Martin Odegaard points blame for Arsenal’s brutal defeat to West Ham

Arsenal endured a tricky weekend after being defeated by West Ham having had a man sent off but captain Martin Odegaard is under no illusions where the fault for the reverse lies

Martin Odegaard believes Arsenal’s attack was responsible for the defeat against West Ham that leaves their title hopes hanging by a thread.

The Gunners slumped to a slender reverse against their London rivals on Saturday evening with Jarrod Bowen’s strike just before the break enough for the Hammers. And Arsenal’s task was certainly not helped by Myles Lewis-Skelly’s second-half red card.

But Odegaard was clear where the responsibility lied: in their lack of attacking threat against the Hammers. West Ham actually chalked up their first clean sheet of the Graham Potter era.

Talking to Match of the Day, the Arsenal captain said: “Big blow. The performance today wasn’t good enough. Really disappointed.

Asked why Arsenal struggled, he added: “I don’t know, we lacked a bit in final third efficiency. We have to see the game back and analyse it but it wasn’t good enough.”

Arsenal only had two shots on target against West Ham in their defeat, with auxiliary striker Mikel Merino starved off service throughout the 90 minutes. It comes after the club’s forward options have been decimated by injuries – Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus all restricted to the sidelines with long-term issues.

But Odegaard has refused to use injuries as an excuse and claims that a squad such as Arsenal’s should be able to cope. He said: “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. With the red card, it was tricky as well.”

And while Odegaard believes that Lewis-Skelly’s red card had an impact, he was not drawn into a debate over whether it was the correct decision or not. He said: “I don’t know, I haven’t seen it again, I don’t know.

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“We have to keep going, still a long way to go, still many points to play for. We have to strike back in the next one.”

Arsenal’s defeat leaves them in a tricky position when it comes to the Premier League title race. They are already eight points behind leaders Liverpool, an advantage that the Reds would extend to 11 should they beat Manchester City on Sunday.

Arsenal are back in action on Wednesday as they travel to Nottingham Forest. Arteta’s side then turn their attentions back to the Champions League and their last-16 first leg vs Dutch side PSV.

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