Positive and negatives from Arsenal's awful 1-2 defeat against Bournemouth

If it ends up being the match that costs Arsenal the Premier League title, then it is no more than they deserve.

April marks the start of the domestic run-in; a time when fans find themselves on edge but still hold out hope for the team to get over the line, using the same grit they showed to get into this position in the first place.  

Instead, the Gunners looked like deer in the headlights. At no point did they ever seem relaxed or in control, they never looked as though they believed they could win, never showed the world why they stand to be champions-elect (feels wishful right now).  

One positive and three negatives from Arsenal’s awful 1-2 home defeat against Bournemouth

Mikel Arteta did rally the fans pre-match but he should save his battle cries for the dressing room as, like they have done in every match for the past month, his call-to-action seemed to fall on deaf ears among the squad.

Here is one positive and three negatives from Arsenal’s “punch in the face” 1-2 loss to Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium.   

Positive #1: Viktor Gyokeres finds the net again

Rinse and repeat from last week when Viktor Gyokeres scored to bring Arsenal back on level terms against Southampton.

There are virtually no positives worth taking from this match but, in the interest of variety, one could perhaps be found from the spot.

Arsenal received a lifeline just after the half-hour mark when Ryan Christie handballed to earn them a penalty. It takes guts to step up amid such pressure but Viktor Gyokeres is always the coolest man on the pitch and he smashed the ball home.

Not even joking, it was just about the only time in the entire game that any Gunner struck the ball with a bit of conviction.

It counted for naught.

Negative #1: Awful, awful performance

Where do you start after a performance like that?

There is a risk of being hyperbolic or emotional at times like this but it does not feel like exaggeration to argue that Arsenal produced one of their worst, most abject collective displays in recent memory on Saturday.

From minute one to 90, it was almost comical: no urgency whatsoever, constant giveaways from Kai Havertz, Martin Zubimendi and co. under minimal pressure, some ridiculous decision-making, awful defensive positioning for both goals and next-to-no sign of any creative spark or goal even as things hung in the balance.

There is a title on the line for God’s sake!

How a team of professionals, with three days to prepare, can turn up and deliver such a diabolical performance is both hard to understand and impossible to accept. Teams like Manchester City can turn on the style in a title race; Arsenal go the other way and completely fall apart when it matters most.    

Arteta said there were “some very basic things that we did extremely badly” – how on earth can that happen when you are trying to win a title?

Negative #2: David Raya passing from the back

He was not at fault for either goal yet David Raya earns a special mention for his decision-making on the ball.

Picture the scene: it is a must-win match in front of the Emirates crowd and the game is hanging in the balance. Time is against you, you know that the team needs a goal and the goalkeeper receives the ball to initiate a new attacking phase.

Ready to launch a devastating surge?

No.

Raya got the ball many times and proceeded to stand on it for an eternity – what he expected to see open up in front of him against a primed-and-ready Bournemouth high press is a mystery. But his call to kill any momentum was topped in the madness charts by his choice of pass, opting twice for two hospital passes that nearly led to two goals.

This rage-baiting was crowned by a hand-up apology on both occasions; apologies wear thin when it is obvious what is about to happen and you play the ridiculous pass anyway, even more so when you do it more than once.

It was not the most significant fault here but it nicely captured the maddening approach Arsenal had to this game.

Negative #3: Arsenal are losing their title grip

No real need to delve into the nuts and bolts of this one.

Defeat here puts huge pressure on Arsenal ahead of their trip to Man City next week and, if they play anything like this at the Etihad (or indeed how they have played at any point in the past month), then they will be absolutely mauled.

Many fans – myself included – are probably resigned to the idea of yet another title collapse and the only crumb of comfort is the level of performance i.e. if you produce such a disgraceful effort, then you simply do not deserve and cannot expect to win trophies.

As good as Arteta is, nothing we saw here or in recent weeks or over the last few years suggest that Arsenal will proceed to do anything other than collapse again this year – that is simply unacceptable to a fed-up fanbase.

He apologised for this bad result, but it means nothing if the team goes out and delivers the same rubbish next week.