That was not at all what Mikel Arteta and Arsenal needed. Not only did the Gunners fall to defeat in the Carabao Cup as the draw was starting to open up for them, but the squad was exposed on a poor night in east London.
The manager rotated his side with a new front three including hat-trick hero from Saturday, Eddie Nketiah, as well as one of their most effective and efficient forwards in Leandro Trossard. Reiss Nelson was handed a chance to impress whilst Kai Havertz, Jorginho and Fabio Vieira were chosen in midfield.
The selection looked to backfire though with the entire frontline taken off during the game and Jorginho also not seeing out the 90 minutes. Against a close to full strength West Ham this leaves uncertainty for Arteta ahead of a key run of fixtures.
It is a trip to Newcastle up next on Saturday before a potentially decisive Champions League group stage clash with Sevilla next week. If these two matches go right then it will be a positive end before the international break but any slip ups and the games coming up away to Brentford, home to Lens and then against Wolves all look that much harder.
Things aren't made any easier for Arteta either with his squad still creaking with some big injuries. Both Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka dropped to the bench for the 3-1 loss at the London Stadium on Wednesday with the club captain struggling with a hip injury.
«We rested him the other day and now it is about how long we rest him and how we manage now the minutes and the rhythm he needs to be at his best,» Arteta explained before the match. «We had the opportunity to do it, we didn't use him in the end so that was a good offload for him.
Mikel Arteta delivers scathing verdict on his Arsenal players following West Ham
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