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CL: Chelsea vs Arsenal | 24/03/04

Adam

Established Member
Kyla said:
Sammer- stop worrying me. I can't handle it. I can only survive in these forums when everybody else remains calm.

Kyla - To appreciate the enjoyment, you have to appreciate the worry. I am sure you will celebrate as hard as anyone if we win something.
 

Kyla

Active Member
I was also thinking about what Wiltord could have given us last nite. I rememberd his goal in the FA Cup semis last year- he had a good game against Chels. very direct, nothing fancy and a well taken goal- it was a clinical finish.

kanu is better suited to the big euro games, where the tempo is a lot slower. perhaps we have nothing to fear if Bergy can't always be there for away trips.
 

Adam

Established Member
Kanu seems to operate on his own timescale in the big, fast paced games - and it works. It slows the game down and allows us to retain possesion. He is just remarkable at doing this.

Fast games get the best out of Kanu. Slow games just encourage further lapse.
 

tox

Active Member
I would have liked to see Reyes get a bit longer to have a crack at Chelsea. He seemed quite lively when he came on.
 

kajej

Active Member
tox said:
I would have liked to see Reyes get a bit longer to have a crack at Chelsea. He seemed quite lively when he came on.

Agreed. He should have come on for Henry. That should have been the only change in the game.

Btw is anyone else noticing Ashley Cole Under-performing in the last 2 or 3 games. I think he should be given a break and let him realise he has to perform a bit better.
 

USArsenal

H.Y.I.C.
under-performing??? what? i though he was pretty good last night... made some good runs, didnt do anything glaringly wrong... i didnt see a problem with his performance yesterday......

and we arent exactly going to throw Clichy on there in the biggest 5 games of our history... Clichy has performed well this year in place of Ahsley, but its not gonna change right now.. maybe after our cluster-f*&k of fixtures are over.....
 

kajej

Active Member
I never said he has done anything wrong but he's not playing at the level we know he can, specially deffensively.
 

Sammer

Established Member
All well said, but you know what (and now I am finding my way back to optimism, Kyla :mrgreen: ):

If this is the result we get, when we play sh*te (well, we sort of did last night, lets be honest) - a draw at Chelsea, then I am not too worried about the 2nd leg.
 

goonerlove

Active Member
Good grief people.... settle down.

It was a "tight" away CL game and it was played like it. Henry didn't have the best game but he didn't get a lot of support. I think our approach was largely defensive with a counter-attacking strategy. Our defense was rarely tested seriously (with the possible few minutes after Chelski scored) and the goal that Chelsea got was basically lucky - to be honest, had Sol ran back to the middle to cover for Lehmann instead of jogging, we would have won that game 1-0.

Chelsea is a very good team when they play well. They played well AND smart against us last night - at HOME, and they still just walked away with a 1-1 draw. We now take the advantage back to Highbury and Chelski will have to come out with a more attacking style which will open things up for us.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves... it wasn't the best performance for Arsenal, but Chelski's style and defense (and quality) had a lot to do with that... we are still the superior team and will get to the semi's - then it will get really interesting.

Goonerlove
 

marco

Well-Known Member
theorck

Don't get me wrong, i like Henry, but i feel he is lazy. He does not compete with balls a yard away from him.

Also Bergkamp needs to go. The quicker Wiltord and Ali come back the better

Wiltord is so underrated and unappreciated[/quote]

did u watch the game last night. where you there?
henry on 3 occasions was helping us out defensively last night. yeah he had a quieter game but every player has an off game. poor bloke is digging his own grave he has one offish game and all of a sudden everyone is having a moan at him. We got a 1-1 away to chelsea its a european not a premier league game hence different tactics etc.

as for bergkamp being past it he has been on fire recently. the ball he put through to vieira at chelsea the ball for henry at home to celta his phenomenal finish vs bolton. Yet you say he is finshed because he had 2 defenders on him everytime he gets the ball.


as for wiltord we have shown how much we have missed him. ask any supporter who went to the leicester away game. therock were you there, if so you would have seen what wiltord offers. sweet **** all he did not move for the last 20 mins. we were down to ten men and he chased **** all and didnt wanna be there, so he can bugger off back to france for all i care,

lets get things in perspective.
 

marco

Well-Known Member
goonerlove i completely agree with you. some arsenal fans are never happy.
we have just drawn against chelsea in the quarter finals of the champions league and people are saying we are missing wiltord!! what has he done this season???

leicester away is all im going to say anyone who was there will knwo what im talking about. he didnt want to know. we do not need wiltord at arsenal.
 

marco

Well-Known Member
by the way my first 2 lines of my first post are a quote from therock not my personal opinion.

just wasnt sure how to put a quote in!!
 

lee1001

Established Member
Adam said:
Kyla said:
Sammer- stop worrying me. I can't handle it. I can only survive in these forums when everybody else remains calm.

Kyla - To appreciate the enjoyment, you have to appreciate the worry. I am sure you will celebrate as hard as anyone if we win something.


I havent commented on the game because i think everything that could of been said has been said, but the above comments sparked this post.

I just wanted to know if anyone enjoyed the game?

I did an 8 hour round trip in the car yesterday and spent the whole time listening to pre-match build up on the radio.
As the day went on i found the knot in my stomach getting larger by the hour.
By the time the game came round, i was a nervous wreck. During the game i hated every second of it, one of those nights where you are too stressed to enjoy the game.
Our performance did not help matters either.
I haven't felt as nervous as that all season even when we played Chelsea, Man U and Inter, because then the stakes weren't that high, i.e. It being early in the quest for the EPL and still in the group stages of the CL where you can recover even when you lose. Now with all the competitions nearing the final stages i can feel the pressure on my shoulders building.

At least in the past few seasons its only been the Manu U games where i've been like that. How im going to cope with the 2nd Leg against Chelsea and the two Man U Games i don't know.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
kajej said:
tox said:
I would have liked to see Reyes get a bit longer to have a crack at Chelsea. He seemed quite lively when he came on.

Agreed. He should have come on for Henry. That should have been the only change in the game.

Btw is anyone else noticing Ashley Cole Under-performing in the last 2 or 3 games. I think he should be given a break and let him realise he has to perform a bit better.


i thought cole is ok. excellent cross for le bob
 

AFCG7

Established Member
patrick42uk said:
if gallas was the weak link in our defence, i'd be celebrating. his handling of henry yesterday added to his reputation as one of the top defenders.

True true true.
People are not giving Gallas credit for a very good marking job on Henry.
I thought Silvestre( fkn manc pig) did the same v Man U.
 

neebz

Active Member
sheesh !!!

i ain't having any good feelings !!!

Chelsea played superbly.
They showed the same spirit and commitment which Real Madrid showed against Bayern Munich.
Everyone was against Real in the 2nd leg but they defied the odds.

But there was a slight difference. The difference of the opponent while Bayern stayed down to the commitment, Arsenal came out with their own version. Something in which there were times when Henry was defending in the penalty box during open play.

Critics might not see that. They may look at the boring affair of overcrowded midfield play as a game dominated by nothing. The match was tense but least interesting but I guess all the derbies in the Champions League would be like this.

What happenend? Why couldn't we get into the stride? Chelsea had there 2-3 players always up on every Arsenal player whenever he got the ball. It was a game nowhere near end to end stuff. Match was being played outside the penalty areas !!!

Its 1-1 and all to play for and i DAMN agree the best thing happenend to us during the game was that they scored. It opened everything for us. It cleared the air. And we started playing for our lives then. And we responded. Responded in a fashion no one would have had expected. Header !
and the TV commentator said it right!! For once let us just say a superb move altogether instead of blaming the defence. Terry was the hallmark of their defence all night and how fitting was it that he was the one outshone by Pires during goal. I love it !

And Campbell and Toure were fantastic. My man was Toure !! His commitment was fantastic. His work rate was fantastic. His tackles were fantastic. He never let us down. He played his heart out. And he really kept the whole team on their shoes. I guess it is one of performances that will act as stairs towards a glorious yet committed career.

Next leg? whatz it is all about? All to play for. All the critics around the world are pointing at the fact that if they score first, Arsenal are in big trouble. But i don't think so. We will come back and we will show them a door for once to let the world know we are on for it. Chelsea might be confused over their coach's future but we are not. We have one aim, one team, one ambition.

Tactically speaking, Wenger knew that Chelsea would love to end up as 0-0. He knew it Ranieri would plan a total defensive gameplay where if they can't score, never mind but they won't concede. It was fruitful until they scored and Arsenal showed their arsenal of mental strength and came out with flying colours. I tell you what, if anyone thinks this was a scrappy affair then the next one would be more zealous than this one. Chelsea needs a goal but they will play like this. They will wait for mistakes and luck to go through. At least in the first half because they know thats the only way to frustrate Arsenal. If Arsenal scores first, then they have to go for plan B and that is the way they play in EPL. Attacking.
And the count is around 16, when they play EPL-Style against us :D

And if the game goes to penalties. hmph. Our last penalty game, was a defeat to Manure. Their last penalty game was a win in some Asia cup. But penalties are like bingo. Anyone can win in that. You can't predict !

Next is Manu, Manu and Chelsea. If you are neutral, then you are on for some exciting stuff.
I won't mind if we loose in Highbury this weekend . For God's sake, let us gave a breather to our players and ask them to play without over stressing themselves. Hell with the hype !
We have to win the semi next week, thats important !!!

nEEbz
 

JazzG

Established Member
Chill people, we weren't at our best and they still couldn't beat us. What makes you think they can get a result against us, their manager was flat when he came out

therock, if Henry is lazy explain to me why he was back helping the defense. Did you not see when Vieira went surging forward and lost the ball Henry was back in midfield to win the ball back. You compare him to Zidane which is wrong, Zidane plays in midfield and everything goes through him, our attacks don't go through Henry, he is usually at the end of them. If you don't give him any good service how the **** do you expect him to do anything :roll:
 

visitor99

Active Member
lewdikris said:
About the attack:

When Chelsea played Gallas, Desailly and Terry along the back last season, they were virtually impossible to break down - it was largely for this reason that Gallas played right back last night, to nullify the threat of Henry and Pires as only a top class defender can. But with Melchiot and Johnson, proper right backs, in place next time, the advantage switches to us - Gallas didn't have any responsibility for getting forward last night, so there was never any space for Henry to exploit. Melchiot or Johnson would go forward, space opens up ... advantage Henry.

I don't believe Melchiot will play. Unlike Gallas he is a specialist right back and he was available for last night's game, but he is not athletic enough to cope with the threat from Henry. That is why Gallas was played out of position at right back in Johnson's absence.

Needing a goal in the second leg, Johnson will play if fit. He will certainly get forward at every opportunity and will ask far more searching questions of the Arsenal defence than Gallas can. However, in the best tradition of Italian football the defensive implications of any move is always covered.

TBH, I am a long way from understanding all the nuances of the midfield diamond that Ranieri plays, but this is my read. Ranieri almost never plays with two attacking wingers. He plays one attacking (Duff) and one defensive (Parker in the first leg, but Geremi and others have also done this role). The attacking option on the right will generally come from Johnson going forward from right back. As Johnson goes forward, Parker/Geremi or whoever will drop into Johnson's position as cover. I don't expect to see acres of space there.

It is not a special ploy to combat Arsenal, it is how Chelsea play most of the time.

Over 180 minutes Stuttgart attacked Johnson's right back position at every opportunity, hoping to exploit Johnson's inexperience as a defender or the expected space behind him as he goes forward. They got nothing, and were'nt close. (down this avenue at least. Free kicks was another matter entirely....)
 

Andrew

Well-Known Member
Some people said about how this was a bad performance and what not. I think that's rubbish. It was a very good and closely fought game. That is what the CL is all about. I'm sorry, but we can't go on winning all matches 5-1. This result was excellent and the performance was very solid. Teams like Real Madrid and AC Milan would take a 1-1 draw away from home if they are playing Chelski for sure. Now we have a home game that if we win we'll go through and if we draw we still have a better than 50-50 chance of going through. Don't get caught up with "we have to win every game" because it's not possible, especially playing against top teams. We have 3 very tough matches coming up and if we can win all of them that will be phenomenal effort. If we manage to not lose any that will also be a great effort.
 

Aussie

Established Member
neebz said:
sheesh !!!

And if the game goes to penalties. hmph. Our last penalty game, was a defeat to Manure. Their last penalty game was a win in some Asia cup. But penalties are like bingo. Anyone can win in that. You can't predict !

nEEbz

Auctually looking at the players we would have to take penalties

Henry, Reyes, Pires, Viera and Freddie I would rate our chances in a penalty shootout. The one against manure we didnt have Henry or Reyes.

Reyes takes a very nice penalty and a lot of his goals for seville were penalties. Thierrys penalties while being good arent great and with his style the keeper has an okay chance of saving it.
 

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