Football has the power to bring people together in a unique way and we believe there should be no barriers to feeling a sense of belonging to Arsenal Football Club. This is something we will continually drive to create an inclusive atmosphere for our fans, staff, players and followers – whomever they are and wherever they’re from. – Ivan Gazidis.
Morning all.
I think we have something special and we want to develop it, take care of it and come back to what we love above all – winning the games. – Arsene Wenger
Well we haven’t won many matches of late but maybe that’ll change this afternoon against Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth who will of course be missing Jack Wilshere, the Arsenal midfielder who wants his parent club to lose. Well, that’s what he’s supposed to have told the media but deep down in his heart, of course he’ll want us to win. He’s a Arsenal fan, regardless of where he’s playing right now.
We’re on an 18 match run without a loss which on paper sounds great, but as we know, too many draws have been our downfall. In years gone by a point in our last match at Old Trafford would have been seen as a good result and considering the dreadful performance, maybe it was but snatching points is masking the real issue and that’s the way we are playing. No drive, little passion, no organisation and certainly no tempo. On top of that, we really are giving the opposition goalkeepers 90 minutes of peace and quiet.
Football is a simple game, it’s won by scoring goals and defending well but we haven’t been doing either, not really. And as the possession stats might seem to suggest we have an awful lot of the ball, what we do with it is not good at all. Yes we miss Santi but when was football a one man game? We have Elneny, Xhaka and Ramsey to name just three, any of whom if told what’s required of them, could surely fill the void well enough. Xhaka would be my choice because he’s strong and has a great eye for a pass and didn’t Arsene once suggest he’s a little bit like Petit, well play him and let’s see.
Bournemouth won’t be a easy opposition. Eddie Howe will be well prepared for this match and he has a few players who can hurt any side. Afobe is one according to Emiliano Martinez:
He’s very good. He’s very quick, likes to go behind the defenders and he’s got a really, really good first-time finish. I would say to Lolo and Mustafi to keep him really close.
Mind you, he’s only scored two goals so far this season but he’ll be hoping to do better against the manager who deemed him not good enough for Arsenal. Bournemouth don’t score many goals with their best tally being against Hull City, a side they thrashed 6-1 but other than that match, they seldom get more than one or two in a game and they’ve been on the end of a few nasty results too with City beating them 4-0, Utd 3-1 and Preston dumping them out of the EFL Cup. But they are 10th in the league, so are not to be taken lightly.
With Liverpool, City and Chelsea all winning yesterday, it’s important that we do the same, otherwise the gap between the three above us will start getting wider and we all know what happens when it does…
Arsene said he wants us to get back to winning ways, well the only way we’ll do that is with a better game plan and certainly a better execution of that plan…
Lets hope we get both…..
Thanks Rico.
It`s not a question of will we win, but a question of by how many ?…………..we could be up for trial for the gencide of a little seaside town club come 4:15pm !………all EPL scoring records should be broken…………………bet all your worldly goods on it !
Morning rico, LC, all. Hoping for a 2 goal margin win, if we don’t there can be no more excuses. We have ridden our luck recently, now time to start fast and control a game from start to finish.
Morning All
Morning Rico.
There are some very awkward questions that need asking about the state of our youth football, but nobody seems to want to address this thorny issue.
Is it because those interested parties are more concerned with not rocking the boat?
I mean the Football Association, are we really surprised that they weren’t ‘on the case’…
But what of the Football League?
And what of the Premier League?
And what about the PFA, were they all in the dark over the abuse, or didn’t they really care?!
Did Robbie Savage, Danny Murphy, Dario Gradi, Neil Lennon know anything? Or have they just sat on this all these years?
What about club owners, did they just turn the other way as long as the money rolled in…?
Football is like a village, it’s whole ethos is based around rumour and counter-rumour, and yet nothing…
Frankly the whole thing stinks….
I think that there should be a government led enquiry, even though successive governments have made a shit sandwich out of the current abuse inquiry….
I most certainly wouldn’t trust the FA or anyone in football, to run an internal investigation/cover-up/whitewash….
They’re are people inside the game that need to be punished, not just the perpetrators but those who allowed them to continue whilst they were engaged in their disgusting practices…
It makes me sick, but I have no confidence in the powers that be, in sorting this out…
And I have no confidence in the broadcast media or certain sections of the Press, in chasing them up as all they’re concerned with is the EPL gravy train…
Sorry about the sermon….
But it’s really been bugging me…
As far the game today Rico, I would start Xhaka and Ramsey as today’s game should a football match, I’m really looking forward to it…
Alexis back up front for me, Giroud on the bench.
Walcott and Iwobi either side, I’d got for a fluent attack…
I’d also keep Gibbs in the team, he did well against PSG…
Watching Watford-Stoke (o-1 at the moment)
Then, Arsenal.
Hope we win clearly.
Afternoon Kev, Andrew and all..
That’s my Christmas shopping done and dusted… 🙂
Now for three points and a great performance from the boys…
Arsenal XI: Cech, Debuchy, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Xhaka, Elneny, Walcott, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis
Arsenal substitutes: Ospina, Gibbs, Gabriel, Coquelin, Ramsey, Iwobi, Giroud
Debuchy back 😳
Afternoon Rico and all….
Rico,shall i spent the next few days in waiting on the postie?…lol
Afternoon Bt, I won’t.. 😉
Silly me, I thought you meant Sanogo Bt… lol
That would be a long wait Rico…lol
? BT..
On a plate for Alexis…
Kitchen ceiling down , so bacon sarnie and the match, tidy up after.
Have to feel sorry for Debuchy, he’d started pretty well…
What a couple of shocking decisions from Jones…
Referee stitch up ?
Ref wants Bournemouth to win this
Gabriel scares me every time he gets the ball.
Theo not following his runner
Giving them too much room
He does me too Lewis..
Losing the game in midfield. Which is quite embarrassing considering their midfield.
Bournemouth have had twice amount of possession and attempted shots. We really are poor.
Giroud on!
Casa must appear much more
As poor as we are you can’t excuse refereeing like this.
How Bournemouth are ‘outpressing’ us baffles me. Arsenal players are really a lazy bunch…and it’s at the Emirates!!
We are letting them play. Ozil had a two weeks break and is the slowest out there
Wenger has clearly told Xhaka to stop shooting from distance…
Ozil”s lack of commitment driving me mad. No attempt to win the ball in their area
This ref is dreadful.
But was probably a penalty.
Se must be carefulli with the cards.
Typical Sky ignoring the judo throw on Ozil before the penalty. Thierry Henry acting like a complete knobhead by agreeing with the spud Redknapp.
Agree Bob.
That was a crunching tackle from Gabriel, loved it.
Oh, nice header daddy lol
lucky to get away with that
and that
that’s that then . 3points let’s go home
Nothing’s easy for Arsenal but 3 points and another terrific Sanchez performance. What a shame crossbar prevented hatrick.
A totally different team in the second half, the arsenal that we wanted to see. Goodbye November I won’t miss it.
Theo was right in his interview, in patches we were really good. But those patches need to be bigger. Second half much better, and Gabriel grew as the game went on. Credit to him..
Alexis, superb.
but, was a clear a penalti against us on the 2nd half by Monreal…
Xaxa must appear much more in the team.
Debuchy off again from a long period?
Giroud out too?
Jones missed a push by Mustafi too in the box….
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “We got better during the game but Bournemouth played well. They started with a high intensity. We had to improve our level in the second half and we did.
Well I don’t agree .We were distinctly average yet again and Sanchez always gives 100% and is a class abobe.At least Walcott was at the right place to nod the ball home.I look at the team and very few stand out as really good players,Granit had a good second half and Cech’s point blank save made a huge difference, but we just aren’t the team that destroyed an under par Chelsea
.Stats can mislead and IMO we really are hanging on to 4th place.Gabriel was not meant to be at right back, monreal is on a dip,Elnery isn’t first team quality,Ramsey as a sub I recall made one good pass.Axe for Bournemouth was as good a defender as any on the pitch.Something is wrong.AW can’t say it is difficult after CL games,surely he would have learnt after 17 seasons in it. I really am not optimistic and I still think he doesn’t know his best team.Debuchy,that was sad.his future must be in doubt.Finally bad referee decisions throughout the match
Harsh for me Kelsey- we weren’t great overall but at times we showed what we can do.
Having played so poorly recently, this was a tiny step forward imo, but yes, there’s a lot to be improved on and hopefully it will.
Elneny did well for me, as did the Ox. Thought Gabriel did well considering- he improved as the game went on..
Dreadful ref…
Just watching now. Have seen Theo’s goal, glad to see he rocked the baby in celebration! Who’d have thought he’d do that?
Good win…..at last!
Inevitable Wavy.. ?
Night guys….
Not quite the record score line I predicted, but beggars cant be choosers !. 🙂
Great to see Moronho sent off to stands and drop two points…hee hee hee.
Still in the mix with some less than convincing performances, but hey !……keep winning and I`ll settle for that !
Mansour City Vs Chavs next week so something has to give…,..that`s make WHam an opportunity not to be missed given their erratic form and given that the bastards above are currently not dropping anything every game becomes a MWG or at least a pressure game………well, unless the bastards lose ! 🙂
Are the November fixtures over? Is it safe to come out from behind the couch? Is Maureen still a dipstick?
Kelsey @ 5:33 re Elneny is not first team material. Really, did you watch the entire game or just the highlights? He’s one of those players, that is so sublime that most people miss how efficient he is. For starters the motor on the guy is incredible and he just don’t run around just to run around.
Morning Rico and the house
I thought Elneny was very good yesterday… A bargain for £5 million.
Agree regarding Gabby, jenkinson is an accident waiting to happen
Morning all. It’s always a brighter Monday especially when we win during the weekend.
Special mention to Elneny too. What a player, he hustled our opponents from every side of the pitch. He’s our proper ‘engine’. Xhaka forward passes are what we missed. I like this Elneny-Xhaka combo. And one cost us ‘pennies’!
Morning Mg, Marshall and all.
Eleney and Xhaka could be very very good the more they play together. Elneny was smart yesterday…
I quite like Bournemouth’s centre-back, ‘Ruud Gullit’….. 😉
Morning Rico and all. I think that’s Ake, Rico. He was on Chelsea’s books for years and might still be.
Funny old game yesterday. Poor to average atmosphere again.
Morning Adam, it is Ake, love his hair… 😉
Sounded like a good atmosphere on the TV…
Just googled him, he is on loan from Chelsea, what a shame…
I think he has been on loan for a while. As for the atmosphere, they probably used some canned cheering.
As a team we are still like the Curate’s egg for me.
Since 2010.
I know what you mean – if only the good would be more and the bad, far less….
The crowd did get going where the ref was concerned though. 🙂
Yes, and the Totts songs…
New post up now.