Arsenal lost to West Ham to see their hopes of winning the Premier League title take a significant hit.
After Liverpool dropped points against Aston Villa, there was hope that Arsenal could take advantage in the race for the league title.
Instead, Mikel Arteta’s side fluffed their lines at home to West Ham, losing 1-0 in a dismal contest at the Emirates.
It was a poor showing for Arsenal, with matters made even worse by Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card, seeing the 18-year-old face an early walk just after the 70th minute.
Riccardo Calafiori was shown up against West Ham
Lewis-Skelly was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity, spending just 17 minutes on the pitch after being introduced from the bench.
While the Englishman’s afternoon couldn’t have gone a lot worse, neither could his teammates’, as Riccardo Calafiori failed on his chance to show his worth as a starter.
The Italian was chosen to start over Lewis-Skelly to manage minutes but, what happened wasn’t a lesson in having good depth but rather a wake-up call to Arteta regarding the frailties in Calafiori’s game.
| Riccardo Calafiori vs West Ham |
| 56 minutes played |
| 2x dribbled past |
| 0 tackles |
| 0 interceptions |
| 0 ground duels won |
| 6x possession lost |
| 1 foul committed |
At left-back, the summer signing was at fault for the match-winning goal, failing to track or even challenge Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the flank, allowing the defender to get a cross in to see Jarrod Bowen score.
Aside from that pivotal moment, Calafiori looked far below the level required in other areas of his game, appearing frantic and uncontrolled where Arteta needed him to be strong.
It says a lot when a £45m signing is being kept out of the starting XI by an academy graduate, with the Italy international not impressing anyone with his performance against West Ham.
Mikel Arteta can’t trust Calafiori
The problem for Arteta now is a selection headache for the wrong reasons.
Before, it was Lewis-Skelly or Calafiori in the starting lineup but now, it could be argued that Kieran Tierney, who will leave Arsenal, could leapfrog the Italian.
Calafiori’s quality is obvious, but so are the frailties in his game, with the pressure to improve not eased by Lewis-Skelly’s upcoming suspension.
As a Premier League left back, questions over the ability to defend cannot be left unanswered, giving Arteta a headache regarding how he moves forward with Calafiori as a starting fullback.
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