Ødegaard marshalls Arsenal to slick victory over Bournemouth

Unrecognisable. A 12-month transformation, the table flipped on its head. Then: three games, no goals and bottom. Now: three games, goals flowing and top. True, the fixture list has been much kinder than this time last year, but it is the nature, the style of this Arsenal side that has heads turning. A confidence, a pazzaz missing for years.

Their new captain, Martin Ødegaard, set them on their way with a brace inside a dozen minutes, William Saliba adding second-half gloss. Bournemouth were simply dismantled, a south-coast battering that they did not have the defences for.

‘Trust the process,” Mikel Arteta said. He kept saying it. First they laughed, then they got angry. Not any more.

Look, no one is saying Arsenal will win the title. They are not going to win the title. There will be blips, embarrassing moments. But implosions are unlikely. And there is a strong bond between players and supporters, perhaps aided further by allowing camera access to football’s intimate areas last season. Yep, trust the process.

Having started with a pair of victories, there was not even an urge for Arteta to tinker. And so, for the first time since the “Invincible’s” of 2003-04, Arsenal fielded the same starting XI for their opening three leaguegames.

This ground hosted Arteta’s first match as Arsenal manager back in December 2019. He has since slowly sucked the gold-plated poison out of the club, meaning just Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka remain as starters.

In the Bournemouth side that day was Aaron Ramsdale. Much scoffing accompanied his Arsenal arrival, via a spell at, and a second consecutive relegation with, Sheffield United. While Ramsdale still refers to the Vitality Stadium as “home”, and received a warm reception from all