Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal was not enough to win Arsenal’s first match under Mikel Arteta at Bournemouth © AFP / Glyn KIRK
Bournemouth, United Kingdom, Dec 26 – 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.”
Animated Arteta: Mikel Arteta was an energetic presence on the touchline in his first match in charge of Arsenal © AFP / Glyn KIRK
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.
Bernd Leno then prevented his side falling 2-0 behind before half-time with a smart save at his near post from Josh King.
Arteta made an impact with his half-time team talk as Arsenal dominated in the second half but once again needed Aubameyang to dig them out of the trouble.
The Arsenal captain scored his 14th goal of the season as he swept home a loose ball inside the Bournemouth box.
Lacazette then had a glorious chance to give Arteta the perfect start when he raced clear on goal, but Bournemouth captain Steve Cook recovered just in time with a sliding challenge to divert the striker’s shot behind for a corner.
At the other end, Callum Wilson thought he had given Bournemouth just their second ever victory over Arsenal when he tapped into an unguarded net after Leno parried Harry Wilson’s shot.
However, the offside flag came to Arsenal’s rescue and a VAR review confirmed the England striker had strayed marginally beyond the last line of defence.
