Seeing red, again!

Mikel Arteta following the Bournemouth match, “It’s the third time it’s happened in eight games. It’s just an accident waiting to happen. It’s too difficult.”

Yes, the Gunners have picked-up three red cards in just eight Premier League matches this season. Two of those matches resulted in draws, while yesterday v Bournemouth ended in defeat. All three red cards have happened between the 30th minute and the 49th minute, meaning the remaining ten men had a lot of football yet to play while down one man in all three of those games. This is not a winning formula.

The culprits: Declan Rice v Brighton and Hove, Leandro Trossard v Manchester City and William Saliba v Bournemouth.

Now, it’s hard to be too tough on these players since we know they are working their butts off trying to win matches for Arsenal, however, there also has to be more discipline in those brief moments before potential incidents occur. The Gunners have dropped  seven points in those three matches. Maybe with eleven men finishing the matches we would have won, or maybe not, but the point has to be made that carelessness or over-aggressiveness does cost clubs points.

On the flip side, we have to give a lot of credit to the ten men left on the pitch to finish the match. Playing in the Premier League is tough enough, but battling a man down requires a lot of focus, determination and grit. These are new found characteristics in this club over the past few years which we would rather see being used trying to win football games instead of just trying to stay in the game with a man down.

Plus, these are matches we must win because they will come back to haunt you late in the season when the race for the title is being decided.

Let’s hope three red cards will be the end all be all for the Gunners this season. In order to win trophies, the players will need all the help they can get, including having eleven men on the pitch at all times.

COYG!

Cheers.

Gunner1953