It was very concerning to see that Diafra Sakho’s name was neither in the starting XI, nor the substitutes’ bench! First, he doesn’t appear for a shirt signing event at the West Ham Lakeside store, then posts a cryptic message on Snapchat a few days after. After the match, David Gold posted on Twitter that the Senegalese striker: “Didn’t feel well” and that he should be back to face Manchester United in the FA Cup on Wednesday. This meant that Carroll was handed his first start in three months. Ah, the magic number! Carroll bossed the Arsenal defence with his terrific heading ability, albeit with some poor marking and decision making from their defence.
Former Gooner Ian Wright was full of praise for the striker commenting: ’He will cause anyone in Europe problems if you get the right service into him." How Wright you are! Wayne Rooney was the last player to score a hat-trick against the Gunners back in August 2011. Additionally, he has also managed to get the most shots in a PL game this season with 10, and scored the fastest hat-trick of the season so far in seven minutes. It serves to emphasise his superiority when he is at his best. Carroll still harbours European ambitions so he is going to have to play well, as he did yesterday. Like the manner in which he scored with his headers, he is going to have to be patient.
A place in the top 5 is still within our grasp or if you’re more ambitious, then top 4. A league match against Manchester United awaits us, but we can’t slip up before it. If we put too much emphasis on the FA Cup, we risk losing our position in 6th place. The teams directly below us are only a few points behind us. We have drawn three consecutive league matches for only the second time this season, albeit from refereeing decisions going against us. The last time we finished 5th in the league was in the 1998-99 season. If Liverpool win two of their unplayed fixtures, they will be within a point of us. Southampton are another team with a good squad who continue to get results each season. They finished 8th two seasons ago, and finished 7th last season. The point I am getting at is that a PL team that finishes in the top half will continue to improve over time. Stoke City are another example of this phenomenon in the Premier League. With a new stadium, we are even more likelier to build on our previous successes.
Referee’s decisions have cost us massively! In chronological order, Bobby Madley wrongfully awarded a penalty to Chelsea when the foul was outside the box. Mark Clattenburg gave Kouyaté a straight red, which was later rescinded. Finally, Lanzini’s goal was deemed offside by the assistant referee Darren Cann. We should be in the top 4 right now or at the very least, right in contention for the top 4. A win for Manchester United today will put them four points ahead of us. For me, Clattenburg’s decision has got to be the worst. I feel Karren Brady expressed what we felt best: Clattenburg literally brandished a red card “with the speed of a 50/1 winning betting slip.” That is why that error was the hardest to forget.
Honestly, I can’t fault Craig Pawson’s performance yesterday. I blame Darren Cann, the linesman, for disallowing Lanzini’s header which was actually onside. It was actually scored in the 13th minute, which makes it extremely unlucky! To my knowledge, there weren’t any players blocking off Cann, but he failed to see Lanzini’s prominent position. I feel that the only mistake the referee made was not giving Gabriel a yellow card for his foul on Carroll, which should have given us a free-kick. Gabriel used his legs as he was on the floor to bring down the big man, so perhaps the referee noticed Andy putting too much pressure on the Arsenal defender, and thus awarded the free-kick in favour of the Gunners. I also feel he was right to rule out Payet’s goal, as Carroll was clearing holding onto Koscielny right in front of the referee. Additionally, he was right to book Carroll early on in the game for a very late and reckless foul on Koscielny. That said, we have done very well not to lose at home and keep our home record of 14 undefeated matches. Carrying our brilliant form into our new home will be simply astonishing!
Buzzing for @AndyTCarroll unplayable today Geeza ????
— MARK NOBLE (@Noble16Mark) April 9, 2016
Recently, we may have failed to get decisions going our way, but we have conceded an awful lot of goals in the last four league matches. We have conceded 9 goals, of which 8 should stand. The only goal that shouldn’t be counted is the Fabregas penalty. Before the four fixtures, we conceded 31 goals in 28 matches, which is 1.1 goals conceded a match. However, in the space of 4 matches, we have conceded 9 goals, which is more than double the amount we normally concede. Even if you disregard the Fabregas penalty, it still makes for grim reading. The nature of the goals conceded yesterday was very worrying. The positioning of the back three was destitute. The static back four were a lot more effective. I miss Sam Byram. Sadly, he is cup-tied, so won’t feature against the Red Devils.