Kevin Whitcher
Emotionally, it may have been a draw that felt like a win, but even if Arsenal had been the side to squander a three goal lead, in the cold light of day, this was two vital points dropped at a venue where Manchester United, Southampton and Sunderland have taken maximum points this season. Chelsea are still to go there, but one thing you can put your mortgage on when they do is that we won’t see defending of the quality that Arsenal displayed in the opening 45 minutes.
For the first goal, one wonders exactly what kind of defensive coaching goes on at London Colney. It is difficult at times to believe that Steve Bould is a paid employee at the club. Talk about lack of awareness. Of course, panto season is not quite over, and a shout of ‘Look, he’s behind you!’ was the order of the day. But Charlie Daniels was given more space than you can view through a NASA telescope to give Eddie Howe’s side the lead.
It got worse. Mustafi and Coquelin cocked up possession between them, allowing Bournemouth to break. Granit Xhaka’s shove in the penalty box on Ryan Fraser was both naïve and suicidal. Madness. Usher the guy to the line, but don’t push him over. From the spot, Callum Wilson doubled the home side’s lead.
A response after a half-time dressing room dressing down? Well, an increase in possession, but it was the home side that scored next. Certainly, Bellerin was fouled in the build-up, so it should not have stood, but the fact is that when Arsenal finally pulled one back in the 70th minute, it was their first shot on target. And that simply isn’t good enough. Significantly, Lucas Perez was on the field by this time, and the wisdom of not starting him after what I felt was a perfectly good display against Palace has to be questioned. It might have meant Aaron Ramsey not starting, but the Welshman’s contribution was a case of trying manfully but nothing coming off. One suspects we’d have seen a less predictable Gunners in the first half if Perez has begun the game. Ramsey, unfortunately, is not quite at the level required to start for a team that has serious title pretentions. He may have been for a purple patch of three months an age ago, but it’s never been consistently repeated.
The goals, all fine finishes, from Sanchez, Perez and Giroud were a case of too little too late as far as the three points were concerned. I was astonished that Giroud, scoring two minutes into injury time, then decided to play for the camera and celebrate. Arsenal had momentum, there were only four minutes of injury time left. A case of get back to the centre circle and get on with it as quickly as possible. But no, where there is a celebration dance to try out, the HFB is going to ensure the spotlight. Equally unforgivable, with seconds remaining, was the building from the back when all the clock allowed for was a ‘Hail Mary’ punt into the opposition penalty box. The ref blew long before Wenger’s men could pass their way into the danger zone.
It was the good and the bad of Arsenal. Rank bad defending followed by pressure leading to goals as momentum shifted. It reminded me of that 7-5 League Cup win at Reading, the game in which Arsenal were 4-0 down, but clawed it back to 4-4 in normal time.
An interesting question for Gooners is what result they want between Spurs and Chelsea tonight. I would guess a draw, but if there had to be a winner, do we back Spurs in the hope that Arsenal can still make up the gap to top spot? Or do we accept the Gunners are not going to overtake Chelsea, and worry more about the other four teams in the top six in the battle to be part of next season’s Champions League?
For me, the latter is more realistic. After seeing the defending at Bournemouth, I shall be hiding behind the sofa for some of the away trips still to be negotiated this season. Arsenal do not have the organizational quality and intelligence at the back to get the results they need, and this will also be confirmed, as usual, in Europe.
Arsene Wenger’s side needed 18 points from the next six ‘winnable’ matches after the defeat against Manchester City. They could not afford to drop any if they had any hopes of catching Chelsea. So even if Spurs do take the spoils tonight, it will only benefit others. Arsenal have blown their chance. If the defeats at Everton and the Etihad did not convince you this side does not have what it takes to be champions, then the goals conceded against Bournemouth surely do. The comeback last night was enjoyable, but the hole the team managed to dig themselves into before being able to muster an attempt on target was a horrorshow of the first degree.
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