EPL: Arsenal vs Chelsea - Sun. Jan 24th, 4:00pm

[Gooner_girl14]

Giroud was looking excellent before he came off though. Spreading the play, holding the ball up, getting shots off. He was clearly up for this. I agree with whoever said Theo would've got the chop if we hadn't treated the game like his testimonial match.

In saying that, I do understand the sub though. If Wenger bought Gabriel on for Walcott or Campbell then we would've had one flank with no winger on it.

I agree. I can't see Giroud doing any worse than Walcott, and for all the argument that his pace was supposed to threaten Chelsea on the counter, he didn't get behind their defence once. He doesn't seem to know how to attack the box. Walcott is in very poor form whilst Giroud is playing his best football ATM. I personally don't understand the sub from Wenger, think he got sentimental about Walcott's ten years thing.

 

[adpree]

I get this feeling we completely underestimated Chelsea going into this game.

 

[Jaywood Mac]

I get this feeling we completely underestimated Chelsea going into this game.

That would be the most stupid, demented yet arsenal thing to do.

 

[Mohamed7]

I agree. I can't see Giroud doing any worse than Walcott, and for all the argument that his pace was supposed to threaten Chelsea on the counter, he didn't get behind their defence once. He doesn't seem to know how to attack the box. Walcott is in very poor form whilst Giroud is playing his best football ATM. I personally don't understand the sub from Wenger, think he got sentimental about Walcott's ten years thing.

He got behind twice at least I do remember from first half alone albeit one was offside. He should have controlled well the second chance.

He would have got in behind more had we not concede so close to the redcard. Chelsea just relaxed then.

 

[General]

Surely you can't deny that this team dosent perform when it comes to the crunch. For the last 10 years every time the squad gets a sniff of the title their legs turn to jelly. The fabregas team was the worst of the lot, even bottling the leasgue cup final.
This current squad is arguably the best mentally0 since we last won the league although that's not saying much . They nervelessly swatted away villa in Wembley and have shown big improvements in big games but I still don't trust them in a title run in. As we get closer to the end of the season and are still in with a title shout expect more similar performances to the last 3.

I think we have debilitating injuries and are having to put up with inferior quality. The mentality thing is just a red herring and detracts from the real issues.

 

[Godwin1]

I think we have debilitating injuries and are having to put up with inferior quality. The mentality thing is just a red herring and detracts from the real issues.

Bottling is fairly common with Wengers teams I would say, even the good ones over 10 years ago.

 

[Gooner_girl14]

I think we have debilitating injuries and are having to put up with inferior quality. The mentality thing is just a red herring and detracts from the real issues.

I agree, but I think it's a bit of both. In the Cesc years we had a pretty inexperienced squad, most of which hadn't won anything of note. This lot however, is much more experienced and we've now won two FA Cups back to back. That winning mentality is bred deeper when you win trophies.

We've improved over the course of the past two-three seasons in the bigger games, but we can't seem to break our duck with Chelsea.

As for injuries, it is up to Wenger to ensure we have enough reinforcements, particularly as we know we suffer from an injury crisis Year after year. Yet he keeps on the likes of Arteta and Flamini who imo are liabilities now. We knew at the start of the season that if we didn't get another DM at Coq's level or better we'd be screwed. What goes through Wenger's head sometimes I'll never know.

 

[General]

Bottling is fairly common with Wengers teams I would say, even the good ones over 10 years ago.

Complacency has been a problem with Wenger's teams but we have far bigger problems now.

 

[celestis]

I hate to say it because it's almost a cliche , but there was very little between the two sides even with 10 men , we had so many good chances with a bit of luck would have scored .

 

[say yes]

Nothing to say here really other than we're nothing special and Mertesacker is a *****.

Right choice to take Giroud off but Walcott was shocking.

 

[Rimaal]

This match is so painful. It's the next morning and I'm still bloody furious. And I absolutely blame Wenger, he had a total brainfart yesterday. Complete brain paralysis. This is the 2nd match in recent weeks where he makes the wrong subs. Complete ****-up on all sides.

 

[SA Gunner]

Complacency has been a problem with Wenger's teams but we have far bigger problems now.

I would really like to believe this as well, that its as simple as personnel issues.

We have problems yes, big problems and we hope that our returning players can address them head on. However in addition, do I think is there that mental fragility which remains a constant crutch on us. And that comes from Wenger.

Its like fabo has been saying, despite so much to happen this season, I get the feeling that we are going to end up short again this term. And I feel this way despite the potential return of most of our starters.

 

[Gooner_girl14]

I hate to say it because it's almost a cliche , but there was very little between the two sides even with 10 men , we had so many good chances with a bit of luck would have scored .

Yes I thought we deserved at least a goal. Chelsea though did look content to shut up shop once they scored, but they haven't been good going forward this season so it's no surprise.

Flamini (!) had a great chance and half chance, and a couple of times we just needed the ball to drop for us in the box as Chelsea struggled to clear.

 

[Bashii]

All our fears about the CDM position in the summer coming to fruition right now. We let that c*nt Fabregas have all day on the ball without a care in the world.

We had a ridiculously undisciplined CM partnership, I mean, how many times have we seen Flamini in the box or getting involved in the final third compared to Le Coq?!

Wenger really should be taking a long hard look at himself about his summer transfers, he could well have thrown the league away with his stubbornness.

 

[Himalayan_Gunner]

Surely you can't deny that this team dosent perform when it comes to the crunch. For the last 10 years every time the squad gets a sniff of the title their legs turn to jelly. The fabregas team was the worst of the lot, even bottling the leasgue cup final.
This current squad is arguably the best mentally0 since we last won the league although that's not saying much . They nervelessly swatted away villa in Wembley and have shown big improvements in big games but I still don't trust them in a title run in. As we get closer to the end of the season and are still in with a title shout expect more similar performances to the last 3.

This. Exactly. This is where leadership comes in. Who is the leader in this team? Who do the players look upto when the chips are down? Clearly Wenger is not the best 'tactical' managers around, then we surely need someone in that playing eleven who can galvanize and organize the team in tough games. Technical ability has to be complemented with steel and steel is what we miss.

However, I think this year we do have a chance even with our fragile mentality, and that is simple because every other team is performing seemingly worse.

 

[nmn]

The fact that the most talented English team in a generation only one 1 title and an F.A cup (invincibles) say's it all. That Wenger team should have won at least the 2 league back to back and the CL.

There was hardly anything English about that team. Like today, hardly anything English about any team, especially the big one's. But yeah, that team was amazing.

 

[zhaggy]

Why the F weren`t Kos closer to Costa, I mean its not exactly hard to figure out that Mert would get outrun.
Can just blame Per here, he had a split second to make the decision.
In hindsight it would probably been better to have Costa score the goal but we could have continued with 11 men.
I say its a defensive error from the entire back four.

 

[redanddread]

I get this feeling we completely underestimated Chelsea going into this game.

The team & Wenger?

No way - how could you underestimate a team that you hadn't scored against since before the internet.

Maybe some fans did but not the team.

 

[Himalayan_Gunner]

Why the F weren`t Kos closer to Costa, I mean its not exactly hard to figure out that Mert would get outrun.
Can just blame Per here, he had a split second to make the decision.
In hindsight it would probably been better to have Costa score the goal but we could have continued with 11 men.
I say its a defensive error from the entire back four.

I think its the other way round - Costa chose to get closer to Per. He knew he could outrun Per and not Koscielny. Koscielny was also trying to play for offside. Just when Willian releases the ball he seems to take a step forward towards the center.

 

[SA Gunner]

The team & Wenger?

No way - how could you underestimate a team that you hadn't scored against since before the internet.

Maybe some fans did but not the team.

Underestimate Chelsea after such a bad run

For me its a combination of personnel and mental strength.