Graham Potter after West Ham’s shock win over Arsenal (Picture: YouTube)
Graham Potter believes Mikel Arteta has an ‘incredible’ weapon in makeshift striker Mikel Merino despite Arsenal failing to score against his West Ham team.
Merino led the line for title-chasing Arsenal against London rivals West Ham after scoring twice during last weekend’s victory over Leicester City.
But while the Spanish midfielder made a huge impact against relegation-battlers Leicester, he was largely ineffective against the Hammers.
Arsenal’s depleted forward line failed to break down West Ham, who left the Emirates Stadium with a shock 1-0 win thanks to Jarrod Bowen’s goal on the stroke of half-time.
It was a huge and potentially fatal blow to Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes, with Liverpool having the chance to move 11 points clear at the top of the table when they face struggling Manchester City on Sunday.
Fans were curious to see who would start up front for Arsenal against West Ham, with Paul Merson of the opinion that Merino would be dropped despite his match-winning contribution against Leicester.
Potter, though, expected Merino to start up top and said he was ‘very dangerous’ throughout Saturday’s game.
Mikel Merino during Arsenal’s defeat to West Ham (Picture: Getty)
‘Because of what happened against Leicester – Merino coming on and scoring two – we guessed he would start the game,’ Potter said during his post-match press conference.
‘If you look at how he attacks the box and what he does, he’s incredible at getting on the shoulder of defenders and timing his runs into the box.
‘He’s very dangerous and then you’ve got the quality on the wings and [Martin] Odegaard putting balls in from all angles. We had to defend that situation well and I thought we did it as well as we could.’
Jarrod Bowen scored the only goal of the game at the Emirates Stadium (Picture: Getty)
On West Ham’s impressive and surprising win, ex-Chelsea and Brighton boss Potter added: ‘Massive performance for us.
‘I’m delighted for the players and the fans. Tactically very disciplined performance. Really good overall.’
Arteta, meanwhile, admitted he was ‘very angry’ after a defeat that leaves Arsenal’s title hopes hanging by a thread.
‘I’m angry, very angry,’ he said. ‘We started the game and we never got a grip of it.
Mikel Arteta was critical of Arsenal’s performance (Picture: Getty)
‘We didn’t generate a threat or momentum. They have the quality to deliver those moments and after that, it becomes a difficult game.
‘It is painful but this is sport. We need to feel the pain today, I think we deserve that.’
Gunners captain Martin Odegaard added to BBC Sport: ‘Big blow. The performance today wasn’t good enough. Really disappointed.
‘We lacked a bit in final third efficiency. We have to see the game back and analyse it but it wasn’t good enough.
‘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.
‘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 return to Premier League action on Wednesday night against high-flying Nottingham Forest, while West Ham – now 13 points above the relegation zone – face Leicester City on Thursday.
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