Morning all.
We go again and this is how our season will continue all the time we’re in all four competitions. Winning against Brentford was an excellent result. Mikel Arteta gave a lot of minutes to most of the players who so far this season, have had limited time on the pitch. The Spaniard bigged up Reiss Nelson during his press conference, acknowledging the fact that he’s now looking solid after a spell of picking up injuries. It’s been similar for ESR but both showed what they have on Wednesday night. Desire, willingness and directness in their style of play. Add in speed to Nelson’s game too, something we miss when Gabriel Martinelli is out. Anyway, it’s great to see them both back in the mix.
Today we face a Bournemouth team yet to win a game. Don’t be fooled though as their opening fixtures have been against Liverpool, Brighton, Brentford, Totts, West Ham and Chelsea.
Bournemouth are managed by Spaniard Andoni Iraola, a man born not far from Mikel Arteta. Two old teammates, two current mates who for 90-100 minutes, will put friendship aside and go for broke. Ok, three points.
Declan Rice, William Saliba and Bukayo Saka have been spotted arriving in Bournemouth along with the rest of the squad – a big boost if all three are 100% but if they’re not, at least Mikel Arteta has plenty of options in reserve. Summer signing Tyler Adams could make his debut.
Bournemouth will make a late decision on the fitness of Dominic Solanke, who picked up an injury in midweek but Chris Mepham, Lloyd Kelly, Alex Scott and Emiliano Marcondes remain out.
Talking tactics – Adrian Clarke:
The Cherries are busy creating a new tactical identity under the guidance of highly rated Spanish head coach Andoni Iraola. His preferred formation is a 4-2-3-1, and their approach is now centred around creating turnovers via aggressive, coordinated pressing all over the pitch.
While this switch in style remains a work in progress, we have already seen a huge upturn in the number of times Bournemouth regain possession in advanced areas. Inside the final third they are now ranked 5th for regains compared to 19th last term. Scoring twice from high turnovers, they will press with hostility.
Iraola wants his players to get touch tight and is happy to encourage them to follow people into different areas of the pitch. At times his central defenders will track a striker into midfield, or we may see central midfielders press out wide or high up the pitch. This style can suffocate teams that want to play out from the back, but it also leaves holes which can be potentially exploited. Bournemouth’s high defensive line has been exposed on several occasions.
The style of play of Bournemouth is very similar to that of Totts. Press from the front, force errors when they can but can be vulnerable to a breakaway because of the gaps at the back. Mikel Arteta’s team did the hard work against Totts last week but when it came to taking their chances, the opportunities went begging. A more ruthless performance up front and we’d have taken maximum points. Yes, a mistake by Jorginho allowed Totts to nick a point but had our forwards been more clinical, that mistake might not have been as relevant at it ended up being.
I expect I’m not the only Arsenal fan desperate for Kai Havertz to score a goal, in hope that after his first, the floodgates open for him but let’s not kid ourselves, he’s not the only player who needs to score more goals. Our two so called strikers could certainly do a lot better.
I watched some highlights of Bournemouth’s last home game which was against Chelsea and how it ended 0-0 I don’t know. Chelsea hit the woodwork three times, had a goal ruled out for offside and Bournemouth too had plenty of opportunities to score.
Bournemouth might be sat one place above the relegation zone but I think their position might be misleading. A small stadium, fans close to the pitch, all positive because of this new era under Iraola – I think it’s going to be a tough challenge for Mikel Arteta’s players. It’s a shame the game is not being televised because on paper it could be a cracker.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico,
From the money spent on the squad over the last few seasons we should have the quality, even with our present crop of injuries, to brush aside low achieving teams like Bournemouth. That’s not to say they should be disrespected or taken lightly but we should have the confidence to play our game and not get tied up in knots with apprehension.
Incidentally, Barcelona are said to be interested in signing Kai Havertz in January.
Tomorrow’s WSL game at home to Liverpool is live and free on FA player.
I’ve just signed up to FA Player, it’s dead simple, even I did it in less than five minutes, AND IT’S FREEE!
Morning Cicero, have to say I agree with your theory but, this is Arsenal we’re talking about. Big money spent but far from convincing imo.
I’ve just signed up too. 😆
afternoon all!
Watching Villa – Brighton . 3-0 at the moment
Waiting for Arsenal
Wiil we meet later
Surprise score in that match Jm.
Lens then Man City following today . So the juggling begins . Do we go for the points today or do we risk them and run the chance of a City loss and finding ourselves mid table .
I feel he has to be aware that it may well only be three points from the next two and should try to guarantee them today and let the second game sort itself out . saving players in the hope that we beat City may well be a false hope and we stand the chance of nothing.
Lens are close to the bottom of their league 13th out of 18 , 1 point above the relegation places although they sneaked a 1 nil last match on Friday against Strasbourg who are 6th. So far Lens have played 7 scored 7 and let in 12.
Bournemouth is probably the more tricky game and as they say .1 game at a time.
Has to be one day and one game at a time as far as the PL goes imo. Beating City is just a dream I think and probably impossible so just forget them. Lens too for today.
Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Saka, Nketiah, Jesus.
Villa 5 – 1 Brighton into added time.
Make that 6 – 1.
Afternoon Rico and all.
Except for Havertz it looks a good selection, should be a good game.
AVL 6 v’s BHA 1 full time
Not sure what game JM was watching. 😉
A much stronger team than predicted,perhaps today Kai will get on the scoreboard.If we’re looking for a striker Ollie Watkins looks pretty good.
COYG
Getting bored with all this back passing
Nice lead at half time, we look much better when we attack the goal than all this back passing
Two nil up, header by Saka and Odegaard with a penalty.
Still bored Geoff? 😉
Cicero, still bored with all this back passing, if we attacked our goal more I reckon we could be leading by more than 2 goals
Havertz has broken his duck with a penalty 3 – 0 now, Saka off with an injury.
Ben White makes it 4 – 0 full time.q
Finally we killed off a match, and a clean sheet.
Wolves beat man city
One at a time and that’s the first one done . If Scousers beat Totts tonight they go top.
I’m going to watch the Liverpool game.
As for our game: a) Nketiah must have played the best game of the season b) Odegard should have been substituted c) Saliba was somewhat physically hurt which was noticeable in the game he played d) Smith Row seems to have the coach’s trust back e) Harvaerts is being “poked” to see if he “wakes up”, plays and gains confidence. However, in my opinion, he continues to be in the same mediocrity f) New injury to Saka. We’ll see if it holds up g) There was only one yellow card in the game and it went to Arsenal. It’s difficult to understand, especially with 2 penalties. For example, towards the end of the game, Jesus was tackled and taken down in a 1-on-1 duel in which he could have been isolated, but the ball remained at Arsenal and the referee, well, didn’t stop the game. (Smith was almost scoring a goal). However, the fact that he did not commit the foul does not mean that he cannot be punished with disciplinary action against the Bournemounth player. In other words: it cannot and should not benefit the offender.
As for Lens, be careful: it is growing and the rating says little.
Nice to come home to a 4-0 win.
Nice touch to give Havertz a spit kick, thank goodness he scored. 😆
Well done Wolves…
Great result at Selhurst Park too.
1-1 at Totts.
One nil up against ten men and Liverpool get an added time equaliser, typical Spursy dare I say?😉
Wish I’d had a small bet on Havertz to score,in fact you could have got long odds on Havertz and White both scoring.Great win though
If there are any doubts about Saka perhaps he should sit out Tuesdays game,or be on the bench.
I didn’t see the Man City result coming.
Agreed, leave Saka at home, anyone else slightly feeling off colour too.. Not worth it! Not now we know how to beat City.. lol
Yep definitely Spursy, it took an own goal to gift them a win against nine man Liverpool.
Very tight at the top now. City only one point ahead of Spurs (2nd) and Arsenal (3rd) both on goal difference 9. Spurs ahead of us on goals scored 17 against 15. Liverpool fourth by one point.
Next week’s game is going to be massive.
Just watched MOTD, Question PGMOL incompetent or corrupt ?
Man city have lost 2 matches in a row, I admit one is a mickey mouse cup, but it has shown Arteta and co, how to play Man C.
I was happy for Havertz goal, got to admit until it went into the goal, I was holding my breath and praying.
The score line may have helped, but I reckon that was the best I have seen Arteta use the interchange.
Human error Potter, according to head of PGMOL Howard Webb. It’s happening too often and it seems nothing is being done to put things right.
An apology makes everything ok eh! Not! I’m still bitter about the offside against Brentford. Klopp must be furious. Perhaps these officials should be fined for mistakes, money usually focus the mind.
New post up