A huge setback for a bigger finale, or have the team given up?

Arsenal have been on a rocky road for a few weeks now. Losing the EFL Cup final felt like a blip at the time, but now it feels like it was a warning. The international break saw half the squad come down with an injury, much to the annoyance of our rivals. However, when the Southampton fixture appeared on our door step, there was indeed plenty of missing personnel. The defeat felt soul-crushing, but nevertheless there was bigger fish to fry. The Champions League returned with Sporting Lisbon our opponent. The performance was tedious, but the win felt vital. It felt like the ship had been steadied and we were ready to take on Bournemouth.

First Half

Bournemouth started the game pretty well. It felt like they eased themselves in effectively and Arsenal couldn’t really establish control. The opening 10 minutes saw limited chances, but the away side found an opening just a few minutes later. A cross from Adrien Truffert took a deflection off William Saliba and straight onto the boot of Junior Kroupi. He made no mistake from close range. Arsenal found themselves 1-0 down in a huge match, how they’d respond would define their season. The Gunners did get a corner just before the 20th minute. Declan Rice swung in a cross that was met by Kai Havertz, but he glanced his header wide. Mikel Arteta’s men didn’t really respond very well and it was actually Bournemouth that went searching for a second. Kroupi struck another effort towards goal, but Gabriel stood in the way. Despite a poor showing from the home side, they were given a lifeline after the ball struck a Bournemouth arm in the box. Viktor Gyokeres fired in the equaliser from the spot. It had been an ugly afternoon of football, but that equaliser should’ve been the springboard for more. Aside from Evanilson firing a tame effort David Raya, that was it for the first half.

Second Half

Arsenal desperately needed to win this game to really put the pressure on Manchester City, but the second half began like they were content with a draw. The Cherries’ actually established more control, but chances were very few and far between. The most exciting moment of the opening 15 minutes was Raya accidentally slicing a pass into the feet of Evanilson. If the striker adjusted his feet better then he might’ve scored. Following the passing of the hour mark, the next highlight finally fell Arsenal’s way. Gyokeres bounded through on goal and smashed it beyond the keeper, but he strayed offside in the buildup. The North London side then had another opportunity, after they countered on Bournemouth’s corner. Rice tried to get the better of Djordje Petrovic, but he was able to get a strong glove to it. Arsenal were beginning to throw a few extra players forward in search of a winner, but were leaving themselves a little exposed at the back. Andoni Iraola’s men looked to capitalise on that whenever they could. Leandro Trossard initially blocked a good effort at goal, but Bournemouth found their way through just a couple of minutes later. Alex Scott found himself one-on-one with Raya and calmly slotted the ball into the corner. Despite going a goal down, Arsenal wouldn’t get going until the 85th minute when Gabriel Jesus tested Petrovic from close range. Following that it was only Gyokeres who could find chances. The first was a header that slammed into the ground and bounced over. The next and final chance was a shot from inside the box, but he failed to put the right connection on it and the ball ended up drifting wide. That was it, 2-1 Bournemouth and the dreams of a title shattered.

Statistics

The statistics look quite favourable for Arsenal, but anyone who watched the match knows that the Gunners deserved nothing. Arteta’s men had 15 shots with just 3 on target. 5 big chances were created with that as well as 2.32 xG. Iraola’s side had 8 shots with 3 on target. This generated 1.19 xG with 2 big chances created.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Raya – 4 – Both of the goals he was let down by his defence and you’d find it hard to criticise him for them. However, he was trying to take matters into his own hands in our buildup and got quite arrogant about it. He almost gifted Bournemouth a goal from it.

White – 3 – He struggled once again and was partly at fault for one of the goals. I think if Jurrien Timber isn’t back for Sporting Lisbon then we could do worse than deploying Cristhian Mosquera at right back.

Saliba – 5 – He was okay. The first goal deflected off him, but that’s just unlucky. Outside of that, he certainly wasn’t anywhere near the worst.

Gabriel – 5 – It felt like he was fired up for the occasion, but his ability on the ball is slightly affecting how Arsenal buildup. Their second goal came from his bad pass.

Lewis-Skelly – 3 – When news broke that he could potentially leave the club, it sparked outrage, but he once again didn’t show enough to warrant staying in this Arsenal team. He was at fault for the first goal and didn’t really recover from that point. I think he needs some time to play in midfield, but that will have to come next season. If he doesn’t fix up now, he might not be here for that.

Zubimendi – 2 – He was the highlighted scapegoat in this fixture. I think near enough everyone played poorly, but the Spaniard looks entirely spent. He’s a shadow of the player we saw when the season began. I don’t think he’s the starting midfielder we need, but a luxury you bring on when you need to close out the game.

Rice – 6 (MOTM) – I hope this is the last time my Man of the Match is a player that I thought had a pretty average game, but was just a bit better than everyone else. Decent deliveries and gave some energy to the midfield, but I also felt he was hiding more than usual.

Havertz – 2 – After scoring the winner in the week, it felt like maybe he could use that confidence to his advantage. However, he was poor and he had moments where you had to question how he made it professional. Poor from him.

Madueke – 4 – He plays one way every game, it’s just whether the opponent becomes savvy to it. Truffert did, on the most part. Again, though, we’re watching him dribble the ball out of play.

Gyokeres – 5 – He had the nerve to score the penalty and did score another, but was just offside. Those missed chances at the end are his bread and butter and he missed them both in dramatic fashion. So good, but so bad at the same time.

Martinelli – 2 – Completely forgot he was on the pitch most of the time. Much the same as Havertz, how can the impact be so crucial on Tuesday, but so anonymous on Saturday.

Substitutes

Eze – 5 – Not as impactful as we’d have liked, but still showed more quality than Havertz.

Trossard – 3 – It just isn’t working for him and it hasn’t since the turn of the year. He doesn’t look physically up to the challenge.

Dowman – 5 – I can’t give him any more or any less than the average. He wasn’t bad, but it would be so unfair to criticise a 16 year old who’s still finding his feet in men’s football.

Mosquera – 5 – Better defensively after he came on, but was never going to change the scoreline in our favour.

Jesus – 4 – He had a decent chance and it felt like he could be more dangerous when deployed out wide, but couldn’t really get into the game.

Summary

I supported the club yesterday, I’ll support the club today and I’ll support them tomorrow. Everyone has the right to feel frustrated at the club, the players and the manager. They’re not showing the fight or the quality to get any silverware over the line. But, if you think I’m just going to throw in the towel then you’re underestimating me. I’m not going to tell anyone how to support, but none of you should throw in the towel yet. If you do and we end up winning something, you don’t get to celebrate. I do think that Manchester City will now clinch the title and it will be tough to take, but it rests on Sunday and whether we can avoid losing. Do I think we have it in us? Not right now. We also have a game in the week and City don’t. So, even if we show up with fight, we’ll likely run out of steam. This is where we’ll need everyone back. Bukayo Saka, Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Odegaard. This result feels colossal, but not definitive.

Arsenal vs Sporting Predicted Lineup

This is less what I predict and more what I’d want to see based on who we know will be fit for Wednesday. I think the change has been obvious for a while. Our best team performances have come when we’ve left one player in the ‘6’ role, rather than having a double pivot. Rice is evidently the best at this role and he should start there as often he can. I think it’ll actually reduce how much he needs to run as he can just operate in that mid-section of the pitch. Outside of that, I think Mosquera needs to start ahead of White. He’s defensively more solid and we can use Piero Hincapie as the more advanced full back. The Ecuadorian featured in the squad on Saturday. Ahead of Rice I want to give Havertz another go, but that’s only under the pretence that Odegaard will be out. If the captain is fit then he goes straight in. Eze feels like a guarantee for every game now, his quality around the box is too crucial to keep on the bench. If Saka misses the game then Noni Madueke will have to start. I’m not buying into the idea that Max Dowman should be starting. The physical intensity will be too much. The only other interesting change I’d make is seeing what Jesus can do wide left. He can’t be any worse than what we’ve seen. He’s fresher than most in the squad and out wide he can still impact the attack, without having to lead it. I think we squeak by against Sporting, but the hope is that we kill it off in the first half and rotate where we can. Let’s get it!