Arsenal v Chelsea | 10/5/09 | 16:00

[marco]

we had so many chances to win that game but chelsea had so many gears to step up its unreal.
everytime they went forward one ball took our entire midfield out

4 people deserve special mention yesterday...

fabianski - woeful pitiful
diaby- more like carlton palmer than vieira and anyhow in the wrong position left wing he just slows down our game
theo- 2 goals in 20 hr 20 mins for arsenal
3 in 56 minutes for england says it all..how he gets stadnign ovation when subbed is beyond me..think arsenal fans need to get over this english bullshit
adebayor- special mention for his wondeful dive at 3-1!****

 

[Big Poppa]

I think we should all take a step back and really think about what's wrong with this team. I think some of us have allowed our frustration with certain individuals to get the better of us, and are missing the real issue.

The problem lies directly with how this Arsenal team plays collectively with and without the ball. There is no point blaming the last line of defence, when teams who are the very best at mitigating the threat of opponents, do so from the front and have a sufficient blend of power, tenacity and aggression in the middle of the park. We have Song doing the job of 3 people in trying to close down opponents, protect the back four, and ignite attacks from deep. The rest? well they do whatever they want. If they fancy a stroll upfield, they'll do just that. When we lose the ball, we're ****ed.

Lee Dixon mentioned that Vieira and Petit in front of the back four masked Tony Adam's frailties. You could play Igors Stepanovs in that defence and he'd look like Paolo ****ing Maldini. It amazes me that a manager who assembled such a strong unit defensively, has de-prioritised this area of the team for four consecutive years to such an extent that we now have someone like Diaby playing on the left wing and a trio of Nasri, Cesc, and Walcott in midfield who are defensive liabilities when we don't have the ball - all on the pitch at the same time!

There is a fundamental problem with the culture and attitude at the club towards defending, and there has been since we last picked up a meaningful trophy. Until that is addressed, from the top, there is no point lynching people like Silvestre, who are probably as pissed of with it as we are.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

The scoreline flattered them. We had our chances, we didnt take them they had some they did. We curved them open, on numerous occasions. Its just one of those things in football. However a midfield of Song/Walcot/Diaby/Nasri/Cesc will show defensive frailties. Its very simple, we were good going forward but even with enough numbers in the middle we struggle to mark players properly. Take the example of Anelka's goal. Nasri was with him, but the marking is never tight enough. That though is a limitation in the crop of midfielders we have. But the solution to that is not that easy. Adding a hard man there will compromise us going forward. The "arshavins" are the ones who make us vulnerable. You have him and walcot on the wings, then you better have another defensive midfielder besides SONG. Which means Nasri has not place because you then have Cesc and our man uptop. I believe Eboue gives us more balance than Walcot. Say what you want but Denilson/Song was the best combination this season in terms of protecting the defense.

Anyway i cant criticize the team's performance yesterday. We created chances and missed a lot. But Arsenal has always missed a lotof chances before as well. That sh* happens everyday and even with those big teams y'all look up to these days. We were vulnerable at the back though. I keep debating if our vulnarability is based on just personnel at the defense with Gallas/Clichy out or those sitting infront of them defense.

 

[Captain]

Bit of both.

Song isn't clever enough to anchor that midfield and Theo wasn't interested in defending.

Diaby was, as he is more often then not, a passenger.

 

[kel varnsen]

Strange game, in the first half we played some of the best attacking football we have in months and carved open a very good Chelsea team almost at will but the finishing was so terrible. On another day Theo could of had a hatrick and his finishing isn't that bad you know but today in the first half he just kept f****g up.

yes, but did chelsea even bother in the first 20-25 mins or so? we played well, but i think it was as a direct result of chelsea's lack of agression and effort. their defending was sloppy and slow; hardly what you'd expect from chelsea.

i think it would be very unwise to estimate relative strength vis-a-vis chelsea on this match.

 

[Captain]

Chelsea just couldn't get near to be honest; it's not the first time and probably won't be the last. Our pressing was very good in the first half too and we made them look slow.

Drogba, however, looked like a player whose antics on wednesday had taken a serious toll.

 

[Biggus]

yes, but did chelsea even bother in the first 20-25 mins or so? we played well, but i think it was as a direct result of chelsea's lack of agression and effort. their defending was sloppy and slow; hardly what you'd expect from chelsea.

i think it would be very unwise to estimate relative strength vis-a-vis chelsea on this match.

Come on Kel you've watched the team over the past couple of years, when you saw us waste chance after chance with Chel$ki hardly breaking sweat- you didn't have to be a mathematician to work out what was going to happen next.

 

[Anzac]

I haven't seen anything other than the match reports on f365.
I know we played 451 with RVP up front, but what was the rest of the formation = the same as of late with Cesc playing in the hole? So do a swap with RVP for Ade & we have the same formation & lineup that started in the CL S/F 2nd leg?

 

[Biggus]

Yeah pretty much the same, and strangely enough it yielded the same result.

 

[Anzac]

Yup - I guess that Cesc in the hole behind a lone striker & Nasri as DM is working a treat as AW's master stroke.........

 

[patrick42uk]

I found it interesting that Wenger rationalised the decision to play RVP up top on his own was to allow us to play with more mobility and that our start to the game justified that.

 

[Captain]

Well, every striker we have is better at getting our midfield involved in the final third then Ade.

 

[Anzac]

I read on the match report that Ade was booed when he came on.

 

[Anzac]

and when we had RVP, Ade & Nik on - did we still play 4231 / 4321, or did we actually go to a 'genuine' 433 with the 3 front men playing as strikers?

 

[Biggus]

Oh we were mobile in midfield all right as we were effectively playing 4-6-0 Wengers favourite formation.

 

[Anzac]

So all we need to do is sign Totti then??????

 

[raphael_as]

Oh come on be fair, it was 4-0-6.

 

[Anzac]

Hey this is our biggest Home defeat at The Grove isn't it??????

 

[Proof]

It was like boys against men, sadly.

 

[ricky1985]

I found it interesting that Wenger rationalised the decision to play RVP up top on his own was to allow us to play with more mobility and that our start to the game justified that.

Van Persie linked really well with the midfield, he was really impressive in patches. Anything we did well, invoved Van Persie, Nasri, Fabregas and Walcott, but Van Persie was the pivot that made everything work.

Interesting to see what having a expert runner like Walcott does for the team though. He was the outlet time after time yesterday. The foucus of the creativity. Van Persie, Nasri and Fabregas must love having him there. Shame his finishing was abysmal.