Oleksandr Zinchenko struggled defensively against West Ham, which is exactly why Arteta has chosen to start Takehiro Tomiyasu ahead of the Ukrɑinian in recent games.

Blasted as “weak” by journalist Josh Bunting, the full-back was mocked by Kudus for the host’s second goal, capping off what was a worrying display from the four-time Premier League winner. Indeed, the defender was caught napping on the left-hand side as the Hammers’ summer signing collected the ball delicately before wrong-footing Zinchenko.

After 57 minutes, Arteta opted to haul the £150k-per-week dud off, with his defending branded “disgraceful” by Arsenal personality Eduardo Hagn.

In the limited time that the Ukrɑine international featured, he failed to make a positive impact, but left a sour taste in the mouths of those watching with his abysmal individual struggles on the left side of defence.

Zinchenko lost 100% of his aerial duels, and had a failure rate of 100% for his attempted dribbles, as well as losing possession eight times to expose his weaknesses for the Hammers to exploit, via Sofascore.

Having won just one ground duel at left-back, the former Manchester City defender was handed a dreary 3/10 match rating from journalist Charles Watts via Goal, who branded the 26-year-old as defensively “suspect”.

It was an eye opener for Arsenal, who still remain unbeaten in the Premier League, and an eye opener for Arteta with reference to Zinchenko, whose days as the Gunners’ first-choice left-back could be nearing a close.

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