Tonight. I haven’t gone to bed yet.

I can’t help it if you are far behind the rest of the civilised world. Boxing Day test match, Sydney to Hobart yacht race, sales and morning exercise all just warming up here. Over yesterday’s drinking and food. And then 1am tomorrow it’s game on. I will be asleep.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you too, and to all forumites. Boxing Day finally here for us.

So Arteta rates Xhaka highly.

Oh well, the optimism surrounding the Arteta appointment was fun well it lasted even though it seems to have been misplaced.

Anyone who thinks Xhaka is in any way the answer to our midfield issues clearly has no idea. Expect Arteta to be sacked by the summer

Don't they love their sport in Melbourne .... just over 80,000 at the cricket .. a record for a non Ashes Test .


I reckon we'll sneak a 2 -1 ... danger is Bournemouth haven't won in ages and we have a habit of making lost causes look like world beaters .

Ljungberg stays on as assistant manager , he will be joined by Wales assistant Albert Stuivenberg , then Steve Round will also be assistant coach , plus the former Brentford goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana Pavan will join our existing goalkeeping coach ...far from clearing any sort of log jam Mikel seems to be adding to it .

I am not sure that Arteta has really thought thru a few of his comments.
Everyone starts with a clean slate - not a bad idea but there is already so much history with some of these players with the fans that this is almost impossible

"What I have learned mostly is you have to be ruthless," Arteta said last Friday. "The first thing I have to do is change the energy. The players have to accept a different process, a different way of thinking. If we don’t have the right culture the tree is going to shake." (from an article in the Tribuna) - so when we see players not chasing back, players being lazy in tracking their opponents, 3 players pressing and the other 2 can't be bothered or just lack of effort let us see if he is true to his words. No matter who they are will he be ruthless? Will he drop them? That is the expectation I have from his words. No language problems so no excuses.

Emery took a stand against Özil and then had to cave. The moment Arteta does the same he is finished. With any player at all.

If players don't form triangles, make the 5 yard pass to a player in a worse position, make the stupid tackle in the box - will he act? Well he picks Xhaka - then the question could be answered very quickly.

For anyone reading all the negativity about Arteta rating Xhaka, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Just wait until Top Gun is next on the forum.

It is interesting though. Wenger, who paid £35m to buy him, Emery, who made him club captain, Ljungberg from the evidence of his time in charge, and now Arteta all seem to like him as a player. Are they really all wrong, or is the position of Hazuki and Gunfire nearer the truth?

Anyone seen much of Jarod Bowen from Hull, 23, winger who scored goals and is very very quick. Record of a goal every other game and gets assists. It is the sort of profile of player that someone in the prem is going to take a punt on, a bit like when Maddison went from Norwich to Leicester.

Kalvin Phillips the holding mid from Leeds is another highly rated.

These guys cost £30m or so but could be worth double with a few good performances in the prem

The Xhaka love in, is like the saying "Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?" Reminds me of the early Gilberto years. Some on here had as the 2nd coming. Eventually, he was visibly a good player but it was tough seeing something that was invisible. Clichy as well for a time, who had his best years playing for someone else.

Always nice seeing Sperz losing. Long may it last.

Not to mention Mourinho as commentator said if he was Arsenal manager hed be the first name on the team sheet. At some point people are going to have to accept the guy has qualities that make him a very very good player.

2-1 Sperz in the 90th.

He's not a very, very good player Gunny. He's too slow, he gets caught out defensively because of his lack of mobility, he gives away endless numbers of stupid fouls with trips and pullbacks and his ability to start an opposition counter with a stray crossfield pass is uncanny.

Let's hope Arteta is able to get something out of Özil that nobody else has because if he doesn't then defensively we are playing with ten men today.

If we can beat Chelsea, Man Utd and Tottenham I'd take that for the rest of the season.

I bet some of you old reprobates were around for this in 1963.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... ng-10.html

Online Live Links anyone?

Decent shot on goal then. Looking for visible changes in attitude and tactics.

Özil is finding huge areas of space between the lines. Crucially we seem to be getting the ball in to him quicker.

Noticeable how hard we’re working off the ball. Need to keep it up.

Bournemouth creating some dangerous situations. Quite an even start

Thanks

Some actual nice stuff being played. I repeat, one glimmer of hope, I can hardly believe it.

Team is moving faster, that's nice. Like the movement of Özil and Xhaka.

We seem a bit more positive than the prior few weeks.

We seem to be playing American football on our shots on goal and going for a field goal. A bit more shots on target would be nice. But all in all better stuff than we've been seeing.

Strikers need to stop selecting the sand wedges and smashing all out chances into row, well I would say Z but Bournemouth’s ground is so small. I reckon about M. Either way get it on target!

6 efforts at goal already.
The players must feel they are playing better, really need to get the goal to keep the confidence flowing.

No sign of anything like that today.

7 shots

None on target... although a few blocked. Bournemouth there for the taking, hope we don’t regret messing up these chances.

Soton 1 up over Chelsea.

Are our forwards deliberately ballooning the balls? Almost all attempts gets in the air Just like my golf drives

Not good, we are in a relegation scrap

LOL.

Oh no!

We need to knock their confidence and hard. A goal might do it. Just a suggestion.

Keep your head down and follow through.

Is Pépé's attitude so poor that we play Nelson instead?

Darn it.

Mistake laying out from the back, not getting up quick enough to play their striker offside and we’re 1-0 down. Wasted chances and confidence is now going to be totally drained

Lacazette has had 3-4 chances to properly run at their last man and get a shot away, he’s failed to test the gk on every occasion