There can be no doubt about it, our 17th game unbeaten was one of the sweetest. Arsenal powered to victory away at Bournemouth after a 2 week international break and 3 draws on the bounce. We hadn’t won for a little over a month. We were playing a team that sat 4 points behind us in the table, and 6 places above us in the xG league.
The game wasn’t pretty. The performance left a lot to be desired. There were some performances I could smell in New York. But once again, it was the 3 points that mattered.
Lady Luck was riding with us, which helped. The first goal of the game came from Lermar, the impressive number 8 brought in this summer for £25m. Iwobi was found in the half-space, he rolled a ball into Kolasinac who crossed dangerously into the box, Lerma was fully committed to the clearance and fortunately caught the ball clean on the volley and sent it past Begovic. A fucking great finish.
We couldn’t let the half finish on a high. We overcommitted in the Bournemouth box on 45minutes. Iwobi pirouetted, lost the ball, the counter-attack broke with Bellerin and Torreira nowhere to be seen. Mikhi tracked back for a bit, but gave up. The ball found its way to King at the back post and he made no mistake under no pressure and fizzed a perfect shot into Leno’s top corner.
The second half saw Arsenal claw their way back. We took more control of the game, Bournemouth started to look leggy, and our quality showed. We capitalised on our possession, Iwobi again found in the half-space slotted a perfect pass inside the fullback, Kolasinac made the most of his run finding Auba in the box, with the finish never in question.
Arsenal went full on banter years towards the end. Bournemouth hit the post from 30 years, Leno had to make a few very important saves, and Mustafi lunged into a stupid challenge on 95minutes to give us all a heart attack. The freekick went over, so it was fine.
So what did we learn?
#10 Drought
Emery doesn’t fancy his most expensive player against teams that ruffle feathers.
‘We thought how we can be better in the match, a very demanding match with physicality and intensity,’
‘But every player is important. We worked today and it is another possibility to improve or find our best performance in the squad.
‘In the beginning of the season we were speaking every day about the need to be competitive. We need to be organised, we need the individual quality to improve our performance.
‘It’s the same today. It depends. It depends how the match is going, what the result is. I decided for another option. We knew this is a difficult stadium, a difficult team.
‘Seventeen matches we haven’t lost, but the last three matches we drew. We know that is not enough for us, for our objectives.’
Quite the indictment, but an honest appraisal. The brutal truth is that we’re rocking £520k worth of #10 talent and neither are good enough for what we need. Mikhi was given a rare start, but he looked utterly out of place. He lacked urgency, I don’t think he worked hard, his passing was off key and his shooting was attrocious. I was game for rejuvenating his career, but it doesn’t look good. He doesn’t look focused on proving the doubters wrong.
The question I have is this: If Emery doesn’t fancy Ozil against physical team, what the fuck is he going to do against Spurs next week?
Keeping:
Bernd Leno continued to impress. He has the right level of theatre with his saves, but my word, he’s all over that goal. He made some very sharp saves yesterday. He’s just so reassuring to have at the back. It’s been rare to have a keeper that drops MOM performances, but I think this guy does.
Defensive worries:
Sokratis was in a wrestling match against King today. Sure, the Bournemouth striker is very strong, but my concern is the Greek just isn’t that mobile. He’s wrestling because he can’t keep up. Combine that with the donut behaviour of Mustafi, and, well, you have a problem next week against Spurs. Kane, Alli, Son and Erikson are going to have a field day if we don’t button up.
Midfield:
I think a few pointed out that Torreira didn’t look in good shape by the time he was taken off today. He’s bearing the workload of two players because Xhaka isn’t exactly mobile. He’ll have to do some work next week, so we have to hope he has enough energy in his legs, and that the club give him the right amount of R&R
Iwobi:
I took some pelters for suggesting Iwobi was regressing. I misphrased. I didn’t feel he was offering us the levels he was earlier in the season. I think maybe I was unfair, he was involved in two goals and the pass for the second was exceptional. But, you have to put that against the backdrop of the error in the build-up to the Bournemouth goal. I think we need to upgrade in our wide positions. We need pace, more technique and real width.
Stats:
- We have won more away games this season than we did in the whole of last season. Which is good.
- We still haven’t led at halftime. Which is both bad, for obvs reasons. But good, because we’re masters of the second half.
- xNerd stats: Arsenal 1.65 Bournemouth 0.65
- We had 20 attempts on goal. 4 on target. 1 goal. Does the stat for conversion only count if it’s on target? Is our conversion rate 25% or 50% with an own goal? Either way, yesterday was a bad day in front of goal.
Bring on Spurs (AFTER WE TAKE THE KIDS TO VORSKLA)
P.S. Emery learns his English by way of the Peaky Blinders. I like him.
“Now I am watching English TV series to improve my English… Peaky Blinders is good but it is difficult, from Birmingham!”
“And it’s very aggressive. But it’s good, it’s good.”
Our U23s thrashed by Derby… 5-0 tonight.
it intrigues me how a player who has been voted Germany’s player of the year 5 times in 6 seasons and holds the record number of assists in the prem is shown so little respect on here… I’ll say it slowly and in capitals so you can understand finally. IT’S BECAUSE HE DOESN’T PUT IN ANY EFFORT AND HAS BEEN MOSTLY SHIT FOR ABOUT TWO SEASONS NOW. In high intensity games ozil struggles to have any influence so it’s perfectly acceptable to leave him out without all the crap that’s being written about him on here …Lacazette,aubamayang and Mhkitaryan have… Read more »
how did your boy Ozil fare in the last world cup? A one man wrecking crew?
It was too intense for him
Marko..read this slowly and let it sink in
OZIL CREATED THE MOST CHANCES IN EUROPE FOR THE FIRST 5 MONTHS OF LAST SEASON
Pierre
Chances Created
Assists plus Key passes.
Key Pass
The final pass or pass-cum-shot leading to the recipient of the ball having an attempt at goal without scoring.
Big Chances
A situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score, usually in a one on one scenario or from very close range when the ball has a clear path to goal and there is low to moderate pressure on the shooter. Penalties are always considered big chances.
Created the most chances….lol
Didnt we cover this many many months ago.
Still peddling absolutely pointless stats.
I don’t understand why people bother.
What was said about Wenger was proved correct.
What was said about Ozil seems to be in the process of being proved correct.
Also, Ramsey… overrated.
Xhaka stats doing the rounds at the minute hyping him above Jorginho.
Our fanbase never learns
As I wrote Ozil is not a “high octane player”. However he has other attributes, which make him a far better player than many of the people who post on here
may think.
In my earlier post I pointed out that he was the outstanding player in our home game against Spurs last season when we won 2-0.
That was probably our best result last season.
Both Rambo and Ozil can be replaced and not missed too much. We need younger, more dynamic and faster!
Both Rambo and Ozil have had enough time at the club to prove themselves. They believe their own hype way too much.
‘In my earlier post I pointed out that he was the outstanding player in our home game against Spurs last season when we won 2-0’ Yeah he was when we played Chelsea the season before that. That is the problem ‘I remember a game’ well sorry, your ‘captain’ on £350 000 a week should not be a player you have to raise individual games that are sporadically dispersed as defences from rightful and constant criticism. Turning up 10% of the time when it suits is not good enough. He’s straying into Wilshere/Walcott territory where you overlook months of games and… Read more »
If Ozil is not going to playing for his country’s national team any longer, what exactly does he need to stay in one of the elite professional leagues for? I wish he would go to China.
‘Both Rambo and Ozil can be replaced’
Agreed.
I would like to see us go for someone like Havertz. Likely looking at £40 Million but the potential upside is huge for him, you could be looking at a De Bruyne level player there in CAM.
Fornals though would be a smart bit of business.
It is interesting to see whether we need to move Xhaka on or whether the whole midfield unit will look more cohesive with a hard working CAM who also offers control of possession.
I like this Havertz kid- if he really is 6ft, that is a major plus. I did see him use his right foot some in this video- which is one of the better highlight reels I have seen. A bit long though but the boy has skillzz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iL0TQUbKu8
OZIL CREATED THE MOST CHANCES IN EUROPE FOR THE FIRST 5 MONTHS OF LAST SEASON
One that stat is pointless when you consider his assists the last two seasons are way down and two a season is longer than 5 months. Did his form disappear around the time he got that mega deal? Surely not
Not sure ‘he’s not high octane’ works for a £350k a week Prem player
However he has other attributes, which make him a far better player than many of the people who post on here
may think.
Like what? And also if he doesn’t put in the effort and doesn’t show these attributes then it’s all just words on a blog
For elite players it’s not necessary to highlight this orntgat performance as cesc said Elite isn’t something you were in this or that game, it’s a description of what you are bringing to the table on a weekly basis for year after year We don’t say Henry was world class because remember that goal he scored against spurs??? He was world class because of his weekly contribution. It’s hard to even pin point his top 10 goals because he had literally 30-40 worldies. Looking at AM players is no different. De bruyne doesn’t need to be singled out for a… Read more »
The biggest indictment of ozil’s shortcomings is that he divides people so much Elite players rarely invite their own fans to question them. Nobody was arguing about henry’s poor corners or his lack of aerial threat, or bergkamp’s not always stellar goal tallies, or Campbell’s propensity to jump with his elbows and catch people, or Vieira putting the team in trouble by picking up so many red cards. These players could have their shortcomings and the entire fan base was still 100% united and agreed on their awesomeness because what they brought to the table every weak was a million… Read more »
I think if Ozil was paid 60-70K that would be in line with his performances. Not many would be as incensed with him if that were the case. However, he and his agent played the elite player card- and he milked the Sanchez situation to his gain, knowing that the club were in dire straights. Good for him- he is a very rich young man. However, we do not need him and his chances created. He has been on the decline fora while now, and I think most of us were thinking that Emery would be a new lease on… Read more »
Looks like Pleguezuelo was omitted tonight for the U23s too. Good, I just wonder if Emery is planning to play 3 at the back versus Spurs… so he’s trying to rest his first choice CBs.
I wonder if Julio Pleguezuelo will play on Thursday and if does if he does, will he be played as a RB or a CB?
Iwobi had no control over his “pirouette”, and lost the ball as a result. Because he lost the ball does not make him the culprit for conceding. Xhaka was in the more defensive position so he was back covering; because torr made a play forward, yet didn’t get close to the ball, along with our whole defensive line, so it really was just a good counter by Bournemouth. If The ball in by bellerin made it back to torreira instead of iwobi, or iwobi touched it on for torr to continue his run, the outcome may have been different. In… Read more »
With every game he misses, Monreal proving by his absence that he is one of the unsung hero of this team.
I hope he is back very very soon.
*heroes
Paulinho
““Did anyone watching that game think “oh he has lost the ball there and we are in trouble” the minute Iwobi was dispossessed in the Bournemouth penalty box?? I would guess not.”
Yes, I did.
Because Torreira had instigated the one-two with the intention of receiving the return ball, and as soon as Iwobi decided to stick his oar in and do a daft needless pirouette, we were bare at the back.”
Exactly how I felt.
Leeds,
I agree, Monreal has been my favourite player the last few years. Just a solid, no nonsense lb.
Plegezuelo (so?) Played CB last time out for the first team didn’t he?
Is he a RB for the under 23? Or does he play a bit of both?
I was a Real fan while Ozil was there. Ozil is a very skillful player and combined extremely well with CR7. But he is not a leader and lack of energy to play a full 90 mins.
Both Real and the Germany national team provide him with an environment to succeed, but not Arsenal. I think he sometimes gives up and disappears from the game. I understand that the fans are unhappy because he is not delivering. I looks like Emery is giving up on him. A divorce would be good for all parties.
Monreal is the only player in the squad who has been here more than 18 months and not been a burden to us at some point or another
I’m glad we have both laca and auba in the side but if laca missed those chances at the weekend, he would have been absolutely crucified in here. But Auba missed them and is defended by the phrase, he scores goals, well guess what, so does Laca. Laca can be a tap in merchant too. Now I’m not saying laca is better than Auba but why criticise one of them but defend the other when they both are almost equal in quality. Both miss sitters and both score spectacular goals, why defend one when they miss a sitter but crucify… Read more »
gonsterous So what if Auba is a ‘tap-in’ merchant? I don’t understand why people relegate tap-in goals. And for your info, Laca can’t be a tap in merchant, it’s not his style. Anybody can score tap ins, but the most difficult part of it is the positioning. If you aren’t there, can you still score a tap-in? Watch his movement for Leicester’s 2nd goal & his movement will make you appreciate the ‘tap-in’ goal. I may not be a fan of Aubameyang’s gameplay but I’m a fan of his goals. Lacazette offers better gameplay but Aubameyang offers more goals. Now,… Read more »
olumide
who cares what goals our striker scores. As long as it’s in the back of the net, I don’t care. What I have a problem with and you fail to grasp is, why does laca get criticised for certain misses but auba is defended for similar misses. They both score tap ins, wonder goals and they both miss sitters.
and I didn’t relegate tap in goals, I just said, laca can do it too.
Olumide
Very well put …movement in the box and the timing of the their run is everything for a striker …Aubamayang has it …lacazette doesn’t though I rate lacazette very highly as a striker .
He just scores different types of goals than aubamayang .
The jury is out on Aubameyang, he needs to score at least 30 goals to convince me of his worth to the team.
Tony Adams was interviewed last week by a National Newspaper. He made it clear in the article that he was not personally an Arsenal fan, but playing for them was a job. However, he went on to confirm that both his children were Arsenal fans and he would be taking them to watch Arsenal play Fulham at Craven Cottage. He then went on to distinguish Arsenal Supporters of old who had a close affinity with the club whatever the result with the new breed of fan who are only interested in the result and winning trophies. When I read many… Read more »
gonsterous
People actually criticize Aubameyang. I can remember many people did that after the Chelsea game. In fact, his struggle in the number 9 position was what brought Laca back into the starting 11.
But it’s difficult to criticize him for missing sitters against Bournemouth when he ended up scoring the winning goal. And those around him were not playing too well.
Even Ronaldo misses sitters. But when he scores people forget the misses.
When Mesut Ozil signed for Arsenal back in 2013, I think most Arsenal fans, even myself, were delighted to see a world-class performer join the club. A mainstay of the German national team and one of RM’s key players, we all expected great things from Ozil. Irrespective of my lack of trust in Wenger, I was excited to see how the German would perform. Initially things looked good but it soon became apparent that there were limits to MO’s game, both physically and mentally, which were unfortunately compounded by Wenger’s leadership frailties. Five years later and under a new and… Read more »
Graham Ozil and Sanchez were a tremendous partnership for Arsenal for a couple of years ..just a shame we didn’t have someone like aubamayang or lacazette up top . Sanchez has gone to Manchester United and is now a shadow of himself. Emery comes to Arsenal and ozil is a shadow of himself . Both are now not even being selected and neither team is in the top 4. Graham, do you think it could possibly be that their previous manager actually had the knowledge and experience to get Sanchez and ozil to play to close to their full potential… Read more »