Gary Neville suspects that things may be turning in West Ham United’s favour following what he described as a ‘dog of a match’ during the opening 45 minutes of Sunday’s London derby with Arsenal.
The Hammers goal lived a charmed life in the opening exchanges.
Arsenal racked up no fewer than seven attempts in the opening 13 minutes. Mads Hermansen clawed one effort off the line, Konstantinos Mavropanos did similar, while the visitors would also strike the woodwork amid audible moans and obvious concern amongst the home crowd.
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Gary Neville, on co-commentary duty for Sky Sports, heard the West Ham United fans ‘groaning’ in unison as Arsenal dictated the tempo and dominated for the opening 20 minutes. Something Robert Green also noted on BBC Sport.
By the end of the first-half, however, it was the Hammers who looked most likely to break the deadlock.
Gary Neville enthused by West Ham United performance
Aaron Wan-Bissaka nearly justified his return to the XI with a cross from which a flying David Raya parried a diving Taty Castellanos header. Jean-Clair Todibo settled into proceedings as well, while an injury to Ben White meant a ‘stunned’ Neville saw Mikel Arteta move Declan Rice to an unfamiliar right-back role.
“Last ditch and desperate,” was how Neville would describe West Ham’s performance in the opening quarter of an hour. His tune, and the tide, would change following White’s exit and Rice’s unexpected change of position.
“I’m stunned. To take Declan Rice out the middle of the pitch is a big call,” Neville said, predicting the subsequent loss of control from the visitors’ grasp.
“The West Ham manager will be very happy because you are looking to build a performance by getting through the first 15 minutes, having a bit of luck, and they’ve had that.
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“The goalkeeper making the save, [Arsenal] hitting the crossbar, Ben White going off and Declan Rice going to right-back; these moments…
“West Ham have definitely improved. Things have changed; the midfield from Arsenal is a little bit more open. I’m trying to stop myself from saying it, but I would be thinking about getting Rice back into midfield. Things are happening that I wouldn’t like if I was Mikel Arteta.
“It was a nervy start for the back three, but they have got a lot better. The game has swung. Arsenal were going forward really well in the first 20 minutes but, since, there has been a halt.”
Nuno still has Callum Wilson and Pablo Felipe to bring off the bench should he require. Mohamadou Kante is another potential joker in the West Ham pack.
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