Mikel Arteta decision slammed by Jamie Redknapp after Arsenal edge past West Ham

Arsenal survive West Ham scare as Jamie Redknapp questions Mikel Arteta gamble

Arsenal moved another step closer to the Premier League title race finish line, but not without a few nerves, a touch of controversy, and one tactical call that left Jamie Redknapp genuinely baffled.

The Gunners edged past West Ham in dramatic fashion after late moments swung wildly between panic and relief at the Emirates.

For long stretches, this looked like one of those afternoons where title pressure starts creeping into every pass and every decision from the touchline.

And, according to Redknapp, Mikel Arteta very nearly made life far harder for himself than it needed to be.

With Manchester City having comfortably beaten Brentford earlier in the day, Arsenal knew the pressure was back on. They responded with three points, but the route there was anything but straightforward.

David Raya produced a huge save late in the match to deny Mateus Fernandes in a one-on-one situation, standing tall at the exact moment Arsenal looked vulnerable.

Minutes later, Martin Odegaard provided the calm Arsenal had been missing for parts of the game, gliding into the area before teeing up Leandro Trossard, whose effort squeezed through bodies and into the net.

It was messy, tense and, from an Arsenal perspective, probably one of those wins supporters celebrate more for the relief than the performance itself.

The moment that left Redknapp stunned

The biggest talking point after the match was not the winning goal, though. It was Arteta’s decision to move Declan Rice to right-back during a key spell of the game.

Redknapp did not hide his disbelief.

Speaking on Sky Sports after the final whistle, he said: “If Arsenal hadn’t won today and they didn’t win the league, I think a lot of people would have looked at that moment when he [Arteta] put Declan Rice at right-back for 25 minutes and said ‘that’s one of the worst decisions you could ever see a manager make,’ at such an important time.”

Strong words, especially considering Arsenal still got the result. But it reflected how chaotic the tactical reshuffle looked in real time.

Arteta was forced into changes after personnel issues disrupted the balance of the side. Rather than making a more natural defensive switch, the Arsenal manager altered multiple positions at once, leaving the team looking oddly stretched for a spell.

Redknapp felt the simpler option was staring Arsenal in the face.

“They had to make a secondary substitution for [Martin] Zubimendi, which resulted in Myles Lewis-Skelly playing as a left-back. All these adjustments were made for what should have been a very straightforward situation.

“A simpler approach would have been to replace Ben White with [Cristhian] Mosquera at right-back, and keep Declan Rice in the central area of the pitch.”

It was the sort of sequence that has fans glancing sideways at each other in the stands, silently wondering if they’ve missed something tactical genius is about to reveal. Sometimes managers overthink. Sometimes they escape it because the result goes their way.

Arteta, on this occasion, fell into the second category.

Arsenal rode their luck a little

Redknapp also pointed out that Arsenal probably needed fortune on their side before finally getting over the line.

West Ham thought they had found an equaliser late on, only for VAR to rule it out after Pablo was judged to have impeded Raya as the goalkeeper attempted to rise and claim the ball.

The decision caused predictable frustration from the visitors, though Arsenal will argue Raya had every right to go for the cross unchallenged.

Either way, it added another layer of tension to a game that already felt edgy long before the final whistle.

“But you need a bit of luck, he’s got away with it, no-one’s really gonna talk about it now,” Redknapp added. “There’s a moment, all the staff were around him, it was like ‘ok, what do we do?’ To get to that point, it made no sense whatsoever.”

That image of Arteta surrounded by staff members on the touchline probably summed things up perfectly. Arsenal looked uncertain for a period, and West Ham sensed it.

Odegaard changed the feel of the game

If there was one calming influence in the chaos, it was Odegaard.

The Arsenal captain came on and immediately gave the team more control in possession. His movement between the lines pulled West Ham around, and the winning goal arrived from exactly the kind of moment Arsenal had been lacking earlier in the match.

Redknapp acknowledged that too.

“He had the presence of mind to rectify it, to go half-time, we’ve got to change this. Full credit for bringing Odegaard on, he had the big moment.”

That is perhaps the key takeaway from the afternoon for Arsenal. Even when the tactical picture became muddled, they still had enough quality to produce one decisive moment.

Championship-winning sides often survive games like this. The performance may not age well on rewatch, but the points rarely care.

The result restored Arsenal’s five-point advantage at the top after City’s win earlier in the day had temporarily narrowed the gap.

There is still enormous pressure attached to every fixture now, and Arsenal are at the stage where performances matter slightly less than outcomes. Nobody hands out style points in May.

Still, Arteta may privately recognise this was a warning sign as much as a victory.

Against stronger opposition, tactical confusion like that can quickly become costly. West Ham were unable to fully punish Arsenal during their uncertain spell, but not every opponent will be so forgiving.

For now, though, Arsenal remain in control of the title race, and that is ultimately all supporters will care about tonight.

Even if a few of them probably spent 25 minutes wondering why Declan Rice suddenly looked like an emergency right-back from an injury crisis simulator.