‘He was awful’… Sky pundit says Arsenal ‘top player’ was really off the pace against West Ham

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Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko delivered a below-par performance in the Gunners’ 2-0 Premier League loss to West Ham on Thursday night.

The Arsenal man has made a number of mistakes in recent weeks and defensive lapses ended up costing the Gunners in their meeting with the Hammers.

An Emerson Palmieri cross to the back post led to a mix-up between Zinchenko and Gabriel Magalhaes which resulted in the ball not being cleared properly.

Jarrod Bowen was able to keep the ball from going out of play and pulling it back for Tomas Soucek to slam home in the 13th minute.

Zinchenko then lost Konstantinos Mavropanos for West Ham’s second, which the former Arsenal man headed home from James Ward-Prowse’s pinpoint corner kick.

The 26-year-old also didn’t manage to do much when tucking into midfield, and his tackles when asked to defend weren’t particularly great.

Zinchenko and Gabriel Martinelli subsequently made way for Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah in the 63rd minute of the game.

“Zinchenko. I think he’s a top player but he was awful,” Bothroyd said on Sky Sports News after the substitution.

“He was defending poorly, didn’t create anything, didn’t get on the ball.”

January transfer window comes at a perfect time for Arsenal – TBR View

Mikel Arteta needs to think carefully about potentially bolstering the Arsenal left-back slot in the January transfer window.

Zinchenko is struggling for form. The jury remains out on Jakub Kiwior. And Takehiro Tomiyasu is on the sidelines and set for the Asian Cup.

Arsenal don’t yet look like the finished product. A new striker will surely be on the Gunners agenda too. Perhaps someone who’s more clinical in front of goal and can be the team’s focal point in attack.