The atmosphere at the Emirates was celebratory even before a ball was kicked. It’s great being an Arsenal fan just now, enjoying our success whilst knowing how much it grates on the many from other clubs and the media. But Chelsea are not the shambolic team of recent seasons, they have a quality manager now, a deep thinker and they are becoming a dangerous contender to us, the Champions. Even though they have a long way to go you can already see the difference in them both tactically and technically and by the New Year we’ll need to make sure there’s a buffer between them and us.
The player Mikel Arteta really wanted during the recent transfer window, Morgan Rodgers, struck within 2 minutes of the start. An innocuous long ball into the box wasn’t dealt with effectively and when the loose ball ran out to Rodgers he didn’t take a touch, he took the shot and it crept into the corner of our net as Raya desperately tried to reach it. Everybody looked stunned, not least the Chelsea players but these men of Arsenal aren’t champions for no reason and they came back at the West London usurpers with the energy and determination of said champions.
An Odegaard free kick was driven low and diagonally into the Pensioners box and Calafiori, who was outstanding, probably should have scored but he didn’t get a firm enough contact and Martinez scrambled it away. After 12 minutes a Rice free kick caused chaos in the Blues box and Calafiori stabbed home the equaliser – only it wasn’t. Konsa was harshly adjudged to be offside and it was scrubbed off.
Had Alonso spotted a weakness in our defence, I don’t know, but the Chelsea players as often as they could took long shots at the Arsenal goal. Was Raya thought to be vulnerable as was proved it seemed, at Anfield last season? Who knows, but both Cole Palmer, a player who looks as if he has an eating disorder, and Reece James had dangerously looking pot shots that Raya saved without too much comfort.
Havertz and Odegaard tried some over elaborate build up that came to nothing before Kai thankfully kept it simple for once and drove into the Chavs box. His low drive between a defenders legs saw Martinez dive actually like a pensioner and too late to stop it as it nestled into the corner of the net. We needed that as all our previous pressure had not delivered.
The game was becoming far too stretched as our attack, whilst creative, was too embellished and Chelsea were dangerous on the break. In added time we almost paid the price when another long range pot shot, from Neto, hit our far post. That would have left a different vibe among the home fans at half time but thankfully the ball bounced to safety. H/T 1-1
Arteta certainly got his message home during the break as the Gunners came out firing on all cylinders. On 50 minutes Calafiori put a nice pass out wide to Tzolis, he waited momentarily before sending a searching low cross into the heart of the Chavs box, Havertz took his marker out of an inviting space which Odegaard danced into and as he sat Martinez down on his large Goose Green the captain smashed it home.
6 minutes later as Rodgers threatened on the break, Konsa flew into an all or nothing tackle which he successfully executed which won a loud cheer from the Arsenal faithful. On 59 Tzolis again worked himself into a great position and sent in a delicious cross that unfortunately evaded everyone, it deserved a goal. Chelsea made some changes and one of the new faces, Gusto got into a good spot but fired over the bar on 61.
On 67 Arteta sent on some fresh legs. Hincapie for Calafiori and Zubimendi for Myles, almost immediately Odegaard set up Zubi but his shot was blocked. Chelsea were coming back into the game at this point and probably looked at their most dangerous, even so on 69 minutes Saka had a great shot that looked destined for just inside the far post unfortunately Martinez got across to push it wide for a corner. From that corner Havertz made a run to the near post and flicked it on like classic Steve Bould but nobody followed up, we really left a couple of goal out there yesterday, I hate waste…
With Chelsea ramping up the pressure Arteta sent on Gyokeres and Merino for Havertz and Odegaard on 77 minutes but Chelsea kept coming. Despite the Chav pressure the Gunners soaked it up with only one truly hairy moment when Raya went full stretch to tip an Estevao cross shot over the bar on 89 minutes. By then the pensioners had shot their bolt and we played out 5 minutes of added time giving Madueke a run out on 90 for Saka.
It was a very satisfying win, but I think that Chelsea are going to be a massive threat to us this season, especially as they have no European football. As it stands, Arsenal are still superior but we have to be on our guard.
We March On
By Kev
Great post Rico! What a game of football that was. Luv’d it so very much.
Morning all.
Martinelli just loved Arsenal, he made that clear. I think he would have even taken a pay cut if it meant staying. Unfortunately the club wanted the £60m more than they wanted the player.
New post up.
Martinelli didn’t do bad for himself – 330,500 pounds per week. But you could see it’s not about the money with him. I have watch both of his games. The kid doesn’t look happy. I think, in time he will adjust.
They have good attacking players, but their defense is horrible. Btw, he played against old boy Lacazette. It was Al-Hilal first lost of the season.
Television hit my street for the coronation in 1953 , but eventually made my house in time for the 1960’s and my first world cup was Chile in 1962 where I could compare Haverty to Garrincha and Bloomfield to Pele who in true Arsenal style played brilliantly once and then got injured and missed the rest of the tournament.
We also got to see a little bit of the big European matches and Real Madrid v Eintracht sticks out in 1960.
Contrast in styles with names like Gento , Puskas , Di Stefano , Santamaria playing against a basic rigid East European team . Open football Real Madrid won 7 – 3 and I was trapped into watching and appreciating football for ever.
It was Arsenal one week and the best game in London the next as away travel was out of my league and spent many games at the lane watching Jon White and Greaves after he had moved back from Italy. they had some good players around that time Dave Mackay always stood out and although he is now famed for dangling Bremner 6 inches off of the floor had a brilliant opener to every match .
Whilst at Highbury we always roared as the band master tossed his baton into the air , at the lane , as them teams came out of the corner Mackay used to kick the ball high in the sky and then ran to the centre circle and trapped it as it came down.
Memories !!!!!!
Cruyff was a genius, he was the origin of football the way it is played today.
His early days as a flying winger at Ajax to his playing days with Barcelona and the way he influenced the Busquets , Xavi , Iniesta triangle that was copied by Wenger , Guardiola and now Arteta .
We talk of the greatest players of all time and people mention Pele , Ronaldo 1 , Ronaldo 2 , Messi and Best but rarely is Cruyff mentioned in the same breath but he has had a greater influence on the game than any of them.
We must be of similar age. ’70 was shown here (in NZ) in highlights. ’74 and ’78 were delayed coverage of the finals. ’82 was our first experience of live games (because NZ had qualified). All those names you mentioned garnished my bedroom walls, but Cruyff was my idol until I met the somewhat more important JC…
It was only in 1974 that we got colour TV and that orange Dutch strip with the big lion on the breast really did a job on my teenage dreams. It was third only to Arsenals red and white, and yellow and blue change strip. Cruyff at Ajax had that wonderful white with wide red stripe which helped me imagine how good he’d look playing for us.
Hi Stuart, my first WC was ’74 in Germany, and I can remember West Germany’s machine-like efficiency (‘Der Bomber’ Gerd Muller 68 goals from 62 caps), and feeling a bit gutted when they beat the colourful ‘total football’ of the Dutch, in the final.
Outside of that it’s hard to recall Johan Cruyff being seen regularly on the world stage during his playing career.
My limited knowledge of the Mexico WC in ’70 are of Bobby Moore swapping shirts with Pele after a 1-0 group loss, Moore being arrested over some jewellery, England being 2-0 up against West Germany in the QF with Peter Bonetti in goal, then having to substitute Bobby Charlton for Alan Mullery, and losing the game 3-2. Gerd Muller sending us home.
And of course that sumptious iconic Brazil performance in the final.
Potter, how I would have loved to have been there in ’72 when the great Gunter Netzer ran the show for West Germany. What’s your fave memory of that era?
After not being allowed at the cub for the last 6 months Edu has left Nottingham Forest, going by reports Nuno Espirito Santo did not get on with Edu from day one and blamed Edu for bad recruiting. Forest and Nuno need a wakeup call and remind them that you can’t bring someone like Edu in and expect to win trophies in six months.
Happy to make you smile Andrew 😁, thanks Limey, Timber or White, what a lovely problem, no Dennis it was for the Marli Salmon fan, cheers Obi…
My Dad used to work at Wembley in the box office and I used to go to most of England’s internationals in the 60’s and70’s . Can’t think how he got the tickets ?????
However I used to go the top of the upper stand behind the goal and watch Bobby Moore’s movement , his reading of the game was like watching a game of chess , he always seemed to be in the right place and seemed to make his moves about 3 passes before he was needed.
As a West Ham player I never really liked him but as a lesson in defending he was incredible.
Thanks Geoff. We broke the budget and had some salmon for our dinner. From Scotland, of course.
The Chavs have had so many rejects, Potter, I think my Blues mates are quite dizzy as a result of the process. They certs regret passing on Salah and KDB and one of the older ones still exhibits disappointment about Alan Hudson moving on and eventually ending up at Highbury. Not that he lit any fires for us.
Yes, mate, our David was, once again magnificent between the sticks, the save from Estavao and (for a man who is not the tallest of keepers) his dominance in taking crosses is exceptional. He reads the flight of the ball so well. Ezra’s tackle on Morgan, I mentioned reminded me of the great Bobby Moore’s beautifully timed one on Jairzinho in Mexico in 1970. A different type of tackle but it’s the timing which conjured up the memory.
Caicedo might not make a difference against us but against other clubs, he’ll make a difference. Chelsea have a really good attack but defence and midfield are lacking. No wonder they were reported to be cheesed off on deadline day when the midfielder deal fell through..
Excellent write up.
Can people stop this Caicedo narrative? Arsenal beat Chelsea 5-0 with him playing. Please stop it.
Interesting thing about MLS I have noticed, when he does his half turn or spin, his elbows are on the opposing player rib or chest. As the game progresses no one wants to get near him.
Havertz yesterday made Fofona look like a recreational player, lost him so many times with his movements and positional awareness. Maybe I am missing something, but I don’t see the hype about Chelsea. Even before they played Arsenal, I didn’t buy into the hype after their first 2 games.
I love him Dennis, praying he stays fit this season. MLS, what a player for his age…
Hi all, great write up, great performance, great result.
Hard not to be happy after that, Arsenal are going to take some stopping.
Havertz was brilliant yesterday, but he still isn’t a conventional number 9.
I thought your reference to ‘Flower of Scotland’ was for Pat Nevin, Kev.
Your boy Califiori had another storming game, Rico, MLS plays like he’s been there forever, there is so much to like about Arsenal right now.
Hi Geoff. Once a gooner….
Myles was excellent once more. Thank goodness Arsenal did a u-turn on his sale. If he was at any time seen as saleable of course which I doubt.
A word for MLS too – what a fantastic player he is. We have Merino and Bruno to come in too.
I watched the match live and nearly jumped out of my seat when Nile’s long bomb snatched a draw especially as Man U thought they had it won
Morning Rico and all,
Happy anniversary Stuart, sound like you got your wish with beating Chelsea
Perfect timing Andrew, I did similar. So please for Ainsley, he was always one of my favourites. Just hope he never takes a penalty against us 😜
I don’t mind stats Limey, they are great at what they do but the bigger picture can sometimes be missed.
Our right hand side is definitely the most used, perhaps because the old trio are back together. White, Odegaard and Saka who are so good together. But in time, I’m sure players will bring Tzolis into the game more often, he is so good.
Great write up Kev,
I enjoyed that one,the last half hour was so tense,I kept thinking sods law says Cole Palmer will score when he shouldn’t even have been on the pitch. I needn’t have worried,he’s always dangerous but that’s probably his least effective game of the season.
How good is Ben White? Brilliant when Timber is available again,Arteta has a big decision to make.
Chelsea fans moaning they were without Caicedo,well we are without Saliba – quite a big player himself.
I know Rico doesn’t like stats,I saw that only 8% of our attacks came down the left in the first half,says a lot about the White/Saka combo. To think that muppet Gary Neville was trying to say Saka wouldn’t play for Chelsea,at least Wrighty didn’t let him get away with that. Another one I like is there have been 21 set piece goals in the Premier league – none by Arsenal. Strange the media are silent about that.
We are now in a crazy period of games before a 3 week shutdown and it all starts again. We will have to see more of the squad.
I’d just put game on 10 minutes before Nile’s goal, loved it!
I think when the season ends, Tzolis will have proved to be the signing of the summer, certainly the best value for money.
By the way, did anyone see Ainsley Maitland-Niles goal against Utd? It was a cracker..
Raya and Konsa were excellent and I agree, their two moments of precision gave us the victory as much as our goals did. That Konsa challenge was defensive perfection.
Havertz was very good but if he’s to be Arteta’s main striker choice he needs to be more astute when it comes to passing or shooting. Imo, it’s better to shoot and miss than to not shoot at all because there’s always a chance of a deflection etc.
Morning all, great report Kev, love the disorder/pensioner quotes😆
Well the wonder front three played Arsenal without half of our best back four, we coped pretty well!
Tzolis looked like our old Brian Marwood, simple, effective and a bargain.
Havertz great touches, great dummies, scored with harder chance than when he passed twice instead of shooting. Konsa fits in immediately, Raya superb save, great time to be an Arsenal fan again.
Regarding Yesterday I will admit that your man was instrumental in our win He scored thank you very much and his movement and letting the ball run to Odegaard won the game for us . However just as im
portant was Raya at full stretch and a great tackle by Konsa which eased the Saliba fears in the short term Stuart
I would be inerested to know what your Chelsea fan friends had to say about our chav rejects whilst they were playing there.
Morning all.
Still buzzing with that Tzolis cross, Havertz dummied and Odegaard calmly picked his spot and scored. We are seeing a 2022/23 27-year-old Odegaard at his peak now.
That was what Arteta envisaged when he bought him, built the team around him.
Imagine what this season holds for Arsenal with a healthy Odegaard, and we won title with an Odegaard hampered by ankle, knee and shoulder injury, playing only 30 games last season for Arsenal and Norway!
Love to see the return of the potent Right-Side Triangle – Odegaard, Saka and White.
Dare I dream this season on the 2nd coming of French Spine “Pires, Henry, Bergy, Ljungberg”. Not forgetting our own “Vieira” in Declan Rice! Oh yeah! 😀
Stu, as a Scots-Kiwi I knew you would pick up on the title, Caicedo is a big miss for them, their Rodri so to speak, but as good as he is he is also quite dumb and quite likely to get a couple of red cards+ this season which should keep them at arms length.
Morning Rico and Gunners, cheers Cicero and yes, Chelsea look as if they’re going to attack everyone and that’s maybe because Alonso recognises that that is their strength.
Thanks Rico, I didn’t see that criticism regarding Gabriel, did the ‘expert’ who suggested a red card for the King of Brazil comment on the many yellow card level fouls that the referee let go? Let me guess, no, of course not…
“Sent them home ta think again”, indeed Kevski. And they will. Alonso is class and Chelsea were brave agin us, which led to an open and entertaining game. They, as you stated, will be challengers this season, especially when Caicedo returns to their midfield.
I maybe typecasting myself but I thought Kai was marvellous, along with our imperious skipper creating some sublime moments. They both have such subtle touches in their lockers. Our Christos was superb, so quick of thought and feet, Ezra had a fine home debut. He gave away the freekick which led to the Chelsea goal but didn’t do any wrong from then on and demonstrated a tackle upon Morgan straight out of the great Bobby Moore’s text book.
Like Potter, I have some Chelsea mates, and tho’ they moaned about the reffing ?? they did accept that they were second best for much of the game.
On to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Morning Kev, all.
Thanks for the post, another good one.
I see the critics are suggesting Gabriel should have been sent off for catching Martinez in the head with his boot. I think he went for the ball but considering all the fuss the Argentine made of it, not a mark could be seen on his face after.
Like you, I think we left a few goals out there yesterday. Something we need to improve on imo.
Good morning Kev and thanks for the up-summing.
You saw the game very much as I did. Chelsea may well turn out to be a better version than last season’s lot. But they could well be without that vicious scroat Palmer, a few more wild tackles may well see him shown the red card which he richly deserved yesterday.
Onwards and upwards.