Morning all.
Our record against Chelsea in recent years has been nothing short of pathetic. Embarrassing actually. Once Roman arrived and employed that under tall Portuguese man, Arsene Wenger simply couldn’t match anything the West London club had to offer.
Drogba destroyed Senderos, Mourinho destroyed Wenger and beating Chelsea away from home has been a non starter ever since, regardless of who their manager has been. Results at The Emirates have been marginally better, well, last seasons result anyway and of course the Wembley performance.
‘Never will we have a better chance of beating them at the Bridge’ will no doubt be on people’s mind, after all, the West London club are going through a mini crisis. Oh how I laughed when reading that on the internet. If they are going through a mini crisis, then what on earth are Arsenal going through? Beating Bournemouth and FC Koln is all well and good but let’s not forget what happened the last time we travelled away from home. Actually, make that the last two trips away from north London.
Ok, Chelsea won’t play like Stoke but Liverpool? Perhaps. The more important question is how will this Arsenal team play. Surely today will be one of those freakish days when Wenger decides to morph into George Graham or even Sean Dyche! Isn’t it embarrassing for Wenger that the latter of those two managers took his side to Anfield yesterday and came away with a point? He’d clearly done his homework on Liverpool and he had a plan. A plan which nearly nicked all three points in the end.
As much as watching attacking and entertaining football is great on the eye and there’s nothing better than watching an Arsenal team on form but sometimes, a boring 0-0 result can be just as rewarding, especially against a side we’ve been beaten by for so long away from home. If Wenger sets his team up in the way he so often does, we could take a pasting. If he thinks about Chelsea though and has a plan to deal with the likes of Fabregas, Kante, Morata, etc etc, then anything could happen. Hey, at least there’s no Costa to worry about eh!
It’s all about the first goal if there is one. If Chelsea score early, we’ll see the true character of this team. At Anfield they collapsed, against Koln, they rallied back and won the game but Chelsea are very different to the German side.
The team selection at Anfield was a joke. Kolasinac and Mustafi on the bench, Bellerin at left back was odd to say the least. No, stupid is more appropriate! What on earth possessed Wenger to make such decisions is something I’ll never understand but if he does the same today, Lord help us. I don’t suspect he will though.
Wenger needs workers on the pitch today. Ninety five minutes of hard work on and off the ball. Arsenal blew Chelsea apart at Wembley by playing great football in a one off match. A cup final which to be fair, not many expected us to win. Today is different imo, at home, Chelsea will be stronger and we need a pragmatic performance.
Wenger has done it before, albeit a while ago but he needs to dig deep into that mind of his and do it again. If he does, maybe we’ll get a positive result. If he doesn’t, well, expect the worst.
Morning all.
Damn, Rico, and I thought I was an optimist, but whoever made that comment on the net is hilarious lol
We can win, have no fear.
We are capable, but it’s all down to the 11 Wenger selects, imo.
Love a post with graphs and stuff, only bettered if there is a poll added at the end !…………… 🙂
Like I saisd I`d take a draw, but I`m confident that Arsenal will let us down, but there`s always a chance like the 5-3 game………….funny old game and we need a funny old game !………………………even better would be a game where we go out organised and disciplined to a game plan and are hard to beat……………I wont hold my breath on that one !.
Right, down gym for pull ups and chin ups, they really are the most hated of exercises, but probably the best !
Not sure what’s worse Lc, sit ups or reading about them…
I’d take the draw right now if it were offered to me!
Lee. Wenger plays to win though. 🙂
Well his record against top four opponents is truly pathetic. I can’t wait to see another manager have a crack at managing Arsenal. What’s to say that he might even do better job than the bony Frenchman?! I mean we’re talking about someone that actually bought Gervinho! ?
Isn’t it against the top six now? 😉
Probably Rico, I mean haven’t exactly faired well against the Watfords, Swanseas or WBA recently…
Morning All
Morning Rico, good post that makes for depressing reading.
Listening to Wenger this week was like listening to, well, Wenger over the last 10 years, a man out of time.
If we get a draw then that would represent a fantastic result.
But I’m expecting a 3-0 defeat.
Off out to work.
Lata
Make that top ten Lee… 😉
Morning Kev, thanks.
I’m expecting a defeat. That way I’ll be pleasantly surprised if we draw…
Lee 10.50, is he still eating solids ? I have my doubts.
Sadly i don’t see any outcome besides a Chelsea win. Wenger has shown he is not able to out manage any top manager in world football and depends soley on the talent of his players. And if that talent is matched then we always end up losing the game lose.
Unlike Arsenal, Rico, there`s no pain in reading about them !….. 🙂
Possibly Ozil missing today ?…………………….will we ever see the Holy Trinity of …………………Ozil, Alexis and Lacazette ?…………………………..this is a game for battlers though…….some ugly muvver fcukers would be handy !………………..
Don’t expect much and you won’t be disapointed .
Scott I know that Cesctook a cut at Barcelona
Potter, yep, he’s the only one though, to my knowledge.
I could understand him wanting to go back home, but he was pretty disrespectful in his efforts to leave.
Team news :- Iwobi plays Sanchez doesn’t !!!!!!!
Chelsea
13Courtois
28Azpilicueta
24Cahill
30David Luiz
15Moses
7Kanté
4Fàbregas
3Alonso
22Willian
11Pedro
9Morata
Substitutes
1Caballero
2Rüdiger
10Hazard
14Bakayoko
21Zappacosta
23Batshuayi
27Christensen
Arsenal
33Cech
6Koscielny
20Mustafi
18Monreal
24Bellerín
8Ramsey
29Xhaka
31Kolasinac
23Welbeck
17Iwobi
9Lacazette
Substitutes
4Mertesacker
7Sánchez
12Giroud
13Ospina
14Walcott
30Maitland-Niles
35Elneny
Referee:
Michael Oliver
No Ozil. That’s good imo, not sure about leaving Alexis out though…
Guess time will tell.
Welcome Vaughan – sorry for the delay in letting you out of moderation.
Chelsea victory for me too..
Afternoon Rico and All
Of late we have had a few good results
against the chavs..No sure how we managed
that..But Hi Ho.
I fill we will get smashed again with this attacking
midfield..But got it wrong a couple of times.
Didn’t Henry sign a new contract just before he
left,so that The Arsenal got a fee from barca.
Looks like Holdings upset Arsene.
Afternoon Fred.
The midfield is a slight worry isn’t it, but when hasn’t it been?
Iwobi…… Iwobi…. is that FC having a laugh…………. obviously is yet again and sticks Alexis on the bench, beggars belief…! Fuck that, I’m going out to have a few drinks ain’t watching that shit and getting all pissed off cos we as usual are crap and and and…! Enjoy ya Sunday you lot.
No Ozil that’s a massive plus for me but leaving our best player by a country mile on the bench?!?!
Granite and Ramsey centre/mid,
wonder if Arsene has already forgotten
the game at LIverpool.
Thought you’d be in the battle cruiser already WATH?
FC is having a laugh not quite as bad as the Liverpool bollocks but…
Fred, beggar’s belief some of his decisions of late!
Wath, don’t blame you. The man has lost the plot imo. Our best player and he’s benched. Well, if it backfires, let’s hope it’s one more result closer to him leaving…
I’ve had a few bottles or red for brekkie/brunch Lee in preparation for what I know is going to be another bad day at the office. Then surprise surprise not let down by the team selection… yep lets pick Iwobi who couldn’t tackle a pillow and who tracks back less than Ozil..! you couldn’t make it up could you. Hope you well mate, chat in the week.
Obstinate Arsene has heard for 24 hours that Sanchez is the only Arsenal player that would make Chelsea’s 11. Unhappy with that news from pundits he drops him. Like Liverpool last year. Ian Wright’s reaction is hilarious. But what does he know, he’s a legend.
Lee I have trouble looking at him(Arsene)
his either fiddling with that effing Zip or
that elastic band,he looks like death warmed up.
Remember the the old christmas cracker joke.
What was the man with the rubber trumpet
looking for.?
The Singapore GP had an exciting start… 😉
So has the darts
Andrew. Very good point you make there about Alexis. I bet you’re not far wrong either. That’s just Wenger all over…
We could afford to leave out Sanchez if the rest of team were all hard working and organised. He could then be our matchwinner as legs tire. I now feel by the time he comes on, we will be losing and match gone. Please let me be wrong and it’s a masterstroke.
Afternoon all,
Up in the Harris Suite behind enemy lines amongst heaps of Chav true believers. But I’m being wined & dined so that’s good & just been handed the official teams sheet. Alexis on the bench.
Security has been upped for obvious reasons, but still a good atmosphere.
Come on you rip roaring Reds!!!
Enjoy the wining and dining you might well need it. We probably will have the need for a little different whining as the day goes by. Or not !!!!
Come on Reds.
Think its pretty clear that Sanchez isn’t fully fit yet. Personally I would have played Elneny and moved Ramsey forward.
As would I Bob. Elneny and Xhaka seem our better midfield pairing.
Shame Jack isn’t fully fit.
Afternoon all
No ozil is a good start. .
We may have a glimpse of hope if we show some disipline and take our chances. .
Alexis is still short of fitness so I will give wenger that.
Midfield performance is crucial to the outcome
Even after 5 mihutes you can see no lessons have been learned.
Moratta looking good.another on the list that nearly signed.
When we have a player not match fit, why sit him on the bench?
Why not start him and take him when he tires?
Alexis should’ve started.
I would have chosen elneny instead of iowbe and played ramsay in no 10…
But what do I know.!
Because he is the only world class player we have Scott. .even if he had a broken leg I would keep him on the bench
Chelsea diving embarrassing but Oliver buying it
What do any of us know really? We can all have our opinions though, and I think so far so good, we’ve had a few good chances and are defending ok. It’s not all doom and gloom atm.
I am worried that Lacazette will be out with knee problems after the clash earlier.
Maitland-Niles, Walcott, Elneny on the bench, but no Wilshere?
Iwobi was seriously underwhelming against Cologne, but he gets the nod ahead of Alexis?
I’m surprised that he hasn’t got Ospina in goal…
I’m listening to TalkRubbish, but there is this really irritating noise affecting the commentary.
Took me awhile to work out and then I realised that it was that gobby git Ray Houghton, he of the long and successful coaching and management career, mish…
Oliver is seeing fouls that don’t exist. We did ok in the first half I think. For such a big bloke Iwobi is powder puff.
Well,
Thus far, everyone’s predictions look pretty average, thank goodness.
That was a very, very good performance in the first 45 and we’ve had slightly the better of it.
Good to see movement off the ball from all of our 11 and that’s when we play well.
When we are static, we are crap as no options sees us revert to going sideways and backwards.
Formations and strategy don’t really mean as much as good fashioned effort for mine.
Can they keep it up?
Let’s hope so.
Perhaps I am bias, but I think we were the better side first half. Of course all we need is for the Chavs to come out and score immediately, catching us on the hop, and we are doomed, but we are genuinely unlucky not to be in the lead. We have had more attempts and are fine in defence.
Kev. Houghton always was a little shit. Anfield 89 he runs straight off without shaking any Arsenal hands and years later is on radio slagging off Wenger for not shaking hands.
Ramsey good half, would have been no more than we deserved if he’d scored instead of post. Can we start second half like we ended first?
So far so good. Not as bad as some expected.
Come on Arsene, Iwobi off now..
And bring on Naitland-Miles
Bob, but he knows everything because he played the game, tosser!
missed the smiley 🙂
Maitland-Niles on?!
Is Iwobi injured?
Don’t tempt fate Andrew ?
No Kev.
Lacazette off, Alexis on.
Why can’t Alexis and lacazette be on the pitch together…
They will be one day surely Kel.
Bastard Luiz!! I hope kolasinac is ok after that
Much improved performance. Shame Alexis wasn’t on from the start though.. He could have made a difference.
Best game from Ramsey for years…
Excellent disciplined performance. Well done boys.
We woz robbed!
Well played you gunners, one disallowed, but a draw is a good result and we looked more like a team.
Mustafi was solid too, good all round I think.
Good result, great performance.
Kozzer MOTM.
Now why can’t our boys get stuck in like that more often?
Well for once we didn’t get beat at Chelsea…
Settle for that. G
Well discilined…
Wenger got it right, contrary to popular opinion.
Hats off.
Do it next week, and the week after and people may start believing again.
Nah, who am I kidding lol
Just shows what you can do if you don’t stand off. Chavs resorting to diving. Luiz has always been a fruit loop. And Fabregas can feck right off trying to get Kolasinac sent off.
Tbh I’d take 0-0 at Chelsea before the season begun.
You just beat me Scott. Why oh why can’t we always play with that determination away against good teams. We made Chelsea look quite ordinary. And except for not running back a yard as kick was taken, would have scored. Central three and Ramsey my players. Nice to see Welbeck get a run rather than Walcott as well.
Well organized and well disciplined… Not bumping forward leaving the midfield exposed. Well done.
One swallow doesn’t make up for all Wenger’s monumental fuck ups….I want him gone and all the Wenger apologists!
I’m glad that GG saw a good game though and a bit of late summer sun. 🙂
You can’t resist a sly dig at those of us who want change can you Scott? One disciplined performance is all we’ve seen. There’s a long way to go before I’ll be convinced Wenger is a manager worth backing…
Gr8 point.
Fabregas has a nasty twitch these days. He’s a horrid little man…
You enjoyed that then Gg? Lol
One more point. Good
We played well.
Like I’ve posted before, Ozil and Iwobi in the same team is a mistake. We dropped points with this solution.
Xhaxa and Ramsey probably is the better solution four our midfield, until Cazorla return (???).. We need protect the wings and the central defence.
Conte read the game very well at the second half. I didn’t know if Pedrito was injury or not, but when Bakayoko in, Chelsea changed is way of played. Fabregas one step forward and the ball rotate much more with the players. I think Arsenal didn’t shot on the 2nd half.
Welbeck will be out for 3 weeks. Mustafi is ith the team. I think Sanchez too.
It’s time for climb up in the table
It`s what I would have settled for before game started and thanks to Gnarleys coaching from the Harris Suite…………..(Rolf or Ron ?.hahaha)……….we were organised more defensively, ……well done Gnarley !
A much, much better performance from the Boys in red. Competitive, hard working and often fluent. To be fair they were a little unlucky not to win. On balance I think the Arsenal just shaded it. Only a point though. Still eleventh! Ever upward? We can dream, can’t we?
Bring on the next opponents!
Both Manchester sides look like they’ll be fighting it out for the title…
I thought when Hazard came on, he made a difference. He is a class act and every time he received the ball I expected something to happen.
I don’t think our subs had much effect, and we were much better first half without them, but we held on and deserved more than one point imo.
Giroud made little difference but I don’t think he’d have come on had Welbeck not been injured. Often when we attacked, he wasn’t even in the box. Once we see Alexis, Kolasinac and Lacazette on the pitch at the same time, we might see something good…
Seems perhaps the reason most Arsenal fans are pleased is because the team put in the sort of performance that was considered beyond them. Let’s see if they can build on it and kick on now.
When I see a performance like that
it reminds me how right I am about
Arsene.
After shed loads of stick the players
show what they can do.
How can anyone believe Arsene has
changed,we had eleven behind the ball,
the chavs at one point had 73% of the
ball.
Now thats not wengerball..is it.
Trouble is Adam, we see that kind of performance every now and again but it’s not consistent.
Decent performance and a good point..I wanted to give wenger a credit, then remembered the shambles at Anfield..so well done GG..
Could have done better if iowbe didn’t start
Agree on Iwobi Kk.. good little player coming through but playing him at Stamford Bridge. Odd..
Night guys…
Rico, there was nothing sly about that dig.
I didn’t try to hide it.
Still, you see enough sly ones aimed at me to know one when you see one.
What a sensational lot we Gooners are.
A great performance like that and still, very little joy amongst us.
Enjoy the performance, as it was worthy of us all so why don’t we be worthy of it!!!!!
Look at how few comments there are today.
If we’d lost, all the critics would be banging away, and you all know it!
That says it all.
Childish!
Night rico
We got a point, @ Stamford Bridge,
We got a point @ Stamford Bridge!!!
Wow, what a day. Rambo!! How did he not score, did all the build up work, then only had to place the ball past their keeper.
Then we scored but it was disallowed. can I say this. I walked out of the Harris Suite to my seat, only been in your country for a little over 24 hours, & it was like boys own annual stuff. And there to the left were my people, taunting, singing, proud & loud!!! And till the end & well after. What a day, I’ll never forget it.
The chavs were disappointed, make no mistake about it?. And we were still singing @ the Elephant & Castle in Kensington long after it.
“We got a point @ Stamford Bridge” I love this town?
GG glad you had a good day mate, shame it wasn’t a win for you! ?
GG,
I watched the game, but listened to the Chavs TV commentary.
Surprisingly, they weren’t biased, and very, very complimentary of our lads.
The strain in their voices stood out the entire game.
What a performance you were able to see-a slightly different experience to mine lol
Drink up and enjoy!!
Actually, the away supporters were to the right of me, but my compass is a bit skew @ the moment, too much sauce?
Cheers everyone, & thank you London Town?
That’s what I love about karma, it has no menu, you tend to get served what you deserve, have a great nite GG.
Yes Micko, and the Wenger haters are eating humble pie tonight bahahahahahahaha
Fcuk me, it’s like I can’t even go for a shit these days without Scott and his best mate Wegner looking over my shoulder lol !
Nite Gooners.
Personally I’m glad that Sanchez was on the bench today. It doesn’t hurt to be reminded that he wants away from Arsenal, and after Christmas he will get his wish. He will then be playing for City, against our team.
Let’s hope he takes Ozil with him, because against L’pool last week they were anonymous. And they weren’t missed today either.
Hahahaha Micko, one of your best lol
Absolute classic 🙂
Meerkat, stupid situation we are in with those players, but as it stands I think you’re right-best we cut them loose in January and get a few bob for them as with or without them, we’ve got a tough season ahead.
We may as well put 11 guys who want to play on the pitch but then, I saw 11 busting their arse today, yet most have done bugger all of late.
I put that performance down to men showing some personal and professional pride for a change, and nothing at all to with Wenger, imo.
Humour and banter aside, I didn’t really like that line up so I’m joking when I say Wenger should get credit, but those guys gave their all.
Why can’t they give us that enthusiastic performance every week?
Even if they get belted, if the effort is there, I’m sure supporters would stick behind them.
When we see them walking around, hands on hips or laughing the bench when we are down, we have a right to be pissed.
One draw doesn’t make a recovery! It makes a point, one point! Let’s see what happens next week. The team played well today, was it Wenger’s ‘control’was it Bould’s coaching or was it the ‘whole’team taking responsibility and actually earning their £100,000 per week?
Next week we’ll see how really committed the players are and perhaps how much influence Wenger has, if any!
No Ozil and Alexis on the bench and we see a more resolute and disciplined display.
Was it the coaching staff or did the players sort it among themselves?
Maybe a combination of the two?
But if anyone thinks that one 0-0 draw shows a sea change in our performances in these games then I’m afraid that you have a very short memory.
We all thought the same back in 2015 when we won at the Etihad and how wrong were we….
When Wenger goes to OT and the Slum and comes away with positive results, then I’ll believe it, but it ain’t gonna happen, today (Sunday) was a one off.
5 games played, enough to have an idea how our season will precede….
Well, Man City and Man Utd are both already 6 points ahead of Arsenal and have both a goals scored superiority of 15 goals each, so that’s basically a 7 point.
How will the picture look after 10 games?
Of the so called top six teams, Arsenal are 6th, still in with a chance of a CL spot, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Arsenal miss out again.
Kev, I doubt anyone thinks we are suddenly contenders.
We are still in for a hard and long season, and as always with a top performance, it raises more questions than answers.
I was taking this piss earlier because I put it all down to the players.
I doubt Wenger has a massive influence on games when we play rubbish or brilliantly.
For mine, it comes down to the effort the players put in.
Every man looked sharp and alert.
Maybe they did get together and decided to have a crack but as Wavy said, on 100k a week, they should be giving their all to earn their massive salaries.
Let’s hope it continues, but history suggests it’s a one off.
Jesus, some folk need to keep it real, ejaculating over a goalless draw, while Chelsea are disappointed, says it all.
two blanks now against a top 6 side, to which we,ve not won away to any of them in 2 years. Perspective needs to be kept imo. We know how the script ends.
btw, spot on Rico re comments earlier this morning on previous post.
DG, we have low standards now lol
Morning Rico. We have had little to encourage us for quite a while now and yesterday’s performance seemed very un-Wenger. Conte made himself look an even bigger pratt by suggesting that there was something a little suspicious where the recent red cards for his players are concerned. Standing there in his Harry Potter syrup moaning about some foul that should have been given, he was ably supported by Gas-meter thief Danny Murphy who later said that Kolasinac made a meal of the challenge. So, if Arsenal supporters go a bit over the top at this result I reckon that it’s understandable.
Dg, it just goes to show how far we’ve fallen doesn’t it… For me it was the performance, more encouraging. However, right now it’s one isolated fixture in another probable dodgy season ahead…
Morning Adam, all.
I’m with Souness Adam. He said Luiz should have been off much earlier for the kick on Kos..
As for Kolasinac, well he was smart imo. Smart enough to react to what he could see coming. Had he not withdrawn his leg slightly, I doubt he’d be walking on it this morning…
Luiz is half footballer, half pantomime clown. I agree with Souness too. Yes, in slow motion you can see Kolasinac using the impact energy to propel himself into the air rather than allowing his studs to get caught in the pitch. Let’s hope that the team gains some confidence from the resoluteness of their performance.
Haven’t we said that before though?
Rico. I’m trying to be positive. 🙂
Morning all.
If Kolasinac has his foot on the floor, it’s snapped.
Conte is being ridiculous to suggest our guy did anything at all other than save himself a bad injury-it was a terrible challenge.
Rico, as you say, it’s not a great result, but a damn good performance.
It won’t mean a thing if they don’t back it up, though.
It won’t last Adam, Pulis up next in the league.. 😉
But Rico we’ve been here so many times before, Wenger’s record against top 6 teams is fuckng pathetic!
That’ll be an interesting team selection then. 🙂
Ok. I’m convinced. We’re doomed I tell you.. doomed!
Lee, honest, I don’t expect anything other than same old same old. We’d have to play as we did yesterday for the rest of the season before I’d even think that Wenger had what it takes to motivate a team….
I still think leaving Alexis out was a crazy decision. Ozil I can understand..
We’re at home though Adam, Ozil will be back… lol
Piece of cake Rico. 🙂
Ha ha Adam.. I’ll get baking…
New post up now…