Bournemouth (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to match his high standards after the Spaniard’s first game in charge ended in a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Thursday.
After a bright start from the visitors, the ills of Arsenal’s season that have seen Arteta handed his first senior managerial role were obvious when Dan Gosling put Bournemouth in front on the half hour mark.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again rode to his side’s rescue to level, but the Gunners could not make the most of their dominance of the ball after the break against a Bournemouth side that had lost six of their last seven games.
A point leaves Arsenal still down in 11th and with one win in their last 14 games in all competitions under three different managers.
“There are no negotiables at this club, there are standards that have to be done at this club and they held them today,” said Arteta.
“In terms of attitude, desire and commitment it was better than I expected.
“I am still learning about the players, about the priorities to make them more secure when they jump on to the pitch.
“My only aim now is to find solutions; to attack better, defend better.”
Arteta recalled the experienced trio of Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and Sokratis Papastathopoulos from the side that drew 0-0 at Everton as he watched on from the stands on Saturday.
Ozil has faced a barrage of criticism this season due to his limited impact on the field, whilst Arsenal distanced themselves from his comments support for the Muslim minority Uighurs in Xinjiang amid a backlash from China.
The German looked more like his old self in the opening quarter as the visitors dominated possession with Ozil pulling the strings.
Twice he freed Lacazette inside the area, but the French international striker could not get a clean strike on goal.
“I think he played really well,” added Arteta of Ozil’s impact. “He worked and could have been the difference, we could have scored three or four goals from his balls through.”
Arsenal’s clean sheet at Goodison Park at the weekend was their first on the road in the Premier League since the opening day of the season and their defensive deficiencies soon reappeared.
Gosling robbed the ball midway inside the Arsenal half and continued his run forward into the box to meet Jack Stacey’s low cross.
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/360Ud3V
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