I’m not trying to criticize Him because He’s our captain,but there are some qualities that a Captain should possess of which He’s not having at the moment, The earlier we found His replacement the better it will be for us because this season league is gone already”, Trossard reveals qualities that Ødegaard is not having which is affecting the whole team at the moment

I’m not trying to criticize Him because He’s our captain,but there are some qualities that a Captain should possess of which He’s not having at the moment, The earlier we found His replacement the better it will be for us because this season league is gone already”, Trossard reveals qualities that Ødegaard is not having which is affecting the whole team at the moment

The Arsenal manager made no attempt to disguise his anger at the way his side had spurned the opportunity to inject fresh jeopardy into the title race and admitted the hurt he felt following defeat to West Ham would linger.

Arteta, though, acknowledged there was little time to stew on a first home league defeat of the season as his side head into a testing period that will help shape their run-in.

On Wednesday they travel to Nottingham Forest then, after a weekend off, they face a two-legged tie with PSV Eindhoven either side of a trip to Manchester United before facing Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.

By the end of that 19-day run, Arteta will expect his side to have tightened their grip on second place and repositioned themselves to take full advantage of any Liverpool slip as well as setting up a Champions League quarter-final meeting with either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.

But to do so, the Spaniard knows his players must move on quickly from Saturday’s lacklustre performance while he must find a way to inject more purpose and dynamism into their attacking efforts.

The limitations of the Gunners attack against a well drilled West Ham side came as little surprise.

Any team would struggle to overcome the loss of four principal forwards to injury – Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka could return next month but Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are out for the season – and Arteta’s attempt to plug the gap by fielding Mikel Merino as a makeshift striker was never likely to come off.

The failure to add more depth to the squad’s attacking options, and in particular the absence of a recognised goalscorer, will inevitably form a major part of the end of season inquest at the north London club.

That debate, though, is for the future and right now Arteta can only deal with players at his disposal. And, most worryingly, on Saturday’s evidence there were signs of a lack of belief among those players charged with providing the side’s cutting edge.

Merino’s limitations were exposed, Leandro Trossard offered flashes and Ethan Nwaneri was well contained by West Ham left-back Ollie Scarles, a 19-year-old making his first Premier League start.

The fact that only 2 of Arsenal’s 20 attempts on goal were on target betrays the lack of composure in front of goal. If ever there was a time for Raheem Sterling to show why he was once a key player for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side and England, it is surely now although there have been few signs the winger is capable of doing so.

Little wonder the post-match mood was one of bewilderment at the nature of performance.

“I don’t know, we lacked a bit in final third efficiency,” said skipper Martin Odegaard when asked to provide answers about why his side struggle.

“We have to see the game back and analyse it but it wasn’t good enough.

“We have players missing but we have players here who are good enough and available so we have to focus on that. It wasn’t good enough in front of the goal.”

It certainly wasn’t good enough for Arsenal to conjure a response after Jarrod Bowen had capped a 44th minute breakaway with a goal that showed what a forward with an eye for the net looks like.

The task confronting Arteta’s side became even bigger when Myles Lewis-Skelly picked up his second red card of the season for upending Mohammed Kudus after being caught in possession by the West Ham forward.

“It’s not in our hands,” said Arteta when asked about the title race. “For me, I’m really, really annoyed with the things that were in our hands that we didn’t do as well as we possibly could and that’s the performance.

“We will suffer for 24-48 hours, and feel the pain and make sure that we come back on Monday with that bite and that anger instilled in us for Wednesday.”

While Arteta was scrutinising his side’s failure, Graham Potter was entitled to be satisfied with the way his West Ham side has developed in his short spell in side. They are undoubtedly better organised than they were and the belief of the players was evident.

“I think today’s the benchmark,” said Bowen, the goalscorer. “That’s the standard. That’s the level that we have to reach every single game.”

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya 6; Timber 6, Saliba 6 (White 87, 6), Gabriel 6, Calafiori 5 (Lewis-Skelly 56, 4); Odegaard 7, Partey 6, Rice 5 (Zinchenko 56,6); Nwaneri 5 (Sterling 82, 6), Merino 5, Trossard 6.

West Ham United (3-5-2): Areola 6; Todibo 6 (Mavropanos 62, 6), Kilman 7, Cresswell 7; Wan-Bissaka 7, Soucek 6, Ward-Prowse 7, Alvarez 7 (Soler 88, 6), Scarles 7; Bowen 8 (Ferguson 82, 6), Kudus 9.

Referee: Craig Pawson 6.