West Ham United 1:3 Arsenal -- Fun With Things Commentators Think

So, due to a stroke of good luck, the first match since my decision to finally get around to starting this blog was one which went well, sparing the displeasure (for the time being) of letting the titular blue out in full force. There's few downs as down as a loss to a weaker side heading into the interlull, and thanks to a strong game from most of our side, that's not a problem we'll have to worry about. Mannone continues to put unsafe amounts of strain on my heart every time he's forced to react to a cross into the box, and the team seemed to be shell-shocked for about 10 minutes following West Ham's against-the-grain goal to snatch the lead, but otherwise all was well in Arsenal's world. Santi Cazorla scored a lovely curler, Theo brought his finishing boots to tuck home the winner off a lovely Olivier Giroud pass, and the big Frenchman "finally" got his first goal in a proper competition that people can be bothered to pretend to care about. With all that noted, there's no shortage of detailed and fantastic game recaps to be found online, so rather than a standard point-by-point, I'd like to take a look at some wonderful things commentators think about Arsenal that were on display this week, despite minor hang-ups like them not being true.


Arsenal fans are fed up with Olivier Giroud

This has been my absolute favorite storyline of the season. With Arsenal off to what has been seen, for the most part, as a pretty strong start to the season, the usual tales of woe about to befall AFC haven't been able to get much play. Enter Olivier. The tall striker with the dashing good looks (swoon) has been under constant fire from the fans who are tired of Giroud contributing nothing to the Arsenal efforts and single-handedly losing every point this season. The only problem is that none of that is actually the case. Giroud, without having contributed a single goal before today, has been a strong force for Arsenal in nearly every appearance. His presence up front has added new dimension to the attack and while there has been frustration over some of his missed goals, the sentiment I've seen around the Arsenal fanbase has been that the Frenchman was also exceedingly unlucky, particularly of late, while his contributions in the form of assists as well as runs to open space, such as the opener versus Liverpool, have been more than enough to sate the appetite as we waited for him to get off the mark. And yet, as Arsenal sat tied on the back of a truly lovely effort from Giroud in which he played both the role of set-up man and finisher, the hope from the booth was that the fans would finally now be willing to give him some time.

Believing there's goals left in the game is remarkable

"Well, I still feel there's a goal left in this game," is uttered at least once in every Arsenal match. You can stop it. Arsenal tend to play in open games with a lot of chances in them. Everyone knows. Nobody expects 0-0 draws. You are adding nothing to the dialogue.


Arsenal finally grew a backbone

The Gunners have fallen behind in their last three Premier League matches, and while hardly an ideal situation, they have bounced back to level in all three. Ultimately the City match ended at 1-1, while today went well and Chelsea found a second free kick goal, to leave us with four points rescued in the three games for the effort. This lead to the noting that "perhaps this is an Arsenal team with a bit more fight than in prior seasons." While it's true that this season's team has shown a fighting spirit so far, to say it's a new development overlooks the small thing where Arsenal rescued more points from a losing position than any team in the league, last season.


Theo Walcott is proving his worth as a central striker

In every contract negotiation, there's bound to be plays made to win over the public opinion to one's own side, and in the case of Theo Walcott that deflection of claims of money-chasing has come in the form of striking ambition. Shortly after that story broke, Walcott tore apart Coventry in the Carling Capital One Cup, and added another cool finish today. Walcott currently sits tied for second with Lukas Podolski for scoring this season, despite getting less minutes than any of our other top scorers, and this has been seen as proof that he has vindicated his desires to play in the center. It's a really compelling argument, to be honest, provided you're willing to ignore that he still hasn't been playing in the center position. Yes, Theo is off to a flying start this season and is playing well and scoring freely. He's also doing all of this from the wing. You know, the place Wenger wants to play him. Only in the world of punditry does excelling in the position the manager wants a player to perform prove that player right in wanting to play somewhere else.

Ultimately, outside of a small grouping of clubs in each sport who are media darlings, no fanbase loves what they hear from the broader media. When your job is to cover 20 clubs, you can't have the same obsessive familiarity with a club that it's staunchest supporters do. With that said, maybe in the future if everyone could put in the slightest bit of effort into prep work then the mute button wouldn't seem like such a compelling option.