Arsenal 3 - 1 Bournemouth

Credit to Bournemouth for playing with skill and energy on our pitch.  They created several good chances and were unlucky not to get a goal in open play.  They were, however, very lucky to get a PK for a clumsy flop after their forward (Wilson) collided with Monreal.  No way was that a penalty.  But the ref thought otherwise and the early gift goal was canceled out by this one.  I have to admit that the 1-1 scoreline was a fair one, though.

The second half was quite different.  Bournemouth had their moments, but Arsenal was superior.  Monreal found Theo's head to make it 2-1, and finally Alexis sealed it in the first second of extra time at the end of a flowing move by Ozil and Giroud.

First, I have to praise Debuchy's performance in the 15 minutes he played before he went off injured.  What a devastating blow.  It didn't look good for him coming back soon.  Gabriel replaced him and was OK.  Our CBs both picked up yellows, but did quite well.  Monreal was victimized by a bad call but got that assist.  Xhakelneny did the job in midfield.  Ozil is still excellent, but I expect magic from him every game and lately he seems to have run out of magic.  His free kicks and corners are still pretty good, and he puts in the effort, so I don't want to criticize.  Walcott and Ox did not have the impact I'd expect in an open game like this, but they did work hard with and without the ball and Theo scored.  Alexis was magnificent.  He was all over the field.  The first goal was typical: he pounced on a slack backpass, rounded the keeper, and slotted it in within three seconds.  He stole the ball several other times, once in our own 18 yard box.  And he scored twice!  Ramsey and Giroud both did well as subs.

All the teams ahead of us won, but the two closest behind dropped points, so it was not a bad weekend.

Arsenal 2 - 2 PSG

Fair result, I thought.  The teams were well-matched, and threw themselves into the game in an attempt to win the group.  In the end, the away goals rule gives the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Parisians if we and they both win the sixth group game, so it was mission accomplished for PSG.  Their first goal was pretty, but the rest of the goals came from mistakes.  A classic this was not.  But it was a very entertaining match and there was a lot to admire in Arsenal's play.  Coquelin-Ramsey had a serious test and I thought they did OK.  Gibbs and Jenko once more showed that they are very decent options.  Alexis and Ozil are not playing at the peak levels they're capable of, but I have faith that will return.  I like Giroud up front.

Spurs exited Champions' League and will be in Europa League hell for the rest of the season, which is fine with me.

Bournemouth tomorrow, with Jack watching his teams play each other.

Klinsmann Out, Arena Back In

As you know if you read my last post, I agree with Gulati that the boss had to go.  This was the perfect time to do it, too.  We have four months before the next set of qualifiers, and the MLS players will be available for training.  Klinsmann didn't think much of MLS and perhaps he didn't have an appreciation for the possible talent; you can't say that about Arena, who's won that league five times with DC and LA.

Klinsmann brought a lot to the USMNT.  He was a huge name in soccer, had the respect of the players, and he convinced several German-American players to commit to the US.  (Arena has withdrawn his mean-spirited comments about such players that he made a few years ago.)  His goodbye message was classy.  There was no doubting his commitment to the team and to the US.  He deserves our thanks.

I like our chances.  We have eight games left, and have played two of the three hardest already.  Three teams will qualify automatically and a fourth gets a knockout chance against a team from another federation.  Surely we can finish above Panama, T&T, and Honduras--or at worst, two of those three.  Five wins and we should be in good shape, and that's achievable.  I think Arena will get the most out of the team, in qualifiers and in Russia.

Manchester United 1 - 1 Arsenal

The Mourinho and Man U hoodoos on AW and AFC are still alive, but weakened considerably by the result today.  I was in no doubt that MUFC was the better team in the game.  They outshot us and looked more dangerous throughout.  I'm putting it down to home field advantage, because I don't want to go negative on a very spirited performance from the Gunners.  But another referee may have given the penalty for Monreal's arm across Valencia; look at whistle-happy Mike Dean at Wet Fart Lane today.  And Cech made a couple smart saves.  Still, they got just one and the delicious cross and header by two second-half substitutes earned us the point.

The commentators were saying that the game didn't live up to the pregame hype, but maybe they hyped it too much.  I thought it was very watchable.  Like the NLD last game, loads of energy and desire were evident from all concerned, and it largely canceled out in frantic aggressive midfield play.  Alexis was everywhere, and gave them fits, but never seemed to find the right pass at the end of his effective dribbles.  Jenko was much better than I expected at right back; he kept Martial marshaled.  It was Monreal who was unable to handle Valencia on the other side.  Pogba was a beast, but his final ball was lacking.  Rashford had something of an off day, which turned very sour for him when Ox left him for dead in the 88th minute and made plenty of space to line up that perfect cross for Giroud to head home for our only shot on goal and our only goal.  It has to feel good for Alex after his dismal performance against Spuds.

We rode our luck for long stretches, but it ran out when Herrera sent a fine no-look cutback through the area that somehow hit Mata in stride.  He didn't miss.

I'm getting worried about Ramsey.  He has played extremely well for Wales this year, but I can't think of a standout performance from him for us.  He's not the threat he used to be.  Coquelin seems fully back.  He was excellent in the destroyer role today.  Walcott did not get his name mentioned enough; his form has dropped.

We've underperformed two games in a row, and were a bit fortunate to get a point out of each of them.  We need to get back to winning ways.  Besides Man U, Liverpool and Everton drew today, but we lost ground against Spurs and Man City, and Chelsea could go top tomorrow, three points up on us.  PSG at the Emirates on Wednesday for top of the group, and Bournemouth next Sunday, and hosting Southampton in League Cup the following Wednesday.  It's an endurance test.  I feel strangely confident.

Costa Rica 4 - 0 USA

It's time for Klinsmann to go.  He's lost the dressing room and he's shown poor judgment in tactics and personnel.  It's great that he brought some good German-American players into the team, but we need a new manager.

The game was painful.  There's no reason to panic, but the sooner we replace Klinsmann the better.

United States Uno - Dos Mexico

Gaah.  If we can't defend corners, this is what's going to happen.  I didn't see the first half, but in the second there was some nice attacking play from the US.  If we play this well against everybody, we'll be OK.  Mexico looks strong.

Arsenal 1 - 1 Tottenham -- Honors Even in the NLD

Fair result from a very entertaining game, I thought.  The finishing was pretty bad from both sides; the keepers did their jobs.  But the play was open and both sides went for the three points.  Erickson hit the post on a lovely free kick; Walcott rocketed one off the post on a great strike from about 21 yards.  There were lots of blasts over the bar, and quite a few last-second interventions from defensive backs.  It could have been a five goal game, but we are going to have to settle for dropping two points at home.  Ouch.

I continue to wonder why Iwobi starts.  He's got lots of talent and may one day be a star for the Gunners, but his speed of thought is not up to EPL standards just yet.  This is a game in which Alexis should have been (and was) effective as the frontman, but it didn't work out.  This was also not one of Theo's better games.  I want Lucas Perez to get a run on the side; he would have done at least as well as either of our wide men today.  Ozil was constantly getting into dangerous positions, but the Spurs defense managed to snuff out the threats.

The goals were both caused by mistakes.  Wimmer nodded the ball past Lloris on one of Ozil's superb free kicks, and Kos made an unwise swipe at the ball on the slashing Dembele (or was it Wanyama?--they both were very good today) a foot inside the box.  Kane buried the PK straight down the center.  The other mistakes from both teams were not punished.

The defenders did well enough, I thought.  It was our midfield that looked a bit overmatched for much of the game.  Coquelin and Xhaka are both quick and strong, so you know that Dembele and Wanyama looked powerful out there.  Erickson did his usual excellent job.  Alexis had to come back too often and make the sort of challenges that you're not going to get from Ozil.  The difference was that several times the Spurs mids made strong runs at us, whereas that was not allowed by Spurs--and neither of our DMs is known for that anyway.  Coquelin was removed for Ramsey with 25 minutes to play, but that worked no better.  Giroud provided menace in the area after he came on for Iwobi, but Ox was if anything even less effective than Walcott when he came on at the same time.

So both sides keep impressive streaks alive:  Spurs are undefeated in the league, Arsenal undefeated in all competitions since their opening day loss to Liverpool.  But both are certainly disappointed to have dropped two points in a very winnable game.

I see 'pool is smacking Watford around, so we're going to finish the weekend in fourth place, having started it in second.  We're still behind City on goal difference, but will be a point back of Chelsea and two behind Liverpool.  We will have to be on the front foot against Man U after the international break.

A pat on the back to Shad Forsythe, who has us as healthy as I can remember.

Ludogorets 2 - 3 Arsenal

The crowd at the Bulgarian National Stadium got their money's worth when the Gunners came to town.  Both teams went after it from the beginning, and as the hosts had done in two previous ECL group encounters, they scored first, in the 12th minute.  Unlike the other times, they also scored second, just three minutes later.  Both goals were well set up and taken, and both exposed our defense.  On the first, a questionable handball call gave Ludogorets a free kick, which was sent exactly where it was meant to go.  No Gunner touched it, and it traveled all the way to the far post knee high, where it was tucked away expertly into the opposite corner where Ospina had no chance.  I think more than one Arsenal player should have dealth with it, though admittedly it's awkward for defenders to try to clear a ball in their six yard box while they're running towards their own goal.  Could Ospina have come out and snagged it?  As it turned out, yes, but had anyone touched it as he did so, it would have bounced into an empty net.  So I don't fault him.  The second goal was off a counter; the attacker sat Gibbs on his ass and picked out a nice, short cutback to an unmarked onrushing teammate who made no mistake, and it was 2-0, with the crowd going wild.

It could have been worse, believe it or not.  Ludogorets got some corners, and Arsenal never handled them well.  This is Ospina's weakest skill, and without Per in there, the ball more often than not bounced in the six yard box, where it could have been poked into the goal.  We've been very lucky this year that more such chances have not been put away.  Steve Bould needs to get to work on these guys, because they certainly are equipped to win aerial duels reliably.

The bellowing Bulgarians had just five minutes of unalloyed joy before Ozil cut a ball back to Xhaka, whose crisp finish into the corner made it 2-1.  The crowd was nervous after that.  And a few minutes before the half, Ramsey (who was playing right wing but was mostly in the center of the pitch) crossed delightfully to Giroud, who nodded it bravely into the net just before the onrushing keeper could punch it.  The crowd was really nervous now.

A word about the personnel:  Ospina was in goal, and the backs were Gibbs-Kos-Mustafi-Jenkinson.  Jenko was rusty, and got less help from Ramsey than he should have.  Gibbs was positive but was involved in both Ludogorets goals.  The center backs were less assured than usual.  I don't know how much that has to do with Ospina being in the net rather than Cech.  Xhaka and Coquelin played in front of the defense, Ozil was the #10.  Alexis was wide left and Ramsey wide right, with Giroud up top.  I thought it worked pretty well, but we were taken by surprise (though we shouldn't have been) by the hosts' flying start and lightning counters.  Ludogorets was playing very well most of the game.  One potential problem was Xhaka's overexuberant tackles, three or four of which could have been yellows--though only one was.  Enough players were in unaccustomed roles that the timing was a bit off.  In the second half, Ox came in for Ramsey and Elneny for Xhaka.  They were good too.

The second half had a lot less drama but much of it was still played at speed.  Ospina made a top-class save on a breakaway, and Ludogorets missed a couple other good chances.  Our finishing was off as well.  It started to look as though it was going to end 2-2, but then a swift sequence of three plays, each more sublime than the last, won us the three points.  Giroud came racing back to poke the ball away from behind from a Ludogorets player in our half.  Elneny picked up that loose ball, and a touch or two later, launched a long pass to Ozil, who...well, click on that link above to see the whole thing.  I just watched it a dozen times.  It's hypnotic.

Can someone explain why Wenger can't break the terrible habit some of our guys have of whinig at the ref after every adverse decision?  Coquelin got a yellow for dissent today, and a couple more could have.  Giroud and Alexis are insufferable whiners.  You don't see Koscielny acting like a crybaby when a call goes against him.  We lost Giroud in Zagreb last year because he got yellow for dissent (then another for a mistimed high boot).  It almost cost us the privilege of being knocked out in the first round following.

PSG won their game late as well, leaving us tied on ten points before our showdown at the Emirates.  the winner will win the group no matter what happens in the 6th game, due to the ECL's tiebreaker rules.  A draw makes it more complicated.

Spurs Sunday morning.  They flamed out at Wembley today.  Leverkusen made them look bad, winning 1-0.  Dembele had to come out too.  They will not be confident Sunday, but studying film of our defensive lapses should give their coaching staff an idea or two.  I expect we'll come out as we have for most league games, with Alexis up top again.  We'll see.  From the game today, some speed up there should really unsettle them.