Daily Bits and Bobs

Old foes go head to head..

Posted on by rico

 

Morning all.

A big game, a big test. Frank Lampard v Mikel Arteta in the battle of the young Premier League managers who once played for the clubs they now manage, or coach for the pedantic amongst us. Not so long ago they were squaring up on the pitch, today they’ll be barking orders from the dugout.

For David Luiz, it’s the first time he faces his old team in an Arsenal shirt and there’s a chance he and Giroud could face each other, albeit slim as our old striker seems to be out of favour with Lampard.

 

 

I think this fixture will tell us more about the players attitude and commitment than the last because without being disrespectful to Bournemouth, Chelsea have a bigger and better squad. Mind you, Bournemouth beat Chelsea 1-0 just a couple of weeks ago when the two sides met at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had all the possession, more shots on goal etc, but Bournemouth popped up with the winner late in the game having barely threatened the Chelsea goal.

The only time I’ve watched Chelsea this season is when the played Toots and I thought they looked really good. Willian was on form that day. Since then though, Southampton gave them a surprise 2-0 battering. But that’s Chelsea’s season, mixed. Still better than ours though which is why they’re in the top four and we’re stuck in the bottom half of the table.

Our League position is irrelevant I think. More important is how we approach games, how hard the players work both for the themselves and their teammates and they adapt to what Mikel Arteta is asking of them. Against Bournemouth, the attitude was much improved but our play in the final third was disappointing. Our crosses into the box were awful, and when we did have possession in the box, no one would have guessed we had two top class strikers on the pitch. Nothing went right other than Aubameyang’s goal to earn a point.

At home, with the fans right behind the team, perhaps that side of our game will improve. Ozil, Aubameyang and Lacazette need to be doing more and certainly need to be more ruthless in front of goal.

Injuries – Bellerin, Ceballos, Holding and Martinelli are all being assessed before a final decision is made which usually means they’ll be left out. Sokratis faces two weeks out after suffering a head injury in our last match but Chambers is back in contention to start.

The big decision for Mikel Arteta is who plays fullback. Bellerin if fit, will solve the right hand side problem, but on the left, I think Saka will struggle against this Chelsea attack.

Arteta certainly has more options in attack than he does in defence with Pepe and Ceballos waiting for a return to the starting eleven. Martinelli too if he’s declared fit.

There should be goals in this one that’s for sure as neither defence has been consistent. But neither attacking unit has been either.

Have a good Sunday guys, see you in the comments…

 

 

 

 

rico

108 thoughts on “Old foes go head to head..”

  3. ScottfromOz says:

    I’m confident, Rico.
    Chelsea are talented but erratic.
    If Arteta has us composed and structured, we will do very well imo

  4. rico says:

    ‘We need players back from injuries, first of all, to be more solid, more compact,’ Arteta told SkySports.

    ‘And then we might need to do one or two things if the right players become available, to help us.

    ‘But at the moment I am more concerned with getting the maximum out of the players available to us.’

  5. rico says:

    I worry about our left side Scott. I wonder if Mustafi might be in Arteta’s thoughts for left back. Or right back with AMN on the left.

  10. Aussie Geoff says:

    Hi Rico and Scott looking forward to this game both teams not at there best I think we may be able to sneak all 3 point I am thinking Arsenal 3 Chelsea 2

  15. potter says:

    I can see it tight possibly best of 5 goals not sure which way it will go though. In many ways the result doesn’t matter but the attitude and discipline of the players does.
    Obviously I want us to win but I will not be beating myself up if we don’t providing that I can see the ship is on course for the great turnaound that we need.
    Although it’s a local derby , this is not Sp*rs and doesn’t carry the same weight , I want performance first it’s that which is important.

  16. Aussie Geoff says:

    Ok Scott and Rico u 2 can be coach and assistant I will take a 3 year players contact around 150 thousand per week and sit very happy on the bench and watch the match from close up

  17. Limey says:

    Morning Rico/everyone,
    Isn’t it great to really look forward to a game?
    Chelsea will be a test, they were great against Spurs, have a good mix of youth and experience.Like us, they’ve been inconsistent.
    Arteta biggest problem is at fullback, I actually thought Saka was defensively sound, his crossing/end product was sadly lacking. He was hardly alone there, but I reckon he might benefit from a rest.
    Arteta hasn’t got many options, I wonder if he might play Mustafi at right back, and switch AMN to the left. I would bring back Martinelli if available for Lacazette.
    Fingers crossed COYG

  20. rico says:

    Hi Geoff.

    Morning Limey, great minds eh.

    Yes, looking forward to game is something new. Not knowing the team selection or what to expect is too.

  21. rico says:

    Mikel Arteta:

    “There are some non-negotiables. The demands we put on the team, the commitment, the energy we put in, that dominance. We are the biggest football club in England, and we have to play a little bit with that arrogance, that belief.

    This stadium has to create fear. I used to hate coming here as an opponent. Opponent must be uncomfortable playing here. Its one of the most beautiful, exciting stadiums in the world. When the crowd gets going & feel them right behind the team, its an incredible place.

    This club deserves nothing else but excellence. It deserves the best every single day. Everyone who jumps through that door needs to realise that is what we’re going to be requiring.The moment

    you jump into this football club, you feel the pressure attached to playing here. The demands is to win, win trophies, to win every three days, be better than your opponents. Those are the standards here, and it can’t be anything different.

    Its going to be a long process, a lot of things have to be done right. The margin for error at the moment is very, very short because the gap is getting bigger and bigger. We need to make a lot of good decisions. You need a direction, you need a vision and you need action.

  22. Cicero says:

    ….and that looks all over in the test. Root waves at one outside his off stump, again, and gives a simple catch. 232-6. Target 376.

  23. potter says:

    He certainly is putting the board , the Kroenke’s , Sanhelli and Edu under pressure .
    If they don’t put up it won’t be for his want of trying.
    His comments should get the fans on board and divert the pressue upstairs.

  24. Cicero says:

    Let’s hope that pressure has the required effect Potter, they need to get working in January to sort out our defence.

  26. Le Coq Monster says:

    Afternoon happy Gooners and thanks Rico.

    Too many injuries to worry about beating the so called top teams, to me it`s all about a new attitude and the last two games has shown this.
    Mikel is saying all the right things and his point about everyone is on a new slate means to me that we too as fans should give the players a new slate and that includes all the ones we love to hate !.
    Give the likes of Xhaka, Ozil a few months to see whether Mikjel can get something more from them than the last managers.

    I see this as being a tight game where our attitude is amplified to the maximum and all the players work their socks off and the fans love it and get behind them and Chavs shade it 7-0 in injury time, but because of our great new attitude we dont care! 😆

  27. Cicero says:

    Leno, AMN, Chambers, Luis, Saka, Torreira, Guendouzi, Nelson, Ozil, Aubameyang, Lacazette
    Xhaka doesn’t make the bench.

  31. rico says:

    Xhaka gone then.

    I agree re the board, they have to do some shrewd business next month and they certainly need to back Arteta which I’ve a feeling they will. No point in having a long term plan otherwise..

  33. andrewh1313 says:

    Few centre backs on subs bench! None of the maybe’s make it, shame. I’d much rather Manager put pressure on board than Wenger who seemed to speak on behalf of board.

    Luiz looks captain to me in team talk!

  40. rico says:

    It’s so obvious Pawson isn’t being consistent. Guendouzi deserved his booking imo, but so do a couple of Chelsea players. At least!

    Fingers crossed nothing serious for Chambers.

  47. Cicero says:

    That’s the best half of football I’ve seen from Arsenal for quite a while. Suddenly they all look as if they want to play, they are holding their positions and working as a team.

    Nelson in his present for makes £72million signing Pepe redundant.

  48. Potter says:

    Good half hour Chambers was playing really well. They changed formation and got control.we need another to shut them down

  49. Cicero says:

    Actually Rico the ratio of fouls to bookings is very similar, Arsenal 1 for 4. Chelsea 1 for 4 and a bit.

    Statistics eh?

  52. Aussie Geoff says:

    good first half but should of been 2 up hope fully we can come out fighting straight away to put pressure on Chelsea .still confident Arteta can get his first win

  55. andrewh1313 says:

    Such work tracking back from Auba, Saka defending well, Ozil playing better again, varying goalie long kicks with keeping possession, fantastic block from Luiz, what can go wrong? 🙂

  59. andrewh1313 says:

    Cheat rico. Clearly not wanting to send Chelsea player off. But books Laca! Thought it was Tirreira for a mo

  67. andrewh1313 says:

    Double standards taken to a new level. Started off with the fouls from Chelsea then two similar pull backs and Chelsea one completely ignored in front of ref. Then AMN booked for pulling back to rub it in. F&&ing ref. He got the result he wanted.

  69. Potter says:

    Ref chickened the Jorginho sending off 6 minutes before he scored and then went on to book every one he could.
    I said I would not get upset but we should not have lost that.

  70. rico says:

    It’s the first time in ages I feel really pissed off after losing a game. We didn’t deserve that..

    Arteta is making a difference though, a big one..

  71. andrewh1313 says:

    Great performance, much more compact. Yes we tired, but if ref done his job, no way Chelsea with 10 men would have won. Lots of good performances, best effort shown for long long time.

    Luiz shown what a good defender he can be if he cuts out the odd silly mistake. Torreira the player we bought doing the job we bought him for. Auba so much tracking back. Not going to criticise Leno, he has probably been our best player this season.

  73. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Disappointed with the coach. We dominated the game until Jorginho came in.
    That is: Chelsea have changed their game system. I expected that at half-time we had adjusted on the pitch (since we didn’t do it in the first half), even made a field substitution to balance the midfield and we didn’t. Chelsea’s 2 against Arsenal’s 1 started in midfield and the game turned completely.
    Very late substitutions, with the players totally exhausted by the game and the overload of games, while chelsea was refreshing the team and dominated the game. Lampard won the game from outside; Arsenal arrested in the pitch and on the bench.
    Xhaxa seems to me to have stopped counting; Nelson always does the same (and well done) but flees the area; Ghendouzy protests too much, a penalty could have been signaled and is very conflicted; Chambers seems to me to be another absence for a few months; overall the team has another personality but we are in 12th (?).
    Let’s fight not to be relagate.
    Unfortunately..

  75. Wavy says:

    Best 70+minutes of the season. Best performance from Ozil for a very long time, taken off after 74 mins. We concede a careless goal, we’ll a goalkeeping howler, actually and then get drawn into going for it and get caught on the break! Removing Ozil was the turning point, ( imo). However, the goal had been coming. We were no longer going forward and had great difficulty in hanging on to possession for most of the second half.

    I feel robbed and really disappointed, especially after such a good first half. Oh well, back to the drawing board, or these days, the iPad.

    And our next opponents are……?

    Afternoon all. Such optimism! Spoiled. Shame. Still we’ll be better in 2020.

  76. Cicero says:

    Despite the much improved spirit and the greatly more togetherness, one goal was never going to be enough.

    Yes refereeing decisions didn’t go our way, but we had chances to score with Lacazette missing a great one.

    I didn’t expect to see the improvement so early in Arteta’s reign. There is so much more hope than a fortnight ago.

  77. Potter says:

    We still have 7 teams below us to play and if we keep the intensity of today we should finish mid table and organise for next season

  78. Limey says:

    Guendouzi throwing himself to the ground was frankly embarrassing.
    Performance much better (even though Chelsea came into the game strongly from about 30mins)
    We didn’t deserve to lose.
    Bring on 2020.

  79. ScottfromOz says:

    Shame to lose that one, but the signs are good.
    JM, a little harsh saying Arteta cost us the game-give the man a chance, as you seem to have been negative on him from the start, yet every other Gooner on the planet is saying what a difference he’s made already.
    He will make errors like all Managers do, but 2 games in charge, we already look a different side and you have said nothing positive about him-very harsh imo.
    If he were Portuguese, you’d be showing him the love 🙂 🙂
    I hate losing to that mob!
    Another defender down as well, and we can’t take a trick with the injuries again this season which just seems part for the course with our players.

  80. ScottfromOz says:

    Is it fair to say the players have already bought into Arteta and what he’s trying to achieve?
    This is a more physically taxing style of play and will take time for the players to adapt to.
    I guarantee we will be a different side next season as these lads will be in for one hell of a pre season to ready them for 20/21.

  81. rico says:

    Jm, Spain isn’t far from Portugal. Lol

    Credit where it’s due, we’re very much improved in a shorty period of time and I’m sure the results will come. Our return to better times is a marathon not a sprint. Sprints seldom work long term…

  82. Potter says:

    Liverpool goal after VAR. Wolves equaliser disallowed by it .Football is being ruined by the way it’s being used to undermine the referees. Probably at Riley’s behest.

  84. ScottfromOz says:

    Once we get some wins under our belt, confidence will grow and we will finish the season very strongly.
    Really though, it’s already preparation for next season.
    VAR-what I said would happen is happening.
    The way it’s used is a joke, and we spend more time talking about it then any other topic in football.
    It should be a brilliant addition to the game, but it doesn’t often end up that way, unfortunately.
    Let’s hope that unlike League here in Oz, the FA get it sorted ASAP and make it beneficial to all, and not just the chosen few.

  86. frednerk says:

    Afternoon Rico and All

    Big improvement team wise,first time in a long time I feel sorry for them boys,
    Cinderella moment by leno,then the boys got caught out trying to win the game,
    hunting down the ball surprised me from Arteta.
    Great to see GG and Frank in the crowd.

  89. Joaquim Moreira says:

    No. What I mean is that Lampard didn’t bother to change the course of the game midway through the first half, making a substitution that turned the game around (even leaving a player who doesn’t like to quit so early) because he realized that playing that way would probably lose for more; Arsenal did not react to the substitution and let the game completely turn in the 1st half. It was felt from the start of the second half that the equalizer could come at any time. I dispute the very late reaction to the substitution of the first half, to the other substitutions that followed because Arsenal was presumed to be lucky enough to win the game and the players were exhausted. It is likely that the game would not be won but one must act reactively to the difficulties and not believe in God to maintain what has been achieved.

  90. ScottfromOz says:

    Give him time, JM.
    Focus on the positives of which there are plenty, but of course we can’t ignore the negatives.
    Rico, Arteta said in his PC Xhaka is genuinely ill and he wants him to stay-not sure where that leaves things, to be honest.
    He also is putting errors and losing structure late in the game down to the players not being used to playing in such an aggressive manner so it’ll definitely take rime to see us running out the 90 minutes.
    Different manager, different style, different fitness level required but again, the positives are just obvious atm and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.

  91. frednerk says:

    Fine margins The chavs should have been down to ten not 1-1 what a prick of a ref,he could’nt tell the difference between a leg pull and an arm wrestle,whats the point of Var when it stops goals by the width of a Rizla yet is not included in other parts of the game which in our case tuned into a goal,anyway the old saying is luck evens it self out,fingers crossed.

  93. Le Coq Monster says:

    As much as I see the improvement from players and fans alike and am backing Arteta 120%, we have so many injuries to vital positions shown by the fact that we have players playing out of position.
    We have a tough game against ManU which I dont feel positive about our chances, a loss and with the “relegation” boys on good runs that could put us back to being in the mix, we really do need to start winning against teams out of the usual top six and now we have Leicester, Wolves, Sheff U to add to the teams looking better than us!…………………….worst home run in 60 yeras with 4 losses on the bounce in all comps, it is still a possibility that Arteta will have to do his re-build from the Championship……………………………….6 points adrift of EL( notice I`m not even mentioning CL! hahaha) and 6 points adrift of RZ!……………………..I`d bite your hand off for being 6 points above RZ on final day of season! 😆

  94. ScottfromOz says:

    I have to say though, all Liverpool fans believe it’s just luck.
    Who do they have incriminating photos of ffs???
    When does a decision ever go against them???????
    Yes, they’re the best side in the League right now but the assistance they get is disgraceful and blatantly obvious.
    Who officiated the officials?
    Who keeps him in line???

  98. Limey says:

    We are up against it on New year’s day, Man Utd more able to rotate, plus they have an extra day’s recovery anyway. Long time to our next league game after that. Arteta will need that time to work with the players.

  99. Limey says:

    Well, it’s 10 days after the Utd game until the next League game, then a full week until the next one.
    I’ve just seen Leeds won 5-4 today, away from home.

  101. ScottfromOz says:

    What would happen in England?
    An Aussie lad who’s a damn find defender and a very clean one copped a head clash yesterday in an a League game, drawing blood but then passed the checks they do.
    Not long afterwards, he was sent off for two very rash challenges within a second or two of each other.
    The players he challenged weren’t involved in the head clash and it was accidental, so no attempt at revenge is involved, but it’s very coincidental that a player with such a long history of clean play does this after the head knock.

  102. Aussie Geoff says:

    Hi Scott as I said I will give Arteta to the end of the year, and I am trying to like Arteta as a coach and give him time but to me he looked lost once Chelsea got in front and the second half our players just run out of puff maybe we need 2 training session per week were the players just run and not ball pratice

  103. rico says:

    That’s just two days Geoff, you’re impatient. Lol

    Seriously, I don’t it’s even worth discussing Arteta’s judgment time because this is a long term project. The squad needs an overhaul, we have a vast amount of injuries and yet we’re improving. What Arteta and the team needs now is support imo, from the board especially but also the fans.

    I’m cheesed off we lost which in itself I’m pleased about because for so many years now, I’ve not expected us to win in any case.

    What has been evident, albeit very early days, is that this group of players, regardless of who we think needs replacing, have upped their game enormously and if they continue to so, the results will come. I don’t think Arsenal are about this season, or next really, not as far as challenging goes but I sure as anything can see that the signs are there for a return to much better times.

    I think ‘I’ll give him until the end of the year’ approach is very shortsighted and I don’t mean that to sound rude. This is about longevity, not a few good results to appease the media or anyone else.

  104. Aussie Geoff says:

    Hi Rico I know Arteta needs time but that’s no excuss for the way the players just gave up when Chelsea got in front or why Arteta took Ozil off

  105. potter says:

    He took him off because he was blowing out of his backside . We had lost the midfield and he wanted more energy in there .
    With injuries and a depleted squad he had to put Willock on and then gambled on Pepe replacing Nelson . It didn’t work but as we all know when you are sinking luck seems to drift away.
    We need to make our own luck now but when you see the lack of a defence I think we need to prepare for United and expect the worst .After United more practice and some players back things should improve to keep us mid table
    Next season can’t come quick enough and start with a clean slate.

  106. Aussie Geoff says:

    Hi Rico at 3:59am I wrote end of year I meant end of season I don’t no why but I have this feeling we will buy another player in January but it will be another forward not what we need.

  107. rico says:

    Geoff, I wouldn’t say the players gave up.

    Agree Potter, just get through this season and then start for real when everyone knows where they are..

    New post up now

  108. ScottfromOz says:

    Geoff,,
    The best football we’ve put together in years and you’re blaming a manager in the job for a week because we lost?
    Forget the fact the guy who scored a goal should’ve been sent off!!!
    Nobody “gave up”.
    They’re playing a system they’re not used to and it’s much, much more physically demanding so it’ll take time, and you’re criticising the players???
    Ffs, get serious mate!!!!

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