Arsenal have rediscovered their fight at the Emirates, Eddie Howe is looking troubled at Bournemouth and Slaven Bilic showed cool thinking
- Arsenal have shown a good tenacity and determination to win the ball back
- This came in useful during their recent matches with Bournemouth and Chelsea
- Eddie Howe is feeling the pressure with Bournemouth in the relegation zone
- Slaven Bilic showed calmness under pressure to make the right decisions
Martin 'Mad Dog' Allen returns with his latest column for Sportsmail.
He discusses Bournemouth's start to the season, Slaven Bilic's calm decision-making under pressure and how Arsenal have rediscovered their bite.
BRITISH COACHES GET-TOGETHER
I was privileged to receive an invite to the Football Association meeting of British coaches in conference rooms at Wembley Stadium ahead of their recent England game against Slovakia.
Big hitters from the Premier League, managers, coaches and pro-licence holders of all different levels were there to network and learn with guest speakers from business, the military and the Premier League.
Martin Allen was invited to Wembley recently to attend a meeting of British coaches
FA technical director Dan Ashworth was the catalyst of the evening.
The only thing missing was the experiences of what it's like managing at a lower level Football League club, on a low salary, after a run of defeats when there's no budget and they don't pay you anything if they sack you, with kids to look after and bills at home to play.
Overall, it is another great effort and long-term thinking around the development of British coaches to take on these foreign managers.
SOUR TASTE TO EDDIE'S CHERRIES
I watched Bournemouth play against Watford at home and Arsenal away. Both matches Eddie Howe's Cherries were well off the pace, with and without the ball.
They are lacking speed, power and surprisingly poor at ball retention. During Eddie's interviews he has looked troubled and concerned and I'm sure he would've been very worried with his team's displays.
For me, the best recent result was Bournemouth's 2-1 win over Brighton. Forget Manchester City, Bournemouth had to get some points on the board and it gave a fantastic young English manager the boost he no doubt needed after what has been a difficult start.
However, Saturday's defeat by Everton leaves them in the bottom three and Howe will expect more from his side when they face Leicester this weekend.
Eddie Howe's Bournemouth have endured a difficult start to the Premier League season
The Cherries were left stunned by Oumar Niasse's double as Everton beat them on Saturday
FRANKIE JOINS THE CLUB
Good old Frank de Boer, getting sacked after just four league games was the same as my short stint at Leicester City.
Only difference is we were seventh in the Championship — Crystal Palace were bottom of the table with no points. He is a welcome addition to the club.
Frank de Boer lasted only four Premier League matches as manager of Crystal Palace
SLAVEN'S SUPER SUB
You have to be mad to be a manager. A few weeks ago, the West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic was stood in the technical area getting booed by a London Stadium full of West Ham supporters for substituting Javier Hernandez in the 64th minute against Huddersfield.
The striker was played out on the left and he missed a good chance to open the scoring when he hit the bar and was generally average, as Andy Carroll rampaged through the middle as the main striker.
Bilic looked lonely, vulnerable and he was brave to roll his dice in what was a must-win game. On went Andre Ayew with the Huddersfield fans singing, 'You're getting sacked in the morning,' a chant I'm well used to myself.
Lo-and-behold, within eight minutes West Ham took the lead with a deflected goal — in off the inside of the post — and five minutes later Slaven's super sub made it two.
It was a brilliant move by the manager and the term T-Cup sprang to mind. T-Cup is a phrase created by England rugby supremo Sir Clive Woodward. It means: thinking calm under pressure. Slaven that night certainly earned my respect.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic remained calm under pressure to make the right substitutions
Andre Ayew celebrates scoring West Ham's second goal in the vital win over Huddersfield
ARSENAL'S BITE BACK AT THE EMIRATES… BUT NOT A PIE IN SIGHT
I was lucky enough to be invited to the Emirates Stadium to watch Arsenal versus Bournemouth. Sat in the VIP directors box seats on row three, with not a Pukka Pie in sight, I thought to myself, 'This is the life.'
The moment of that fantastic performance that stood out for me was halfway through the second half with Arsenal comfortably winning, Bournemouth took possession and popped a couple of passes before an Arsenal midfield, supported by their right back Hector Bellerin, went into tackles like a pack of rabid dogs.
The Arsenal fans, to a man, cheered and roared their approval at the energy, determination and passion to win the ball back.
Against Chelsea without Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez they looked a far better team with 100 per cent commitment and a desire to play for the team and not the individual.
Surely, the two of them must be sold in January if Arsene Wenger, who it must be said put together one of the toughest teams in Premier League history, is to bring the glory days back to the Emirates.
Arsenal have shown greater fight and character in certain games this season
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