Daily Bits and Bobs

Arsenal frustrate yet again but get the job done. Just!

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

I didn’t check the clock to see when it was our game picked up a little but it was sometime after the second half kicked off. The first forty five minutes had been awful to watch so the improvement was most welcome. Torreira came closest to opening the scoring and but for the woodwork, we’d have taken an undeserved lead. Bournemouth were pretty much tearing us apart. Whatever system Unai Emery had opted for, it wasn’t working and it looked a mess.

We took the lead though in rather fortuitously, in the sense in was an own goal but that’s what crosses into the box can do. So what eh?

with barely two minutes to play, including the additional time, we committed footballing suicide. 1-0 up, just get into the changing room and regroup. Reshape too if that was in Emery’s thoughts. No, we go all gung ho, with eight, I’m sure that’s how many Arsenal players I counted, in or on the edge of the box. Iwobi looked like he tackled himself, lost the ball and Bournemouth hit us hard on the break. All square again as the drip in the middle blew his whistle.

The second half was better although we still looked vulnerable to a breakaway. (I used to love those) We certainly had more of the ball and threatened the Bournemouth goal but until Kolasinac played the perfect ball into Aubameyang, who for once on the day scored, we mucked up a host of chances to put the game to bed. The home team missed plenty of chances of their own too I hasten to add.

Three points secured which is great and finally breaks that run of drawing matches but my goodness, Unai Emery still has a big and tough job on his hands. Whether or not our problems can be resolved on the training pitch or not I don’t know but I’m not convinced. Far from it in fact.

Iwobi, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan are frustrating players, purely because they do little to close down the opposition or win the ball back. Kolasinac too because when he first arrived he looked the real deal yet now, he looks half the player he was. Saying that, three of the four were involved in our winning goal.

In the middle of the park we rarely win an ariel battle, or in opposition box I hasten to add. There appears to be little if any urgency in the way we play, no speed, no dynamic ball play. It’s darn right frustrating to watch. We were bossing the second half as far as possession goes but we weren’t really ever in total control, not even at 2-1 up.

I thought Bellerin was excellent yesterday, certainly going forward but had he not been one of the many surrounding the Bournemouth penalty area, perhaps he’d have tracked his player before their equaliser. As Lichtsteiner said on his Arsenal arrival, he likes to get down the wing but he knows when to defend. Something Bellerin needs to learn in my opinion.

Torriera too had another great game so it was little surprise to see him pick up the man of the match award. Just hope his going off was down to air miles and nothing else.

As for the rest, in fits and starts they did what they had to do but this squad needs more Torriera’s and less Iwobi’s/Mkhitaryan’s imo, certainly on days like yesterday.

Anyway, three points in the bag so I guess that’s something to be content with but if we want a top four spot, we simply must sort out this first half performance issue we have.

Next it’s our Europa fixture on Thursday evening. Win that one and we can forget about the competition until the New Year.

 

 

rico

29 thoughts on “Arsenal frustrate yet again but get the job done. Just!”

  1. allezkev says:

    Morning Gooners.
    Morning Rico.

    Yes, I agree with Scott (which is worrying 😉) Emery has done a great job so far with a dysfunctional squad, he still has a few to move on and given the next three transfer windows I’m sure he’ll do that.

    He’s getting the maximum he can from players who in reality don’t fit his plan, but the fact that we’ve gone 17 games unbeaten is down to him and his coaches.

  2. rico says:

    Morning Kev, I’m with Scott too. I never thought we’d be fifth right now but this squad needs sorting next summer imo and I re ion it will be. That and the following summer..

  3. allezkev says:

    Starting with this January window Rico, despite Raul saying that he doesn’t like it, Emery can’t afford to waste it.

    Mkhitarayan to China is an interesting development, if true, at least we’d get a fee for him which would go some way to compensating for the absurd lack of management that led to the millions we’ve lost on Alexis and Ramsey.

  7. potter says:

    You would like to get them on a slow boat to China all to theirselves alone.

    Sorry about that !

    Anyone with a degree of sense knows that it’s going to take time and that the way we are playing is kind of Wenger plus. The plus being a spirit and desire that was sadly lacking before. I think Emery has decided that Ozil is a luxury player that doesn’t fit his plans whilst Ramsey is a worker that doesn’t shirk his responsibilities on the pitch , which is why he uses him as a sub because he can rely on the required effort . Just a thought if Ozil was to go , I wonder if Ramsey’s offer would be upgraded ? ?
    There are glaring mistakes being made every game and he has to decide who can or cannot improve to the standard and style he wants. I think Tottenham will be only his 20th game , So to expect the finished article is way off beam. . I expect a struggle for the next few league matches and we have to hope that the teams above us have sticky periods too so that we can keep in touch .Looking at the table a win against united is probably more important than next week and a draw against the Totts would be a good result which would widen the gap between us and those behind.
    I truly expected a 6th / 7th place this season , so as far as I can see we are on course but with a long way to go.

  10. rico says:

    A few, yes Potter. Lol

    I know my post was critical but I’m not daft enough to realise that things are improving, especially the attitude of many of the players. Even Redknapp said our soft touch label is a thing of the past.

    That was the biggest challenge for Emery imo and he’s succeeded a lot quicker than I thought he would.

    I’m right behind Emery and co, just in case anyone wonders… 😆

  11. Cicero says:

    Good day to you all. Three points in the bag and the unbeaten run extended, so we must be doing something right.

    We really must be a bit more pragmatic when it comes to game management. One nil up with minutes to go to half-time and, as Rico says, we have eight of our players in or around the Bournemouth penalty box with our back door wide open. Surely the time to slow the game down, retain possession and preserve the lead.

    The same applies to the final seconds of the match, two one up, the game all but won and we risk giving two points away. Again, it was time to retain the ball not charge forward in the hope of getting a third goal.

    In the first half of matches we seem to be happy playing keep ball amongst the back four, waiting for the opposition to get bored and go chasing it. This is exactly what we should have been doing in the final few minutes, just running the clock down.

    We played a back three with two wingbacks, on Sunday, but both of them went bombing forward at every opportunity, surely one or other of them should stay back particularly as neither Mustafi or Sokratis are exactly greyhounds when it comes to pace. What’s more Holding joined in the stampede, when we were two one up, leaving acres of space behind him.

    There needs to be a bit more discipline. A bit more streetwise.

  13. Marinello says:

    Great post Rico. I agree with everything that you said.
    Bournemouth had many chances to win the game, but somehow we rode our luck and held on for the 3 points.
    I noticed the ‘Iwobi’ error that led to their goal……
    I did not think that we would be where we are now, at the beginning of the season, and as you say, that is down to Emery and the coaches.

  15. rico says:

    Thanks Marinello, good to see you back.

    Yep, Emery and co are doing, they should only get better too once they add more players of their own choice.

  16. scottfromoz says:

    Morning all.
    Rico and Kev, your standards are dropping 🙂 🙂
    Players not concentrating enough to realise that last few minutes before the whistle blows is when teams are most vulnerable is really down to them as individuals.
    They ought to know better and whilst it’s obvious Emery needs to drive the message home to them, they shouldn’t need to be told.
    The biggest change is the edge our players have-well, most of them.
    No doubt that we are not the soft touch we’ve been for years and that in itself goes along way to winning games.

  27. scottfromoz says:

    Great to know Kozzer is back.
    I’ve always thought he’s one of the best CB’s around so I’m hoping he gets back to his best.
    We can use him 🙂
    Rico, either you two have stepped up or I have-either way, we are all stuffed hahahahaha

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