‘Arsenal are heading nowhere’ – Sky Sports pundit still not convinced after West Ham win

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Paul Merson has insisted that Arsenal’s win over West Ham on Monday night wasn’t enough to suggest that they’re back on track.

The Gunners secured a much-needed win against the Hammers, as they picked up a 3-1 victory after falling behind with a big response in the second half.

SEE MORE: Video: Ljungberg embraces Pepe as he comes off after stellar display for Arsenal vs West Ham

That ended a nine-game winless streak across all competitions which saw Unai Emery lose his job, while the pressure was immediately building on interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg as he struggled to oversee an improvement in their form.

While the three points against West Ham will have come as a huge relief for all concerned as Arsenal moved up to ninth place in the Premier League table and seven points adrift of fourth place, not everyone was overly impressed.

Merson isn’t getting too excited by the win as he has insisted that the Gunners perhaps papered over the cracks as opposed to delivering a convincing performance which suggested that they are genuinely set to put together a positive run of results.

“Arsenal’s win at West Ham papered over huge cracks at the club. Don’t let the late turnaround fool you, Arsenal are heading nowhere,” he noted, as per Sky Sports. “When Arsenal turned to Freddie Ljungberg, they wanted him to come in and steady the ship. They would have thought ‘we’re not going anywhere, we’re not going to get relegated and we can save a few quid’.

“But, all of a sudden, a couple of dodgy performances and it’s panic stations. I just don’t know where they go next.”

Arsenal face Standard in the Europa League on Thursday night before hosting Manchester City on Sunday.

Those outings are followed by clashes with Everton, Bournemouth and Chelsea before the New Year, and so time will tell whether or not the hierarchy opt to stick with Ljungberg during that run of fixtures if the West Ham win sparks life back into the side, or if they will continue to try and identify a long-term successor for Emery as quickly as possible.

It’s hard to disagree with Merson at this stage as it is just one win after a barren run. That said, if Arsenal were to follow it up with improved performances and results in their next two games, it could strengthen the suggestion that they’re at least heading in the right direction again.

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