Arsenal admittedly played awful in last week’s setback at Liverpool, but thankfully managed to pick themselves up to get back to winning ways against Bournemouth yesterday. It was great to see Welbeck get back amongst the goals and prove that Arsene Wenger made the right choice to play him alongside Lacazette, who also managed to get on the scoresheet again.
Le Prof was understandably happy to get back to winning ways. He said: “Yes I’m pleased with the win and the way we played. It’s always a test when you have such a negative experience, like we had, for the mental health of the team to respond. We had a committed, disciplined and a very good offensive performance.”
“I believe in my players. Our two away games… At Stoke we played quite well. We had plenty of chances and were a bit unlucky at Stoke because we had 75 per cent possession and we didn’t deserve to lose the game. At Liverpool, we had a terrible performance.”
And what did the Boss think about Welbeck’s performance? “He gets stronger and stronger.” Wenger said. “Let’s not forget that he was out for a long time. He gets stronger and stronger. He’s a team player, Danny Welbeck, and that’s why coaches love him. He’s a guy who has a huge physical potential. People are not convinced that he is a great finisher, but these kinds of goals will help him become more relaxed in front of goal. I liked his second goal today because it was the clean finish of a goalscorer.”
It was also good to see Alexis Sanchez back on the pitch even if it was only for the last 15 minutes, but it will be interesting to see his choice for the front line in next weeks game against Chelsea, but Le Prof likes problems like that! “Yes but I have a selection problem before every game. I always have to leave top-class players out, especially offensively. We have many top-class strikers.”
This win should calm our jittery nerves, and we can feel just a little less concerned about the visit to Stamford Bridge. Will we have enough confidence and firepower to get a result?