The Merino plan has been exposed. So what now for Arsenal?

Arsenal 0-1 West Ham (Bowen 44′)

EMIRATES STADIUM — Nothing summed up Arsenal’s futile hunt for a goal against West Ham more than David Raya jogging optimistically up for a corner deep into added time before hurtling back towards the halfway line after it had been cleared.

Raya impressively won his 50-metre dash against James Ward-Prowse but as the Gunners toiled in the final third, it was tempting to feel as though their Premier League title race has been run.

Arsenal deployed a career central midfielder as a striker for 90 minutes and partnered him with a centre-back for the eight added on at the end. It was little wonder they looked so toothless.

There was a giddiness to Mikel Merino’s heroics at Leicester last weekend, but it took just six days for the good vibe bubble to burst. And by West Ham, of all teams.

Speaking after his double at the King Power, Merino revealed he hadn’t played as a number nine since he was nine. On Saturday, he looked like someone attempting to get to grips with a role he hadn’t played in in almost two decades.

The Spain international is an effective Plan B but an ineffective Plan A. It is easier to adapt to an alien position as a sub rather than starting in one when the patterns and rhythm of a game have yet to be established.

Mikel Arteta talked up Merino’s versatility after Arsenal had tempted the Basque away from Real Sociedad, but he can’t have envisaged needing him to spearhead a title tilt.

After an experiment with a diminutive winger as a false nine against Leicester produced limited results, Arteta went full [enter your old school British manager of choice here] by chucking the big lad up top from the start.

Standing at an imposing 6ft 2in and renowned for his aerial ability, Merino was arguably a more natural fit for this Arsenal, a team who have made set-pieces sexy again, than either Leandro Trossard or Ethan Nwaneri. More subtlety is required moving forward.

Let’s be clear, Merino was not the reason that Arsenal lost. He did about as well as could be expected, demonstrating a deft touch when the ball was played into his feet at times and showing decent movement in the penalty area.

But his emergency role is a symptom of a wider problem. Arsenal’s inaction in the January transfer window will haunt them.

Losing Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz in the first week of February was unfortunate, but hardly unforeseen given the amount of football they have played. Not reinforcing an already depleted strikeforce was an act of hubris.

Arsenal had four times more attempts on goal than West Ham but rarely looked like scoring with any of them. Arteta admitted afterwards that he was “angry” and that his team were “nowhere near the levels” but refused to blame his current lack of firepower on the outcome.

“Even though we had and 20 shots, I never felt that we were at the standard and the level that we needed,” Arteta said.

“It’s not in our hand,” he added on the title race. “For me, I’m really, really annoyed [about] the things that are in our hands and we didn’t do as well as we possibly could and that’s the performance and the result today.”

West Ham, the Premier League’s 16th-best team this season, currently have far greater depth in their attacking pool than Arsenal, the second best, do.

That is likely to be a theme of the coming weeks until Bukayo Saka and Martinelli return from hamstring strains.

Jarrod Bowen was the match-winner with a clinical finish in the six-yard box. Mohammed Kudus was the game’s best player, a counter-attacking demon who drew a red card from Myles Lewis-Skelly after one of many darts into enemy territory.

Graham Potter was even able to chuck Brighton loanee Evan Ferguson on towards the end. Danny Ings was an unused sub. How Arteta would love to have such luxuries at his disposal.

Injuries to key attackers have been exacerbated by the iffy form of the remaining available ones. Leandro Trossard has had a poor season. So too by his high standards has Martin Odegaard.

The Arsenal captain’s decision to roll the ball back to Gabriel from a free-kick 10 minutes or so from time led to loud boos from the home fans desperate for the ball to be launched into the mixer.

Ethan Nwaneri was Arsenal’s brightest spark at Leicester, but relying on a 17-year-old to produce 8/10 performances every week is both unsustainable and unfair. He barely made an impact here, swallowed whole by an experienced back five.

West Ham played like a David Moyes team rather than a Graham Potter one. They defended deep, were compact out of possession and a threat on the counter.

But this result could give the Potter era the lift-off it needed. This was their new manager’s fourth win in his last five visits to the Emirates. Potter is an astute tactician, well capable of devising a game plan to topple the division’s best coaches.

On this occasion, the difference between the teams was obvious, a team with goalscorers beating one without any.