Arsenal West Ham: Arteta's substitutions paid off

Danny Murphy's read on Arsenal's win over West Ham was simple enough. The match turned on Mikel Arteta's willingness to keep changing things, with three separate substitution calls before the late one finally produced the response he wanted.

At 28 minutes, Arteta had already been forced into an adjustment, bringing Martin Zubimendi on for the injured Ben White. At half-time he shifted Cristhian Mosquera to right-back, moved Myles Lewis-Skelly to left-back and took off Riccardo Calafiori. Then, after 67 minutes, he introduced Martin Ødegaard and Kai Havertz for Eberechi Eze and Martin Zubimendi, before replacing Bukayo Saka with Noni Madueke with 10 minutes to go.

Murphy said: "Arteta did that. Three times against West Ham he made a decision with his substitutes and only the last changes he made came off, but that was what won him the game."

Why the final change mattered

The clearest case for Arteta is that he kept searching until the game shifted. The first two sets of changes were about damage control and structure. The final one was more aggressive, and it is the one Murphy pointed to as decisive.

He also singled out Ødegaard's influence. "When Odegaard came on he looked like he had a point to prove and he lifted everything about the way Arsenal were playing," Murphy said.

The numbers back that up. Ødegaard's 6.9 rating came in just 33 minutes, and he added the assist for Leandro Trossard's winner. Trossard was Arsenal's top-rated player on 7.9, while David Raya posted a 7.2 and made 3 saves.

Arteta did not get everything right first time. The better point is that he kept adjusting until the last version of the team worked. On this evidence, that final set of changes deserves the credit for the late win.

What Ødegaard changed after coming on

Ødegaard did not have long to influence the game, but he influenced it quickly. The brief's numbers are plain on that point, 33 minutes, 1 assist, and a performance that Murphy felt lifted Arsenal's play.

That makes the late substitution sequence the key takeaway from Arsenal's night against West Ham. The shape changed several times, but the final attacking reshuffle was the one that turned a flat second half into a result.