Arsene Wenger insists that the poor ‘patch’ Arsenal are currently going through won’t last and that all the side need to work on is their quality.

After another drab draw, this time against West Ham on Wednesday night, Wenger did his best to try and defend the performance, using the Gunners’ 3-1 loss to Manchester United as an excuse.

“Against Man United, 33 shots and we didn’t win. At Southampton (a 1-1 draw) it was similar to tonight,” said Wenger post-match.

“It is a bit frustrating but we need to keep confidence in our games. The patch will not last.

“The 33 shots against Man United and chances missed had a little impact. We must focus on quality and not the fact we are not ruthless. Periods like that, adjusting finishing is not right.”

Arsenal did indeed have 33 shots on target against United – that’s true. However, only 16 were on target. Under half. 16 shots on target isn’t impressive if only one finds the back of the net. However, the side didn’t play too poorly and David de Gea is world class, so most fans gave Wenger’s side the benefit of the doubt, especially considering we had been playing pretty well since the North London Derby.

Against Southampton, Arsenal had 11 shots but only four were on target, one of which Olivier Giroud scored in the 88th minute. However, despite earning a point, Gooners were more concerned about this result than the United one because the performance was terrible.

At West Ham, the Gunners were even worse. We had 22 shots and only THREE were on target.

If it is a confidence issue, surely these players wouldn’t be wasting so many shots in the first place? I’m looking at you, Granit Xhaka.

I do agree with the boss on one thing: we’re certainly lacking quality.