Journalist left puzzled by what Arteta did in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat to West Ham

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Journalist James McNicholas has now questioned one decision Mikel Arteta made whilst his Arsenal side slumped to a 3-1 defeat against West Ham United.

Mikel Arteta made several changes to his regular Arsenal starting XI as the Gunners travelled to the London Stadium to take on West Ham United in an EFL Cup clash on Wednesday evening. 

However, the rotation strategy backfired on the Spanish coach, as Arsenal were soundly beaten by the east London outfit. The likes of Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, Aaron Ramsdale, and Fabio Vieira all failed to impress given the chance to start.

The Gunners found themselves deservedly 3-0 down by the time Arteta opted to make significant changes and bring some of his big guns on. Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard all entered the fray before the final whilst went.

In one sense, the changes worked, as Odegaard was able to snatch a consolation goal in the dying seconds of the match. It was far too little, far too late, though. 

Did Mikel Arteta take an unnecessary risk?

James McNicholas is not convinced that Arteta should have bothered risking any of his top stars in such a vain attempt to chase a lost cause. 

Speaking in his On The Whistle video, the reporter said Arteta “brought on some of the big stars, Saka, Martinelli, and Odegaard…I have to say, I was not sure about that.”

“At 3-0 down…I sort of thought it was game over. I think that there was more to be lost than to be gained at that point in time. I probably would have just kept them fresh for Saturday.”

Arsenal have a massive Premier League match coming up this weekend, when they will travel to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United. Saka, Martinelli, and Odegaard are all likely to feature from the start.

Of course, it would have been a disaster had one of that trio picked up an injury against the Hammers. This was a considerable risk in the case of the club captain, as Arteta recently revealed that Odegaard has been carrying some discomfort in matches.

There is an argument, though, that getting a brief run out on Wednesday will have kept the players’ sharpness levels up ahead of the weekend.