When any side in the top flight of English football plays one of the so-called “big six”, the “big six” side needs to be off their game and the other side needs to be at their level best. This is where the Premier League now is.
Upsets happen (even this weekend involving a former AFC Bournemouth head coach), but not all that often, AFC Bournemouth have beaten Arsenal in the past, they’ve almost beaten them a few times in fact, giving away leads on more than one occasion.
However, Saturday was not one of those days when the Cherries would frighten the Gunners, Saturday instead was one of those days that stings somewhat as a home supporter, not a bad performance for the first third of the game, but from then onwards it was like a boxer on the ropes just waiting for the towel to be thrown in. All hope was lost, it was a drawn out defeat.
The highlights will show silly individual errors, Neto with odd positioning for the first so much so that the surprise that Jesus actually headed the ball towards goal caught him so flat-footed that he was on the floor by the time Saka headed the rebound home. Max Aarons and Ryan Christie sliding in to gift the opposition penalties and then a goal from a set piece reminiscent of last season when the Cherries conceded from virtually every cross from every scenario.
After the game AFC Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola admitted his side were not at the standard that he would like, telling Sky Sports…
“It was the first time we were not at the level the competition required and we did not finish the game well.
“For sure this game leaves the worst sensation for me. You can lose against this type of team because they are really good, but it is the first game this season where I have felt that we were not at the level.
“You have to be at your best to compete against these teams and we weren’t after the first goal. We cannot concede two penalties and also the first goal is a bit strange, we should be there but we lost the positioning of Saka.
“We started really well, were doing well but after 1-0 I think they were better than us.”
Andoni reacts to #BOUARS 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/9GCV00ac4G
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) September 30, 2023
Man of the match against Arsenal
Sinisterra
Neto
O. Dango
Tavernier
Cook
Philip
Solanke
Christie
Someone else
billythekid wrote…
Very disappointing, one shot on goal from Ryan Christie.
Philip Billing had a chance to shoot in the first half but took too long to decide and an Arsenal defender blocked it and the chance was gone.
Our side doesn’t seem to have any bite when we get near the opposition goal.
Two penalties were given away which were not needed.
Then conceding from a set piece for the fourth summed our afternoon up.
AFCB_Liam said…
That was as bad a performance as I’ve seen from us in the Premier League.
No aggression or urgency. We made it so easy for Arsenal. When we did get it in the final 3rd we were so sloppy with loose passes and bad control.
No real patterns of play or discernable style. The co-commentator said it isn’t really clear what system we are trying to play and it’s hard to disagree. 2nd half was arguably even worse than the first as at times we appeared to down tools. That moment when Zab gave it away, Senesi tried and failed to rugby tackle Jesus and they still walked through us to nearly score summed us up, it was comically bad.
It’s all well and good writing off these tough fixtures but even if we do lose them, there’s a way to lose without embarrassing ourselves and damaging confidence.
In terms of individual performances, nobody stood out but Cook was probably the least bad. Tav, Kluivert, Dango, and Sinistera were all abysmal. Solanke was ok. The defence struggled all day with Arsenal’s movement and usual errors leading to goals. The 2 pens we gave away were shocking.
AI has a lot to do in the next week to pick the players up from that. We need a much clearer system. And we need to improve our set pieces which might have even gotten worse this season. – To join the conversation, click here.
