PL: Arsenal vs Chelsea | 06/05/07

[goonerwarsh]

I make you right Siddharth, without Vieira, Petit and the Edu's of this world we haven't been half as effective at high pressure up in the last third of the pitch and winning the ball back. We certainly aren't as physically imposing as we used to be in midfield in particular.

I can't believe more hasn't been made of that tackle. It was an absolute disgrace but it seems to have just been washed over?

 

[number_0]

about hleb i dont understand the reason he was dropped, but at the game, i thought he had one his worst game in an arsenal shirt, i would have still say the same if he bagged in his great oppertunity.

after they scored tactics went out of the window, as both teams were inches from scoring, could have gone both ways imo, the only place we failed was how we left gaps between the defence and the midfield, that what costed us in the CC final and in stamford bridge,
the player chelsea had sent off was non exsitant and so didnt effect them much, but had it been essian or mikal, we would have finished the game 4-0.
plus playing with baptista was like playing with 10 men so i think that what balanced it out

 

[Lukazan]

Hleb got a knock in training, thus was on the bench.

 

[henry79]

Myles Palmer confirms what we've been saying all along!!!!!!

http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/inde ... eturnid=42

 

[Zico]

I still feel that Babtista cost us the season.... He was oweful the whole season and even the 4 goals against pool was all Ali work. His passes are all miss timed and always at crucial times he breaks up or changes the momentum of the attack.

If you want to say that Baptista was very disappointing given how much hype and attention we have dedicated to him, then I am in agreement. But to say one man cost us the season is a bit over the top. Baptista missed a lot of chances, but he also scored some magical goals - and had a wonderful variety amongst his ten or so goals - long range bombs, free kicks, headers, power plays in the box, amongst others.

Do not forget that he was largely injured until about January. By that point we were out of the title race.

 

[Zico]

Myles Palmer confirms what we've been saying all along!!!!!!

http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/inde ... eturnid=42

Thanks. Good read. I do think, however, that Myles is overreacting here. He says that he wants a big defender, powerhouse midfielder and two strikers who are better than Adebayor.

Let's deconstruct this:
I agree a powerhouse midfielder in the vein of Vieira would be great. The only problem is I cannot name too many. Names that immediately come to mind are Diarra and Essien, both of whom are entrenched at their teams. Before Diarra and Essien there was Keane and Vieira. Period. Not even Veron, Emerson could dominate a midfield like that in their prime. This is a very special class of player that Arsenal cannot afford. We can afford to go for almost players like Senna and Appiah, but I think that Wenger is hoping that Diaby could develop into a powerhouse on the cheap. I suspect that Diaby will be better than Appiah. The question is when.

A big defender
Again, big quality defenders are hard to find. Nestas and Ferdinands do not grow on trees. We have two of the top 6 or 7 central defenders in premier league - I would include Toure and Gallas in a group that features Vidic, Carvalho, Ferdinand, Woodgate and maybe Terry. Size would be beneficial in set pieces, but I cannot name too many available defenders who are better than Toure and Gallas who wouldn't already be key pieces at rivals.

Strikers
Two strikers better than Adebayor. I'm going to go on goals scored. Two strikers that immediately pop up are Benni McCarthy and Berbatov (who scored an absolute peach last night). i doubt both Benni and Berbatov are going to come to Arsenal so they can be conceivably coming off the bench to spell Henry and van Persie. Plus they would cost us a fair amount with a rapidly diminishing marginal return.

Finally, he does not mention the need to bring in wide players even though I would say consensus on this board is that the loss of Reyes, Pires and the real Ljunberg in the last two years has hurt us.

Myles needs to relax. We have problems, but they can be solved without recruiting a FIFA Allstar Eleven.

 

[RC8]

Myles Palmer knows nothing about football. Time and time again he gets it wrong. When he says we will win, we lose, when he says we will lose, we win. His pessimistic attitude is not wrong by default, but if he isn't even an Arsenal fan, why bother wasting his time writing invented rumours and insulting the boss and the players every week. Here are some remarkable articles that he's written:

http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/inde ... eturnid=42
(Why the Arsenal board must sell gracefully)

http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/inde ... eturnid=42
(Rooney and Ronaldo can win in Milan and beat Liverpool in Athens)

So, he writes this article:
http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/inde ... eturnid=42
(A draw would be a result for Arsenal)

To later write this:
"This squad's going nowhere. I'm sorry, Arsène, but you've only got half a team. This squad will not win anything." After we drew.

All that is only from April and May. He has written much more nonsense in the past.

He is a pathetic journalist to be honest, and he is as knowledgeable in football as Michael Jordan is in the fabrication of food flavourings. He sometimes gets it right, but that's simply because football can be pretty unpredictable.

To top it all, he is a plastic, he does not love football, he wrote a book about Arsène, and has been bashing him since. He is inconsistent, he is disrespectful, he is uninformed, and he does not have reliable sources. He truly is a joke of a journalist.

 

[kamikaze80]

horrible result. i saw arsenal get physically dominated for the entire match excepting a 20 minute spell from halftime to about the 65th minute, when we shouldve put the result out of reach but again, lacked the cutting edge to convert counterattacks into goals. all this against ten men, at home, for half the match.

i dont know about you, but i definitely felt like the match was a moral victory for chelsea. i was pissed, i'm sure cesc was pissed. who knows about the others.

 

[algunner]

I still feel that Babtista cost us the season.... He was oweful the whole season and even the 4 goals against pool was all Ali work. His passes are all miss timed and always at crucial times he breaks up or changes the momentum of the attack.

If you want to say that Baptista was very disappointing given how much hype and attention we have dedicated to him, then I am in agreement. But to say one man cost us the season is a bit over the top. Baptista missed a lot of chances, but he also scored some magical goals - and had a wonderful variety amongst his ten or so goals - long range bombs, free kicks, headers, power plays in the box, amongst others.

Do not forget that he was largely injured until about January. By that point we were out of the title race.

Am still thinking hard to name a magical goal Babtista scored other than the goals in Anfild that were mainly created by Ali. I mean be serious he is a beefed brazilian player not suited to play for Arsenal. He is doen't not have the magic touch let alone is quick response to counter attacking play.

You can say babtista played half the season but you got to remember that most of our loss or draws were the inability to score a second goal while ahead or starting a match a goal down at home.

 

[YourFriendPaul]

@RC8: Excellent mini-rant about Myles there- hear hear!

WTF is the story with this guy? I had assumed, all this time, that he was just some average joe blogger type; am I wrong? Is he supposed to be a 'legitimate' journalist / pundit? I mean, he's too far off, even for the gossip rags- I can't imagine anyone actually regards him as anything more than a ****** with a home computer... do they?

 

[Bergy_1995]

Don't think I've commented on the game yet.

Essien, what a player. The commitment that guy has... second to none. Money WELL spent. If he was at the Arsenal we'd be laughin.

As for our performance; pretty wasteful and bitty really. Some good pass and moves, but the end product was never there. Baptista looked as though his bags were already packed. Adebayor seemed as if he suddenly forgot how to strike a ball. DIaby looked lost on the left; he had one good game there in the cup final but since then he's looked way out of position. All in all a typical average Arsenal performance with no cutting edge, as per 2007. On another day Chelsea would've punished us severely.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

Don't think I've commented on the game yet.

Essien, what a player. The commitment that guy has... second to none. Money WELL spent. If he was at the Arsenal we'd be laughin.

On another day Chelsea would've punished us severely.

Essien is a human machine. A complete athlete.Its not that he wants it more than others..its that he has the capability to do much more than others who might share the same desires and will to win as him. He is a special player. Chelsea with 10 man (Essien included ) is really Chelsea with 11. He really can play two positions in a game..and cover both positions effectively.


You are assuming our game would have been the same and theirs would have been different. Mind you we played them at their turf.and it was pretty even with their first team.We played them at the carling cup with our kid and matched them well. So what are you basing your conclusions on.

 

[Nemesis]

Diaby's looked out of position because hes mostly been played out of position since the CC final. Some fans need to look at the context of the situation before running their mouths off.

 

[Biggus]

To later write this: This squad's going nowhere. I'm sorry, Arsène, but you've only got half a team. This squad will not win anything.

Myles is a plonker RC8....but it's very hard to argue with this line.

 

[Bergy_1995]

Don't think I've commented on the game yet.

Essien, what a player. The commitment that guy has... second to none. Money WELL spent. If he was at the Arsenal we'd be laughin.

On another day Chelsea would've punished us severely.

Essien is a human machine. A complete athlete.Its not that he wants it more than others..its that he has the capability to do much more than others who might share the same desires and will to win as him. He is a special player. Chelsea with 10 man (Essien included ) is really Chelsea with 11. He really can play two positions in a game..and cover both positions effectively.


You are assuming our game would have been the same and theirs would have been different. Mind you we played them at their turf.and it was pretty even with their first team.We played them at the carling cup with our kid and matched them well. So what are you basing your conclusions on.

Drogba, Ballack, Shevchenko, Carvalho - all missing.

Lampard's shot from outside the area; on another day, would've gone in. Kalou may well have buried his chance another time.

@Nemesis. "Context of the situation"? We've got a winger on the bench, a very capable one, who is being overlooked instead of a centre-mid in the mould of Vieira. Yes, Hleb isn't exactly firing on all cylinders but it would be daft to suggest Diaby's favourable position is on the left hand-side. Same could be said for Denilson really but I feel he cuts in well, Diaby just doesn't seem comfortable out there.

 

[Captain]

Hleb was injured.

 

[goonerwarsh]

One thing I would say about Chelsea is they had just come off the back of a gruelling champions league defeat away at Anfield after 120 minutes, they were pretty much demoralised after United's victory at City. They were down to ten men and a goal down at half time yet came out and dominated the second half, and missing several key players.

I think our team of young pretenders could do a lot to learn from that type of attitude and commitment instead of using the boring old tired tag that we always seem to pick out after a 1-0 defeat against poor opposition.