Intensity, The Word Of The Weekend
Sep 28th, 2012 by 'holic
For the second weekend running it is another big club to challenge, another opportunity to show we are as good as we think we might be. In his pre-match press conference Arsene summed up our visitors and his own team perfectly.
“They’ve gone a little bit more creative. We’ll know a bit more about us after Saturday.”
They arrive as Premiership leaders, with four wins and a draw from their first five games. Three of those wins came at home, however, and their last two away games have seen them drop their first points at Queens Park Rangers, and get thrashed by Atletico Madrid in the Super Cup.
I’ve not watched a full Chelsea game yet, but the highlights have shown them largely in a good light. Oscar, Mata, and Hazard should make them a little more adventurous than when they came to strangle the corresponding fixture last season. To be fair they were looking to avoid a second hefty beating after we scored five at the bus stop in Fulham at the end of October.
The midfield battle will be intriguing, with Mikel Arteta, Abou Diaby, and Santi Cazorla surely re-united after sitting out the win over Coventry in midweek. Having said that it is the strikers who will probably decide the contest. Torres looks to be recovering his mojo while we have Lukas Podolski looking impressive. Who will partner the German international up front? I honestly don’t know. Normally I have a gut feel about these things, but there are arguments for and against the other candidates.
Had he signed a new contract Theo Walcott would probably have been picked against a full-back in Cole who he normally terrorises. It is likelier the other two places will be permed from Olivier Giroud, Gervinho, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Wojciech Szczesny and Lukas Fabianski are still ruled out so Vito Mannone remains between the posts. There is no reason to change the in-form young full-backs so the only other selection poser for the boss is which two of his three outstanding centre-backs to go with. Again I’m unclear. What a great problem to have.
I really do feel this could be a classic, with two big sides going at each other, determined to demonstrate they are the real deal this season. The ‘holic pound is nervously pointed at real value and and frantic action at both ends. 3-2 to the Arsenal is a decent 28/1 with Gunners Gaming and has caught my eye. As usual please click on the link above to take advantage of that, and their free Β£25 bet (subject to terms and conditions) for new clients. Thanks.
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That’s it then. Time to go and watch my first intense sporting contest of the weekend. The Ryder Cup, with apologies to those from outside Europe and America, never fails to provide real sporting emotion for both those playing and watching. It will set me up nicely for more of the same at the Grove tomorrow lunchtime.
Have a great one ‘holics.
259 Responses to “Intensity, The Word Of The Weekend”
First!
Nice write-up ‘holic. I think the TV-Per axis gets the nod, but I agree there is a great deal of mystery around the front three.
Watching the Ryder Cup now but I imagine I’m not pulling for the same team as you π
Third
Off to read intense blog.
certainly. but we will emerge victorious!
now, to read more than the title π
Nice one ‘Holic.
Think AW will go with the Bfg and the Captain, though I would prefer to see Kos retain his place alongside Per.
Up front I would be surprised to see any change to last week’s team.
2-1 to The Arsenal.
See you tomorrow.
http://img.viame-cdn.com/photos/4aae5330-ebcf-012f-db25-12313819542a/r600x600.jpg
Hope you bring a change of fortune to the Golf. Getting tonked. Americans playing fantastically well to be fair.
honestly, holic, i am hoping that the forward-ranging new boys for chel$ki will draw their previously fly-tight defense apart, allowing our new saint to bless the emirates with goals in abundance.
and, if cunterry plays, i fully hope he reprises his bovine antics of this fixture last term.
i think 3-1 to le arse is a better bet, i can imagine torres diving for a penalty at some point. or hazard will let slip another dog of war…
Not going to make the game tomorrow – here’s to a big win for that Holic pound with a hat-trick for Olivier Giroud..
Catalan Gunner, thanks for the “We bring an Arsenal” link, brilliant! Missed the new post cos I watched it twice running, roll on tomorrow and a 3-1 win, don’t care who scores. (Liar, liar, c’mon Geeroooo)
It is time for calmness, sureness, steadiness and dependability in front of net. Ergo, tomorrow will be Podolski time. π
All except Tiger tabs.
Have to agree that the most likely for the front three is those who started against City, with Giroud coming on for Gervinho if a change of approach to route 1 is in order.
Holic,i see a high scoring encounter just as you but i dont see The Arse conceding more than one goal tomorrow so i will go for a 4-1 win to The boys in red and white (and blue hoops). I dont care who they play in central defence because am sure they will play their best centre back (Ivanovich) at right back,i’ve quite a few minutes of their games this season and i can tell you that apart from Oscar’s goals against Juve he hasn’t done much else of note so i will be happy if they play him in midfield tomorrow,their only attacking threats i think we should be worried about are Juan Mata,Hazard,Frank lampard and Cunterry (from corner kicks) as well as Cashley’s marauding runs from leftback.
I think we will start with Manone,Jenks,Per,Verm,Gibbs,Diaby,Arteta,Santi,Poldi,Theo and Giroud. The only reason Theo will start is Not because of his 2goals the other night but to counter Ashley with his pace on that flank and because he seems to have a good record against Chelsea. I think our goals will come from Poldi,Giroud,Theo and anyone of Ramsey,Ox and Arshavin that comes on will also get a goal.
Holic, Honest post. This does have the makings of a classic. Guess it’s up to Chelsea. We will be ready to play and give it our all, as usual. The Arsenal Way (intensity level: high). Enjoy the golf and the game.
With the speed of Torres and nippiness of Hazard, Oscar and Mata I’d gor for a more mobile and nimble pairing of TV and Koz at the back.
Nice write up Holic.
Looks like the Europeans will have to be better in the singles for a change!
Nice take on Theo Zico (from the previous thread).
As for the result tomorrow, we’ll its always tight in games like this and it comes down to who takes their chances. I’m just hoping for a good performance. If we play as well as last week and take our chances I think we’ll probably win it. I just think its great to see us play with real shape and work ethic. And however long its taken to get there, its been worth the wait..!
Scruz,
Appreciate the invite for tomorrow or did I invite myself?
Anyway, as much as I would love to make the trip and watch the game with some fellow Holics, I will have to pass this time.
You and Snir enjoy the game and I hope for three silent screams to one silent moan.
3-1 to the Arsenal.
Worst case scenario is they get ahead of us in the first half. Then park the big 18 wheeler in the second. But oh wait a minute. we have a solution to that as well. AOC, Poldi and OG can all score from long range. So see, it really doesn’t ‘mata’ π
Mertesacker must stay in the team and if he’s really going to leave Theo out purely on the strength of a blank dotted line on a bit of paper, he’s not really doing us any favours.
Tabs. Thanks for the visual aid at #5 for those of us who cannot be there. π
Textbook case of “play to the whistle” which Cashley should’ve learned to do years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW0haz-n4c8
norcal, either way i’m ok with it π sorry you won’t be able to make it. how about you, 8ball? you’d have to leave yesterday… 3-1 indeed.
listening to the latest tuesday club, these guys are hilarious. “there was something about his hair tonight, his touch was shite, gervinho”… “how many albinos have played for arsenal? who knows? willy young?” thanks, snir, for the tip.
I’ve just left a Chelski site and after readin all d coments I tot dey will win, coz dey hav a very strong team. Reading ur post after dat of Chelski make me think we are on point. So we both have d players who can win it. It all goes down to taking chances. Gerv pls improve
hey, ismail, reload with non-text speech for us geezers, please.
As my ethernet has sprung back to life for a few minutes, I thought it might be appropriate to let you guys – I believe that’s the in phrase – know the latest news on young Walcott’s contractual situation, as there appears to be much conjecture on his participation in tomorrows match.
To my great surprise, there was a knock at my front door this evening, a sort of crisp stereophonic rap, as we have a pair of knockers that Lady Nina likes to keep in tip-top condition. On looking through the spy hole, I could see that our late caller was, indeed, Theo, waving a copy of his new contract.
To my considerable consternation I couldn’t find the bloody key to unlock the already locked door. Lady Nina and I were anticipating a good early night as we have to get to The Emirates early tomorrow, and she wants to ensure that her box is nice and tidy before the game.
Well that is when the confusion seemed to occur.
I called through the letter box to young Walcott, and suggested he should take his contract up the back passage where I could let him in my back door.
He seemed quite upset for some reason best known to himself.
Let’s just say that I fear eight pieces of ripped up, rain soaked paper will not be the best news Gazidis has had this week.
There it is, I’m afraid.
Unable to open the front door
Have a great time all you Tollie warriors.
If the Chavs try to play us at our own game then I think they’ll be in for a surprise. It’s all well and good when you’re trying a new style at home against the likes of Wolves and Reading, it’s a different thing all together to come to the HoF and try to take us on in a manner we’ve been playing for years.
Bring it on you oily chavs.
Bloody ethernet – don’t know where that last line came from. Gone from not working at all, to making it’s own stuff up now.
And what a stuff up it is.
mr. hill-wood, i’ve heard you can always open lady nina’s front door.
With the slightest of nudges, young man.
scruz. Thanks for the invite. I would love to get out there sometime to share an Arsenal game with you and maybe the other Northern California gooners, including PiK if he is ever resurrected. π
@27, i’ve heard “slight” describing your nudge, as well. something tells me no one will ever mistake you for shaft… π
8ball, any time. converge on san francisco and make maggie mcgarry’s the ‘holicbar west…
coming to an .mpg near you…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShvJT5_ogCI
This is straight from the dot coms pre match.
“Both these sides enter this game unbeaten. Arsenal are fifth and Chelsea are top but perhaps Wenger’s side have picked up more convincing results in more difficult places. That’s why the manager himself described his club as having a βfeelgood’ factor right now.”
We have a feelgood factor all right. And a Feelgod!
scruz. That Cazorla song has legs!
A good song for Friday evening, I hope you all agree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_46i_LwiLNo
yep, especially mono vinyl.
Glad you liked that one, scruz. Here’s another one in that vein.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgO6Cp93Jkg&feature=related
One last song before I catch a few winks. The only time left between now and kickoff is time I need for sleeping.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il9HYFqJYe0
Had a midday nap with the Coventry playing and had the weirdest dream.
I dreamed that after leaving he stadium I took a wrong turn and somehow ended in Colney and bumped into Oxlade, Theo and Frimpong standing around with Djourou. After looking a bit shocked he, Theo and Frimmers agreed to take a picture with me so I handed Djourou my crappy cellphone (not an Iphone) to take the pic. But he couldn’t figure out how to work it and then disappeared with my phone leaving me no choice but to beg the team to sign my shirt. Then all of sudden somebody came in and said we had just beaten Manchester City 8-2….Weird 8)
Anyway, I’m super pumped for today! I figure Theo will start in front of Gervinho, so maybe the top 3 will be Pod, Giroud and Theo. Gerv the Swerve may come on if it isn’t working out.
Hope we batter those rent boys tonight…
Sweeper, thank you. I will get back to you tomorrow. Early start today and my brain won’t get out of first…
Completely agree with H2H@24, if Chelsea try to take us on at our own game then that will be quite massively in our favour. However, I don’t think that is something they don’t know themselves but the orders from Abramovic are to play a more entertaining game so I wouldn’t be surprised if they take a calculated risk. After all, if they really want to establish an attacking culture they’ll have to be consistent and try to play the same way regardless of the opposition. It’s still early enough in the season for them not to see things only in the short term, so I for one don’t expect them to park the bus. Not from the start anyway, if they take the lead it might be a different story of course.
CoR@37: I think those Happy Train drugs are finally taking it’s toll on you π
I won’t make the Tollie today as I have a ticket for Siegfried that ‘kicks off’ at 3pm (a rare bit of culture), so will be cheering on from the Freemasons Arms in Covent Garden.
A big, big game this. We must not lose it. I believe we have the talent and desire to win it.
Have a great day those who are going to the game and I hope there are Dionysean celebrations in the Tollie at 2.45pm
COYRs
Pumped up. I hate Chelsea so much. Especially after they fluked the European cup. Everything about them is despicable
Come on Arsenal!
What’s all this ‘Drop BFG for Kos-Verm combination’? Mert has to play for me
I find it mildly amusing, that the in-word in English football presently, seems to be the word “untenable”.
dreamwright, i thought it was “racist cunt”.
let’s send them back to the bus stop burned to the ground.
he says, signing on for the california contingent, as snir’s cab makes its final approach.
Wenger “resting” The Merteceptor for Vermscielny is untenable.
Anything other than a win for AFC today is, untenable.
Anything less than a blinder by Jenkinson against Hazard today is, untenable.
Mannone not keeping a clean sheet would be, untenable.
Gervinho not coming along with his shooting boots would be, intenable.
Hell!…The way football is being run presently is, untenable.
Barkeeper, a cold bottle of the delicious black stuff, please. Anything less is…yeah, you got it…UNTENABLE!.
COYR!!!
Scruz @44 Yeah. And that too…
CoMOnUReeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedddddddddddddssssssssssssssssssss!!!!
Heh dreamwright
I’ve tried to do the guess the line up thingy, but apart from the midfield I can’t decide who to put where.
A nice problem to have and one I can’t remember us having for quite a while.
snir has a gary neville jones.
According to the beeb only one change.
TV in for the BFG.
a gary neville jones
Is that anything like a catherine zeta jones?
Vermascielny in and Ramsey on the wing it is!
Arsenal team: Mannone, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Diaby, Cazorla, Ramsey, Gervinho, Podolski
Subs: Martinez, Mertesacker, Djourou, Santos, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Giroud.
Chelsea team: Cunt – Cunt – Cunt – Racist cunt – Cashley Cunt – Cunt – Cunt – Cunt – Cunt – Cunt – Cunt
Subs: Seven other cunts
Heh @ Arseblog.
lol@h2h, we’re busting up here. no, i don’t think so. more like a tommy lee jones…
Heh..skysports pundits creaming their pants over corp. Jenks, refreshing to hear some praise hehe:)
Nice preview, goonerholic. It is indeed a difficult one to call regarding their tactics.
Kosmaelen the Destroyer back – nice.
@ PHW
ha ha
Come on Arsenal!
Awful decision to drop Mertesacker, who has been our best performer all season. It doesn’t surprise me, because it’s obvious Koscielny is adored by the manager and Vermaelen (who wouldn’t be in my side let alone captain) has to come back in because he is skipper. Not surprised Theo is left out either, I hope AW doesn’t regret being so pig headed though.
Let’s do this. Let’s make the right statement. Glad the racist is playing. I think we can get behind him.
Enjoy the game.
@59
I believe it’s called setting up your team to match your opponants.
COYRRR’s
I look at the bench and think, wow – all those options. I can’t remember the last time AW had such riches at his disposal.
Crap, it’s gotten really busy in the bar so I’ll have to go and help out.
Record pressed to watch later.
Good luck gooners and enjoy.
They are having a good old go at us, by the sound of it, are holding up?
“are we holding up”, I meant
@61, I’d rather he just picked his best team.
AOC standing on the sidelines with AW.
That’s a foul by JT and Cole on Gervinho, but not called.
Goal, Torres.
O.o the hell
Defensive shambles for the goal.
Shambles part two by Koscielny. Should have been a pen. Think it’s time to go and do the washing up…
Goal disallowed for offside but it went through Mannone’s hands. Very weak. This is painful viewing π
Boys not in to it so far. .but still enough time to get on front foot.
Gervinho in acres of space, wastes it. Again
Not sure why mertesacker was benched, hope Diaby injury is nothing serious. Aresenal will come back more composed in the second half, and score 3 goals and win, with Giroud scoring.
Goal Gervinho, first touch!!!!!!
Yay! Gerve the Swerve just before half time!
Brilliant goal from gerv!
Credit where it’s due, nice finish from Forehead
I love this squad.
Gerv The Swerv!!!
GERVIIINHOOO
snir has now experienced the silent scream…YESSSSSS
Come on you Gunners! One more before the whistle blows
Man Jenks on fire! Beautiful crosses from him and AOC.
I hope Wenger doesn’t wait till 70 minutes for sub.
How much extra time?
Come on Arsenal in the second half.
That was Gervinho’s best goal in an Arsenal shirt. Cettainly in a big pressurised situation, and it should give him massive confidence going forward.
Spirit n Belief is what am watching today. Are we even scared of anyone lately?
COYGs!
fuuuuuuuck. that was a nervy half. kudos to jenks, ox, and gibbs.
atkinson sucking up the place, but not quite as much at his chosen profession as are ian darke and bonehead macca.
Great game – thought chelski edged that for much of the half but the boys stuck with it and finished strong – well set-up for the 2nd half or what …. Free-O to come on and win it?
half time …its game on, lads looking like getting in the game after half hour mark. Aaron picking up a knock, hopefully nothing serious. Gervs finish was superb. Really looking forward to second half.
This isn’t your grandfathers’ Chelsea. Best team we’ve faced yet. Vito needs to loosen up, appears rooted to the spot. We’ll come back stronger in 2nd half. Lot’s of good stuff by our lads.
Scruz, good thing I didn’t come because I let out a little school girl squeak that may have woken up your wife.
We are not going down the left at all. I don’t think ivanobitch is that good a RB. We should be going at him more!
Nonny – Are you a Chelsea fan?
No way in hell, is that a pen.
I’m sorry, but either you’re a chav, or you’re absolutely blind!
(Snir)
Also Chelski are shaky when put under pressure, so I cant wait for handsome devil to come on giving Racist and Luiz some shift to make.
Is that four goals in five starts now for Gerv? He’s a player, but not as we know it!
I am quite relaxed about Gervinho because we were warned by Julien Laurens that he would frustrate as well as excite. He may only score 2 out of the 10 chances he gets in a game, but that’s as good a return in number of goals as somebody who scores 1 for the two or three he gets in a game. He’s a one-off and it’s tough for defenders to work out how to counter him because he is so unpredictable.
Everything crossed for Diaby.
snir just about fell into the tv tripping on the carpet…
yeah, that would have woken up the *neighbor’s* wife…and they’re more than 150 feet away.
Backheel just inside the D…
Gah! Sorry!
@ 97 Eandy
Yeah, I really hope he gets 20 minutes or so – I would love to see him do a Drogba on them.
Tell Snir not to ruin the Scruz household for the rest of us!
Chelsea are a good team but the second half will show that we are better. Come on Arsenal.
FG. Well in with the best backheeled goal this bar has yet seen. π
Quick decision making from Gerv for his goal…we’ve been waitng a year for that!
@ bt8bbgfg
ha ha
It was meant to be an assist and I was facing the wrong way…but sometimes magic happens!
Well done FG and also Gervy from cross by the Ox
Have to say that Chelski are trained pushers in both boxes
From the replay it is clear that Kos was pushed three times by Torres as the ball came over, before Torres stretched out to poke it in – no fault Vito it went in too fast.
At least twice I have seen pushes on our guys during our corners, each of which was worth a penalty
We can do it – COYRRReeeeddss
Fungunner and zico i am blaming you for any injuries suffered today, diaby is out and for a moment there i was holding my breathe when i thought torres had done in ramsey. We were abit slow in the first 20 mins and i thought their mid was giving ours problems. I thought their goal shouldnt have been allowed as that was a foul by torres on koscielny, what a goal by gerv and what a way to come back into it. I am going for a 2-1 win and us asserting ourselves inthe secong half. COYG
The 3-2 is still on. Gonna scoop up a tidy Β£60 if holic’s scoreline comes in, and there’s definitely more goals in this one.
No pressure Holic.
Commentator cunt saying it was a penalty for the diving prick Torres, when close ups show kos hardly touched him.
oooh shameee..nice play!
Think Poldi too unselfish Eandy. Should have cut in and taken the shot himself.
Oh shocking
Oh dear. Come on Arsenal! Hit back.
Dear me. Change the back four for no reason and it turns into a shocking mess for the first time this year.
oh ffs, Lady Luck please stop pour your stuff on that cunts.
Scruz @ 96, no I have eyes. If that was at the other end you’d be convinced it was a penalty and fuming it wasn’t given.
COME ON LADS YOU CAN FUCKING DO THIS!
DAMNIT! Poldi almost
Not kos’ day.
Kos having a bad one today unfortunately
Unless he makes up for it by scoring a goal for arsenal might I add.
Sub in 5 please. Theo and The OG anyone?
Yep, theo and OG, by which I mean the French chap, not what kos did
Would love to see OG out there!
Yay! Aresene heard us.
Hey!
Giroud is scoring today and we are winning.
Is Wenger reading the comments today??
Fucking Torres is disgusting, is he related to suaez?
C’mon boys
gervs just pass the damn ball sometimes -_-
Great effort they should be worrying
FOR FUCKS SAKE LUCK …can we have some?
Bricking it
I know he’s just a kid…but Chamberlain’s passing has been simply awful throughout.
we are lacking cofidence in this game, making silly mistakes
Come on Gunners….we need something from this match….give it all you’ve got…Giroud to score…very soon
Come on you gunners!
Oh no!
NOES!
stupid finish
That was a really good chance. Sigh.
Defence seemed nervy, passing not crisp, only jenkinson stood out today.
Shame, we were actually quite poor today. Can’t say we deserved that much. Ho hum, only one loss
Bollox! A statement of the effin obvious but conceding of a right shitey goal killed us. Thought we’d started 2nd half well and looked like we were gonna push them on to the back for a bit – oil well.
Wanger Out!!!
Too many players on an off day?
heck. reverting to last year’s direness. chelsea created NOTHING. and we lost. ugh. poor, overall, from us.
Two set pieces …damn ..and Olivier poor Olivier:(
I wish it had been any other player to miss like that. Hope it doesn’t affect him too much.
we should not have lost this game. i’m a bit surprised how we buckled after the second goal. there was no urgency passing was poor and Giroud has a complex in front of goal.
nonny@118, no, it was not a penalty in any case.
i’m disappointed in corporal jenks for faking the foul on ashcunt, too.
and, finally, that was snir’s comment, hence the (snir) at the bottom.
both sitting around feeling crap at the moment.
2 set peice goal from nothing. that is just not good enough. players looked nervous throughout. Chelsea did not even have a go at us.
Like arseblogger said Wenger is probably ruling his decision to drop mert. Kos was there for both their goals. Of course we didn’t play very well, wasn’t like the Russian mafia were any great either. Unnecessary loss at home. Very unnecessary.oh we’ll.
That was frustrating, losing Diaby early seemed to kill our rhythm. We looked good on the flanks but so little room in the middle of the park, a game like that was crying out for LJW.
Shame we didn’t get the 3 points last weekend, now we need to go on a really good run with 4 very winnable games coming up in the league before we play Man U.
Well. We had chances to get something. Played fair. Chelski scored theirs and we didn’t. Need to put a winning run together now against clubs we should beat.
Oops – “foot” tho pushin’ ’em on the back works for me too
Up The Arse!
Yes, their goal came in the worst time possible, just as we were getting on the front foot and the goal seemed likely. I am still big fan of Giroud but that was just worst thing possible to happen to him …stoppage time, big match, chance to at least even the game, misses like that. I am afraid this will make huge impact on his confidence.
@ Tim
Whoever you play, there will be risks – nobody’s perfect. Kos was our best defender last season and he had a bad day. Same thing could have happened to the Merterceptor.
And yeah, it does make you rue the fact that we didn’t get the win last Saturday!
Arsenal flippin’ lose and now the wife wants me to make the flippin’ pancakes for the 8yo girls who have taken over the house. This is NOT turning into a good day. π
Very physical game by Chelsea…plenty of bruises incurred by our lads. I agree our defense was porous. Our passing in the last 30 minutes was poor. No luck on the chances we took. Giroud had the best chance with just a couple of minutes left. Theo was silent. Jenks was inspiring. It’s not like we didn’t try…but we lost this one as a team. And I’ve never seen Torres behave so badly. Poor winner. But there is a silver lining, one touch by Gervais for that goal. Hope his muscles store that memory.
Great succinct summing up, abb.
can’t get over this loss. we did not deserve to los this game.Chelsea were there for the taking. I just felt there was a bit of fear element in the players, they were too cautious going forward and very nervous at the back, it effected their passing specially Ramsey. Giroud is missing some very good chances. Wenger should stick with him for now and hope he comes good. He simply cannot continue to miss.
Can’t understand the nerves – that’s what’s really puzzling me.
abb…did Theo come on? I saw his number on the board and that was about it? Oh yeah, he was the skinny bloke who kept getting in the way of Jenkinson.
You’d think the best scorer in the French league last season would do a lot better when given a chance in front of the goal. That said Cazorla had two good chances himself. We have no real centre forward and that showed today in a big way.
It’s at least 3 points lost we gave away very easy goals on both set pieces. Bould will not be happy with this, we had chances and we never really looked like taking them. Something was missing that killer instinct in my eyes.
I know we have a young team but those passes going astray are unacceptable at this level. Ox needs to leave his tricks and start passing the ball the normal way with precision and accuracy!
Anyways we played a lot better last Sunday I hope we will wake up and turn this around quickly!
Is it just me that doesn’t fancy this double substitution of Theo and Giroud for Poldi and Ramsey? It means that we’ve immediately converted to the same wings as last year with the added factor of Theo`s non-commitment. And we have yet to adapt confidence-frail Giroud leading the line. I didn`t like it neither more nor less than last week. I didnt like it a bit.
And yet, if it wasn’t for a couple of fantastic goalkeeping moments by Cech, the ‘holic pound would have had its way today.
most worrying is the set piece issues. those were both horrible.
chelsea created nothing from open play, though if they actually could pass the ball so players could get it rather than pass it into their heels, it might have been worse.
sigh.
Know Koscielny would be blamed for both of the goals, but in each scenario he got punished for trying to be extra vigilant. In first case he was trying to track both Luiz and Torres as Ox simply lost Luiz, and in the second trying to protect against a run in the far corner. Vito should have saved that.
I think some of us are underestimating how well Chelsea pressed and passed and controlled movement in the center of the field. The two deep lying midfield players in Ramires and Mikel was an intelligent tactical move and once we lost Diaby there was no one to impose physically in that battle.
Giroud’s miss was bad, so was Cazorla’s, but Gervinho’s second half performance was counter-productive. Too much time on the ball, too many attempts at dribbling, blocking otherwise fluent passing moves by not noticing others’ position and movements. He doesn’t have to win matches by himself, if that is what he is thinking.
Tactically speaking, we should have gone with Poldi-Theo/Ox-Giroud up front. We needed someone to press the Chelsea defense and we needed Gibbs-Cazorla-Poldi moves down the left to work. Neither were possible with Gerv playing centrally.
@ Bird…I would have like to have seen Giroud on for Gervinho and play him with Podolski in a 4-4-2 the last 20 minutes.
Not sure if Walcott should even be coming on…he so wants to be a striker…or something
Let’s hope Diaby isn’t hurt for long, but was his ankle again wasn’t it?
agree fungunner. they were nervous because of who they are playing rather than just play our football we normally do. too many stray passes, very unusual. Chelsea were not good at all. our finishing has to improve. Cazorla had a very average game but he is a llowed that, he has been fatastic so far. there was one chnce were I thought he should’ve squared the ball to an unmarked gervinho instead he blazed the ball over the ball. Anyway it wasn’t to be and it was down to us and not Chelsea playing well.
dr faustus, agreed with the point on mikel and ramires and the pressing, but while that broke up such fluency as we had, we had damn little. too many open passes went astray, when *not* under pressure.
there was that one time gervs had the ball right at the final third, and didn’t see all three of ours hauling down to the left…then lost the ball shortly. snir was pulling out his hair at that one.
i really hope diaby isn’t out long. probably a vain hope, though.
Cant says as I enjoyed that. Thought we were farirly poor from start to finish. Dropping the BFG was not a good move IMHO. Did enjoy the aftermath. Twat walking out of the pub was giving it, ‘we destroyed them!’ at mucho volume. Pointed out to him they’d just won by 1 goal against the worst Arsenal performance of this season to date. He carried on largeing it. I then invited him to a ‘proper’ conversation, which he declined. And then he left. Sharpish.
Anyway. We’ll be back, long way to go yet this season. Just disappointed we looked poor from front to back. When I say ‘poor’ I mean not tabvle topping stuff.
Up The Arsenal!
I guess if mertesacker played and had been responsible for the goals, we would have wondered if playing kos would have been a better choice. Can’t really blame him though. We just didnt play we’ll today, not sure why. Rudderless. It is a long season and hope we start our winning ways soon, and stop giving away unnecessary points.
@ 174 scruzgooner
What I’m getting from the Arsenal Player commentators is that Chelsea executed their tactical plan well, but we didn’t test them enough by putting them under enough pressure. And that despite their tactics, we nevertheless did create enough chances to win. Is that something you’d agree with ?
bird agree. i did not like the subs at all. deseperate for a goal and you bring in Giroud who simply doesn’t want to score, and Theo was not needed as Chelsea were hardly going forward and jenkisnson was making plenty of runs down the flanks we, ended up with 2 wingers getting in each other’s way. I wanted to see Arshavin behind the striker he is great in the hole. he proved that in the FA cup
Idea…let’s play all three central defenders, let Jenkinson and Gibbs be auxiliary wide midfielders, Vermaelen becomes the the holding midfielder when he feels like it, we move Arteta further up the pitch and play without …erm…Ramsey or Walcott
Hey all, sorry I didn’t say hello earlier but I worked all night…and well, you know. Our first loss. But hey, we’re gonna bounce right back. Snir and Scruz, I’m so pleased you two were able to link up. 8ball, good luck (smiling). Fun, your positive comments kept me going. Some great points made by everybody. It’s gonna be ok.
Afternoon all. Solid performance by the Chavs and too many under-par performances by us. Simple. Its early days yet – and with Jack coming back soon – I won’t despair but I can’t wait for SCZEZ to be back at his best because I believe that is the factor that is affecting this defence – no confidence in the current GK
@ 176 dennis10
I think that’s a very good point. People sometimes judge the soundness of tactical decisions on the execution by the player. If there is a reasonable case to make for any particular plan, that’s good enough. The rest is hindsight. A player can have a poor game or make uncharacteristic mistakes, but that’s not something the manager can control or predict.
scruz @ 174 — yes, fluency was missing. Ox in the first half was promising down the flank but in the second half moving centrally he was lost. He generally shows enough composure but his passing was really wayward once in the central role.
We may look at Gerv’s performance leniently for that well taken goal, but he does block things up. Especially on the left side where left to their devices Poldi-Gibbs-Santi had played the best football for Arsenal this season. Against unorganized defense Gerv in the central role is fine, but not against experienced and well-organized teams like Chelsea where that one dribble too many style of playing is not going to work.
I know Giroud is missing chances, but he opens up defenses and he creates opportunities for others cleverly. And he presses hard, wins possession following goal kicks, holds up play well. We are creatively not that great to rely solely on Gerv-Poldi-Santi to create many opportunities based on pass-and-move against really strong defensive shields.
it is hard to see Terry and Cashley leaving the Emirates with a smile on their face.i wanted so badly to spoil their day but it wasn’t to be.
Could’t agree more Tim. In other words play with Wing-backs. I also agree with someone else’s point that Arshavin might have done better in the hole later on than either of the late subs .. ah well
π
Tim @ GT — that 3-5-2 is a very fine idea but the problem is that you are going to run the three best central defenders into ground by playing them all week-in week-out and one injury away from being forced to change your style as Djourou is never going to be able to play well in that formation.
So the only option then is to play in that formation in key matches like this or as a fallback option when we need to make something happen. But then the team needs to really practice playing that way as it needs significant reorganization of the midfield.
@ abb
I try! See ya.
@ 109 FL
Yeah, sorry about that!
It’s one loss. Early in the season. I hate to drop points. But it’s a ways to go. Chelsea played a very compact defensive game and we still had opportunities to get points. Poldi’s header was just off, Santi had 2 at the top of the box that he will do better with. Giroud hit the side netting after beating the keeper. It will click. Just need more time.
Also I think OG needs to start. It is tough to come into a game a have just 20 minutes to make it happen.
Chelski played with only 4 players offensively and scored off 2 set plays. That was their gameplan. They got the breaks they needed. I would say a draw was probably a more fair result but that’s the breaks. Time to move on. It’s still a long season.
We have had some tough fixtures up until now, however we can build up some points and confidence for the next month or so.
I think the 3-5-2 is a big match option, not a week in week out solution. Today it might have paid dividends, but I’m a guesser like the rest of us.
I don’t think we lost to a great team, and based on other results today so far the league is quite open so we need to roll on. Truly feel losing Diaby made our game lose some real rhythm. Arteta worked his arse off but was rarely out of our half.
So that is how it feels to lose, i had nearly forgotten and i have to say it is not a feeling i want to feel again in the near future. I am alittle depressed i think i’ll get plastered tonight! Diaby out for three weeks! What silly goals to have conceded, i cant wait for chezzer to be back, there is jus something about him that fills me with confidence. Chelsea’s midfield was troublesome for us, if only we had taken the chances that we got! I knew there was a reason why i didnt like early kickoffs!
We should have had at least a point out of that. Both goals conceded were soft. Torres’s was an instinctive finisher’s goal and Don Vito should have covered Mata’s better. We had the chances to equalize and win. Chelsea are a good side, no doubt. They will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. But these are the home games we have to win if we are to be, too.
Arteta solid again. Mertesacker missed. Chelsea defense tough to crack, there wasn’t even enough space for AOC to try one of those 25 yard darters, but I have to think that on another day Cazorla and Giroud could have scored on their late chances. Come on Arsenal!!!
Ahhh, the sting of defeat.
Not enough nouse when going in for tackles. Maybe that’s a result of playing so many hard-tackling teams that we don’t expect people to go down easily when we go in?
We had our chances, a few that would’ve been put away on another day as well, but it’s always going to be hard going against a well-trained defence.
Sulking as I eat my birthday cake…
More insightful comments. Who said sports bars were for Neanderthals ? Anyone know how many shots on goal each team took? Just post it here if you do. NorCal, you put it well describing Chelsea’s defensive performance. Gooner Terry, yes they gave us a game, but I thought they also froze up front, and squandered chances. The last 20 minutes, when they had possession, they kept passing the ball horizontally (why not just shoot, plenty of space ?). Oh, and stats on possession please. Too tired to look it up.
Oh Cor, so today is the day! Happy Birthday π
Firstlady,
I hate to tell you but it is neither my fault, nor FunGunner’s, I suspect, that Diaby is made of glass.
Too many sub-par performances for me today – soft free kicks leading to even softer goals conceded. So much for our improved defensive capability.
It’s a bad result, and Arsene needs to pay more respect to the game situation rather than sticking to the same blueprint every time – we can predict the substitutions – not only when, but who.
Chelsea did enough to win the game – we didn’t. Disappointing to see that level of performance in a big game at the Grove.
Roll on Wednesday, time to get back on the horse. π
Cannons happy birthday to you and many returns, if only the team had given you a befitting present by winning or drawing the game. I really cant remember feeling this bad after a loss, maybe a should take a breathe and count to ten, afterall it is just a game!
Happy Birthday Cannons. 8)
Abb we had more shots than them, possession was probably in their favour but i dont have the figures even though the stats were shown at some pont during the game. Zico when u two were going on and on (i know i am exagerating a bit here) about how we were lucky to not have injuries i knew something would give today π
Yip, it’s all my fault π
Hey FirstLady, thanks. That’s what it felt like, to me. We created more chances and I take comfort in that, really do.
with a clinical finisher we would be top. we are creating more chances than last season, somehow we can’t finish. against Sunderland we could’ve snatches all 3 points with that giroud chance, against City Gervonho could’ve had a hat trick and today Giroud should’ve rescued at least a point with thta last minute chance. I know its all ifs and buts,but my point is we are actually playing better than last year. we need someone firing upfront. I hate to say it but at this stage we are still missing RVP
Thanks for the birthday wishes! It’s already the 30th over here in Japan so that’s why I’m already celebrating 8)
Still a whole season to go and I figure we may lose a few more but it’s it’s disappointing to lose when the game was so open hours from the big day…
Excuse me as I break out some wine and let my lady console me π
possession is 51% to us, but i think that might be a bit low actually
shots 17(4) to 10(3) also to us so they had one more shot on target than their goal, and i can’t even remember mannone having to do any work at all
fouls were 14 to 14
yellows 2 to 3 again we come out ahead
we didn’t play brilliantly, but it’s just asinine to say that we were outplayed. we weren’t full stop. we deserved a point and perhaps a win.
we should’ve bought a player who could score in this league instead of another top scorer from france, but i digress.
“Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger blamed some ‘unacceptable’ defending as Chelsea inflicted a first defeat of the season on the Gunners.
‘We lacked real authority and decisiveness at the back.'”
Well who dropped his best defender for our toughest match so far this season? Oh.
That post match interview on BBC is comedy gold.
“Giroud should have scored,” Wenger said.
“He was in a good position to score. Why did he not score? It is hard to identify.”
It’s not hard at all, he’s had three simple chances this season and failed to hit the target with any of them.
“Was it a mistake to leave out Per Mertesacker? Maybe. But we will never know.”
Erm, I think we do know, Arsene old boy. Don’t we.
Matt, You’re a peach, thanks for the stats. Their goalie was MOTM for them.
Cant believe that the Lady Luck is still dating Chelsea. They are not the better team.
Maybe Kos for Mert was a mistake, but lets admit that almost everyone of us were suggesting that sub before the game.
Cant wait the return of Wilshere and Rosicky to be honest. Had a fair game Ramsey, tried so hard, but lacks speed, accuracy, ideas. Why Coquelin was not considered even on the bench?
We have 3-4 winnable games in a row. I still believe we can go to the top.
Billy clapped RVC
Well who cares.They are both cunts anyway.
A little perplexed that the discussion is not more about the goalkeepers. Again Mannone cost us a goal as there was nothing on that Mata free kick. Nobody was anywhere near getting a head on it so he has to stop it. The thing that is blindingly obvious is that we don’t have one good keeper in the club. Please don’t tell me it is Szez, he is an accident waiting to happen all the time, it is just that it is so long since we have had a good keeper that we are prepared to overlook incompetence in favor of hope. Czech showed today what a good keeper does – win games for you. Simple fact, switch the goalies today (with any Arsenal goalkeeper since Mad Jens) and eew win the game despite everything else.
Nonny @ 206 — a question for you: do you think Per should continue to be played no matter what unless he has an injury or drop in form? What is the point of having a large squad then? There is almost a must-win game coming in mid-week (first home game in the CL group and if we don’t win it the pressure would be immense to top the group, which is what Arsenal wants to do) and then there is an away match on Saturday. If Per played all three and then goes for international duty and suffers an injury people like you would say Arsene caused the injury over-playing Mertesacker.
Koscielny was our best defender by far last year. And neither of the goals are much of his fault…for the first one it was Ox who failed to track Luiz and Kos was trying to cover for both Luiz and Torres. For the second one Vito should really have saved that.
Chris66 @ 211 — Vito was surely at fault for the second goal. And also it is a fact that neither him nor Fabinaski inspires much confidence in the defenders hence the relative nervousness in set-pieces.
However, I absolutely disagree with you about Szczesny. He makes the occasional mistake and has a few more steps (especially in terms of long clearances) to take to become a great, but he has own us games in the last one and half years, and key games at that. Udinese away and Liverpool away come to mind, and he generally calms the defense. He is going to be a great goalie but needs someone experienced as a back-up to push him hard. Instead of trusting Fabianski and Vito we should have gone for Lloris.
…he has ‘won’ us games I meant…
Dr F – I hate rotation, so yes, unless his form drops he should stay in the side. Pick your best team available at all times. I don’t think it was a question of resting him either, I think the manager wanted Koscielny back in the side no matter what, and I say that because we’ve had players (Sagna for example, RvP last year) who have always been picked when fit to play and rarely, if ever, rested.
Pick your best team. If that means Koscielny sits on the bench all season, so be it. For me it’s not a coincidence that him and Vermaelen played together for the first time this season, and we were a total shambles at times for the first time this season.
My personal preference would be Koscielny and Mertesacker, but the very fact of TV being skipper means we’re playing a guy who should be our third choice centre back every time he is fit. Defensively we were awful and the reason for it is clear IMO
@doctorfaustus I think we are watching different teams. Szez was the goalkeeper who conceded 49 goals last season so I didn’t see a lot of “defense calming” going on. Go back and watch him in detail last year and see how few saves he actually made. I know it was a disaster day but even in the 8-2 he conceded 8 goals from 9 shots. You just can’t do that at this level. Look at the number of other games where teams scored with their only real chance. The kid is a Twitter legend because of his attitude and the fact we have turned in to battered housewives after years of Almunia.
Remember how it used to feel when Seaman was in goal. You expected him to make the save. Same with Mad Jens (although he was always likely to do something “mad”, hence the moniker). We don’t get that with Szez. He has potential no doubt, but should be learning his trade on loan at West Brom or somewhere similar, not in the Arsenal team.
Happy Birthday CoR! Hope you get lots of great presents.
@ Nonny
But the best team in whose opinion? AW’s ranking of his three best CBs could be different from yours. Perhaps his idea of the best team varies according to who we are playing? The only fixtures in our team are the three first-choice midfielders, I think.
***
@ 199 Firstlady
I got that it was a joke, even if others didn’t.
That sick feeling is starting to hit home for me, too, now. Very depressed. Enjoy your wine – I may join you!
Chris66 @ 217 — Of course Szczesny is not at the level of Seaman or Jens. Not yet. That is why I said we needed a second goalie who is experienced and can really push Szczesny to improve his game, but he commands his area well and there is a distinctly calmer sense of organization in the defense. And he is a very good shot-stopper.
If you remove the bizarre first month or so from last season when we had conceded 14 goals by mid-September, we didn’t do that badly in defense. Not exactly table topping stuff, but not that far off in a league where the champions had conceded 29 goals and the runners-up who had missed out on goal difference had concede 33 goals. And Chelsea — the team backed by the invincible Petr Cech — had conceded 46 goals.
I must of been watching a different game then many of you above,because I believe we took exactly what we deserved out of that game, bugger all.
I’ll start with the positives, I thought Giroud made a good cameo, he was unlucky not to grab a goal. Unlike others (today) he used the space well and gets himself into good positions. I can’t believe what some of you above are saying about his missed opportunity in the dying moments. He did well to make a run into the box. Cech made himself big and forced him wide, OG still managed to avoid him and get the shot off, unfortunatly it hit the side netting, it’s not like he’s missed an open goal! A good chance, but certainly not a sitter. He had more influence on our attack in the short time he was on then any other player on the field.
Jenks was great again, don’t particularly like the diving thgough, not very becoming of an Arsenal player, let’s leave that kind of behaviour to the dispicables like Suarez.
#Warning, here comes the knee-jerk.#
What on earth were we doing for their two goals?
It’s like we completly switched off. Kos will take a large helping of the shit being dished out, but I can’t say he was completly to blame. Where was the challenge on Sideshow Bob for the first?
Why didn’t Manone move for either?
Schoolboy errors that I thought we’d addressed over the last few seasons. I hope Bouldy gives them all a good fucking kicking over the course of next week.
Am I the only one who thinks Diaby starting every game is just wrong?
I know he had a good game against the scallys, but for a great deal of the games since he has looked like a liability. He slows play down at the wrong times, doesn’t seem to be aware of what’s around him and dwells on the ball far too long. He’s done a great job working his way back into contention, but I don’t think he’s sharp enough for the role he’s supposed to be doing, plus his fitness is questionable at best. Early on he takes a little knock and that’s him done, meaning that we have to change the team around, pulling Ramsey out of a position he did really well in last week, putting in him a place where he struggled last season, to me that doesn’t make sense, his replacement on the wing, Ox, had a game he’d probably soon like to forget too.
If the above opinion may make me a little unpopular, my next one will probably piss a lot of people off, but here goes. The worst player on the pitch by a country mile was Gerviniho, O.M.G he was bad (so bad that he’s tuned me into a 14y.o. girl). I bit my tongue last week because he’d earned a bit of leeway because of his goals and I’ll be the first to admit that his equaliser was a fine strike, but for the other 90 odd minutes he was absolute pants, How did he not get subbed? Poldi was improving as the game went on but Gerv was reverting to last years type.
He seems to have a knack of recieving the ball in space and then heading off directly to the most conjested areas. Also half the time it looks like he’s got the ball tangled up in his feet and he’s about to fall over. I can see his use as a winger and I think he’d make a very useful option to bring off the bench, but leading the line as a centre forward? No way Jose. He’s way too wasteful and doesn’t have the vision needed in that role.
I hate to say it, but CSKA Fulham closed us down well and had decent movement off the ball, they came to play and did well, but fuck ’em all the same.
Sorry about the rant, but that was a bitterly dissapointing afternoon. We had a chance to make a statement of intent but hardly managed a faint whimper.
Still onwards and upwards my friends, no time for moping as the Greeks will be in town on Wednesday so we’ll just have to take out our anguish on them.
UTA.
Many Happy Returns CoR.
Nonny @ 216 — I think the ‘best team’ arguments assumes that there is a hierarchy of quality among the central defenders at this time, which I think is not true. I think they are all very good — but none are extraordinary stalwarts, not yet — and it is good to be able to rotate especially based on opposition. How do we know that Per’s weakness (a minor one as he compensates for it well through positioning) of lack of pace especially on turns wouldn’t have caused us problem against Hazard and Mata?
Anyway, I have seen enough in this season to be cautiously optimistic. Today’s reality check hopefully would be instructive and not demoralizing.
H2H @ 220 — Great post! I saw the game exactly as you did. I mentioned some of those observations in my previous posts, if not in such an exciting manner …
Gervinho in the central position takes away from our game. This infernal habit of running into cul de sac and slowing the play and trying to always dribble is not helping Arsenal’s fluent passing movement.
Fully agree about both the goals — Ox totally lost Luiz and Kos was covering up for both Luiz and Torres. Vito should have saved the second.
And Giroud should start games. This was a chance he should have taken, but he adds so much intelligence and variety to the attacking game compared to the let-me-run-with-the-ball naivety of Gervinho.
Nonny, we had no choice last season but to play RVP non-stop. Rotation is not just down to tactical decisions. When you work out at the gym, you are instructed to alternate which muscle groups you wish to target. Arms and chest one day, back and legs the next. Weak analogy, I realize these are professionals but they are not super human. Rotation prevents player fatigue and cuts down on injuries.
You two are being alittle harsh on gervihno!
Same old ..same old …first loss of the season and negativity from newcomers appears, would you be so kind and pop up here after we win the game or put in really good display instead of just one time vent to spew hatred and negativity?
Yes, we have lost, yes we didnt play at our best and yes Giroud should have scored. There is plenty to improve next game in comparsion to today but hey..just first defeat of the season after really promising start, its not like everything is doom and gloom, just hope that lads will take experience from this match and continue to improve. And gotta give credit to Cech …not biased that he is our national team keeper but that two saves pretty much won the game for Chelski..especially the deflected shot of OG.
H2H and Dr Faustus, Most of us see Giroud’s contributions. Saying he missed a goal (and yes it was close) is simply stating a fact, not a condemnation of him as a player. Gervino has scored 4 goals, and at the end of any match, they are what count. The truth lies somewhere in between, me thinks.
Does CvC know he just lost to the LWC?
so spurs beat united at home. and to be honest, not sure they had a forward on the field in the second.
Abb i havent been back on the blog for long but the impression i get from nonny is he doesnt care much for wenger.
fungunner you are welcome to join me, whoever said alcohol doesnt solve problems he wasnt much of a drinker, feel much better now as the loss seems like it happened a century ago.
The league is wide open. No one is going to dominate it. Manu already has 2 loses and they haven’t played any of last years top 4 except today at home against the LWc.
Let’s go on a run lads.
abb @ 227 — Not saying Gervinho’s goals do not count. They obviously do. And he is of course a highly talented player who can contribute a lot to the Arsenal’s season, and he has scored a few well taken goals (which, for instance, if Giroud or Cazorla did today we would have won etc.), but it is his positional play (or lack thereof) down the middle that is taking much away from Arsenal’s otherwise fluid attacking play. The wings remain his more impactful positions. But he does present a variety down the middle and I think used sparingly and depending on situations we would see him win us matches. Or so I hope.
Hey Dr F, I thought about what you two implied earlier. But what is AW instructing him to do? Kinda like the argument with Song last season. We debated that for quite awhile, as I remember. Sounds like a good option for Gervais, but is it up to him?
Q) When did Koscielny turn into Squillaci?
abb, all that said, Gervinho might be persisted down the middle and with a bit of tweak in his play then reward us with a great 30 goals season and trophy winning performance. Aresne of course knows much more than any of us, and our transient post-match reactions will be forgotten by ourselves.
abb @ 233 — see my post @ 235. π
“I think the βbest teamβ arguments assumes that there is a hierarchy of quality among the central defenders at this time, which I think is not true.”
I have to disagree with regard to quality, but whether there is a difference in ability or not we had a stable defence playing well and it was disrupted for no good reason after just FIVE league games. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
I just did @ 235. Gervino, he’s a piece of work, ain’t he π
Doctor Faustus.
Cheers, I just saw your post you referred too, you had indeed made a few of the points I tried to make in my rant.
Firstlady. I don’t think I’m being harsh on Gerv at all, I believe he’s had more then his fair share of shockers over the last year, I’ll always give every player that pulls on our shirt the benifit of the doubt and the time to prove himself, but with Gerv the frustrations heavily outway the positives.
ABB. I don’t think we can compare this to the Song situation, as a forward line player has a much more defined function then a midfield player. However you are most correct in stating that we don’t know what instructions he is recieving from AW, but I’m sure it’s not to run around like a headless chicken towards traffic.
I think I’ll leave it that for today, I wish you all a pleasant evening.
Nonny, Did you know that Napoli has put a ban on ‘intimate relations’ 2 days before a match for it’s players. Now I don’t know how they can enforce that, but that’s not the point. Am I getting through to you?!
abb @ 240 — π Can an employer even do that? Unless it is a part of the contract that the players are signing…
Anyway, a lovely rain-soaked afternoon here in Boston, and time for me to get back in the real world. Have a pleasant evening everyone!
We lost…For the first time this season…To the Chavs…At home!…& I didn’t get to see the game!…Thats highly untenable!…
H2H, You probably prefer a more direct style (Gareth Bale, comes to mind). Strong, fast and talented. But players like Nasri, Rosicky, and Gervais are more to my liking. A mixture of artistry and athlectic ability. Different strokes for different folks.
Nite Dr Faustus, Enjoyed our chat π
I need a good rant.
H2H –
I was there, as ever, today and I totally agree with your @220, with one small exception.
On the whole I agree about Gervinho but during the second half today he tended to dwell on the ball too long because nobody was moving for him.
The really frustrating thing about him is that he has talent, and the opposition know it, and is capable of causing panic in the opposition defence.
One of his habits at the moment though, is to get the ball in a potentially dangerous position and then run right up a blind alley with it.
The defending for the two goals today was woeful. No, it actually was non-existant.
Nobody reacted to the first free kick, and quite what Koscielny was doing at the second one is anybody’s guess.
Like you though, I would like to know what Mannone was doing for both goals.
I said through the summer, and TS will back me up ‘cos he agreed, that we needed another goalkeeper.
Szczesny’s form tailed off badly at the end of last season, and his Euros were pretty poor too. You cannot expect a 22 year old to carry you through a championship season without some loss of form, confidence or injury.
Almunia’s contract was up, and Fabianski and Mannone, to me, are one and the same. Nowhere near good enough on decision making and dominating their area.
Mannone was all over the place this afternoon, not sure whether to come or stay for crosses, corners etc. and then rooted to the spot on both occasions he should have come to stop balls in his 6 yard box.
Nowhere near good enough.
It wasn’t all him though. Our top signings, Podolski and Cazorla were anonymous.
Giroud, I thought, did quite well. He won almost every challenge in the air, and did everything right in trying to create the goal chance at the end of the game.
Big disappointment for me was Ramsey. After a very good performance last week, it was back to the worst of Ramsey of last season today. Let’s just leave it at that.
Walcott came on and looked disinterested. Very poor.
A huge disappointment generally today.
After great performances at Liverpool and Man Citeh, there was a chance today to make a big statement and close the gap on the leaders.
Instead, we were careless, far too slow in the build up play, and often disorganised at the back.
Positive notes to end on ?
Arteta – tireless worker, great player.
Jenkinson – unbelievable improvement. Determined, calm, massive heart.
Shit game, shit result, shit day. Shit happens.
See you tomorrow, all. I am slightly drunk, in a sore mood and I should probably just go to bed and sleep until about Tuesday.
Hang on… a phone call from the Tollie just put me in a much better mood, that was a laugh I very much needed! Cheers for that π
ABB @ 240, I’m not getting your point, but it’s easy to ban intimate relations. Just stop inviting them round π
Oh Nonny, that’s my lad. Just wanted to cheer you up π
Trev said my mind @246,night all.
Trev nails it at 246.
Not going to get on the players’ backs. They lost as a unit. They had a collective bad day. I also think that Le Boss, much as I love him, dropped a pair of clangers: mertesacker out was a poor move, Walcott on for Ramsey totally nixed our shape.
Main thing is to bounce back with a win and look to go on a little run.
The only other thing I would add is that I’d like to see Giroud start the next league game. He was quality once he came on today and I think he’s earned a spot in the first team.
Funny. I don’t know whether to be grateful or arsed that I missed
seeing the game. I’d guess I’m leaning towards the former though.
Those who did see the game seem to be pretty arsed!.
I just thought the fight was not there today, we never really troubled chelsea that much I was expecting a kitchen sink thrown at them but it never happened, we were too nice to them today. Arshavin should have come on I thought he was fantastic down the middle in the league cup.
it hard to say it but I was pleased to see Spurs beat RVP and co.
We just didn’t have it today. I don’t think it was what they were doing to us as much as it was what we couldn’t do ourselves. Santi and Ox just couldn’t get going in the middle and the central defenders didn’t have it. The free kick before the second goal was just a bad play…Torres was going nowhere, Verm was tracking him and had cover in the middle and could have ridden him to the corner but took him down. It’s just one game, of course, but I thought we’d be better.
Thought Jenks and Gibbs were best today. I don’t have a problem dropping Mert, Kos was our best defender last year and he had a stinker, plain and simple.
Very downbeat about the loss, but there are so many ways to perceive our performance. We conceded from two unnecessary freekicks, both of which TV were guilty in conceding, and Kos in defending. It was the kind of goal we kept conceding last season. I hope we won’t be seeing more of that this season. And what this means for the Kos-Verm partnership I will trust AW to figure out, the evidence was quite damning in terms of last night’s defensive game.
On the other hand, we did not concede from normal play, kept their nippy wingers harmless for the most part, and kept tryin to force through an equalizer. Two good saves from Poldi and Giroud for Cech, Giroud hitting the bar from a header, and that last gasp chance (which I think Cech did briliantly to make difficult for the striker). Not to mention 3-4 shots that Cazorla had around the box, of which none of them hit the target. He will certainly want to do better in the coming games. Ultimately, we were simply wasteful on both ends.
On Ramsey, I thought he did OK yesterday. I’m quite surprised some people said he had a stinker, and reverted to last season’s form. Diaby and him are always a different type of player, and I thought Ramsey did his job quite well. 7am’s stats also proves this point. What is to blame is our central defenders being overly aggressive in trying to intercept, which led to unnecessary freekicks when Chelsea players were really going nowhere. Our set piece defending was also shocking, was it just me or did we scrap our zonal marking? In any case it didn’t work at all. And I am left thnking with BfG maybe we would have done better in not conceding freekicks, and in defending them.
Three points dropped. Games coming thick and fast. No time to dwell on the result, then.
we were poor yesterday. they got on top of us early on and always threatened to break at us at speed. like wenger said we have to be efficient in the big games and it did not happen. these guys are professionals. earning top top wages and cant hit the target at a crucial point in the game.
for me even before the game i dreaded BFG getting dropped. and diaby going off did not help at all. when ours is a possession game we cant afford to misplace passes as we get caught at the back.
have to say the chavs played well. poldi was anonymous.
one good performance was from jenkinson. really put cashley under pressure.
and another thing. we can never win things by having a dodgy keeper. u need a world class keeper to keep you in the game.
hope we can bounce back.
only thing cheering me up is that at least manure have lost 2 games already.
Morning All
I’m with Lars regarding sh*t and with Trev regarding our GK situation.
It’s always tough to lose. Especially tough when we don’t play well in a derby game against a team who are also a Top 4 rival. Even tougher when The Vulgarians and the LWCs win on the same day even if it did mean that Manure lost.
Hey ho, it’s all an integaral part of being a supporter.
I think the competition this year is going to be really close. 7 or 8 teams will battle it out for premiership honours. We’ll see.
No time to dwell on sh*t, we need to be Olympiakos mid-week.
UTA & COYRRRs.
Got to watch the match uninterrupted stream-wise mostly for the 1st time in months, and we put in a poor performance. Maybe its like firstlady says, we hadn’t lost in so long before this that we aren’t used to it & its hitting some of us harder than usual. Me, I still feel a bit devastated π This is my face when both balls went through the defence unchallenged – :O for about a minute & a half after. Doctor Who cheered me up π (it was a sad episode π ) along with general Saturday Night TV so the Saturday wasn’t ruined. Didn’t know how to feel about the Tiny Totts beating Manure, but I think the last time they won at Old Toilet in a season we won the league did we not? 8)
One thing that genuinely worries me is the Ox’s inability to track his man & stay with him at times, let Fox go lose in the box against Southampton & we conceded for the 1st time in the league & tge season. Doesn’t stay with Luiz, Koscielny has to double up & Torres scores the opener. Its like he defends for a bit of time then is already trying to go on the attack or is readying up for it before the danger is quelled in our final third. Wonder if this apparent lack of defensive discipline can be worked out of him by Bouldy, you’d expect him to have some from Southampton but he’s still young π
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Unpopular post warning.
I love Santi to death, but he has one problems which will trouble us in these kind of games.
He is an excellent passer with immaculate vision, but he needs people to make the movement and doesn’t “force” them to make a movement with his passing.
If others aren’t moving then we have a problem.
We played at walking pace today, as we did against Sunderland. There was absolutely no movement and Santi couldn’t thread a ball to anyone because everyone was static.
Jack (or any driving player for that matter) on the other hand, could help us with unlocking defenses when our players are static. He glides past people at will, which means the opponent’s shape gets ruined. If he woulda glided past Mikel and then Terry woulda come to cover him, that leaves space for Gervinho to exploit even though he was static and didn’t make any movement.
This is one of the hardest things to do in football, but we have to find a way to do it.
Or we can just get a moving centre forward… Giroud? Could be. But he’s gotta settle down or his teammates would stop passing him the ball.