Bournemouth is not the game for Mikel Arteta to field a weakened side in

Mikel Arteta has to avoid being complacent against Bournemouth.

Mikel Arteta has succeeded in steadying the ship at the Emirates, however, he has registered just the one single Premier League win since he became Arsenal’s new manager.

He also won against Leeds United in the FA Cup, but there have been more draws than wins for the Spaniard overall.

I believe strongly that we are making progress under him and there is a good chance that we can achieve our major goal of finishing inside the top four.

However, I believe that we have to take every game seriously, even if it is not a Premier League match, the intensity has to be spot on no matter who we are playing.

Our next game will be against Bournemouth in the FA Cup and there is a possibility that Arteta might want to change things up and field a weakened side.

Given how small his squad is we might understand that, however, I believe that would be dangerous as we may lose that game and it would affect the players’ morale.

Bournemouth has struggled this season but they come into this game after beating Brighton 3-1.

Arsenal players and Arteta could underestimate Eddie Howe’s side and that would be a terrible mistake.

Losing at Bournemouth might not mean much as we’re trying to get a top-four spot and playing fewer games would help, but losing our unbeaten run could have an adverse effect. The last thing any of us want is to see the momentum that has developed, to falter.

26 Comments

    1. We are at the stage of the season where many players are injury prone. Arteta should rotate and safe his first 11 for Burnly game. Top 4 or Europa is very crucial. Arteta can’t afford to be “jack of all trade” priority has to be set.

  1. “Losing at Bournemouth might not mean much as we’re trying to get a top four spot”.
    It might not mean much to you but it means a lot to us Arsenal fans! I’d say we have more chance of winning the cup again than getting into the top four, but every game in every competition is important to us fans.

  2. We can’t play a weakened side, thats why mustaffi and Ozil should be replaced. We need wins, we dont need players that create goals for the opposition or dont create for us. SIMPLES.

    1. I agree Reggie-So let’s drop all the players that create goals for the opposition
      Lately these are
      Leno
      AMN
      Luiz
      Sokritis
      Saka
      Xhaka
      Nelson
      and all those who don’t create
      Ozil
      Lacazette
      Pepe

      I will let you name the line up PAL

      1. Phil, pal, your post is confusing, i dont know what you are on about. I dont see your opinion, can you explain? Your post missed out Mustaffi in the players that assist the opposition and he is the king andxthe queen of none assists for us is Ozil. Beyond that i dont get your opinion.

        1. Reggie-you were very quick to once again blame Ozil and only Ozil for not creating and Mustafi for giving away goals.Yet the whole defence has been responsible for us concede in and the whole midfield and attack shoulder responsibility for us not creating and scoring.
          Why just pick on Mustafi and Ozil? Hatred of both players but the others are just as responsible

          1. No Phil, i just picked out the worse at both in my opinion. I can pick some more but those two are the best at it.

        2. It’s really quite simple Reggie, if you think about it.

          You already mentioned mustafi and Ozil, so Phil then took your criteria of players who have created goals for the opposition..he missed out quendozi in that group, plus those who don’t create goals for us…he missed out ceballos in that group as well.

          So, with that now explained, what squad do you think MA should put out?

          Also Phil, what about a manager who keeps selecting these kings and queens, isn’t it time to show him our fans know more about our players than he does – black bin bags and placards, planes with signs and more empty seats at the Imitates?
          That’ll show him us fans know what we are talking about – sack him tomorrow, then let him stay for six months to continue his ridiculous selections, give him a gold award for his incompetence and then a rousing send off from 56,000 plus gooners…that’s the way to sack someone, just ask Unai Emery!?!?

        3. Unai Emery and many fans on this site do not like Ozil, but I and our Manager Arteta like him, so he plays. That’s all from me.

          1. Benjamin, you are right, i hope we dont regret it, i think we will because he isn’t doing enough to warrant it. I will say this, if Ozil was 19 on 5000 a week, he would have been benched weeks ago for not producing.

          2. reggie is a hater. Arteta will never a play a player who doesnt contribute to the team . He plays ozil because he can make difference to the team. His passes are good thats why saka managed to assist. Having not getting assist or goal does not mean he is not playing well. Most of the goals the passes came from him. Lampard knows football he single out Ozil how he made chelsea team struggled about his positioning and movements .reggie is talking rubbish.

          3. And i will remind you gable , im not the only one with my opinion, i am most certainly not on my own in that respect, so your lack of respect is for anyone who doesn’t agree with you and only you doesn’t talk RUBBISH. Have some respect for yourself.

  3. I don’t want to be dumped out of the cup by Bournemouth! Yes, they’ve been really poor of late and Eddie must be sweating buckets, but that win over Brighton will have given them a much needed boost. Some might say he’d rather prioritise staying in the PL than going on a cup run.. but we still need to turn up with a really strong side, as we all know how difficult a trip to the Vitality can be…

  4. we need momentum, simple as that, so we can’t make giant changes. Lacazette can start at least, because he will not be starting in the next EPL match when Auba returns. Ozil can start too since he doesn’t burn energy. truth is that we dont even have that much flexibility in our squad right now due to injuries and suspensions so only changes I expect to see are with AMN and Bellerin, and probably Joe Willock for Torreira.

  5. 1: He fielded a strong side against Leeds in the last round.
    2: We have 5 days between matches, either side of this game.
    3: Mikky knows the value of the cup, having lifted it.
    4: He’ll want a trophy on his CV ASAP.

    I have no doubt we’ll play as close to full strength as possible.

  6. Actually, changing things up is only way to see another result we get for months. Thankfully, because cup game have us make changes, we will see a different formation than the losing drawing one.

    Martinez
    Bellerin Mav Holding Mustafi
    Xhaka
    Niles Willock
    Nelson Martinelli Saka

  7. If I remember correctly, a certain defender gave Martinelli the assist for his delectable goal. A defender many love to hate. I dare not mention his name for fear of causing a riot.

    Arteta is wise enough to know what team to play against Bournemouth. He has a squad depleted by injuries and suspension, and an impossible job of trying to please everybody.

    I am sure he will do a good job. We will progress to the next round on the strength of the resilient streak shown by the boys in recent matches. Arteta has also shown that he has the nous to out-think any manager.

  8. MA will surely pick a team to win. We need to win as many matches as possible to keep the momentum going as winning is addictive and it makes a team stronger. Look at Liverpool. Also Bournemouth is not a pushover specially at their home ground and MA knows the importance of the FA cup as he has won the Cup twice. Up the Gunners!

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