I was heartened to see Emmanuel Adebayor left out of the team today following his apathetic performances against the mancs, we started with the 4-5-1 formation, RVP leading the line, Walcott-Diaby-Song-Cesc-Nasri in the midfield and Silvestre coming in for Djourou at the back. The first half performance was excellent, yet somehow we managed to go in at half time 2-0 down, this is the bizarre sport that we know as football.
Chelsea were up against the Emirates walls early on, Walcott saw several half chances come and go, Diaby missed a sitter after a fantastic square ball from Cesc, Walcott then narrowly missed the top corner with a nicely cushioned side foot effort from the edge of the box. Despite looking poor, Chelsea created a great chance which Malouda contrived to stub into Fabianski's arms from eight yards out, a warning shot across the bow. Drogba then cheated as only he can, for the supra-six foot musclebound monster he is, he doesn't half go down like a geriatric without their zimmer-frame, Cesc brushed his heel and he took another step before faking the extent of the contact. Alex scored with a mighty header from the subsequent free kick, Silvestre didn't do enough to put him off. The second goal came after Nasri was turned far too easily in the centre of the pitch by Anelka, Anelka then dribbled on, Silvestre back off and watched, Anelka scored. So we were two down despite our territorial domination, emphasising just where out team is weak, our softness in the centre of our midfield and in the centre of our defence was there for all to see again.
The second half saw one of the most incompetent refereeing performances of the season from Phil 'fat twat' Dowd. Early in the half yet another extremely soft free kick for bugger all saw Chelsea score, Toure was very unlucky to see his attempted clearance stroll in off the post. More excellent chances came and went, RVP took too much time when pretty much clear and Cech saved, Walcott missed a simply one on one opportunity, Cesc almost connected with an excellent Walcott back stick cross. We finally converted to make it 3-1, a lovely Sagna cross was brilliantly headed into the bottom corner by Bendtner, fantastic goal. In this time Dowd had continued to award non existent free kicks for blatant Drogba backing in and obvious Malouda diving, even on perfectly clean Toure tackle resulted in a Chelsea free kick.
We also had two excellent shouts for a penalty, I somehow think Chelsea won't be getting quite so worked up over these missed penalty calls. For the first Ade had his shirt blatantly yanked as he went onto a through ball in the box, Dowd had a good view, took a another bite of his pie, scratched his hairy fat arse, farted, itched his armpit, climbed a tree and waved play on, fat twat. The second shout came when Ade beat Cech when clean through, Cech slid in, got nothing on the ball, put Ade off balance as he had to hurdle the challenge, and clipped him, Dowd had another great view, walked off to buy another pie, belched and again waved play on. This second penalty would have been soft, but I have seen many of this appealed for at the Bridge and many given at Old Trafford. Chelsea then walked up the other end and scored a goal than was about 2 metres offside.
I'm not an sad neanderthal Chelsea fan so I won't be sending Phil Dowd death threats sealed in an envelope of chav encrusted hate, I may consider sending him a couple of Slimfast shakes however. The main reason we lost the game today was our failure to take our chances and our soft centre at the back. We are simply not good enough defensively to deserve a higher finish than fourth spot. Although Toure got the own goal I thought he played well, Silvestre did not, while when deployed in a more defensive role Nasri does not provide enough solidity to break up attacks. There was also not enough defending from the front from certain players, Bendtner did this terribly well when he came on, Theo should take note, you simply cannot afford to allow your man a free run at this level. So overall our obvious weaknesses were exposed, we were a bit unlucky and Phil Dowd is a fat twat. Hopefully we can put the first two of those three right next season, I don't think the third one is likely to change.
12 comments:
So we need to be better and luckier - that sounds about right.
you'll see it was a blatant dive from ade with no contact with cech.
a pissed off gooner who wants ade gone!
It wasn't a dive, he had to hurdle Cech's challenge which at a minimum put him off balance.
Either way Ade should be sold, firstly the effort isn't there and secondly the quality isn't.
Just my opinion, but I didn't think it was a penalty. I think Ade was looking for it. Cech didn't touch him, though he did impede him. I think a penalty award would have been harsh. If Ade would have tried to stay on his feet, he might have been able to slot the ball into an empty net.
I left a comment at half time in the last blog entry, if you care to have a read.
One other observation, I know it's been mentioned sporadically throughout the season, but it was on display in abundance today - our players do not attack the ball in the air. Not when we're defending and not when we're attacking. Only Bendtner will really go up and put his body in harms way. He even got several flick-ons against Terry and Alex, which Ade has been unable to do. Well done Mr. Bendtner. Please don't let anyone coach that out of you. Now please teach our CB's how to do that!
Even though there was little to play for, I am left stinging a bit from this thumping today. I do agree that we played some nice football and looked dangerous in the opening period. But Chelsea are so much bigger, stronger and more powerful than we are. We really need to address this. Chelsea are also more professional in dictating the flow of the game and intelligent in their team play than our inexperienced players.
When you see Man U and Chelsea play important matches, you can really see how well they work as a unit. It's such a vital aspect of successful teams. And that comes from familiarity of playing with each other for awhile.
While I would like to see this develop at Arsenal, I prefer, at this point, to bring in proven quality to the side rather than continuing to wait for our youth to develop. I think our younger players still have a role at the club and a couple of them should remain first choice. But most of them should be learning from quality players who know how to win, and play when these players need a rest or are injured.
Just got back from the game and I'm really angry. Why don't our guys know how to tackle - they just didn't look like they cared. Ade is a disgrace and Diaby is a joke.
Another thing, to the twats who sang "Where's your mother gone" to Frank Lampard - I'm embarrassed that you're Arsenal fans. Sick.
I agree on the physical issue, it's been mentioned many a time on this blog.
I think Toure won a fair few headers today, Silvestre did not.
Song wins quite a few in midfield, but no one else does.
The balance is not there overall, we need a bit more power and defensive steel in the side.
Find it quite odd that your headline talks about the 'cheatin g chavs' when as anyone can see it was your own Ade who even many Goons will admit took a dive or 2 this afternoon and deserved a red card.
The 4-1, utterly one-sided scoreline, is, sad to say, nothing to do with cheating. It is to do with the fact that your team has no spine, no tenacity and your youngsters like Walcott (is he the new Gronkjaer or Helder??) bluster about without generally having much end product. Chelsea today were simply a class apart; yes you had more of the game in the first half, but only in the same way that lots of enthusiastic non-league teams often start well on FA Cup 3rd round day only to find themselves brought harshly back down to earth at the final whistle.
Personally I think the whole philosophy of your current squad is redundant. How many of the youngsters are truly first class? Why are you going to be so much better in a year or two? Truth is as long as Wenger is at the helm you are going to have to put up with his stubborn philosophy which will also mean mean more years without trophies. The glory years are long gone and you are now stuck with someone you are too indebted to to sack yet you can't move along while he's still making the decisions. It's like Brian Clough in his final years at Forest - a once amazing manager who has become intoxicated on his own, ever more distant success.
what a loser..
will you ever blame YOUR team. chelsea defended well and took thier chances..
unlike your pussycat dolls.. buck up and grow up. this is why arsenal won't win anything. blame ref for everything..
Actually no.
Chelsea didn't defend particularly well.
We created several excellent chances and missed them, Walcott for example could easily have had a hat trick with some better finishing.
The cheating came from Chelsea, Malouda and Drogba in particular. Malouda's rolling was particularly impressive. Of note two Chelsea goals came from these dives.
If you read the article then you will see that I do put most of the blame at the door of our defensive frailty.
So don't just label me a 'loser' in a lazy manner, read what is written and criticise it based on what is written.
The ref was poor, however if you bother to read what I wrote then you will see that I am not blaming the ref for the result.
Also our 'spineless' nature was very much to do with conceding four, however the fact that we only scored one was nothing to do with it, hence the one sided scoreline was a result of both our poor defending and poor finishing.
Hence to say the one sided scoreline was just because we were spineless is plain untrue, despite our defensive flaws we could easily have got a result if we had finished properly.
Chelsea 'a class apart'- I don't think so.
I am happy to admit when we are outplayed by a better side, for example against Manu in the CL, yesterday was no example of this.
Arsenal played the better football, created more chances and contrived to lose a game 4-1 which they dominated thanks to poor defending and poor finishing.
This certainly doesn't make Chelsea a 'class apart'.
In fact everything Chelsea do is rather 'class-less', from the intimidation of refs by their players to their routine diving and cheating.
Everything about Chelsea smells of chav and a lack of class.
sorry - you cannot blame the ref for this one. Cesc walked a tightrope in the first half and could have sent him off, but Dowd was sensible and kept the red in the pocket. Likewise, Sagna got a good talking to in the second half and was not booked.
Neither of Ade's were penalties. Ade was blatantly looking for pens and that is why they quite rightly were not given. The second was a closer call, but Cech did not put him off balance, Ade threw himself over the top and the much anticipated physical contact never came. He should have been booked for diving and if it was Cristiano Ronaldo, you would have said the same.
Chelsea's first goal was excellent. As on Tuesday, the second goal killed the game. Nasri did not do nearly enough against Anelka but Sylvestre did ok - centre backs cannot go diving in outside their own box. Terry and Alex defend exactly the same way - a wall of blue at the edge of the box.
The difference, as I said in the week, is that Essien, Mikel and Lampard spent the entire afternoon working hard off the ball. Mikel must have committed 50 small fouls - he always makes physical contact with his opposite number. Bit of a shoulder, but of a shirt tug. Very clever.
We are utterly shite without the ball. Yet another nothing sort of game from Cesc, Nasri was pretty average and Diaby just appalling.
Yet again, the oppositions midfield three just walked all over ours.
Arsenal's problems do not lie in defence. Terry and Alex are big and slow, just like Sylvestre, but Chelsea do a wonderful job in midfield to protect their backs. Toure would look world class if he played for Chelsea.
Wenger has tried to model this side on Spain/Barcelona. Going forwards, we are not bad. But without the ball, we are mid-table. Spain have Senna and Xavi working their nuts off in midfield. Toure/Keite do the same for Barca.
I have not seen a single game this season where I thought Fabregas looked a top-class player. If Barca offered us Toure plus £10m for Cesc, then I would bite their arms off.
sorry for the double comment. And another thing....
Did RVP have a good game yesterday? No. He was pretty crap. Now, why was that?
Because Arsene Wenger played 4-5-1. A-fucking-gain. And we got stuffed. A-fucking-gain.
This season must bring the end of Diaby. And the end of 4-5-1.
The ref was shit. I'm not blaming the ref for the defeat:
"The main reason we lost the game today was our failure to take our chances and our soft centre at the back."
Have a look at the Ade 'dives' on TV. The first is a clear pen, the yank on the shirt is blatant, the reason he didn't get the pen is probably because his first touch was too heavy and he was not quite on the ball when he was fouled.
The second is eminently debatable, I'm not convinced either way really. If he didn't jump out the way then Cech would have nailed him, Cech missed and ball and made no effort to pull out of the challange.
In the context of the decisions Dowd gave Chelsea for much more blatant dives by Malouda and Drogba then they were both clear penalties though.
One decision by Dowd was amazingly bad, Drogba backed into Silvestre for ten yards and then dived over, free kick to Chelsea, utterly incredible stuff.
Anyways read my slightly calmer piece for a slightly more objective analysis.
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