NOT BAD FOR STARTERS
Aubameyang to rescue as same old problems dog new boss
CRUMBS! It must have been what new Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was thinking as he brushed down his hoodie after watching the first goal of his reign fly in.
Head bowed in disappointment at the early setback, he immediately turned and looked for somewhere to hide in his dugout.
His focus seemed locked on those few imaginary specks he was cleaning furiously from his clothing. None of them would have been crumbs of comfort.
Day One and he was already learning he simply does not have the defensive platform on which to build a successful Arsenal turnaround in the short term.
Nor, thanks to a woeful recruitment policy stretching back years, does he have the
leaders on the pitch to paper over the shortfall.
Moreover, as the rain at the Vitality Stadium slowly saturated his top, tight trousers and trendy black pumps, it became increasingly clear Arteta does not have Arsene Wenger’s giant coat in his locker either.
Not that the new look under Arteta is without merit. Even in his first game in charge, there seemed a sharper focus on going for goal. A player who used to like to walk the ball in certainly wants his team to take plenty of shots.
For the most part, it was a little bit hit-and-hope for the purists.
What Arteta has inherited, though, are two first-class finishers in PierreEmerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, who could just dig his side out of enough holes to prevent the season becoming a complete disaster.
Certainly, when Reiss Nelson’s 63rd-minute deflected cross shot finally slithered its way through
Bournemouth’s stout defence, there was only one place it was going to end up when it reached the feet of Aubameyang.
Then when Lacazette broke powerfully down the centre minutes later, it was only a brilliant last-gasp tackle by Chris Mepham that prevented Arteta’s side from pulling off an ill-deserved three-point heist in his first game.
Ill-deserved because in the first half the Gunners showed all the demons that have haunted them in recent weeks. Granit Xhaka backed off when he should have tackled, Jack Stacey got to the line far too easily, no one reacted as quickly as Dan Gosling and suddenly Arsenal were a goal down.
Whether it was Arteta’s first half-time team talk or Bournemouth perhaps running out of steam, but Arsenal were better after the break, with their link-up play more intelligent and purposeful.
Yet it was the Cherries who thought
they had earned a win – Harry
Wilson’s shot was pushed away by Bernd Leno only as far as
Callum Wilson and though the England striker found the back of the net, VAR confirmed he was offside.
But the Gunners now have just one win in 14 matches.
When the final whistle blew, Arteta patted each of his staff on the back, hugged some players and went to the away corner to offer the Arsenal fans a well-received round of applause.
But he had been unable to give the club what it really needs right now – a giant shot in the arm.