Most fans would say that Arsenal didn’t play very well yesterday against Bournemouth, but considering that we were playing a team just below us at their own ground to come away with all three points is still something to be proud of, especially as it conserves our long unbeaten run. It was particularly impressive that we came back from conceding the equalizer just before half-time which would have usually seen a few heads drop.
As Emery explained after the game: “The result is very important, but we spoke in the dressing room at half-time after they’d scored and the process is in our mentality also. The result is very important and we went up 1-0, but they scored so we needed to keep calm and continue our control, which is getting better on the pitch.
“I think we knew this was a difficult stadium and a difficult team, and they were four points behind us, and it was an important game for them to be near us. I am very happy with how the players and fans supported and pushed us today. The control over the 90 minutes with keeping calm in a lot of moments was very important in this victory.
“Today is 17 matches unbeaten, but in the last three matches we drew and it is not enough for us, for our mind, for our objective – and today, to win, we were speaking during the week about how important it was to win, and that it is very difficult. It was a big moment for us.”
We can’t underestimate how important it was for us to win this game, with the Spuds coming up next week and to keep us in touch with the leaders.
It may not have been pretty, but it’s an excellent result all the same….
Sam P
Great win yesterday, like Ive said before, it doesn’t matter how well the team plays as long as we leave the field with 3 points. Iwobi very instrumental in both goals, grabbing an assist to an assist. Not his best performance but we can all see the improvement. I expect him to retain his position next week because ozil clearly won’t match the intensity of spurs if bournemounth was considered tough for him.
Please may I ask people who do not like what I am about to say , NOT to take my comments as a personal insult and hit the roof with personal abuse. I respect all our fans and their opinions. What follows is merely my opinion. I believe that Spurs will beat us next week, based mostly on two simple truths. Firstly, they have a far better team and squad than us and I suggest that only Torreira and possibly Laca would make their starting eleven in a joint eleven. I watched both our and Spurs games this weekend and Spurs performed way ahead of us, with far more intensity,artistry and solidity in defence. Second, in local derbies any home advantage is usually diluted and so I believe we will be second best. Of course I passionately hope to be wrong and I may well be , as football predicting is a risky business. I would add that in assessing matches to come, I manage to totally put out of my thinking all personal bias and wishes. CAN YOU ALL SAY THE SAME? HONESTLY NOW? I fully understand and share the tribal nature of supporting any team and I have nothing against that, so long may it remain. BUT honesty is also important and what I find intensely frustrating is that so many fail to use their heads, only their hearts, when assessing our chances. This is done by fans of all clubs and leads them into dangerous territory, as I believe total honesty about where we are right now and also where we might realistically be or not be in the near future helps our club. Unthinking “we will beat them all” predictions harm Arsenal. Bookies do the opposite, using only deeply worked out odds based on realities and probabilities and never hype and thus they make their money.
I totally agree ,the way we have been playing I don’t see us getting a result .
Until the owner starts doing what he promised then we are not going to see any different results to that of what wenger was getting us .
I see very little change in the way we play this season to that of last season ,yes they look more committed but apart from that nothing special still the same side ways passing,silly mistakes that lead to stupid goals .
I know you like torriera and I do to and I agree he’s just what we needed ,but for me player of the season as to be Leno , now if we can kick on and add to the squad the quality them two came with then we might make inroads into the top couple of teams ,but if we take baby steps every season and the other teams take giant steps then it’s a long road back to the top ,but I suppose that all comes down to the owner and what he’s willing to do ,I say let’s wait till seasons finished to see the direction he’s going to take but if past seasons are anything to go buy I won’t hold my breath
Xxnofx, I love realists and that is what you are. I do not relish having to point out our weaknesses so often but someone has to counteract all the silly hype merchants who so harm our club with their silly nonsense. For example , you will remember Chiza , who was banned for repeatedly bringing religion and God into this Arsenal site, who was convinced we were going to beat Man City 5- 0 and said so loud and often. This brainless child – and I will not be untruthfully liberal and call him sensible, as he clearly is not- and his silly sort do immense harm to our beloved club and I want to put the truthful , even if painful, alternativeview out there. There is much to like in the new set up with Emery, Raul, Huss, Sven and all. But we still have far too many substandard players and as you correctly say, unless Kreonke starts behaving as if he cares a lot, which he does not, we are hampered in the market and always will be whilst he remains owner. I would far rather be saying thank God we have Sheik Mansour owning us but we don’t and unlike so many I will NEVER, NEVER fool myself.
The punters decide the odds. The odds will rise or fall depending on the outright bets, it is done in this way so that the bookies will win, no matter which way the result goes, win, lose or draw. Most money/bets will have added incentives/bets tied to them. But it is only the outright, win, lose or draw bets, that will have the price/odds fluctuate. I know you know this already Jon, but others who’re reading your thoughts, they may not know to take it into account.
I don’t quite agree with you on this, you have put it very well, in a derby, form, home advantage and favorite tags all goes through the window, what wins derbies is commitment, passion and work rate..
The best performance of a first half time this season has been again Liverpool so far, a team far much better that spuds, but the whole team raised their level a notch higher, yes we didn’t win but we gave them a hell of a match, your realism is good, as we are never ever sure of what football will bring but am afraid you are judging the current arsenal in arsene Wenger’s era. If there’s anything this team has proved so far this season is that they are turning in to woriors fighting til the last minute..
So watch this space bro
You’re right it wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day a win is a win!
Next week is HUGE!!!! The players know how important this game is to us fans..so I really hope they all perform! Nothing but a win will do..everywhere i look on Twitter it says we’re going to get stuffed blah blah blah! So to shut them all up would be brilliant!!! COYG FOYS
That’s a very good comment Jon,but like you said home advantage doesn’t count in local derbies so also form doesn’t count,and no I disagree with you that only laca and torrera will be in there first eleven,do you really think Lloris is better than both Cech and Leno,if all we need is a striker that can score goals,I think auba will be there,forget tap in or silly stuffs that some arsenal fans keep saying in here,auba has scored 20 goals for us,which only SALAH has scored more than,auba tap Ins has saved us a lot this season,remember Leicester,Fulham,watford,and again yesterday,he’s been paid to score not to run and dribble with the ball,I strongly believe the players will show up on Sunday,i just hope emery get his tactics right
Only Leno’s short term here versus Lloris’s long spell made me plump, though it is a close call , for Lloris. EITHER WAY IT IS CLOSE BUT THAT DOES NOT CHANGE MY CENTRAL POINT ABOUT OVERALL TEAM QUALITY. I do not say Auba is a bad player and clearly he is not but he does not work hard and would not get in todays joint team if chosen by neutrals.
Th14,I don’t care about idol playing or iwobi playing especially in this kind of match all I want is a win though I share your sentiment about Ozick being a weak link in that match,but I just want us to beat them
I’ll be shocked if Ozil doesn’t play next Sunday!! I hope we stuff them!!! ?
I won’t Sue…. Emery has show he isn’t afraid to make big decisions. We need 10 committed players fighting for the team with or without the ball and Ozil tends to go missing in big games. I expect the same line up as yesterday.
I know he’s not afraid of making big decisions.. and I love that about him…. You never know from one week to the next who will play & what formation it’ll be! I personally can’t see Ozil being benched next week..but then what do I know!! I’m no manager….
I also reckon that Ozil plays a part v Tott, I believe he’ll start the game.
We all want what you want but merely coming on here as so many do and posting “Oh I hope we win” or similar words, is hardly newsworthy is it! On an Arsenal site that desire is taken as read by us ALL.
I really hope we do the business against this lot. It will be a tough game, no doubt, we’ll need to take our chances. Tott are going to be fearing this one a little bit too, it’s a huge game, huge stakes, big persona’s/belief to try and cut down a wee bit to size. We cannot allow them to take a six point lead on us, heading into the festive season it would be a head dropper. All we can do is get behind our team, try and help them pull through in the difficult spells. They the players and staff, will want this scalp as much as any of us. Top four is at stake, so this match really is a big one. Come on you Arsenal!!!!!!
@Jon Fox,
Didn’t u as a realistic fellow predict our downfall against Liverpool? Yeah u can argue we didn’t win the match but I see a team with so much improvement. A lot of Arsenal fans don’t see what I see in Arsenal team of today, commitment and work rate is important in a team no matter how special they are. Last season Arsenal would have lost against Wolves, Liverpool, drawn Everton. Criticizing our players will lead us no where. COYG I don’t care how bad we play for now, as long as we grind out results