Paul Merson offers 'sad and frustrated' admission after Arsenal thrash West Ham

12 February 2024 , 11:56

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Paul Merson did not hold back in his assessment of West Ham's 6-0 defeat by Arsenal (Image: Sky Sports)

Paul Merson admitted he was left "sad" and "frustrated" after his former side Arsenal recorded their joint-largest ever away league win against West Ham.

Mikel Arteta's men ran out 6-0 winners at the London Stadium thanks to five different goalscorers. William Saliba sent them on their way, before Bukayo Saka scored his first from the penalty spot. Gabriel Magalhaes and Leandro Trossard's goals soon followed and it was 4-0 before the half-time whistle was blown.

Saka secured his brace 10 minutes into the second-half, before Declan Rice netted a sensational strike against his former side to make it six. The victory also reduced the Hammers to their joint-heaviest ever home defeat, matching the 6-0 loss at the hands of Blackburn in December 1963.

After the game, Merson conceded that despite the fact it was his old side who were at their brilliant best to record a historic victory, he harboured plenty of emotion over the dismal display West Ham put in. The pundit, who spent 12 years in north London, laid into David Moyes' men.

"Defending wise, if that happened at U10s football, you’d be going, ‘Seriously?’ – not getting tight, showing them inside on their proper foot, it is poor," Merson told Sky Sports. "Arsenal made West Ham surrender and I think that’s quite sad. As a player, that’s the one thing you don’t want to do.

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"There are ways of losing football matches but that was a horrible way. I felt sorry for David Moyes. That is not his team. They let him down today."

One incident that Merson really had a gripe with was the manner in which the Hammers conceded their fifth. Ben White's dummy run fools Emerson, who follows the right-back, leaving Saka isolated against Nayef Aguerd. The Arsenal No. 7 got the better of his man with one drop of the shoulder before lashing home.

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It was a miserable afternoon for West Ham as they were destroyed by London rivals Arsenal

Analysing the incident, Merson bemoaned: "Emerson, Ben White is not the danger! He lets him put a simple ball in. The (West Ham) centre-half, Saka is left-footed! You know he’s coming inside 99 out of 100 times.

"That tells me, as a player, do you really pay any attention to detail as to who you are playing against? Or are you just turning up? You’ve got to have more about you. It frustrates me. I don’t even play and I know what Saka is going to do. It was poor all round."

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Josh O'Brien