moment after netting the Gunners’ important second.

He moved around the pitch well and made a real impact on the game from a creative standpoint outside of just scoring. However, Martinelli will surely be hungry and eager to enter the play on Wednesday night when Manchester United come to the Emirates with a chance for the side as a whole to make a serious statement and resolidify their aims regarding the title – especially with Liverpool and Manchester City meeting Sunday afternoon.