Sky Sports pundit Jay Bothroyd feels Oleksandr Zinchenko failed in three areas during his ‘awful’ performance as Arsenal lost 2-0 at home to West Ham United on Thursday.
The Gunners wasted a chance to return to the top of the Premier League table after goals by Tomas Soucek (13’) and Konstantinos Mavropanos (55’). West Ham went ahead in debatable circumstances as VAR had no conclusive proof Jarrod Bowen failed to keep the ball in play.
Mavropanos then secured Irons coach David Moyes his first-ever win away to Arsenal on his return to Emirates Stadium. The 26-year-old had never featured in north London as an away player since leaving Mikel Arteta’s side for VfB Stuttgart after a mere eight outings in 2020.
Jay Bothroyd feels Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko was ‘awful’ vs West Ham United
Bothroyd, however, had real issue with the performance Zinchenko produced as Arsenal lost to West Ham for a second time this season. The Hammers also took a 3-1 win in the Carabao Cup. Zinchenko started both games and Bothroyd feels he failed in three areas on Thursday.
“I think he’s a top player but he was awful,” Bothroyd declared on Sky Sports News. “He was defending poorly, didn’t create anything [and] didn’t get on the ball.”
The visit of West Ham to Emirates Stadium marked Zinchenko’s 24th appearance for Arsenal so far this season. He has also now appeared in each of the Gunners’ last 18 Premier League games. Arteta was only without the left-back on the opening day against Nottingham Forest.
Mohammed Kudus had a field day attacking against Oleksandr Zinchenko
Zinchenko gradually built into this season after starting his term in Arsenal’s treatment room at London Colney. The Ukraine hero missed the start of their campaign with a calf injury that kept him from playing Nottingham Forest, along with the Community Shield, back in August.
Yet Arteta saw enough from Zinchenko’s display Bothroyd branded as ‘awful’ to hook the 27-year-old after 64 minutes as Arsenal trailed West Ham. The left-back headed for their bench having often been easy pickings for Mohammed Kudus when the winger ran straight at him.
His carelessness in possession was also costly for the Gunners, despite only yielding the ball eight times. Arsenal’s captain Martin Odegaard (25) lost the ball more often than any player on Thursday. Zinchenko also lost four of his five ground duels, per SofaScore, ranking 13th.
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