Arsenal: Chaos can be fun when you’re the masters of it

Arsenal had next to no control against Bournemouth. They were like a wildfire. And it was thrilling to watch because they were masters of the chaos.

Arsenal‘s win over Bournemouth was a hectic, back-and-forth affair. Just when you thought the match was going to be dull in the first 15 minutes or so, like a flip of the switch, everything changed, and it took on a much more chaotic nature.

It wasn’t a matter of pure dominance by the Gunners, either. I consider dominance a willful control of a match, such that there are next to no downfalls in the club. They essentially beat the life out of the opposition through control and surgical precision.

That wasn’t the case against Bournemouth, and it can be summarized by Matteo Guendouzi‘s giveaway on the edge of his goal box that became the Cherries only goal. I don’t want to dwell on the moment too much, as he’s surely beating himself up over it, but face the facts – neither he nor Lucas Torreira were able to put an ounce of control in this match.

And, in reaction, with very little possession to be held in the middle of the pitch, the spitfire erupted, with the attack constantly driving at the heart of the Bournemouth defense.

The entire match became reminiscent of the Manchester Untied 2-2 draw at Old Trafford. The difference was quality. The similarity was the chaos, the lack of control (Granit Xhaka missing) and plenty of thrills. Thankfully, there were only a few corresponding spills by the Gunners.

These kinds of matches are exciting. They’re a joy to watch. But at the end of the day, you can’t expect to master these kinds of chaotic affairs on a consistent basis. Chaos has no master, so in the moment that you temporarily become the master of it, best to just enjoy it, because there’s no telling what will happen the next time a match takes on this kind of energy.

Bournemouth had a lot of chances to make this awkward. It took some fits of individual inspiration to stomp out any lingering embers. And again, I don’t want to dwell on the negatives, but just remember not to underestimate the intrinsic value of controlling a match.

That said, with how clinical the Gunners hitmen were on the day, it was never really in doubt. So, for the time being, let’s just enjoy that fact.