Arsenal: Gunners recover at Bournemouth; Cazorla stat highlights problems; Bramall to sign

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Arsenal managed to perform a miraculous comeback from three goals down to secure a point against Bournemouth, but it won’t be enough to convince their critics that they are good enough to challenge for the title this season. They did however show that the players do have a fighting spirit that they have been criticised for not having in the not too distant past. It is an impressive achievement to recover from three goals down, regardless of the quality of the opposition. Olivier Giroud was superb and pivotal to the side’s recovery.

There will be doubts raised about the quality of the back four after they were bullied at times by the Bournemouth front line. It is doubly concerning for the Gunners as they lined up with their first choice back five and they were made to look poor. It was a wake-up call for Arsenal and it will be interesting to see how they react from here. It is important that they take the positives rather than the negatives as they remain in a good position to have a good season. They are still in three competitions and they need to perform well in all three. The Premier League is tight in the top six this year and many more displays like this one could see the Gunners miss out on a top four finish for the first time in the Arsene Wenger era.

The Metro have selected a damning stat to explain Arsenal’s recent form. They have failed to win 50% of their Premier League matches since the injury to Santi Cazorla. Before the Spaniard’s injury, they had won six successive matches in the league. They have struggled in the transition phase since his injury as they have no like-for-like replacement. It is an area of the squad that they should look to improve in January, but Wenger is stubborn and doesn’t like to do any business in January unless absolutely necessary.

It’s difficult to disregard this stat as Arsenal have been obviously poorer without Cazorla in the side. He is excellent at launching attacks from deep and possesses a reading of the game from midfield that few others in the Premier League do. However, this should have foreseen by Wenger. Cazorla has suffered with injuries over the last few years and Arsenal should have been prepared for his absence. He will argue that the club are well stocked in midfield, and to some extend that is true, but nobody else can perform Cazorla’s role and they are now suffering for that.

Finally, one transfer story to emerge from the Emirates Stadium is that they are set to sign Cohen Bramall from Hednesford Town, a non-league side that plays in the seventh-tier of the English football pyramid. The young defender is going to join for a fee of around £40,000 according to Sky Sports. He impressed during a short trial and has been training with the club ever since. The left back is going to sign a two-and-a-half-year contract and is likely to play for the U23 side for the rest of the season.

Although it is encouraging that the club are scouting all across the globe and in every league across the country, Arsenal fans will be disappointed that this signing is gaining as much coverage as it is. Bramall is a developmental signing and the fact that it is being reported by Sky Sports is over the top, especially as the club are unlikely to make any first team moves in the January window. It provides fans of other clubs with a stick to beat Arsenal with. That said, it will be interesting to see how he fares at Arsenal and whether he can replicate the success of Chris Smalling, Charlie Austin and Jamie Vardy in stepping up from non-league to the top flight.

Featured image: All rights reserved by Stuart MacFarlane