Bournemouth v Arsenal - Ratings

When Arsenal fans across the world asked for change, I don't think that change was forgetting how to score goals. Usually this was our forte and we could cut teams open at will, but our final ball evaded us at the cost of dropping 2 more precious points in the relega.... urm.... 'top 4' race.

Line-up wise there were two key things that stood out. Lacazette came back into the starting line up with Aubameyang moved out wide, and Nelson kept his place after his endeavours at the other end of the country against Everton with Pepe left on the bench once again. It raised eyebrows but with Arteta now being the 3rd manager to leave Pepe on the bench, eyes wwere cast more in Pepe's direction: Is there something happening behind the scenes we don't know about? A injury niggle, worries about his defensive work, something else?

For 35 minutes though, Arteta's first team choice felt a justified one. There was an intent about Arsenal who were passing with a purpose and made a couple of half chances. Defensively there was a scare or two, though I'm not sure if that was through habitual nerves, dangerous Bournemouth attacks, or a combination of the above.
     Unfortunately with 10 minutes of the half left to play, the feel-good bubble burst. Saka lost the ball as he looked to break the Bournemouth press, Wilson picked up the ball and fed Stacey towards the byline. His cut back was steered home by Gosling with Sokratis caught on his heels. 1-0 Bournemouth.

Arsenal managed to re-gather themselves at half time and started the second half as they did the first after losing their way a little in the 10 minutes after Bournemouth opened the scoring. For all their efforts, the final ball remained elusive and we were restricted to half chances rather than anything clear cut.

     We needed something to go our way and at last we managed to make some of our own luck. Xhaka's 84256th excellent line breaking pass into Aubameyang started the move. He drove at the Bournemouth defence and fed Lacazette next to him. His route was blocked so he stabbed the ball in the direction of Ozil to keep the move ticking. His lay off found Nelson who appeared to aim for goal, but it was half blocked and half deflected right into Aubameyang's direction who had the simple task of guiding it home beyond Ramsdale's reach. 1-1.

Arsenal continued to try and find a winner and the game very nearly became a basketball contest as so many Arsenal games this season have become, but it never fully broke out with neither side really willing to go 'gung ho' and risk losing the match instead. Arsenal fans will feel they deserved to win and be frustrated at yet another draw, our 9th in 19 league games, but there are some notable positives to take out of the game. Bring on Chelsea where we can close the gap to 5 points in the race for the top 4.

Ratings:

Leno - 6

For the second game running he had precious little to do. A sure sign our work off the ball is improving.

AMN - 7

Without being spectacular he had a quiet but very impressive display. It looks as though he's found a renewed liking to playing at full back. It was noticeable how Arteta asked him to move centrally to help counter Bournemouth's transitions (Something Pep does frequently) and he seemed to relish the task.

Sokratis - 5.5

Felt he had a fairly normal game where he did his job well, I almost feel harsh dropping his score below average but I felt he could have done more to prevent the goal, getting caught flat footed at the crucial moment.

Luiz - 6.5

Like Sokratis he had a pretty average/normal game I felt. Nothing spectacular but nothing too dumb either. Scores an extra half point as his long ball distribution he is almost famed for worked well today to spring dangerous attacks and gaining some yards up the pitch, but also he chose when to do this well.

Saka - 5

A disappointing day overall for Saka. He was able to make a lot of good runs going forward but spoiled them with his unusually poor delivery and final ball. Worked hard defensively without being spectacular but gave the ball away for Bournemouth's goal too which doesn't help his cause. It's a game he'll learn from though and will improve.

Torreira - 8

This was Torreira at his finest. Makes things difficult for any opposition creative influence, breaking up playing, making tackles, and putting himself about all over the pitch. More please!!!

Xhaka - 8.5 (MOTM).

He and Torreira worked their arses off in the midfield today. They'd be damned if anything got past them on their watch. He did it so effectively and without making any silly challenges/fouls. His passing ability was on show as well with several quality line breaking passes into Aubameyang and Lacazette, he found Saka time and time again with accurate balls down the touchline, and did a great job of keeping the attacking pressure going recycling countless broken down pass to keep things ticking.

Aubameyang - 7

Reacted quickly to take his goal when the opportunity came to him. Worked hard for the team and despite playing out wide, he found himself inside and picked up dangerous positions a few times. If Lacazette could find form that makes him too good to drop, then I can see a way for Aubameyang to get in the team and continue to score goals.

Ozil - 7.5

Chief trouble maker at your service. We all know how well Ozil can find pockets of space, but these were more than pockets, it was almost literally acres of space. When he got the ball in those areas though, he used it effectively too. He found Nelson and Saka out wide constantly and had Bournemouth back peddling towards their goal more than a few times.

Nelson - 6

His all round game was excellent, running tirelessly forwards and backwards and constantly making menacing runs that caused Bournemouth all sorts of headaches. His final ball really let him down though today and for that I can't score him anything above average. Like Saka though, he'll look back on today as a learning opportunity and I'm sure he's going to improve.

Lacazette - 5

From somewhere, he needs a big big confidence boost. He just can't seem to get himself on the scoresheet whatever he does, he had two good opportunities: One he wanted a bit too much time, the other was blocked by an superb tackle.

Willock - 5.5

Difficult to rate after 15 minutes of action. Didn't influence the game too much when he came on but really fluffed a golden opportunity late on that the opposition don't present to you that often so late on.

Mustafi - N/A

Pepe - N/A