On the Whistle: Bournemouth 0-4 Arsenal - "Havertz off the mark in professional, emphatic win"

Well there you have it guys, proof that if you love your football team enough, you will wear anything. Thanks very much to a kind viewer who sent me this complete with emblazoned Les Dudas on the front. I haven't gone as far as purchasing this kit, but if Arsenal keep playing like this today, a lot of people will. This was a consummately controlled performance and frankly a hilarious set of Premier League results. We've got to talk about Man City losing at Molyneux to Wolves 2-1. Wang with the winner, Pep Guardiola referred to him in his pre-match press conference as the Korean guy, well the Korean guy stepped up and scored the winning goal against Manchester City. You can see their unbeaten start to the season is over and Arsenal are just within a point of them now after a very, very, very emphatic 4-0 win. Manchester United losing 2-2 by the way at home to Crystal Palace, but it's less relevant to us because let's face it, they were never really in a title race of any description. Mikel Arteta will be a very satisfied man tonight. I think that Arteta at the end of last season in May probably looked at his fingernails and saw how short they'd been bitten. He looked in his bathroom and realised he'd had to go through a few more bottles of Just for Men to keep that immaculate black hair and I think he thought, this season I don't want those stress levels. The last minute winners, the likes of Manchester United are great, but Arteta wants control. He wants calm and today he got it. Bournemouth are a high-pressing team, bowler counts and of course some other Premier League sides, good Premier League sides, Brighton among them. Some difficulty. Arsenal had no difficulty whatsoever. We were so composed in possession. We were dangerous going forward and let's be clear, Bournemouth contributed to their downfall with some very, very poor defending, including the concession of some very soft penalties. Starting line-up, well, Gabriel Chiesa started on the left again. Trossard was not fit to start. We had Eddie through the middle, Saka was fit on the right. Guys, we all need to stop taking what Mikel Arteta says in press conferences about injuries less seriously. You know, I had a bit of background knowledge on some of these guys, so I knew most of them were in line to play, but when he said in his press conference yesterday, we have doubts over half a dozen players, I saw a lot of anxiety and despair. Mikel Arteta is going to obfuscate as much as he can on injuries and to be fair, he does it in both directions. You know, he says Gabriel Martinelli has a chance of being fit to the derby, when Gabriel Martinelli had no chance of being fit for the derby. He lies, essentially, and journalists and the club website then have to print those lies. But Arsenal were very confident that they would get a strong team out today. Seemingly, most of them came off unscathed, with the one exception being Pekar Saka, perhaps we'll come to that. It was Saka who got the opening goal. It's funny, isn't it? You know, people talk about Saka maybe not hitting his top form this season, maybe not being at his absolute best, and yet his productivity is really second to none in this Arsenal squad. I think only Son of Tottenham and Haaland of Manchester City have scored more Premier League goals than him at this point in time. He was Johnny on the spot, in the right place to head home. Nice ball from Odegaard to the back post. Everything good Arsenal did today involved Odegaard, the club captain. Jesus coming round the side, being a threat on the back post. I think he was just trying to head it back across goal, but it came off the near post and Saka was there to nod it in. I think he could scarcely believe his luck, but it was the perfect start for Arsenal and another goal contribution for Bukayo Saka. The man is just so consistent. Let's hope that injury concern is not too significant. He doesn't tend to be. I mean, touch wood, but he's got remarkable powers of recovery and very resilient. He gets these kicks every single week and he's back on the pitch week after week. That takes toughness and I think maybe that's a quality of Bukayo Saka's we don't talk about enough. Next up, we've got a penalty, Eddie Nketiah, who I thought had a really good game today. A lot of criticism of him, I think, after the Spurs game. I thought he was very good here. Really worked hard, ran the channels, chased everything, was a threat in behind. I think it was a good centre forward performance. Everything but the goal, you'd have to say. He won the penalty though. A couple of exchange passes with Zinchenko, got right into the box and a clear trip by Max Ahrens. I mean, I don't know what he was doing going to ground in that situation. There's only really going to be one outcome. So that was 2-0. Saka looked like he was going to take it, gave it to Odegaard. The old switcheroo, very, very calm penalty. Hopper skip and a tuck into the bottom left-hand corner. Bournemouth really didn't offer much. I mean, there was one, I thought, very good piece of goalkeeping from David Reier towards the end of the first half where he plunged low at his left and made a save, but not just made a save, retained the ball. And I do think this is sort of interesting and worth discussion. Reier started again today, as you would expect, over Aaron Ramsdale, but I think a lot of the commentary has been about, oh, well, it's his distribution, it's what he does with his feet. And I'm sure that's part of it. But actually, the reports that I'd picked up from training here and there were actually where Reier had really impressed was his handling, his hand speed, his ability to keep hold of the ball. Yeah, his basic handling as a goalkeeper. And actually, I think in terms of distribution and what they do with their feet, I think they're actually much closer together. If you look at Ramsdale's performance in midweek at Brentford, I thought his distribution was excellent. And Reier's against Spurs, not the best, not the best necessarily today either. So I think that maybe some of the sort of commentary, assuming that, oh, well, Reier's Spanish, it's all about what he does with his feet. I think that might be wrong, actually. I think that the decision is informed maybe more by what he does with his hands. And I think the gap between Reier and Ramsdale with their feet, I don't think really exists hugely. I think that there's a stylistic difference in terms of their positioning and the areas they play on the pitch. But I think, yeah, all the talk about the feet overlooks the hand aspect, where I think Reier has been strong. What else to say? We've got into the second half, cruising, really. And then we get another penalty, Martin Odegaard essentially having no choice but to hurdle a Bournemouth defender, and the penalty is given. And there's a big moment in this. They give it to Kai Havertz. You know, is it going to be Odegaard? Is it going to be Saka? It's going to be neither. It's going to be Kai Havertz. And that's a pressure penalty, because if he misses that, then all the talk about him being a flop or his move to Arsenal being a disaster really kicks into overdrive. He took it very, very well. He's a good penalty taker. It was similar to Odegaard's. He gave Neto the eyes, looked in the opposite corner, took a little skip, and then put it into that same bottom left. I think it was a really, really big moment for him to get off the ground, and the fans loved it. As soon as the ball was given to Havertz, there was a huge cheer, and then as soon as it was in the net, the chant to Waka Waka started up, and it was reminiscent of the Saliba chant at Bournemouth last year, which really took hold and seemed to carry on for the whole game. Well, this was like that throughout the second half. Nightmare for Bournemouth fans, I'm sure, but this Waka Waka is a catchy tune. I was in South Africa in 2010. It's a tune I love. It's a tune that means a lot to me, and let me tell you, my baby son, I was singing it to him during the second half, and he was absolutely loving it. I think it's going to catch on pretty quick, and a bit of self-awareness, a bit of irony in the lyrics, which I don't mind at all. We made changes. The change we didn't make was Saka coming off, and that, I think, was what a lot of people would have wanted to see. Maybe other things were in Arteta's mind. With certain players who'd played in midweek, he wanted to get them off, get them rested. Other players had been carrying different sorts of injury problems. Saka stayed on, and he eventually went off wincing and in pain. There'll be concern about that, but I would say, again, look at the player's resilience. Look at the record. I think he'll be back out there for Man City in a week's time. Will he miss the Champions League game against Lans on Tuesday night? Maybe. It'll be interesting to see how much Arteta rotates with that Man City game looming large, and a chance in that game for Arsenal to go top of the Premier League. There was a fourth goal. Ben White, another Odegaard involvement. A little float across into the near post. Poor defensive line from Bournemouth, but a really good header from Ben White. Lofting it into the near top corner. It doesn't get on the score sheet very often, so I think he really enjoyed that, particularly back on the south coast, where he spent quite an important formative period of his career. He's got some fond memories on the south coast, so I think he'll have had some friends in the crowd today, and he will have enjoyed that one. And Emil Smith-Rowe will wonder how he came away from this game without a goal. Two chances, one when played in after good work by Jesus and then Nelson, and then the other from the edge of the box. Really firm strike, tipped away by Neto. Listen, he'll be disappointed not to have scored, but I'm really encouraged by this. This was the Smith-Rowe of a couple of years ago, showing that impact from the substitutes bench. We need that in the squad, and I think the fact that Arteta turned to him showed that he's happier with where he is at this point, his trajectory and his development, his recovery. It's the old cliche, like a new signing. Well, Smith-Rowe would really be that for Arsenal. So, Arsenal win, fantastic result, 4-0 away from home. No complaints there. United lose again, real concerns for me. Well, not concerns, real question marks, let's say, about the ten-hard project. I have to say, at this stage in time, I don't necessarily see him lasting the season, but we shall see. And City lose at Wolves. This is a hard league, and eventually there's going to be upsets, there's going to be results. I still think City, you know, you'd make them favourites for the Premier League, but Arsenal are looking solid, and they're scoring goals now as well, to complement everything else they're doing. It helps when teams defend like Bournemouth did today. They were very timid, very tame, and Arsenal were in complete control. No biting of Mikel's nails, no need for the Just For Men tomorrow. He will be a happy man. I'll leave it there, guys, and we'll speak to you, well, certainly, Tuesday after the lunch game. All right, ta-ta, bye-bye.