Bwayne Errz Dee Arse Positivistas*,
A fine morning up in Norfolk to start the week as we move into the final days of November. Not such a bad few weeks was it? Not all we wanted so far as points or performances go, and a couple of injuries that cast a bit of a pall, but an unbeaten month (so far), two wins and three draws, easily into the CL R16, three points off the top of the PL with two of the teams ahead due to clash on Saturday – not so dreadful is it?
Yesterday was a good game I thought. We started, and persisted for about 20 minutes, in a style that suggested we were going to slaughter the visitors. The early goal, pressure aplenty, the yellows for two Bournemouth bemused defenders, a large score and extremely comfortable kind of early afternoon beckoned.
And then ……….! Something, somewhere shifted, the metaphorical butterfly effect. Debuchy went off on 16 minutes – poor sod – but I don’t really know what “happened”. Suddenly the command we had of the contest slipped away, Bournemouth took possession of the ball and pinned us back, referee Jones obliged with a dubious decision to even the scores, tackles flew in hard, and from an easy afternoon suddenly we were locked in battle with a determined opponent and one that, for most of the remainder of the first half, looked more likely to score again than we did.
Whether Debuchy’s departure upset the back line is no doubt a point that AW is pondering this morning. Mathieu is hardly a regular so that his 15 minute cameo as the source of a nervous breakdown amongst his defensive colleagues seems implausible. Gabriel came on and immediately fitted in, not a natural right back but he has played there before. Most odd. It would be churlish however to not give the Cherries due praise for taking the initiative as it fell open. I have no idea what the simmering row is/was with Arter. He was the target of a couple of serious assaults and the perpetrator of a potential leg breaker on Monreal. I remember Arter and Le Coq squaring up last season so it may be a hangover from that. The boy needs to sort his head out.
Thank Gawd after half time Arsenal switched back on and put together as good as half as football as we have over the past month. Alexis was imperious all afternoon, not just the goals but his passing was really, really good. Granit and Mo, after a first half wobble, got on top of the Bournemouth midfield. Mo’s energy was exceptional, and Granit I see put in eight tackles. That is le Coq output from the Swiss. Good lad. Theo was not particularly sharp yesterday compared to earlier in the season but his goal scoring header was top quality. No complaints about Gabriel, he played well. And the one moment in the game we needed him our Cech made a decisive, almost point blank, save from Afobe. On such small moments are titles won, and/or lost. And finally, to relieve the pressure the third goal, a sweeping, fast passing goal, the visitors flattened and their defence opened up. Sanchez’s second tap-in of the afternoon, another late, late goal, a sweet finish.
For the visitors I was impressed with Nathan Ake – playing centre back but a good footballer – no doubt he will be cast off by Chelsea as superfluous to requirements. I shall keep an eye on the young Dutchman.
So that is about it today, just a short break before the next contest against the Saints who looked very useful against Everton yesterday in the late game. I fancy another exciting game on Wednesday night. And finally, for those who enjoy vigorous debate on football matters this caught my eye from this week’s Private Eye;
*I thought as our Chilean tiger has been making an effort to master the lingo we could join in. Next week we shall learn “Qué piensas de ……..” (trans. ‘What do you think of …..’)
Positively Arsenal 
The old fart’s thoughts:
An interesting game from many points of view. No less than 7 changes to the side played on Wednesday including Matt Debuchy for the first time in many months. It must have been heart breaking for Matt to go off with what appeared to be a hamstring after his very promising start. Some good tackles and well timed passes showed that he might well be back to his best. As a result of the changes our bench looked as strong as I can remember.
We started strongly and could have been a couple of goals to the good by time that two B’mouth players had gone into the book. But it did not take long for a dreadful back pass to be intercepted by Alexis who calmly put us ahead. Shortly after we were denied a penalty, Matt was subbed by Gabriel and B’mouth came right back into the game. Passing the ball well and gathering in confidence as they seemed to get away with more than a few dodgy tackles, they equalized from the spot when Mike Jones awarded them the softest penalty as Nacho collided with Wilson who took the kick himself. Petr went the wrong way again and Shkodran picked up a yellow for back chat.
That definitely put us on the back burner and we were lucky that two good chances were missed, especially one from less than 6 yards that flew over the bar with Petr helpless. We appeared to have lost control of the middle of the park. Fortunately the 1st half whistle arrived and embarrassment was spared.
The temporary woes of the first half disappeared as we took the field for the second. Shortly after we took the lead again after a bit of ping pong and the ball ran to Nacho who placed a perfect first time cross onto Theo’s head . Theo went rocking his baby to a very supportive crowd.
And then…back into our shell. Was it B’mouth picking up or our just switching off again? Maybe both. Whatever, Petr saved us again with an instinctive save and Jones made good for the first penalty awarded by denying a blatant hand ball from Nacho. He (Jones) was not having a good game. But, we held out, with Granit, Gabriel and Kos performing and scored the goal of the afternoon with Oz, Olly and Alexis combining to give Alexis a tap-in. Lovely goal and no defeats in November.
Now for the Saints in the league cup on Wednesday. Keep the faith
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You smashed it Andy, as a certain hairy armed sexual predator might say.
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Qué piensas de Arsenal FC?
Elle est manifique…
Likely french LOL
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Sure we lost a bit of confidence and cohesion in the first half but that pales into utter insignificance compared with the potentially match changing bad decisions made in both penalty areas. Excepting poor Matt Debuchy’s injury that was the only real talking point of the first half.
Class told in the end though. Elneny really stepped up yesterday and Granit went about his work in a very quiet fashion but the stats suggest he did it efficiently. When he comes out of his shell and stamps his authority on the game the boy looks like he could be the real deal.
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theo may not have been as sharp in attack as he was earlier in the season but he certainly was sharp in defense, I really enjoyed him doing a good impression of Hector Bellerin, coming like the flash to by pass an attacker and put his body between player and ball, and laying it off to a team mate and running forward again. As Wenger said, Theo is now working for two.
gf60, the Mustafi push in the back was the clearest penalty, the Monreal one was as much ball to hand as hand to ball (but don’t ask TH14 to explain the rule, as that particular idiot pundit hasn’t a clue). I remember Cesc used to flick balls up onto defenders hands like that, and the media used to call it cheating when we were given a penalty for it.
On the subject of penalties, that is now two similar penalties given against us in our last two home games, similar as in the attacker just threw himself into the defender, goes down and ref can’t wait to reward cheating.
Xhaka’s stats for the game makes a mockery of Martin Keown and co’s ramblings, but anyone who seen Keown on MOTD2 yesterday Morning will have spotted that Keown had long before kick off decided the agenda with Xhaka, and his “analysis” of his performance v AFCB was already predetermined and probably well rehearsed. Another idiot pundit.
I see, despite the 3-1 win, many Arsenal players are coming in for stick from the uber bloggers and posters on certain sites. As is the norm on Arseblog, the comments section is full of Ramsey hate. Other blogs have targeted Xhaka(must be the keown effect) despite their demands he play, Ozil is the biggest name target, despite him being heavily involved in two of the goals, and being involved in a lot of our best moves, especially in the second half. Elneny for some has taken over from Ivan Gazidis in the “what do you do” stakes. I must also say that of course as is now the norm with regards our subs, Wenger is being faulted again, with one particularly idiot tweet I seen claiming “Wenger is the enemy of progression and his subs today proved it”, the taking off of Theo and OX and bringing on Rambo and Giroud was the proof. Never mind that we played our best attacking football once the changes were made. Of course this is passed off as being down to AFCB being tired or just plain luck.
It really does seem that some are determined to not enjoy Arsenal wins. I do wonder if it would be better for these sort, to not actually watch the game till after they know the score, and then whatever tension or stress or whatever causes their misery towards all things Arsenal will have been mellowed and they can relax the fuck and stop their tireless whinging.
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Eddie Howe said much the same Stew – a number of contentious decisions during the afternoon.
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The good old media and some Arsenal blogs, trying to distort Wenger’s words again. AW explained after the game that he had before the game thought of the possibility of Debuchy getting injured or not being able to complete the full 90 minutes, so he had narrowed it down between Gabriel and Coquelin as his choices from the bench. So what is the story there – Wenger had back up options, or maybe Wenger foretold Debuchy injury, or even Wenger had Debuchy fitness concerns before game. Any one of them would be reasonable, would they not. No the story made out of Wenger’s comments is – Jenkinson finished at Arsenal – Even Coquelin is ahead of Carl in the pecking order – Jenkinson sinks to new low – etc etc etc.
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Kelechi Nwakali was named man of the match as Maastricht beat Den Bosch 3-0. The lad has made an impressive start to his loan and it seems only a matter of time before he gains a full cap for Nigeria, which will aid his chances of a work permit here.
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reports that Arsenal are trying to get Gary Lewin to return to the medical team, he was our physio for 22 years before leaving in 2008 for a role with England
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Thanks Andrew, an easier write up for you from yesterday!
Must be said, this is not the first game where an eventual AFC victory has spared the ref’s blushes but as Stew said during the game, just because he was bad for both sides doesn’t really make it much better. No doubt some will say it all evened out in the end but there’s no doubt (in my mind at least) the whole game dynamic changed with the ludicrous penalty award. How the ref contrived to see a penalty from a tame dive-enhanced coming together yet failed to see the trip on Sanchez as he bore down on the opposition penalty box is beyond me. I actually think he was scared to make the call for Arsenal in either instance and that has something to do with Riley’s mob at Head Office – even if it’s instructing refs to avoid favouring the favourites/bigger sides.
Not long now until the introduction of Video Technology tackles these farces …
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3 points gratefully received all the rest is just white noise
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One change in the starting line up that surprised me was the absence of Ramsey. In my opinion he is our most creative central midfielder after Santi and if the Spaniard is going to be out for a few more games I assumed Aaron would be best equipped to take over. He is still getting back his fitness but against PSG he played well and the French side were more of a handful than Bournemouth. Perhaps AW is trying out each combination as well as ensuring everyone gets game time.
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I would think that the absence of Ramsey and Coquelin had plenty to do with a need to play Xhaka (to get him up to speed and keep him in the mix) and the seriousness with which AW views the next several fixtures which come thick and fast. I have no problem whatsoever with Howe or the Bournemouth fans (are they cherry pickers – or is that just the punditry when it comes to injustices they choose to highlight) feeling hard done by, or even for that matter Andy Nic who is admirably consistent on this issue, but I do find it hard to stomach so called Arsenal supporters who seem to relish any opportunity to play down a victory.
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It just seemed to me that for any player to really get a grip on the central midfield job you have to give them a run of games. Hopefully AR will be back on Wednesday.
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I didn’t get to watch this one live, instead making do with the DVR many hours after the final whistle. It’s amazing how things look different when you already know the outcome. That little first half wobble after the equalizer didn’t worry me at all (that was never a pen on Nacho). Our little Chilean Energizer Bunny was surely full of energy yesterday. I do love him so, but there are times when I think, ‘Alexis, let someone else play. You don’t have to go after every ball within 50 yards of you.’
I wasn’t surprised that Aaron didn’t start, as I noticed his conspicuous absence from training pictures on Friday. Two full 90 minute appearances in the week also made me think he might start this one on the bench. Interesting tidbit, though: he was spotted training alone (with one AFC trainer) on the pitch for a while after the game. 20 minutes not enough game time to get the blood really pumping, I guess. I don’t know if that’s a common practice, but I don’t recall ever hearing any talk of it before At any rate, it speaks to his drive to reach full fitness, and also seems to confirm the idea that they are managing him very carefully this season.
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eduardo @11.43
I don’t think that Kelechi Nwakali needs to play for Nigeria to secure a work permit. He is exactly like Kelechi Iheanacho i.e. MVP and winner of the U-17 world cup. He qualifies under “special(?) talents” route just like his namesake. I believe that he has been sent on loan to get playing time and experience.
Of course, I may be wrong.
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Rambo just back, the third start in a week not necessary with such strong CM options available?
Likewise not necessary to push Jenko too far (hardly played these past twelve months) for exactly the same reasoning with the opportunity available for the experienced and extremely unlucky M.Debuchy.
That above seems like a fair guess to me. AFC able to mildly rotate, like the Petrogarch funded squad at City.
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Well
We know Martinez is playing GK on Wednesday.
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As PG noted, the saints are no mugs and assuming they actually want to win this trophy they will field a very strong team.
Suggestion for a back line on Wednesday.
Ox or Ainsley M-N, (Jenks won’t play at West Ham?), Holding, Gabriel, Gibbs.
some midfielders.
Iwobi and Lucas up top.
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There are two Kelechi’s?
My head hurts.
How with PGMOL refs cope?
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on the subject of Ramsey being left out of starting 11, there are reports that he broke his toe before the man utd game, so played that game and psg game injured, and would still be injured.
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adrian clarke’s the breakdown – why xhaka and elneny partnership worked
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20161128/the-breakdown-bournemouth-h-
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Sniper @clockendsniper 4h4 hours ago
The ones that say ‘no excuses if we lose’ always seem to find excuses to why we won.
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THE 2 kelechis are not both at arsenal one is at Man City… Just drawing the parallel that both were MVP and winners of U-17 world cups and thus qualified for Permit under Special talent. Our Kelechi (Nwakali) was even team captain…
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Who has kidnapped Shotta ?
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I hope someone sends a link of adrian clarke’s breakdown of the afcb game to martin keown, he might learn something.
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we could not get a work permit for him during the summer, either the rules have changed, or once again we are being treated differently than some other clubs. His brother confirmed that we had to send him out on loan to a european club as part of our quest to get him qualification for a work permit in the future.
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depending on the fitness of lucas and giroud, and who will be our right back v west ham, i would not be surprised to see the following v southampton
Martinez
Jenkinson Gabriel Holding Gibbs
Coquelin Ramsey
Reine-adelaide Iwobi Oxlade-Chamberlain
Lucas
subs Ospina, Bielik, Bola, Maitland-Niles, Zelalem, C Willock, Mavadidi
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Ste Hoare @stehoare 20h20 hours ago
Big fan of The Express giving Alex Iwobi a 5 rating even though he didn’t play in the game.
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for the second time this season Manchester referee Anthony Taylor will take charge of a BPL game that involves one of the Manchester teams, this time the man city v chelsea game. PGMOL are making it up as they go along, maybe the shortage of refs from the south of england on their list is a problem
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Leicester City @LCFC 32s33 seconds ago
Arsenal XI: Keto, Johnson, Da Silva, Bennacer (c), Sheaf, Da Graca, Nelson, Zelalem, Nketiah, Dragomir, Willock.
subs: McGuane, Virginia, Malen, Mourgos, Bola
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going on that u23 team, Maitland-Niles, Reine-Adelaide and Mavadidi look to be in the EFLC squad.
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Bola and Bielik also look to be in the EFLC squad
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Leicester City @LCFC 1m1 minute ago
Goal. Arsenal 1 City 0 (Nketiah 13) – The hosts take the lead as Nketiah curls it round Iversen from just inside the area. #lcfcu23s
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Leicester City @LCFC 2m2 minutes ago
Half-time: City are behind at Arsenal by a solitary goal despite good opportunities for Mitchell and Muskwe in the opening 45. #lcfcu23s
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jose stuck in a kind of Arsenal November for last two seasons
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another CL team from one of the top leagues to drop points this weekend – Napoli, its almost as if its difficult to perform well twice a week
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Leicester City @LCFC 2m2 minutes ago
46 – Bramley replaces Iversen in goal for City as Debayo also makes way for Watts. For Arsenal, Bola is on for Bennacer. #lcfcu23s
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Arsenal FC @Arsenal 2m2 minutes ago
🔴 It’s that man again!
@EddieNketiah9 makes it 2-0 to #AFCU23 with a low, drilled finish across goal
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Leicester City @LCFC 53s54 seconds ago
Goal. Arsenal 3 City 0 (Nketiah 53) – The hosts score a third with Nketiah grabbing his hat-trick from close-range. #lcfcu23s
Nketiah scored his first goal at U23 level tonight, and celebrated by scoring a hattrick. The lad is a goal machine.
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Leicester City @LCFC 1m1 minute ago
68 – Johnson is replaced by McGuane for Arsenal. #lcfcu23s
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http://theblock5gooner.co.uk/will-safe-standing-work-at-arsenal/
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http://theblock5gooner.co.uk/will-safe-standing-work-at-arsenal/
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clips of both Nketiah’s first two goals can be viewed here
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ha ha ha, the very nice mr tony pulis ordered to pay crystal palace millions, couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-38136496
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Leicester City @LCFC 49s50 seconds ago
Full-time: City fall to a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal at Meadow Park courtesy of a hat-trick by Nketiah at Meadow Park. #lcfcu23s
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PGMOL drop Mike Jones after his awful performance in the AFC v AFCB game yesterday
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Orbinho @Orbinho Nov 27
The last time Arsenal’s club captain started a league match was 22 November 2014 – Arteta v Man Utd
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