AFC Bournemouth (0) 0 Arsenal (2) 4

Premier League
Vitality Stadium (Dean Court), Kings Park, Bournemouth BH7 7AF
Saturday, 30th September 2023. Kick-off time: 3.00pm

(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Kai Havertz; Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus.

Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith-Rowe, Jakob Kiwior, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leandro Trossard, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny.

Scorers: Bukayo Saka (17 mins), Martin Ødegaard (44 mins, penalty), Kai Havertz (53 mins, penalty), Ben White (90+3 mins)

Yellow Cards: Kai Havertz
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 58%

Referee: Michael Salisbury
Assistant Referees: Constantine Hatzidakis, James Mainwaring
Fourth Official: Sam Allison
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR David Coote; AVAR Nick Greenhalgh

Attendance: 11,379

We travel to AFC Bournemouth on the south coast today, hoping to make it seven unbeaten matches in a row. Unfortunately, Gabriel Martinelli is not fit to play this afternoon, but Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Leandro Trossard were assessed before the game by our coaching staff to ascertain as to whether they can play today, and all three were passed fit, thankfully.

A very steady start by our chaps (playing in lime green today), but the home side have shown early attacking threats through Marcus Tavernier. Gabriel Jesus slotted a beautiful ball into the path of Kai Havertz, whose left-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area was blocked by a Cherries’ defender, and almost immediately we were in a bit of trouble when a snap Dominic Solanke shot went narrowly wide of David Raya’s post.

After just seventeen minutes, we took the lead when Martin Ødegaard’s superb curling ball into the penalty area was headed back off the woodwork by Gabriel Jesus, with Bukayo Saka the first Arsenal player on hand to pounce onto the rebound to head the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net for his first away goal in the Premiership this season.

The home side retaliated, with Marcus Tavernier attempting a clever through ball, but Max Aarons was easily caught offside by the linesman. Oleksandr Zinchenko’s superb left-footed shot from the left hand side of the penalty area was saved by goalkeeper Neto, and just after Declan Rice passed an accurate pass into the path of Oleksandr Zinchenko which was saved by the Cherries’ goalie, play was stopped briefly because of an injury to Neto.

Kai Havertz received our first yellow card of the afternoon for a silly foul on Philip Billing, and a few minutes’ later, Eddie Nketiah’s great attempt to score from the centre of the penalty area was blocked by the Bournemouth defence.

Three minutes before the break, Eddie Nketiah was brought down in the penalty area; referee Michael Salisbury pointed to the spot with no hesitation, and our captain easily scored with a left-footed shot to the bottom left-hand corner of the net to double our lead. In injury time, Max Aarons passed a ball to Philip Billing on the edge of our penalty area, but his shot was easily blocked by our defence, and just after a Dominic Solanke effort that wide of David Raya’s post, the referee blew the whistle for the half time hiatus.

Just after the second half started, a clever Bukayo Saka left-footed shot from the right-hand side of the six-yard box was just about saved by Neto in the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, and shortly afterwards, an Oleksandr Zinchenko shot from just outside the penalty area was blocked by the Cherries’ defence.

We were continually pressurising the home side, and just eight minutes after the restart, after a bad Ryan Christie foul on our captain, Kai Havertz scored his first Arsenal goal of the season when he sent Neto the wrong way after striking the penalty kick firmly and accurately to score our third goal of the afternoon.

We were controlling the game really well now, with some excellent dominant play, particularly in the midfield area. With twenty minutes of the game remaining, probably with one eye on the Champions League game against RC Lens on Tuesday evening, Mikel Arteta made a couple of substitutions with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Reiss Nelson replacing Oleksandr Zinchenko and Eddie Nketiah.

The home side were still attempting to score, but every time that any of them get in a position to shoot, one of our defenders was always on hand to block the shot.

With fifteen minutes of the match left to play, Bukayo Saka limped off the pitch with an injury to be replaced by Fábio Vieira, which is extremely concerning, to say the least. Fábio Vieira was immediately in the thick of it, providing a great ball for Gabriel Jesus, whose shot flew past Neto’s post.

With less than ten minutes of the match remaining, Emile Smith-Rowe and Jorginho replaced Declan Rice and Kai Havertz, and still we came forward, hunting for more goals. Reiss Nelson slotted the ball to Emile Smith-Rowe, whose right-footed shot from the centre of the penalty area was saved by Neto in the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.

In the third minute of injury time, we grabbed our fourth goal of the afternoon when Martin Ødegaard crossed the ball for Ben White to head the ball home from a free kick out on the right wing. Just after a superb Emile Smith-Rowe shot that was saved by Neto, referee Michael Salisbury blew his whistle to bring matters to a conclusion.

A very good day at the office indeed. With fifty-eight per cent possession, fifteen shots on goal (eight on target) and four goals, we have not only deserved the victory, but our second place in the Premiership table is well earned, however brief that may be. All in all, a satifactory afternoon, with the only bad point being Bukayo Saka’s injury. Let us hope that it is a minor injury and that he will be back in action soon, but we will have to wait and see for some news from the coaching staff. Well done, chaps.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: RC Lens at Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Tuesday, 3rd October at 8.00pm(Champions League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon

https://twitter.com/SheWore/status/1707830557839688002

Bournemouth away.

The injuries are piling up for The Arsenal with Thomas Partey, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber all missing training this week due to issues.

Eight players injured is a concern this early in the season, and questions have been asked of our conditioning. But Arsenal are not the only ones with a bit of an injury crisis.

There are 127 players currently listed as injured, an average of 6.35 players per club. So our 8 players out is only a smidgen above the average.

I do wonder why there are so many injuries so early in the season.

Is it the American pitches that many clubs did pre-season on? Is it the shorter summer break due to last winters World Cup and the very late international fixtures that saw players still playing in mid June? Is it the extra injury time players are now playing? Or is it jusr a coincidence? I am sure the Twitter experts amongst you will have your opinion.

Bournemouth have 6 players out, so for me, injuries is not really an excuse if we fail to win today.

Our injuries do give Mikel Arteta a headache as to who starts today.

To build our expected starting XI, you are best off starting with those regulars that are fully fit: David Raya, Ben White, Gabriel, Olexsandr Zinchenko, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus. Those 6 will be joined by Eddie Nketiah and Kai Havertz.

Some of Arteta’s problems might be solved if Vieira and Saliba shake off their knocks.

On the pair, Arteta said yesterday:  ‘William had a knock, and Fabio (Vieira) wasn’t involved in the last game, so we have to assess them today to see how they are.’

If both pass the fitness test, then I would expect to see:

Raya
White Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko
Jorginho
Vieira Odegaard Havertz Jesus
Nketiah

If they are both ruled out, that is when the headaches begin for Arteta.

Starting with Saliba, Arteta’s best option may be to move Ben White into centre back and play Takehiro Tomiyasu at right back. I am sure this would have been the plan pre-season when we opted not to sign another central defender.

I have just remembered White was wide and Tomi central mid-week against Bournemouth so Arteta will probably opt for that.

If Vieira is out injured, it will probably be either Reiss Nelson or Emile Smith Rowe that comes in. Both played v Brentford and the current injury issues shows how important it is to give these fringe players game time in England’s 3rd competition.

Another concern for Arteta is what game changers he has on the bench. He has recently spoken about having “game finishers” on the bench – players held back who can come on with 30 minutes to go and make a difference whether we are attacking or defending a lead.

Arteta might opt to leave Nketiah on the bench and play Jesus through the middle. The wingers then being both Smith Rowe and Nelson.

There is also a crazy thought that Jakub Kiwior might go into left back, Zinchenko into midfield and Havertz on the bench. That will allow Arteta to call on both Havertz and Nketiah for that final 30 minutes.

I am a rugby man, so I get the finishers ideology made famous by Eddie Jones. But I would be concerned if keeping a couple of players back weakens us too much. With so many injuries, we are best off playing our strongest XI and going hard and fast. Try and win the game inside 60 minutes and then we can make some subs to protect players for Tuesday.

Predicted starting XI:

Raya
White Tomiyasu Gabriel Zinchenko
Jorginho
Nelson Odegaard Havertz Jesus
Nketiah

Up The Arsenal

Keenos

https://twitter.com/SheWore/status/1708004347966091576

Over the weekend, a question was posed in a WhatsApp group I am in: By asking to sign David Raya, has Mikel Arteta created a problem we did not need?

Before I share my opinion, spend a couple of minutes listening to what Thierry Henry has to say on the matter. You will struggle to disagree with the great man…

Spot on from Thierry pic.twitter.com/f1p1Mx05Bf

— 🎗 ///SHE WORE/// 🎗 (@SheWore) September 23, 2023

Henry is absolutely spot on with his assessment. So if you want, stop reading the blog now and just share that tweet. But I thought I would add my add my tuppence worth…

History repeating itself

We signed Aaron Ramsdale in August 2021. Many expected him to be 2nd choice keeper behind Bernd Leno following Emiliano Martinez’s departure.

Ramsdale would sit on the bench for 2 games before making his club debut in the League Cup. Following the first international break of the season, the Englishman would become Arsenal’s number one. By the end of the season Leno would depart for Fulham.

David Raya would spend the first 3 games of his Arsenal career warming the bench and then, following the first internal break of the season, would take the number one shirt from Ramsdale.

Mikel Arteta felt that Ramsdale was better suited to the way he wanted to play than Leno, and was proved correct. If he now thinks that Raya is a level above Ramsdale, that is something we should support.

Manchester City

Sometimes it feels like we are imitating Manchester City. Pep Guardiola makes a move, and then Arteta replicates it.

Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City in the summer of 2016. One of his first moves was to replace popular keeper Joe Hart with Barcelona number one Claudio Bravo – the Chilean cost City £17m.

The feeling was the Hart’s strength was not with the ball at his feet and he was not suited to the sweeper-keeper role that Guardiola liked to use – his keepers at Barcelona and Bayern Munich had been Victor Valdes and Manuel Nueur.

Guardiola considered Bravo to be more suitable to his preferred style of play in the same way that Arteta looked to upgrade Leno with Ramsdale.

One year after signing Bravo, Guardiola bought in Ederson.

The Brazilian was 24-years-old and had just a handful of seasons playing in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. He had only established himself as Benfica’s number one the previous year. Ederson had not yet been capped for Brazil when he joined City.

Guardiola almost immediately made Ederson hus number one, with the more experienced Bravo becoming number two.

City had finished the 2016 season in 3rd. Guardiola clearly felt that Ederson could take his team from all-rans to Champions. They won the 2017/18 Premier League title.

As Henry says, if Arteta believes that Raya takes us to the enxt level, than that is a decision we should support.

It worked for City, will it work for Arsenal?

Ramsdale is likeable

One of the issues is that Aaron Ramsdale is a likeable character.

Those who think Arteta has created a problem often give “Ramsdale does not deserve to be second choice”. They do not want to see him relegated to 2nd choice or depart at the end of the season.

What I would say is the ball is now in Ramsdale’s court as to where his career goes from here.

Henry talks about Jamie Carragher, and that everytime Liverpool bought a new centre back in it was a threat to Carra’s position. Each time, Carragher worked hard in training, improved, and retained or regained his place.

Ramsdale will have to work very hard in training and, when given the opportunity he will have to take it with both hands.

The alternative is Ramsdale does what Martinez did. He sulks and makes it clear that if he is not the first choice keeper he wants out. His departure from Arsenal will be his choice and his choice only.

The final option is that he decides he would rather be at a top club as second choice, then follow in Martinez’s footsteps and take a step down to a lower level to play regular football.

When Ederson came in, Bravo remained as 2nd choice for 3 seasons, playing 31 games. He won more than he would have had he departed.

But Bravo was 33-years-old at that point. Ramsdale is just 25.

Ramsdale will remain at Arsenal as 2nd choice for this season. It will then be down to him next summer whether he wants to stay as 2nd choice, fight for his place or seek first team football elsewhere.

Are goalkeepers different?

Any other position is fine but for me goalkeepers are different was the response when I pointed out that these questions are not asked elsewhre in the pitch.

As Henry said in the above video, you bring in a better striker than what you have, everyone embraces the competition rather than calls it out as a problem.

I remember when we signed Ian Wright whilst had Kevin Campbell coming through at the club. It was seen as a great move.

We signed Thierry himself when we already had Kanu and Dennis Bergkamp at the club, and that day before Henry signed we had recruited World Cup top scorer Davor Suker. Why recruit a failed French winger strugglng in Italy?

A year later, we added Ligue 1 top scorer Sylvain Wiltord to the ranks. Henry, Bergkamp, Kanu, Wiltord. 4 top strikers for 2 positions. No one complained then about Wenger creating a problem for himself.

Likewise, this summer we signed Declan Rice.

Thomas Partey was one of the best defensive midfielders in the league last season, but that did not stop the club spending £105m on Declan Rice.

When we signed Rice, no one saw it as causing a problem, or felt sorry for Partey. It was seen as signing a player better than what we had, and if Partey wanted to play he had to sort out his fitness and fight for his spot. The competition was considered a good thing.

Yes, I get the goalkeepers tend not to be rotated. They rarely need need to rested and it is highly unlikely they will be substituted after 60 minutes and a game won (Arteta’s quotes on this will be addressed another day!)

Like Henry, I do not think Raya has been signed to be rotated with Ramsdale. I think he is now our first choice keeper.

When did buying better than what you have create a problem? It is how you make your team better, stronger.

Final thoughts

In 1990, George Graham signed David Andrew Seaman from Queens Park Rangers. The highly popular Anfield hero John Lukic departed for Leeds United.

At the time, Graham was heavily criticised by fans for letting Lukic go – Seaman had been Lukic’s understudy at Leeds in his much younger days before being sold to fourth tier Peterborough United.

In an interview, Graham said: “I still think John Lukic is one of the best keepers in the country; I just think David Seaman is the best.”

Arsenal would go on to win the title in Seaman’s first season for the club, with Big Dave playing all 38 games. We would lose just once and concede a record low 18 league goals.

Seaman would go on to be Arsenal and England’s number one for the next decade, playing 564 times for us. George Graham would be proved right.

Keenos

We continue to grow our Arsenal inspired shin pads collection…

On the store are some fantastic bespoke artwork shin pads, as well as personalisable kit shin pads

NINE designs now available!! These come in 4 sizes so perfect for children and adults!https://t.co/K0MAsBNbcj pic.twitter.com/ahkJ81wdnf

— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) September 22, 2023