Arsenal got back to winning ways after three successive Premier League draws with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth. The Gunners took the lead through a cracking Jefferson Lerma own goal before Josh King equalised just before half-time, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 10th goal of the season ensured that Unai Emery’s men took all three points to move within one of Chelsea in fourth place.
Read the Bournemouth 2-1 Arsenal match report
Ratings
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Good to have toughed it out. We weren’t great but 3 points is great before a difficult December.
Ramsey not on long enough to rate. His first touch was down on the edge of their area and he tried one of his trademark stupid flicks which went out for a goal kick. Rating 0
He was on for 8 minutes. My cut off point for a rating is 80 because 10 mins isn’t really enough for any player, unless they do something extra special (goal or something mad stupid which impacts the result).
I guess I should just have given him a 9 though ?
His flick lead to the counter attack which lead to the foul by Mustafi which almost lead to a goal
Hehe.
I was told Ramsey shouted from the sideline to take the free kick quickly which led to Aubameyang’s goal …
I heard in training on Wednesday Rambo told Must*fi to chop someone down on the edge of the box in the 95th minute – -1/10!
That flick was really bad but I thought he was pretty effective in killing off the game after that. He worked hard to win a couple balls up the field and did really well to win that corner which burned a good minute off the clock.
He was on long enough to be in on goal, and fall down not once, but twice. The only thing more surprising is no reminder that he never hides or some reference to his engine/movement.
Right on the money.. He could have made a difference if he stopped doing those stupid moves that barely works and actually pass the ball on time.
Here in the US, the broadcaster went “the break through Ramsey” which I immediately knew meant there was no break. The dude can’t run to save his life.
Well, Ramsey did bring energy and a sense of creativity to our midfield. So I don’t know why there’s all this Ramsey bashing for this game in particular. I’m not saying he’s amazing or that he doesn’t do stupid things at times, but at least he looks like he wants to play one twos and try to create something.
Haha you guys both have a point.
When Ramsey’s good, he’s really good, and when he’s bad, he’s really bad.
He single-handedly killed a counter for us that would have sealed it. It was like 7 plus Ramsey on one and he decided to pirouette on the ball, like usual, killing the momentum. How do you defend that?
Are you serious, mate? “Sense of creativity?” He gives me a sense of over-elaborating, not being able to stay on his feet, and that no matter the scoreline, he’s going to show us something from his repertoire of flicks and tricks as soon as he comes on as a sub.
I like the fact that Emery left out Ozil. It’s not because of the players today playing particularly well but because it shows that no player is too big enough to be left out and the players to best fit the system will play. And ozil hasn’t played that well, apart from the Leicester game, to show that he is absolutely undroppable.
He was also very good against Liverpool and also in other games, don’t be too blind.
Or maybe Emery just had a good feeling about this lineup and didn’t want to Mesut up
He’s not undroppable Cesc, but if he gets sat on the bench next week and players like Mkhitaryan put in a performance like that in his stead we will get spanked.
I agree, but I also think Mkhitaryan should absolutely have been substituted at some point and Ozil might have been a logical sub…
NLD is around the corner….
Its on our soil… Lets get the bragging right….
London is Red…..
COYG
4 points for Mkhitaryan is generous. He was shockingly poor today and how he was not subbed off earlier is a mystery to me.
I was annoyed that Unai took so long to start subbing in general. It was Wenger-esque! Very frustrating when we had Ozil and Ramsey (for starters) on the bench.
He was frustrating at times but off the ball he did pretty well.
Thought he was pretty good defensively. Much like against Liverpool. Like everyone else sees, his first touch, passing, and, even at times his footwork, have seem to have abandoned him.
We need consistent quality, that’s the mark of excellence. He’s frustrating. We need better.
I also think he’ll play better once he’s had a run of games with the starters. He IS a good player, just doesn’t seem to always be on the same wavelength as everyone else. I still like him, and am pretty confident he’ll work out the kinks and silly mistakes that are prevalent in his game right now. He’s a lot better then Theo.
I only saw the second half & actually thought that it was the hardest I had seen Mhki work in awhile, but yes his final third contribution was pretty poor.
I suspect it’s more to do with building his confidence while keeping others fresh. There’s a hectic schedule coming
Agreed Moot, Mkhitaryan is absolute pants! I have given him enough benefits of the doubt before but after today just get rid of him in January and use his outrageous wages to buy someone who isn’t an oxygen thief!
4 is a little harsh on Mkhi. Give him a little credit for his work rate. He pressed well and had a couple of steals. He worked hard and I thought he made a lot of fast dribbles into seams that seemed to draw defenders towards him. Maybe he’s a 5.
oh Mkhi.. really trying to like you but you’re making it impossible. a rugged performance against a decent side. i’ll take the 3 points
They should rename that stand after him the amount of times he hit it into row z today.
Bit harsh in Kola I thought – he did
assist both goals. Though I agree his
defending does give iffy a bad name
Yeah, blogs really has it in for him. I know he wasn’t at LB very often, but we had three at the back for a reason today – obviously told to push on and create 2v1s in their 3rd (which worked). I’d say he was our most dangerous player and deserves more respect.
If he could pass better and more consistently I’d say yeah.
Our defender shouldn’t be our most dangerous player really.
Full backs are far more than just “defenders” nowadays. They are a crucial attacking weapon for many teams. Nothing wrong with a full back being your most dangerous attacking player.
” Nothing wrong with a full back being your most dangerous attacking player”
It is when he’s shit at being a full back though. I don’t buy this idea that it’s okay to be a shitty defender so long as you’re good offensively. The two are mutually exclusive, it is possible to be both. Bellerin for example.
Okay, just call him a left-sided midfielder, and how did he do? I do not understand this obsession with nomenclature. I thought it was pretty obvious that with three centre halfs and Torreira in front of them, Bellerin and Kolasinac were primarily supposed to push up high and provide width. (By the way, it was Torreira–a player I like more and more–who was terribly out of position when Iwobi foolishly gave away possession in the 45th minute which led to their goal. In a negative way, it proves my point.)
Marcello is a shit defender and nobody seems to care
utter rubbish, iwobi was our best player by a mile, kola was average, at best
I thought Kola was decent, but we did have to change the formation to fit him in.
hopefully Monreal is back soon!
I was pleased for him as he had such a disaster against Wolves. Strange league this, Wolves looked good against us but were rubbish as home to Huddersfield.
I agree. I thought he was MotM and was our only attacking outlet for much of the game.
How did you like a week in Ozil’s boots Miki?
What does Eddie have to do to get minutes…?!
We’d all like to see Eddie get more
game time I think but he needs to
play as CF and it would have been
risky to take Auba off earlier today
or to have played two up front for
the last 15 or 20 minutes
Is this a poem?
Hohoho jack jack jack
but it’s just tech skills that I lack
With more minutes I might get better
Just like Eddie in Maul Person’s letter
Hmmm, I’ll stick to prose
🙂
Mikhi could have been sacrificed to bring on a second attacker. The five at the back could have been changed to a back four to facilitate another attacker. There are more options than simply assuming Auba would have to make way…
a bit too many “Could” for a difficult away game. i´d like to see Nketiah as well but too risky in this one. maybe he´ll come on in the 70th minute against Spurs when we lead 3:0….
The point being vey little in attack was working for so long in that game. But nothing changed. So I’m giving my thoughts on the options to switch things up. The fact that you’re saying too many coulds supports the fact that there are indeed options to utilise instead of sticking with something where the team struggles. No?
Score goals from outside the pitch it seems
Evidently so…
He’ll probably start on thursday, Emile too. Hope Willock and Plegz gets some minutes. Willock/Guendouzi pairing maybe?
Not to be substituted at 93 or so minutes for sure. Note to Emery, that extended the game another minute and added a dangerous free kick.
Mustafi added that dangerous free kick, not a sub.
Considering we only have 1 healthy senior striker at the moment and the importance of the upcoming pl fixtures, you’d have to think that Eddie is going to start and probably even play 90 in the Europa league this week
Which (funny enough, happens only against us) I cannot be precise, but it’s either against Wolves or Palace that a player needed treatment for nearly 2 minutes on the added time and the ref still blows the whistle on the end of added time, without adding additional time for the injury…
It’s funny how they say that decisions even each other out but we seem to be most of the time on the wrong end of them.
He (the ref) still should have booked that diving tosspot Fraser for trying to deceive him
A point higher, for me, for most. Might be the gloss of 3 points away
4 for Kola?! Come on, Blogs…
We get it, you don’t like Kolasinac…
I don’t dislike Kolasinac. I just thought that today, despite his important contribution offensively, he merited a 4 because he really doesn’t seem to give a fuck about defending. And I think defending is an important quality for defenders to be interested in.
It’s not personal or anything, like how could it be?! I just wish he’d show as much interest in running back towards his own goal as he does going forward.
admit it, u just wanna see ramsey back in the starting XI even tho as a leftback
haha
Don’t worry blog ,i wanna see Ramsey too back in starting XI …. we gonna lose a great player … By the way Kolasinac is not for Arsenal,and probably Ramsey the same
Funy you criticise Kolasinac for it but couldn’t give a shit that Bellerin & Ramsey sprint forward and jog back..
Bellerin busted his arse to try and get back to stop their goal. Where was Kolasinac? The goal came from the area he should have been.
Watch the sky half time analysis of their goal. Bellerin did not bust a gut to get back. He ambled to the half way line then 10 yeards to late realised he coukd have stopped the goal.
Yeah, but still, Blogs. Two assists and rated 4. I usually agree with your ratings, but that was a bit harsh. You gave him 3,5 v Wolves and he was way worse then – in both ends of the pitch. Many media outlets gave him a 7 this time, but I think a 6 is fair.
It’s ok to disagree!
Absolutely!
I disagree.
The commentators on the US feed named him man of the match. (I thought it was Bellerin.)
No, watch it again, Bellerin was jogging back at first and began to run hard only when he belatedly realized how serious the threat was. Torreira was, I think, our most advanced player when Iwobi lost possession, and that’s what allowed their counter to succeed.
No he did not.
Blogs he was obviously told to play left side attack. Mad I know but maybe Emery knows?
team blogs, iwobi was our BEST PLAYER, again
He does have a bit of Andre Santos about him.
Kiss of death there!
He swapped jerseys with Nathan Ake at halftime.
He was literally in the opposition box for their goal. Not one iota of defensive nous in him.
Think Blogs Mangan has it in for the Kolas Bear because….Kola literally does look a Kola Bear and maybe Blogs doesn’t? 😉
Despite he (Mr Arseblog) himself being a self devout fan of Defenders?
No, not taking the piss. Or maybe I am because it really does seem like Mr Andrew has anti-Ramsey feelings towards Sead. 😛
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I note however that he got 6s and 7s in other forums. Or was his defending at 6s and 7s?
Is it the opinion of your inner Graham Dougan?
That’s was too harsh on your . He had hands in 2 of our goals . Give him a break .
But, what if you just call Kolasinac an “outside attacking midfielder” or something? Then, I think, he played really well. The point of the three at the back was that it was three at the back, not five. Yesterday,we were set up so Bellerin and Kolasinac were basically attacking players–they really had the same defensive responsibilities as other midfielders, no more.
NBC Sports net gave their Man of the Match today to… Sead Kolasinac.
Very harsh on Iwobi. I thought he looked creative, aggressive and defensively switched on for the time he was on. Justified selection ahead of Ramsey and Ozil.
Agree to a point, but trying to be flash in there area 80metres later and 1-1….
Him losing the ball caused the fast break that led to the goal. I’d deduct points just for that.
Come on, he was inside the opposition penalty box! If you can’t try something and risk losing possession then, when can you? What’s next, he takes a shot and it gets blocked to start a counter attack which he is then blamed for? The goal is in no way Iwobi’s fault, he was just doing his job to try and create a chance.
I concur Mr. President.
It was an attempted trick, with about 30 seconds left in the half, and with (as Iwobi ought to have seen) Torreira and others in no position to defend.
Iwobi is an attacking player. He suppose to try things out in the opposition box, that’s what it means being creative. Sometimes that may lead to losing of ball and counter attack. That’s when the defence comes into play.
He is as much at fault for their goal, as Bernd Leno.
Thought Bellerin was our best player and biggest attacking threat.
Mkhitaryan is a player than needs confidence, he got into some good positions, butjusthad a bad day, hope the fans don’t get on his back, our options on the right are limited, is really like to see Maitland Nile’s given a steady run there
bullshit, he did NOTHING up front, and was at fault for there goal, FACT
LOL @ Afan. Read my post above about Bellerin being at fault for their equaliser
Yeah it’s terrible when fans lambast a player Rich…..
Mkhi was shite and I wouldn’t mind a off game if he was young, trying to get into the first team. He’s not, he job today was to be the creative spark of the team. If Lacca or Ozil were given half the chances he had today the game would have been over by 60mins. We pay fortunes for that, sorry guys Blogs score is correct, I have really tried to like him but at best he’s a Thursday player.
James and you made the guess in a previous arsecast extra, that kolasinacs days, who played his second game i think after an injury, are counted. now again a 4?! of course i would prefer monreal but he was at least a 6,5 with the tap-in pass which gave us the victory.
poor little koala, hope he doesn’t read ya blog…he looks a bit maudlin to me.
He showed genuine pace going forward. Rating seems a bit harsh
Sometimes ya just gotta win ugly.
“Just win, baby.”
Great 3 points for the lads, hopefully boosts up the confidence for NLD!
Bit harsh on Kolasinac, but his defending was awful… Holding did well without much support on the left.
COYG!
PS. One thing has to be said, as a football fan… Fair play to Eddie Howe, he built a really tough & solid team.
It was great to get the three points but not a great game. If we play like that next Sunday, especially the first half, we’re screwed. We got lucky. Again.
I must have been watching a different game to everyone else. I thought Henrik played well today. Drove forward well and worked hard, except chasing back for the goal.
You’re right, you did watch a different game to us. His intentions were good, but his execution was almost always bad. And it’s been often this season too. I’m beginning to realise just how bad our squad is bout defenders, bar Bellerin and Leno, are Europa Leagur levels. Our midfield pivot is good, particularly with Torreira. Still questions about Xhaka. However it seems clear that tactically and balance, Mkhi and Iwobi are probably our most balanced attackers, and truth is Mkhi isn’t good enough and Iwobi (my fav player), probably shouldn’t be a starter. Auba is a goal machine, but… Read more »
your right, you must have been watching a different game, Mkhitaryan was pathetic, absolute shite
1) Leno – Saved us from our own Own goal. Had to be alert a couple of times and come out to claim the ball. BUT particularly toward end of second half, not the best idea to hoof it up field and hand it straight back to them. 2) Bellerin – The back 3 didn’t make us any more secure. But it did release our fullbacks/wingbacks. Got up field well and held the ball for us crucially. Would like to see him drive toward the middle a bit and use the diagonal more. 3) Mustafi – Not sure if we… Read more »
Mkhi MOTM for me.showed great tenacity and ran around a lot harrying the opponent.Ozil could learn a thing or two from him.
It is not good enough to excuse Mikhi’s display with ‘lack of confidence ‘. The guy is on something like £160,000 a week. How has he earned this since he came to us?
So I know Kolasinac wasn’t great defensively, but as in a wing back role, it’s not unreasonable to think of him as a midfielder, and any midfielder with 2 assists would deserve more than a 4. Seems worth at least a 6: even though I agree with your critiques, he was the game’s key player.
It just goes to show that it’s all totally subjective, Sky made Sead Kolasinac man of the match. ?
As did NBC SN in the US.
You arseblog are too harsh on Kolasinac. He’s improving under Emery after being poorly coached by Wenger. He wasn’t one of the best full backs in the Bundesliga for nothing
As the weeks go past we’re seeing more and more what I’ve always knew and that some of our players just aren’t top 4 quality.
I think for certain we can say now that neither Mustafi, Kolasinac, Mhkitaryan or Iwobi fall in that category and will have to be replaced for us to start challenging again.
Couldn’t agree more, especially on that list of players. Certainly none of them should be regular starters anyway.
No one of them perform to a level of their top 4 peers.
Mustafi always has a mistake in him
Kolasinac is a defender who doesn’t like to defend
Mhkitaryan has quality but can’t be bothered
Iwobi tries hard but doesn’t have the quality
I love having some badasses at Arsenal! Torreira and Sokratis were bulldogs. Mustafi made a few bad decisions but that tackle he had early in the game was just solid. Teams need to fear our defense and I think we can get there soon.
Holding looking more confident and solid each game he plays. Bouldy thinks he’s the real deal. I gave bonus points for Holding’s little trickery and cross while playing left back for a brief minute.
Was sure Sokratis was going to pick up a second yellow after another wrestling match in other corner after his first yellow, he is too experienced to be playing on the edge like that. If Emery doesn’t have confidence in Ozil and Ramsey he needs to go get someone in January for the attacking mid role (Smith-Rowe is not ready for it now) because Mkhitaryan is certainly not the answer there. I’d prefer Guendouzi there to Mkhitaryan. Although not the most encouraging performance the most encouraging thing to me is this squad under Emery is finding ways to get 3… Read more »
Harsh in Mhiki who had good patches and worked hard. Shooting boots, though? There’s a place to improve …
How about about “shooting feet“???
I know he worked off the ball, but shooting apart, he messed up the pass on final third several times. Once I understand but it was so many chances that with a better pass we’d have been in for a goal. He’s an experienced player with huge talent. He ain’t got loads of time on his side to “improve” like you put it…
Kola’ rating of 4 is way too low. First tough game for ages, playing a new formation, 2 assists… I feel a bit of bias here…
Kolasinac is being targeted since his combination passing is so poor and he is heavily one footed. We never felt organised when the full backs were overloaded or had pushed far forward. Too easy to exploit our lack of communication and leader in the defence, as a simple run into the channels and out wide by the bournemouth forwards had us in all sorts of problems. After the game Eddie Howe said it was all fine margins, so I guess you could say that Unai is a Master of Margins. He knew the defensive marginility was marginally less marginal than… Read more »
Omfg..we got lucky…the bounmouth goal was the most predictable goal ever….everyone bombs forward in 4tth min and we lose tye ball.
We still look like shit most of tye time. Then Mustaffi and xhaka try to give it away at tue end!!!!!
Were not gonna veat any good teams playing like this!
Wow that Kolasinac review by Andrew was harsh… Like he was waiting for a bad game to say all that. I thought next to Iwobi he was our best player on the day.
Blogs, the essence of playing a back three is to give the full backs license to venture upfield. That’s what Kola did, and Holding covering for him wasn’t too much to ask. After all Kola was involved in both goals. That’s what the coach wanted from him. I am not saying he should not defend though. But we all know he is kinda heavy. He is not the man to run up and down that wing. If the coach wants to him to contribute positively down that wing then he has to stick to a back three. A back four… Read more »
1. Mkhitaryan is not good enough- his passing and finishing are poor. 2. Kolasinac and Bellerin are good LWB and RWB roles, they are not good enough in LB and RB roles respectively. 3. Arsenal’s defenders (RB, CB, CB, LB) are making themselves tough as they allow opposition players to enter easily into the penalty box or to let them take shots easily by giving more space or staying for away from opposition attackers. 4. Xhaka and Mesut Ozil are inconsistent performers, Xhaka can play better against tougher opposition but I don’t think Ozil play better against tougher oppositions like… Read more »
I’m struggling to see the point of Mkhitaryan? He has a flash or two each game, but doesn’t really do anything well.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what Emery wants to do with this squad moving forward as several are clearly not up to it, including Mustafi and Iwobi.
Great to get the win, but frustrating seeing the same boneheaded plays. Mustafi should be banned from leaving his feet.
Can’t help but laughing at Arseblog’s comment that Ozil was left out for the upcoming EL game ?
I have been reading comments of fans in this forum, it’s either I am bias or some of the commentators are prejudiced . Why so much hatred towards IWOBI even with above average performance in most of our matches . If most of our players are performing to his standard this season we will among the top 2.
Because he’s not very good. He’s a similar age, level of experience and position to Leroy Sane, Anthony Martial and Raheem Sterling but doesn’t offer us anywhere near their levels of performance.
I suggest it’s your own prejudice, bias and rose tinted glasses that’s the issue
What if Mustafi did not do that foul? dude was through on goal. i think the challenge was well timed and was the right decision.
The argument is that there was a defender in front of him (Bellerin, I think), but it’s certainly possible he would have gotten off a shot–which would, statistically, have been more dangerous than the free kick. I am generally one of the Mustafi defenders; although I don’t think it was as clear-cut as other people who blame him do, I think he should not have committed the foul.
Auba needs to do better….his hold up play stinks…ive nenver seen him win an aerial duel. We miss giroud in that respect.
He did score so cant complain too much but he missed a couple of good chances badly and doest offer much else.
We need to replace miki in the jan window