Arsenal have shown they have another gear this season as West Ham unravel against Wolves – Premier League hits and misses | Football News

West Ham unravel at Molineux

Such is the pessimism of supporters that those of every club will have feared for some time that they would be the club to provide Wolves with their first win. It seems fitting that it was West Ham. A team playing with even less confidence than the bottom club.

Wolves had only led in three of their previous 19 games this season and never by more than one goal – winning none of them. That West Ham contrived to go in three down at the break shows just how abject they were, failing to win duels or track runners. Awful.

The away fans started chanting about their own relegation early on. They joined in with the songs that were mocking their own team. Even booed their own player Max Kilman. It was the Wolves fans singing Nuno’s name not them. Jeered at half-time and full-time.

The lack of a meaningful response after the interval was almost as damning. Wolves had not kept a clean sheet prior to this either but West Ham failed to force a save from Jose Sa. Asked to chase the game in the second half, they had nothing attacking to offer.

Unlike Wolves, there is time for West Ham to salvage their Premier League status. But that game at home to Forest has taken on greater importance now. Lose that and they will be seven points from safety. The mood must change very fast if they are to stop it.
Adam Bate

Arsenal show yet again they have another gear

Arsenal win in a game when last season they would have dropped points. It feels like that has been said a lot this term.

This was not a vintage Gunners display but they got the job done. The wheels threatened to fall off early on as Gabriel gave bogey team Bournemouth the lead. But two things stand out.

First, Arsenal’s bouncebackability. Gabriel hurdled the problematic start to level the game himself in yet another example of an Arsenal player bouncing back after a mistake to score. Gabriel also did it against Fulham in 2022 and Bukayo Saka did it in a separate game against the Cottagers 12 months later.

And the other key feature of Arsenal’s current form is their ability to go up a gear in the second half. Declan Rice’s first against Bournemouth was the 10th goal Arsenal have scored in the first 10 minutes of the second half. They have also scored 12 times in the first 15 minutes of the second period. When things get tricky, this Arsenal team can now go up a gear or two.

Their last four league games have seen them beat Everton away, Wolves and Brighton at home and now Bournemouth away. They failed to win any of those games last season, now they have won them all.

With a huge squad available – Eberechi Eze has not come off the bench in the last four league games – how much will they win come May?
Sam Blitz

Big few weeks ahead for Burnley – and Parker

There has been pressure on Scott Parker for a while and derision – including from the X account of his former club, Fulham – of the repeated assertion that only fine margins are separating Burnley from better times this season.

But even the Clarets boss himself could not keep up that line after a limp defeat at Brighton. Especially when defender Hjalmar Ekdal had just labelled their performance at the Amex “weak” and “embarrassing”.

Burnley have deserved more than they have got on many occasions this season but their inability to string together a consistent performance over 90 minutes, plus toothless attacking build-up which has dogged Parker for much of his managerial career, has regularly held them back.

That still does not go far enough to excuse a 10-game winless streak, but the manner of their 11th game without a victory will be all the more concerning.

They did not lay a glove on a Brighton side themselves winless in six for well over an hour, and bar a brief rally when Marcus Edwards and Loum Tchaouna came off the bench they were not much better after half-time.

Burnley spent more in the summer than Leeds but have only been able to watch on while Daniel Farke has found a winning formula to take his side seven points clear of the drop.

That just rubs salt in the wound for Parker – and without following suit, the Burnley hierarchy may wonder sooner or later whether another manager may be able to emulate Farke to get a tune out of this side too.
Ron Walker

Dyche has taken passivity to extreme

Nottingham Forest have a major problem scoring goals and while that continues to be the case, their league position will suffer. When Sean Dyche was asked if 17th place was a worry following the 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa, his spiky response spoke to the pressure he is under: “It’s better than when we got here,” he said.

Dyche has collected 13 points since his arrival in October but regression appears to have set in after an impressive initial bounce. Statement wins over Liverpool and Tottenham helped to put credit in the bank and Dyche should have used that belief to help build trust in attacking phases of play. It was evident against Villa he has not done that. Across the course of the last four defeats, Forest have scored twice from an xG value of 3.66 and chance creation has dipped dangerously low.

No team has failed to score in more games (10) this season, and only Wolves have a lower scoring top scorer. Some of the problems were inherited and for that Dyche can point to failings of previous managers but his most important drive now has to be to inspire some creativity and impetus among his misfiring forward line. A counter-attacking structure only works if you are actually willing to attack in transition moments.

To be so passive for so long in games is inviting trouble, and if the “whole game plan” is simply to “frustrate them”, as Dyche admitted afterwards, then ambition has surely already been lost.
Laura Hunter

Tielemans gets Villa ticking again

Youri Tielemans’ name was not on the scoresheet but his fingerprints were all over an important victory for Aston Villa.

The Belgium midfielder made 32 line-breaking passes in the 3-1 win, including the assist for John McGinn’s second goal of the game to seal the victory, which was the most of any player in the Premier League this season.

From dropping deep to propel his team forward, to linking play together in the final third. Everything and anything positive for Villa ran through their midfield maestro, who was at his very best during the well-needed win following the lost to Arsenal.

He led the team in touches, successful passes and passes into the third as well as the previously noted statistic.

Ollie Watkins’ stunner and McGinn’s double will grab the headlines – but without Tielemans, that performance at Villa Park would have looked very different.
Patrick Rowe

Bournemouth are entertaining, but not efficient

The best ticket in town is at Bournemouth this season. High-pressing, high-risk football under Andoni Iraola has led to 69 goals being scored in Cherries matches, more than any other team.

The only problem? Bournemouth are not benefiting from it.

Out of those 69 goals, 38 have ended up in the Bournemouth net. The defensive lapses in concentration are letting down a pretty sturdy attacking outfit.

Bournemouth played brilliantly against Arsenal and Chelsea but conceded five goals in those two games. Eight goals were evenly shared with Manchester United at Old Trafford. There was also the 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace and the 4-2 opening weekend loss at Liverpool.

The problem for Bournemouth is they are now set to lose a key attacker in Antoine Semenyo. If they cannot be reliable defensively, and are blunted in attack – how are they expected to break their 11-game winless run?
Sam Blitz