Morning all.
Mikel Arteta after the game:
Yeah, a big performance, collectively and individually I thought we were really good against a really good team that was in great form, and they were going to ask us a lot of questions, and we responded really well. From the start of the game I think we were really determined, really flowing, playing with a lot of courage and making things happen. Yeah, really happy with the result, it’s a big day for our supporters as well so really happy with that.
I didn’t get to see the first half as life prevented it but boy, that was some second half Arsenal performance against Chelsea. Thomas Partey back in the starting lineup was something I suspect many an Arsenal fan has wanted to see since the day he broke down for the umpteenth time. Jesus, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Jorginho and Martinelli had to settle for a place on the bench alongside the usual suspects.
The first half was even I heard with both sides having chances to score but it was Leandro Trossard who gave us the lead after just 4 minutes. The second half saw Arsenal simply blow Chelsea away. We had so many chances we could have won the game by ten clear goals. I’m not complaining by the way, it’s just that I wish we had of royally battered them. 5-0 wasn’t bad though eh? lol
From the 45 minutes I saw, Chelsea were poor. Whether that’s because we were so good or not is subjective but honestly, we ripped through their midfield and defence so often and so easily, a lot of credit has to go to the way the players did it.
The strength Kai Havertz showed to brush off his defender for one of his goals was great to see. He certainly wanted to get one over his old club and he did, twice. Brilliant to see as was his celebration. Ben White got on the scoresheet twice too, his first was good, his second, just brilliant. Who cares that his intention was to play the ball into the box? Not me..
Mikel Arteta had the opportunity to make earlier than usual changes and he took it. Saka, Trossard, Tomiyasu, Havertz and Partey were replaced with Martinelli, Vieira, Jorginho, Jesus and Zinchenko from 72 minutes onwards. Martinelli and Vieira really should have added to the scoreline.
Scoring five goals is brilliant regardless of who the opposition is although when they’re against Chelsea it’s special – but a word for the defence and Arsenal’s defending as a team. A clean sheet against a team full talent is excellent and it’s not for the first time this season either. Our defence, including the often criticised David Raya has kept 14 clean sheets this season. Incredible really.
Ok, let’s talk about the officials, including VAR. Awful, just awful. How on earth did Jackson go unpunished for his ankle breaking challenge on Tomiyasu? The on field referee did nothing, VAR did nothing either. If they thought the incident warranted a yellow card, VAR’s hands were tied but in my mind, such a challenge deserves a red card each and every time. VAR could have sent Simon Hooper to the pitch side monitor and let him see the challenge again because had they done so, I’m pretty sure he’d have come to a different conclusion. We hear from managers about fixture congestion and players welfare well no amount of games a week can cause the kind of damage that an ugly tackle like Jackson’s can. For Jackson, there is no consequence for his actions so in his head he probably thinks he did nothing wrong. He did as he put another players career at risk.
A few factoids from Arsenal.com:
- David Raya kept his 14th clean sheet in the Premier League this season as he leads the race for the Golden Glove.
- We have scored our earliest goal in the Premier League against Chelsea (3:58) since Thierry Henry netted in the second minute versus the Blues in December 2004.
- Rice has recorded six assists in 34 Premier League appearances for us, as many as he provided in his final 105 outings in the competition for West Ham.
- We had 13 shots in the first half of this match, our most on record (since 2003/04) in the first half of a Premier League game against Chelsea.
- White’s goal was our 14th in the Premier League this season via a corner, the most of any team.
- We have scored 12 goals via defenders in the Premier League this season, the outright most of any team (Tottenham Hotspur & Newcastle United – 11).
- Havertz has been directly involved in 11 goals in his last 10 Premier League appearances (7 goals, 4 assists).
We couldn’t go into a north London derby feeling more confident in my opinion. Cocky no, but confident that we can go to Totts and earn a win. I say earn because that’s what this group of players can do. We might have dropped points against Villa and been knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern but can anyone honestly say that either result came through lack of trying? I doubt it myself.
Liverpool go to Everton tonight and tomorrow, Man City travel to the south coast to face Brighton. Two home wins would do us a huge favour.. Fingers crossed.
Catch up in the comments.
Morning Rico and all.
Tomy was very lucky the Chelsea player didn’t brake his ankle, it should have been a red card, after all he gave Trossard a yellow card for stepping on a chelsea players toe.
Morning Rico
Stunning performance last night. I thought Partey really made the team tick and moved the ball a lot quicker than we have been doing of late.
Any win against Chelsea is welcome, but 5-0 is a hammering. Nice to see their fans melt away from the stadium, apart from the two muppets that waved around inflable trophies right to the final whistle. They must have felt very deflated!
Morning Geoff, Pete.
I thought Chelsea would cause us a few problems but from what I saw it was pretty much one way traffic.
Partey is an immense player imo but one hampered by injuries. Honestly, had he been fit all season I think we’d have one hand on the PL trophy by now.
G’day Rico and all.
After a superb start, with a goal in under five minutes, I thought we would overun the Chavs but too many chances went begging. I was relieved when the half-time whistle blew. Whatever Arteta said to the team, they came out fully intent on playing Chelsea off the park and did precisely that.
I almost felt sorry for Caciedo, after his early assault on Saka and some more shithousery he was on a warning. Then Saka caught him with a good tackle which left him in a heap on the touchline, at that point he lost his head and got himself booked. After that his effectiveness was greatly reduced as he knew another foul would probably see him red carded. Ben White joined in the fun dumping him a few times too. Any sensible manager would have, should have, subbed him but Potch left him to get on with it. At least two of our goals came from the area he should have been covering but he just went missing.
Last summer we were heavily linked with him, another bullet dodged?
Liverpool play tonight and again on Saturday, both away at Everton and West Ham, before we play Spurs on Sunday. It could make the leadership chase a little clearer.
Brilliant win,
The clean sheet stat is remarkable,I remember the commentators saying after the draw at the Etihad that Raya had the most shutout then,we’ve had a few since so he must be well clear.
I was pleased to see Partey,I thought Jorginho was certain to start but Partey was brilliant,the whole team to be fair.
How on earth did the Chelsea player(Jackson ?) get away with that tackle,a red card all day long.
Lots to love about this team,if Man City win their games then nothing we can do,but surely this team will finish above Liverpool,I feel we are way better.
3 players with 10 + goals now,I read Kai Havertz has had his best goalscoring season in England.
Morning Cicero, great points which mad me smile. Definitely a bullet dodged with Caicedo. When you look at the players who Brighton have sold, we’ve certainly had the best two. White and Trossard have been superb.
Havertz – loved his goals and loved how he didn’t hold back celebrating as so many footballers do.
The Jackson challenge was a shocker Limey. When Rio Ferdinand is on our side you know it must have been bad.
Somehow, Arsenal need to find another Partey kind of player. How I don’t know but he makes everything look so easy in a way Gilberto did.
Afternoon Rico and Co
Off-topic but I just had a walk down memory lane reading one of the previous posts from your archive, from 2018, the day we got thrashed by Man City in the League Cup final.
It was great seeing the old names and reading some of the old bloggers comments, 215 of them, those were the days Rico…
What a lot of rubbish our team was back then and how much we’ve improved from those 6 years ago.
Great post today btw, some interesting stats, but just thought I’d mention that both Havertz and Trossard have joined Saka on double figures for league goals, Odegaard should make if four before the season’s conclusion.
So much to enjoy from yesterday evenings game, not least Partey having an impressive return to the starting XI. I wonder if he can make a difference?
No doubt there will be those that say we should offer him a new deal, but I’m not one of those. His fitness is just too sketchy. But if he has a storming finish to the season the clamour to retain him will increase.
Afternoon Kev, it’s sad to see so few comments these days but it seems that’s the way things have gone. Not sure if LG and Arseblog have fewer comments or not too.
I don’t take it personally though. 😂
It’s a no from me too re Partey as his best days fitness wise are far behind him. We need younger and fitter players going forwards. He, Elneny, perhaps even Jorginho need moving on imo.
I’d forget about a fee for him right now though and if he’s fit, play him. With just a handful of fixtures left, it’s worth the risk I think.
https://www.teamtalk.com/news/edu-strikes-gold-arsenal-e60m-fee-sublime-first-summer-signing-leeds-swap-top-star-leverkusen-striker
Don’t blow a 2.0 lead Everton….
Excellent result at Goodison
Thank you Toffees.
Re Kev at 1:42. Imho, the one quality that made this site special is that it had a lot of “old heads”, no disrespect intended, that were/ are knowledgeable about football and had a plethora of Arsenal history; unlike many of the sites with disrespectful, limited knowledge young ones. I noticed the drastic dropped of comments after COVID-19, and have always wondered how many were lost or how many changed priorities thereafter.
I didn’t see Everton beating Pool by 2 goals but I am more than happy with that result, now it’s up to us not to blow it. Just think last few seasons I was not happy with a 2 nil win and we should go in for the kill and some said I should be gratefull now a lot more fans want a 4 nil win, Just saying.🤷♂️🤷♂️
My 5cents about your site Rico as someone who has often seen things from a different angle to most. it’s simple, it’s better to have quality over quantity.
I’m not too keen on him Rico, but then I wasn’t keen on Havertz…
Obi, it’s hard to say how many we’ve lost, there used to be a guy who was very knowledgeable about the academy who came on here periodically but has not been around for awhile. I also think that X (Twitter) has siphoned off a lot of bloggers.
It’s just the way it is mate
Morning guys, new post up.