Match Report | Match highlights | Wenger’s thoughts | Credits: Sky Sports
The lineup was unorthodox and exciting… Rarely have I seen Arsene Wenger be so cavalier with his selection of the starting XI. In recent seasons – this one more than most – he’s been known to play favourites with players like Aaron Ramsey and Alex Iwobi. That he chose to drop them in context of the entire season was refreshing (pun intended). Giving Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a start on the flank with Theo Walcott on the other side was brave too, and after gauging our start, it was fair to say it was the right decision.
Quick mention to Mathieu Debuchy, who made his first start for Arsenal since the North London Derby in November 2015. I’ve always felt his controversial comments led people to downgrade his general football ability, which was somewhat unfair. He’s a good player, and while he’s not as much of a fan favourite like Carl Jenkinson, I think he’s a better footballer. It was an awful shame he had to walk off injured after 15 minutes.
We started flying out of the blocks… None of the games against PSG, Tottenham or Manchester United were ones where we started brightly. Perhaps that was more down to the quality of the opposition and the magnitude of the occasion, but yesterday we were much more in control. Mesut Ozil was casual with a chance I felt he should have done better with, and Mohammed Elneny had a shot blocked by the impressive Nathan Ake. We were creating chances.
Granted, our eventual goal came through a defensive error (neat finish by Alexis Sanchez though), but given how the game had started, it felt deserved. It was a good enough platform to manage the match from.
But we didn’t… Bournemouth were awarded a soft penalty because apparently this is customary in every Arsenal game. And I think it was when Calum Wilson teed up to take the spot-kick did I realize I had no confidence in Petr Cech to save it whatsoever. That’s not because Wilson was a state-of-the-art penalty taker or anything, but I genuinely don’t remember Cech coming close to saving any penalty for Arsenal. It’s something to think about.
What followed was a bit of a scramble to cling on for dear life. Bournemouth had the ball, they were knocking it about with more purpose than us and carved a couple of chances. If they had taken them it could have been a different story entirely, because we know just how poo we are at getting back on the horse once we’ve fallen off it.
The second half was much better… There were signs of it in the last 5-10 minutes of the first half, but it really became evident in the second. It was almost like Wenger gathered the players in the dressing room and said, “We are Arsenal and these are pretentious Barcelona fucks, let’s show them what’s what!”
Credits: @Arsepics
We did show them what was what. Walcott scored our second after excellent work from Ozil and Nacho Monreal, and we had to ride the boat through some dangerous waters as Cech made a deft reflex save and some Bournemouth player took a header on poorly. Although, to continue the boat analogy, it felt like smoother sailing in the second half, especially after good work by Olivier Giroud and Alexis sealed the win for Arsenal (what about that bromance though?).
While some of that might be down to the opposition “just being Bournemouth”, there were yet a lot of positives to take from the game. Oxlade-Chamberlain had a good comeback from his Spurs debacle, and Walcott would be happy with that goal. And what about that Xhaka-Elneny partnership? I don’t know about you, but they certainly appear to complement each other a lot and is a duo worth serious long-term consideration.
Alexis Sanchez was a storm… What a maverick the Chilean was, zipping past defenders and causing midfielders problems. Despite his two goals, he kept dropping deep and looked more the focal playmaker of the team than Ozil, not an easy feat to achieve. His two goals brings his tally to 10 for the season, and at present he’s looking one of the most dangerous Premier League players.
His blossoming partnership with Ozil on the pitch added to the feelgood factor, but to me also raised the question of how long will we be able to enjoy seeing them together. Time is ticking and both of them will be approaching the dreaded final year of their contract next June. Money is not an issue, but should either of them fail to lift any significant silverware for Arsenal, negotiations could hit a brick wall.
We lie in fourth… After looking at the league table, it was all the more relieving that we got the win. We’re three points away from leaders Chelsea and two away from Liverpool and Manchester City, although fifth placed Tottenham are a good four points away from us. It’s not where we would like to be, but it could have been a lot worse. We’ve fallen from being tied at the top to where we are now, but at least it seems like we’re getting ourselves together.
November is nearly over, we’ve had worse ones before, so maybe that counts for something. Besides, a great chance to end this traditionally troublesome month on a high would be on Wednesday against Southampton. The Saints have proven to be a tough nut to crack in recent seasons, but the fact that it’s at home may bode well for us.
Anyway, that’s a story for another day. For now, I’d rather eat popcorn while re-watching Jose Mourinho send himself off for the millionth time. Until later.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
Comentarios