Sterling still in Arsenal’s sights
Woeful Bournemouth make it too easy for Gunners as Welbeck claims a brace
ARSENAL remain interested in signing Raheem Sterling from Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola vetoed a proposed swap involving Sterling and Alexis Sanchez on transfer deadline day with City preferring to offer straight cash.
The City manager is adamant Sterling has a role to play and says the England international is fully committed to his project but it is understood the 22-year-old is open to returning to London and playing more regularly at Arsenal.
City will return for Sanchez in January and will offer around £20million for the Chilean. Arsenal retain interest in signing Sterling and Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.
CRISIS averted, for the time being at least. It would have been carnage if Arsenal had lost this one.
Instead, Arsene Wenger has bought himself some time with Arsenal routinely disposing of Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium. But for some disgruntled fans this win merely papers over the cracks.
Indeed, the fractured Arsenal fanbase was prevalent yet again when supporters jeered Alexis Sanchez as he was introduced in the second half.
Sanchez’s attempts to engineer a move to Manchester City clearly haven’t gone down well. The Chilean cut a frustrated figure as he trudged off the pitch at full-time; strange given his side had just cruised to victory. Penny for your thoughts, Alexis? How Wenger manages Sanchez’s situation will have a significant impact on how Arsenal’s season develops.
Will the Chilean, unquestionably Arsenal’s best player, put his heart and soul into what will almost certainly be his final season at the club? Similarly, with City set to launch another effort to land the South American in January, can Arsenal truly rely on their talismanic forward?
‘We have to accept responses from people,’ said Wenger. ‘I don’t know why [Sanchez was booed], but the best way to get people on your side is to perform. I don’t know if it affected him. I had a chat with him after the game and he didn’t look unhappy.’
Perhaps Wenger was relieved the vitriol wasn’t aimed at him this time, this victory providing at least a shred of respite from what has been a tumultuous few weeks.
Two Premier League defeats, offloading Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool and agreeing to sell Sanchez and Shkodran Mustafi only for the pair to remain in north London has pushed some supporters to the limit.
Then, of course, there’s the fact they haven’t signed a single player since their record £52million capture of Alexandre Lacazette on July 5.
The natives are restless; they were primed and ready to vent here at the Emirates. But for now, at least until Thursday when they face Cologne in the Europa League, the glare isn’t so intense thanks to Danny Welbeck’s brace and Lacazette’s second goal for the club.
Despite Wenger’s issues, you’d imagine Eddie Howe would swap his problems for the Frenchman’s in a heartbeat. Four defeats in four league games make worrying reading.
Bournemouth have been a breath of fresh air since their arrival in the top flight in 2015, but keeping the Cherries up this season will be Howe’s greatest achievement.
It was three against Arsenal; but it could have been more. Way more.
There’s no great shame in losing to Arsenal. But it was the manner of this defeat that will concern Howe. Even with Jermain Defoe leading the line, Bournemouth were toothless. The fact they’ve scored just once so far in the league illustrates those deficiencies.
‘That was very disappointing from our perspective, we were poor from start to finish and we can’t hide away from that today,’ said Howe. ‘The first half especially was uncharacteristic from us. We were a bit passive and too reactive.’
Howe may have breathed a sigh of relief when he first caught glimpse of Arsenal’s starting XI, with Sanchez named on the bench after only returning from interna- tional duty on Thursday. Any encouragement was shortlived, however, as Welbeck converted Sead Kolasinac’s seventh-minute cross with his shoulder. It was the perfect pickme-up for Wenger, who knew the chances of the crowd turning would grow with every passing minute without a goal.
Such is life for the Arsenal manager nowadays.
Their second arrived 20 minutes later, Lacazette expertly firing beyond Asmir Begovic from 16 yards after exchanging passes with Welbeck. The finish was sublime, but Howe will agonise over how easy it was for the Gunners. Why was Mesut Ozil afforded the freedom of the Emirates to find Lacazette? How did Nathan Ake mistime what looked like a routine interception in the build-up?
No doubt the Cherries boss sought answers at half-time.
Had Defoe’s header from Jordon Ibe’s cross not struck the post in the 47th minute then perhaps Bournemouth may have mustered a comeback. Instead, it was a damage limitation exercise after Welbeck fired home his second from Aaron Ramsey’s pass in the 50th minute and Arsenal cruised to victory.