Arsenal tactics
Hector Bellerin (muscular) and Alexis Sanchez (fitness) could not start in Arsenal’s first league game so Santi Cazorla played as the left attacking midfielder while Mathieu Debuchy slotted in at right-back.
Still, Arsenal kept their usual game-plan with the intention of dominating possession before opening up a stubborn defensive unit with intricate play in the offensive-third. Petr Cech took long goal-kicks towards targetman Olivier Giroud to initiate attacks.
When the Gunners had the ball in the West Ham half, Francis Coquelin sat in front of the central defenders to allow the full-backs and attacking midfielders to push on. Coquelin’s central midfield partner, Aaron Ramsey, joined the attacking midfielders in more advanced positions.
Cazorla drifted inside from the left flank to join Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in working the ball in the final-third. Giroud led the attack and played with his back to goal to help the attacking midfielders. The French striker also supplied a target for crosses from the full-backs by working across the 18-yard box.
When out of possession, Ozil and Giroud alternated in leading the pressing while Oxlade-Chamberlain and Cazorla pressed from the sides of Arsenal’s midfield. Ramsey dropped to join Coquelin in protecting the central defenders while full-backs Nacho Monreal and Debuchy dropped to the defensive line to complete the defensive formation.
West Ham United tactics
Slaven Bilic set his side up in a 4-3-3 formation. The Hammers boss wanted his side to contain Arsenal with a deep and compact defensive formation before mixing the offensive game-plan between direct and more patient attacks.
That meant Diafra Sakho led the pressing from the halfway line while the wide forwards, Dimitri Payet and Mauro Zarate, tracked back with the Gunners’ full-backs.
The defensive midfielders formed a midfield triangle just in front of the back four to deny Arsenal’s ball players the space to penetrate through the middle. Cheikhou Kouyate and Mark Noble pressed from the sides while Reece Oxford sat at the base of that midfield triangle.
When attacking, the Hammers had their customary threat from dead balls with six powerful players committing to every set-piece they won in the offensive half. They also had the direct option, with Sakho providing a target for long balls up top.
When Bilic’s men had good possession, youngster Oxford collected the ball from defenders to initiate patient attacks from the back. Kouyate and Noble pushed on through the middle as advanced central midfielders while Payet and Zarate made diagonal runs inside to support Sakho.
Key tactical changes
Neither side looked particularly threatening in the first-half with Arsenal lacking their customary intricate play in the final-third which usually unlocks defensive opponents. West Ham managed to pinch a goal from a set-play in that period, which forced Wenger to switch Ramsey and Cazorla at the start of second-half.
Arsenal consequently worked the ball better with Cazorla enjoying more of the ball but they quickly found themselves in deeper trouble after Zarate’s goal. The second goal compelled Wenger to turn to all of his best finishers in the last 20 minutes.
That meant that Sanchez and Theo Walcott were needed, despite the Chilean being declared “not ready to play”. The Gunners continued in a 4-2-3-1 formation but Walcott operated as a right attacking midfielder staying wide before making late diagonal runs in behind West Ham’s left-back Cresswell. Sanchez worked more centrally as a left attacking midfielder cutting inside to his stronger right foot.
West Ham ceased executing patient attacks when in possession in order to keep as many players behind the ball as possible. The experienced Kevin Nolan replaced Oxford at the base of midfield while Matt Jarvis came on the right side of midfield to curb Monreal’s runs.
Arsenal managed more goal attempts after their changes but still their ball players were not sharp enough to get something from the game.
