Written by kirsikka
Part two of the deathly triple and, as is usual with us, one player back but no more bodies available because another two are out. It’s getting beyond a joke now. Saying they aren’t connected and it’s a coincidence is wearing a bit thin.
Onto the match and it was five at the back. There were plenty of prematch groans, myself included, as most thought we knew what was coming. However, I’ve stated in the past that the key to these matches is to frustrate the opposition. Put doubt in their minds. They believe they’re superior to us so if we concede early they can relax and goals will come. Finally, it was something different.
I’m not shy about criticising but I’m also happy to praise when it’s due. That’s the second time in two seasons a carefully planned kick-off has resulted in a goal. That’s playing the marginal gains right there. I’ve seen us try a whole range of variations in the last few months from kick-off and they’ve mostly been pretty awful. There was a little more simplicity to this one, no long looped ball, and it worked a charm. The Arsenal players seemingly all wanted to charge forward, England v San Marino style, and had no discipline in their defensive shape when we didn’t just pass the ball to them. Well, the microstate of Bournemouth gave them the bloody nose that arrogance deserved.
A nod to Ouattara. It isn’t like he is tearing teams up and has a lot of improving to do but three assists already is a decent return. A bit like a striker who gets on the end of things, he seems to have the knack for it. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes in the games after next week.
As for today, Arsenal were all over us like a giant jellyfish flopping all over and subsuming a crab. Only a rare sight of a claw poking out was evidence that we were still alive and kicking. Yet, it turned out our shell was much tougher to crack than they were expecting.
I’ve railed again and again this season about making something of the few opportunities we get in games like this, with a focus on set pieces which have mostly been dire. Then witness our second goal. Danjo wins a free kick which is taken excellently by Rothwell and we win a corner. He takes that as well and it’s an absolute humdinger which Senesi does brilliantly to put away. That’s the difference taking good set pieces can make. So it was a delight to see us finally making something of these chances. On another day that would have been three points.
Arsenal were relentless though. It was like watching a red wave cover the team only to drain away on the sand and see us still standing there, bedraggled but not quite washed away. Today was a brave performance. It was a team performance. It was a performance that deserved at least a point.
On the downside, the defending of corners has cost us again. Two of their goals came from them and whilst they had about 12 in total, we still can’t overlook or ignore that we are by far the worst team for conceding from set pieces. Come the end of the season, we may well look at that stat and say that was the difference. It wasn’t all bad as we did look better on many of those but it’s still not completely tight. More work to do. If we can’t work it out then just get Pulis in for 3 months and give him the job of sorting them. Don’t let him near anything else though.
When the players look back on the day, it’s the kind of thing that could deflate them. I hope it doesn’t as they took every punch that Arsenal threw straight on the chin and, with a bit more luck, could have walked away today with three points. That’s something to take into the games coming soon. True, it was pretty much one-way traffic for 90 minutes but other matches won’t be like that and we seem to have some pace and power going forward that could prove very handy in less challenging matches.
Man of the match against ArsenalBilling
Senesi
Rothwell
Solanke
Someone else
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—– Positive Performances —–
Billing – He was like a lanky leviathan bestriding the pitch. Just when you thought they were getting away, out would stretch a daddy’s long legs limb and snatch the ball away. He was also a key player in our infrequent breakaways. Quite possibly his best-ever performance in an AFCB shirt.
Rothwell – Like a tiger in midfield, chasing and harrying. Shades of peak Arter to him at times. Lerma has been undroppable since he arrived across who knows how many different AFCB managers. I wonder if this is the performance that could change that.
Smith – Quietly efficient on his side of the defence. Even won a header at the back post. Tired in the last 15 and I thought should have come off for Stacey at that point. Would those fresher legs have meant we didn’t give away that last seconds corner? We’ll never know.
The central defensive trio all deserve a mention. They all had moments covering for each other, intercepting, winning headers, and blocking off attacks. It was the modern equivalent of a Greek tragedy out there, with the threeple relationship ending with all the heroes dead on the turf at the final result.
—– Room for Improvement —–
Zemura – He was up against probably the top-performing player in the PL this season in Saka, with an inexperienced player in front of him. He mostly helped us keep them out but his biggest issue was when he got the ball. Way too sloppy in possession and had to be bailed out several times by team mates when he gave it away in our defensive third. I’m sure someone will try and blame him for the goal when a man ghosted in behind him to score, ignoring he had to cover the guy standing and waiting for a tap in right in front of the net.
—– GON Watch —–
What will Gary take from today? Is it “let’s sit deep and pack the defence against these sides as in the end one of these will go for us” or is it “if you leave men with pace up they can cause problems so not everyone should be in the defensive third. Also, if you frustrate them long enough then you’ve got a chance”? I really hope it’s the latter.
He went for Semenyo instead of the more obvious choice of Anthony and, for the most part, I thought it turned out to be a good decision. So fair play. If he made a mistake today, it was in leaving Smith on for too long. He’d played well but looked out on his feet, and no shame in that given the amount of defensive work we had to do.
Now it’s down to psychology and man management. He has to gee the players up. Make them understand that they put in a worthy performance out there today. They left nothing on the field, and there’s no shame in taking the likely champions to pretty much the final kick of the game. As long as he can get that message under their skin it will create belief. If he fails, then the dropped point(s) could be detrimental to morale. So there’s a really important week ahead to work on their heads as well as their ball skills.
I don’t care about the possession stat which I’d guess is under 20%. What I care about is the other things we saw. We saw intent to break and try and do something whenever we (rarely) got the opportunity. And we looked threatening in those moments. I saw a never-say-die attitude from 1 to 11 right up until that eleventh-hour killing blow.
We had El Gladiador on the pitch, and if we fight like that from now until the end of the season then I don’t think even Maximus Decimus Meridius would stand a chance of stopping us from battling our way to enough points.
It’s a defeat, but it’s a defeat to be proud of and with a lot of positives to build on for the weeks ahead. Were you not entertained? I was.
Your say…
northstandmark wrote…
The frustration comes from such fine margins. This team isn’t woeful Norwich or whatever from PL past, its a firm boot here or a cool head there away from being 6-10 points better off. Its a mentality I guess, we just can’t shake the tinpot. Be that in ourselves or the eyes of the opposition and officials. – To join the conversation, click here.
