Bournemouth v Arsenal. A tiny flicker of light at the end of a negative tunnel

Posted on by Tony Attwood

By Bulldog Drummond

Since 1 December Bournemouth have had two victories, one draw  and three defeats at home – a modest record that most certainly should be giving Arsenal hope for a straight victory in this game…

Date Game Res Score Competition
07 Dec 2019 Bournemouth v Liverpool L 0-3 Premier League
21 Dec 2019 Bournemouth v Burnley L 0-1 Premier League
26 Dec 2019 Bournemouth v Arsenal D 1-1 Premier League
04 Jan 2020 Bournemouth v Luton Town W 4-0 FA Cup
12 Jan 2020 Bournemouth v Watford L 0-3 Premier League
21 Jan 2020 Bournemouth v Brighton and Hove W 3-1 Premier League

Against this and looked at in isolation, Arsenal’s away form since  1 December is not that bad – not a single defeat.  But of course there are not that many victories either – just the one in fact.  One win and six draws.

Date Game Res Score Competition
01 Dec 2019 Norwich City v Arsenal D 2-2 Premier League
09 Dec 2019 West Ham United v Arsenal W 1-3 Premier League
12 Dec 2019 Standard Liège v Arsenal D 2-2 Europa League
21 Dec 2019 Everton v Arsenal D 0-0 Premier League
26 Dec 2019 AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal D 1-1 Premier League
11 Jan 2020 Crystal Palace v Arsenal D 1-1 Premier League
21 Jan 2020 Chelsea v Arsenal D 2-2 Premier League

Arsenal have been scoring more goals away from home than Bournemouth have at their own ground which again can give us some extra hope, and there is a general feeling that Martinelli could be in the team once again for this match.

Overall Arsenal’s away form is mid-table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Liverpool 11 10 1 0 23 6 17 31
2 Manchester City 12 8 1 3 34 15 19 25
3 Leicester City 12 7 1 4 28 12 16 22
4 Chelsea 12 7 1 4 25 20 5 22
5 Southampton 12 6 2 4 18 14 4 20
6 Wolverhampton Wanderers 12 4 5 3 17 15 2 17
7 Sheffield United 12 3 7 2 12 12 0 16
8 Crystal Palace 12 3 5 4 12 16 -4 14
9 Arsenal 12 2 7 3 14 16 -2 13

But compared to this moment one year ago this away form is still not showing the improvement that we have been looking for. In fact this season we have played one game more away from home compared to this date one year back under the previous management, but have two fewer points and a slightly worse goal difference.

Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Tottenham Hotspur 13 11 0 2 30 13 17 33
2 Liverpool 12 9 2 1 23 7 16 29
3 Manchester City 11 7 2 2 22 7 15 23
4 Chelsea 11 7 1 3 19 10 9 22
5 Manchester United 12 6 2 4 23 19 4 20
6 Leicester City 12 5 2 5 16 17 -1 17
7 Watford 11 4 4 3 16 14 2 16
8 Arsenal 11 4 3 4 22 22 0 15

I really do wonder if there is not, in some small part, an AFTV effect away from home.  If so the continuing uprising against AFTV by the Arsenal away support might gradually help the players pull themselves together and improve what has been a problem for several seasons now.

Certainly by this stage in 2016/17 Arsenal had the third best away form in the country with six wins, three draws and two defeats thus far, and a goal difference of +15.

Fortunately, for this match, we can note that Bournemouth at home are themselves not that impressive

Club P W D L F A GD Pts
12 Wolverhampton Wanderers 12 4 5 3 18 17 1 17
13 Arsenal 12 4 5 3 18 18 0 17
14 Aston Villa 12 5 2 5 16 21 -5 17
15 Crystal Palace 12 4 4 4 10 12 -2 16
16 Watford 12 3 5 4 11 14 -3 14
17 AFC Bournemouth 12 3 4 5 13 18 -5 13
18 Norwich City 12 3 3 6 18 25 -7 12
19 West Ham United 11 3 2 6 17 20 -3 11
20 Southampton 12 3 2 7 13 28 -15 11

So although this is a bit of clutching at straws Arsenal have the better goal difference (-2 for Arsenal away, -5 for Bournemouth at home) and again that could help Arsenal edge a victory.

But maybe the most important factor is the slight change in mood, despite the efforts of AFTV.  The performance of Martinelli is something that has attracted attention and diverted commentary from the endless attacks on the club, and certainly despite the modest results thus far the new management team is not suffering from the sort of journalistic abuse that Emery and his men got – or indeed Wenger’s management team got, during its last two seasons at the club.

If this slightly more positive approach can be maintained there could be some light at the end of the tunnel despite the lack of victories in recent times.

 

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10 Replies to “Bournemouth v Arsenal. A tiny flicker of light at the end of a negative tunnel”

  1. Is there light at the end of the complaining about AFTV tunnel? Why are you even talking about them again? Why do they mean so much in your world? As an adult I choose not to give credence to their musings much as I avoid say The Sun, Football London, Talk sport etc. Why waste your time and page space on them? Can we keep to more important subject matter here on Untold please? I thought this site was for real football stories and have been impressed with some of the reporting here on Uefa, Pigmob refereeing and Possible match fixings. It would downgrade this site considerably in my opinion if it were to engage in a petty squabble with a minor fan group.

  2. Away at Bournemouth is never an easy prospect for Arsenal, especially if the home team, as expected, can rely on the on-field performance of Mike Dean. Expect yellow cards (even a possible red) and penalty award, as well as the now familiar selective use of VAR.

  3. Untold used to be bright positive source during the Wenger era. It’s a pity if you turn negative too.

  4. @Sammy,

    well, I believe Untold is pretty realistic. Positive about Arteta and the team as a whole, but realistic about refereeing… Figures show something odd is definitely going on and that it is costing us points. And I believe it is more blatant then before, or Tony’s insights have shown that the extent of the oddity is larger then we thought. Numbers tend not to lie…like the fact that we’ve head this Dean guy, if I am not wrong, more then a handful of times which is something that does not fit an neutral refereeing organisation. Maybe at some point we ought to make him an Arsenal Tshirt wth the number -3 on the back, which quite often is what he costs us

  5. On the AFTV theme.
    It can’t be good when people who purport to support the team are whether they like it or not having a negative impact.
    Constructive criticism yes, but you rarely get that straight after a disappointing performance.
    For me it’s not rocket science.
    Get behind the team 100%.
    There’s plenty of people out there running the club down we don’t need to be doing it ourselves.

  6. Laos Gooner

    “Is there light at the end of the complaining about AFTV tunnel? Why are you even talking about them again? Why do they mean so much in your world?”

    I believe the reason their negativity needs addressing is simple and obvious. The media are constantly looking for negativity with which to bash our club and AFTV, despite purporting to ‘support’ the club, are an endless source of negativity for them to harvest and use against us.

    If you subscribe to the notion, as I do, that the endless negativity has a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of our club, from turning the fans hostile, to affecting the confidence and form of players, to the undesirability of even joining the club, then they need to be called out for the charlatans they are.

    Sammy The Snake

    “Untold used to be bright positive source during the Wenger era. It’s a pity if you turn negative too”

    There is a big difference between being negative towards the club, manager and players, than to being negative towards the media, PGMOL and the way we are treated by referees and VAR etc.

    There is a famous saying I often cite on Untold, and that is:

    “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

    and I have subscribed to that all my life.

    Okay, if you believe the media are fair and even handed in the way they portray our club, managers and players.

    And if you believe we are treated fair and equally by referees and VAR, then that is up to you, as is your silence.

    But if you are like me and believe we are poorly treated on all those fronts, then I see it as not only acceptable, but absolutely essential, that we highlight it as often and as loudly as we can.

  7. OT: Arsenal Women FA Cup Action

    I slept in to find out that the Arsenal Womens game had concluded. They were off to some place called Rush Green Stadium to play the better half of State Aid United.

    McCabe opened the scoring on 15m. That was all the scoring in the first half. At 73m Waelti scores her first goal for Arsenal, on a corner served by Beth Mead.

    That was all the scoring, and so Arsenal are through to the 5th round.

    Congratulations Gunners!

  9. I do not see how we are going to win this game regardless of how poor Bournemouth may be or not.

    Mon 27th Jan 2020 The Emirates FA Cup referee appointments

    AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal
    Referee: Martin Atkinson
    Assistant Referees: Lee Betts & Adam Nunn
    Fourth Official: Simon Hooper
    VAR: Mike Dean
    AVAR: Marc Perry

    Once again, Arsenal get Martin Atkinson and Mike Dean combination for their game against another British/English Manager (Eddie Howe). Why is that? Arsenal must be a problem child that requires very special care and handling that the same officials are repeatedly assigned to referee (managed) them.

    This is going to be the 5th time Martin Atkinson has refereed our games. His record to date is; Refereed: 4 matches, Fourth official: 1 Match, VAR: 1 Match

    We also once again get Mike Dean involved in our game even though so far we have seen him 5 times in our games to date; Refereed: 4 matches, VAR: 1 Match

    The last time we saw the 2 (Mike Dean & Martin Atkinson) tagged team together was not even a month ago, it was just;

    Sat 18 January 2020
    Arsenal V Sheffield United (1-1 D)
    Referee: Mike Dean
    Fourth official: Lee Mason.
    VAR: Martin Atkinson

    Our next game after the FA cup game is a premier league away game on 2nd February against another British/English Manager (Sean Dyche – Burnley) I expect to see us loss key players in the Bournemouth FA cup game that would mean they miss the Burnley game.

  10. I do not see how we are going to win this game regardless of how poor Bournemouth may be or not.

    Mon 27th Jan 2020 The Emirates FA Cup referee appointments

    AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal
    Referee: Martin Atkinson
    Assistant Referees: Lee Betts & Adam Nunn
    Fourth Official: Simon Hooper
    VAR: Mike Dean
    AVAR: Marc Perry

    Once again, Arsenal get Martin Atkinson and Mike Dean combination for their game against another British/England Manager (Eddie Howe). Why is that? Arsenal must be a problem child that requires very special care and handling that the same officials are repeatedly assigned to referee (managed) them.

    This is going to be the 5th time Martin Atkinson has refereed our games. His record to date is; Refereed: 4 matches, Fourth official: 1 Match, VAR: 1 Match

    We also once again get Mike Dean involved in our game even though so far we have seen him 5 times in our games to date; Refereed: 4 matches, VAR: 1 Match

    The last time we saw the 2 (Mike Dean & Martin Atkinson) tagged team together (for another British/English Manager – Chris Wilder) was not even a month ago, it was just;

    Sat 18 January 2020
    Arsenal V Sheffield United (1-1 D)
    Referee: Mike Dean
    Fourth official: Lee Mason.
    VAR: Martin Atkinson

    Our next game after the FA cup game is a premier league away game on 2nd February against another British/England Manager (Sean Dyche – Burnley) I expect to see us loss key players in the Bournemouth FA cup game that would mean they miss the Burnley game.

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