Arsenal

[Silent Runner]

There might not have been a massive difference in the two performances but there was only ever going to be one winner. They never looked threatened or under pressure at any point. About as comfortable a 2-0 as you could get.

I don't think we would have scored yet if the game was still being played until now.

I'm getting sick and tired of Mourinho and these Chelsea c**ts.

Crazy stats I'm hearing like how we have one win out of the last 21 games against the top sides don't help. Also, today was the first time in 11 years, PL, where we didn't have a single shot on goal.

Today was just so predictable. Was there ever any doubt that Chelsea would get the three points so comfortably.

But until we gifted them their first goal with that stupid quickly taken freekick neither did we.Never thought we'd win but if we got to half time at 0-0 we could have got out with a draw. Once we went behind there was no way back.

[toythatkills]

Could have been different if Atkinson hadn't bottled the Cahill red card. Him and Welbeck were both about as clear as you're going to get in terms of straight red tackles. But yeah, they're just a bit better than us basically. We finished close to them last season purely by virtue of them struggling big time against 'park the bus' sides, but Fabregas and Costa have rectified that weakness and they're now clearly a level above us.

I guess on the plus side, they're a level above everyone. Barring injuries the rest of us are just playing for second.

[The Fox]

They are veeery reliant on those two players though so I'm not sure it's done and dusted just yet.

Not saying we're in with a shot of overturning a nine point swing, but if Fabregas does his annual springtime disappearing act or they run out of PEDs to inject into Costa's hamstrings, City could easily overtake them.

[carlito]

I fully agree that they are not injury proof.

They are a couple of injuries away from a team that will struggle to beat teams that are set up not to lose.

[g wings]

None of this helps us win games though does it...

[hauk]

There might not have been a massive difference in the two performances but there was only ever going to be one winner. They never looked threatened or under pressure at any point. About as comfortable a 2-0 as you could get.

I don't think we would have scored yet if the game was still being played until now.

I'm getting sick and tired of Mourinho and these Chelsea c**ts.

Crazy stats I'm hearing like how we have one win out of the last 21 games against the top sides don't help. Also, today was the first time in 11 years, PL, where we didn't have a single shot on goal.

Today was just so predictable. Was there ever any doubt that Chelsea would get the three points so comfortably.

I don't know if I agree with this. Other than the goal it was pretty even going into the break and straight after Chelsea's goal, Wilshere was through one on one with the goalkeeper and would have scored had his first touch been better. I've seen us bossed by Chelsea in the past, but I think we did pretty well in this game.

Having said that I've lost count of the number of big games with what-if scenario's in the past few years and in the end we always come up short, so that sounds about right about that 21 games stat. I do think the team is improving though.

[The Fox]

The 'Wenger has never beaten Mourinho' stat is crazy but to be fair he's come close a few times, it's not like Chelsea are kicking our arse over and over again. The 0-0 last season should have been a win, they created absolutely nothing and Giroud missed a few sitters. Hard to blame that on the manager.

It would help of course if we had a referee who carded players for cynical rotational fouling, rather than one who allows teams with a reputation for physicality dish out fouls over and over with impunity, while Arsenal players get booked for literally their first foul of the game. It's not why we lost but Atkinson was a disgrace yesterday, and he's by no means the only one. I'd be interested to see our fouls to yellows ratio compared to City or Chelsea.

[Timmo]

I'd say Chelsea are a single injury, Costa, from being the second best team in the league. And keeping him fit for the entire season seems an impossibility. So I don't think this title race will be as boring as it might have, even if it will only be a two-horse race.

[Lucky]

I don't know if I agree with this. Other than the goal it was pretty even going into the break and straight after Chelsea's goal, Wilshere was through one on one with the goalkeeper and would have scored had his first touch been better. I've seen us bossed by Chelsea in the past, but I think we did pretty well in this game.

Having said that I've lost count of the number of big games with what-if scenario's in the past few years and in the end we always come up short, so that sounds about right about that 21 games stat. I do think the team is improving though.

Yeah I suppose maybe up until the penalty/goal it was pretty even, Wilshere had a good opportunity and if his first touch was better & Cahill could have got a red on another day. But even if we'd have scored it always looked like if they needed to they could have stepped up a gear or two while we were already doing all we could and if something went our way then great but if they scored, like they did, then it was game over, like it was.

Unfortunately all too predictable and all too much of the same again. A fairly easy home win really.

[pinholestar]

Exactly. Yes, Wenger adjusted the set-up well & we were tactically more astute & solid, Wilshere had a good chance & the ref was shite, but we were still comfortably beaten by a top side & the result was the same as it's been for years now. In fairness Mourinho's Chelsea are perfectly set up to nullify our strengths & I'll wait to see how we perform against Man United & City away before passing too much judgement, but as it stands we're perhaps the best of the rest but still too deficient in key areas to be genuine title-challengers. I can accept that but after what felt like a good summer & the renewed confidence following the FA Cup win I was hoping for more at the start of this season, so it's disappointing to be already 9 points down on the leaders & facing what looks like yet another battle for a top 4 finish.

There's a little too much doom & gloom after this result but with the wealth of attacking talent we now possess we should be doing better really. I think it's hard to argue against that. This new formation showed some of its benefits yesterday in that we weren't overrun in midfield like so often before, but I still think it doesn't get the best out of some key players & there remains a fairly obvious strategy to nullify us up front. Not enough variation in our attack against teams that deny us space & we remain a bit of a 'soft' side that powerful teams like Chelsea can deal with relatively easily.

[Dude Ranch]

The 'Wenger has never beaten Mourinho' stat is crazy but to be fair he's come close a few times, it's not like Chelsea are kicking our arse over and over again.

Yeah, but come on. Wenger is Mourinho's bitch. It's embarrassing for the fans, Mourinho plays it beautifully and it must drive Wenger absolutely mental behind the scenes. Mourinho has simply got our number. They say every dog has it's day but I can't see Wenger ever getting the better of him and I think that sums up the problem with Wenger perfectly. He's either been left behind as the game has progressed or he's too stubborn and/or thick to adjust properly to the opposition. Or both. I think sentimentality is keeping Arsene at the Club, all he's got left is good will. The two statement signings since we turned into a rich Club FUCKING LOL have turned out to be a total pup and a headless chicken. Anyone care to dig out some figures for the Sanchez and Ozil fees vs the same for Fabregas and Costa? The quality is miles apart. I will qualify that by pointing out that Sanchez is still very new but the way he gives the ball away cheaply at times is incredible and he runs about like a wind up toy. Also, Wenger not buying Fabregas cos we've got Ozil and then in no way building the team around Ozil is laughable, but at least that's a get out for Ozil who is a complete bottle and soft touch. In my opinion .

[carlito]

Mourinho is a cunt.

Ozil will come good.

The team we support is not the best in the league.

I can accept all of those things.

[The Fox]

I dunno, I think he did adjust the team for the game, he's explicitly stated the 4-1-4-1 is to make us more solid in games like that. I think the tactics were more or less there yesterday, and we were defensively ok, but the execution was poor in the attacking third and it really doesn't suit Özil, who had looked to finally be finding some form in the middle.

I'm not going to contest that he was physically pathetic at times yesterday, and mentally he doesn't seem strong either. Was he the right signing? Maybe not. It is starting to look like Madrid was the perfect environment, where he could be the luxurious finishing gloss on a fancy product. Here as the big money star man he's expected to be a talismanic figure taking games by the scruff, and he just doesn't have that in him. He was pretty 'meh', like he has been in every game in that formation. If we're persisting with the setup to have more bodies in the middle, he will be marginalised.

Özil could and should be doing more than he offered yesterday, irrespective of formation, but let's not pretend that Fabregas would do any better in that role, hell he'd probably be a darn sight worse because he's nowhere near as fast or good at dribbling.

[nakamura]

I'm not convinced about Ozil but he needs a run in the centre to be allowed to dictate the game. He is never going to be a work horse. Talent is there, clearly.

[The Fox]

It's a problem, because Chelsea showed yesterday that in the big games it can sometimes require something special out of nowhere to get the result. Hazard showed up for a big game for pretty much the first time ever with a brilliant run, then Fabregas picked out Costa's run (after Wilshere and Flamini stood off him), and he finished well. If we want that from our expensive guys it's gonna be hard in this 'attritional' 4-1-4-1.

Personally I can't see any argument in favour of the 4-1-4-1 if Ramsey is fit, because then I think we're solid enough defensively in a 4-2-3-1. When he's injured though, like now, it does make sense, even if it doesn't suit some of the players and will probably marginalise their contribution to an extent (Özil and Walcott most obviously).

Playing 4-1-4-1 with Ramsey in the team, as we had been doing, well I can't see the logic in that at all really. Baffling.

[carlito]

I would say the thing stopping him playing through the centre is that he goes down like wetty spaghetti when anyone gets into him from behind.

[The Fox]

Özil? Yeah he seems a bit of a pansy, not gonna deny that at all. Think he'd generally go into his shell if he was on the end of a continuous stream of snide unpunished fouls from Oscar and Ramires and all those other cunts. It's an issue.

[Lucky]

It's so annoying and frustrating and we can go over and over this, talk about formations, stats, the ref, wrong line ups, people being played out of position, Ozil, Cesc blahhdy blahhdy fucking blah.

Being honest the simple truth is that Chelsea have got better players than us and their cunt of a manager is better than ours when it comes to preparing your team to win these big games. Hard to admit that really but it's the truth. Costa is by far the better player compared to Welbeck or Giroud, Matic is better than Arteta or Flamini, Cesc is playing better than Ozil and Sanchez, Cahill is better than Mertesacker and Hazard is better than Wilshere, Cazorla and the Ox.

I know we can't quite pay the wages they do but even though I've just slaughtered us I really think we are not a million miles away from closing the huge current gap. We need an upgrade right through the centre of the team. A top CB, DCM and CF. We also need to play players in their positions. All quite obvious things really but things we are currently not doing.

The manager is a more tricky problem. I'm a big AW fan and he's a legend for what he's done for the club and deserves the statue he'll get but unfortunately I'm certain that we can never win the league again as long as he's in charge.

We need a Keown, a Vieira, an Henry etc. Again I know that where the he'll do you get one of them from? But the same shit every year is getting so frustrating and tiring.

We've built the new stadium, added big names, big money superstar signings, got the new big money sponsorships in place but it's the same again.

Flatter to deceive, finish 4th, lose the big games to the big clubs, get out the group stage in the CL and then get knocked out once we play the first top side. This can all pretty much be said about the last ten seasons or so. The only change was that last year we won the FA cup. That can't be all we have to look forward to. We're a big enough club (money machine) to aim higher and achieve more.

Edit: I'm in no way a fan of Mourinho or Chelsea by the way. In fact I think I hate them more than Spurs.

[The Fox]

Chelsea did a much better job of actually buying the players they needed in the last 12 months. They're very talented guys but would *anyone* have suggested that our No1 priority in the last two summers should have been a silky No10 and a hard-working, skilful wide forward?

If you'd looked at Chelsea in January and asked what they needed, you'd have named three players broadly like Matic, Fabregas and Costa. They don't struggle against those deep block teams anymore. Conversely we've been after a defensive midfielder for about 10 years, aside from brief periods of quality from Song and Arteta; went into last season with Giroud and Sanogo as our only centre forwards; and have gone into this one with five defenders. Even Welbeck, who is looking like a good signing, only seemed to happen because Giroud got injured.

We've bought some big name, big money players, but in terms of identifying and rectifying squad issues the last couple of windows have been pretty terrible, whereas Chelsea's have been incredible (helped, to be fair, by them finding clubs daft enough to pay £35m+ for the likes of Mata and Luiz).

edit: that said, it's hard to suggest that we lost because of weaknesses in defensive areas; we actually defended pretty well and restricted them to two chances, but they took full advantage. The main issue vs Chelsea was their big players delivering a couple of key moments, while ours created next to nothing. We've spend £90m on three attacking players to complement the likes of Walcott, Ramsey, Wilshere and Cazorla, yet still look utterly toothless in attack. That's a massive issue for the manager.

Frankly if what Özil produced on Sunday is all we can expect in a 4-1-4-1 away against a top side, why play him? AOC isn't as talented but he suits the role better. Might as well sack off Walcott and Özil for these games and go for 0-0 or a flukey 0-1 if this is the limit of our attacking cohesion. In fact fuck it, stick Giroud or Yaya up top and Welbeck out wide and really go the whole hog

[Rev]

It'd be interesting playing Welbeck behind Ozil for those sorts of matches. I think I might have just invented the concept of playing a false-10 at the same time as a false-9 there, but in my head that seems workable/interesting.

[The Fox]

Wenger would never do this because he doesn't have this level of pragmatism in him, but would doing this type of thing away to City/Chelsea and even Liverpool and Utd really be any worse than what we're offering at the moment in an attacking sense?

Szczesny/Ospina; Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Arteta, Ramsey; Alexis, Cazorla/Wilshere, Welbeck; Giroud

If we'd seen Ozil, Wilshere and the rest offer anything of note in these big away games, then by all means keep doing things in the attacking Wenger style, because I don't particularly want to resort to shit-on-a-stick attrition. But we're playing these talented attacking players in these matches and they're producing fuck all, so what's the point? Might as well sack that off if it's not working and just try and grind some results out, even if it's only short-term just to get this monkey off our backs.

Alternatively stick with what we're doing now but bring Ox in for Ozil. Our ball retention in the final third will suffer big time, sure, but so what? Cede possession, keep a compact defensive shape, go for counters.

[The Fox]

Ozil is apparently out for 3 months with a knee injury.

[Rev]

Confirmed it seems:

http://news.arseblog.com/2014/10/germany-rule-ozil-out-for-3-months/

Jesusfuckingfuckssake.

[toythatkills]

He better be fucking rested when he gets back.

[The Fox]

Walcott and Ozil are destined to not play together.

Oh well at least 4-1-4-1 makes sense now. 4th again though innit lads.

[Rev]

I don't even know who is taking 3rd and I agree.

[nakamura]

I still can't believe a player like Arteta plays for Arsenal. I like him has a professional and he is fairly good in a smaller team but it reeked of a panic buy and the is still no midfield general at the club.

[gizmo1990]

Walcott and Ozil are destined to not play together.

Oh well at least 4-1-4-1 makes sense now. 4th again though innit lads.

You just know Walcott will tear it up for 2 months or so then 'get a knock' (7 month injury) Right around the time Ozil returns..

Desperate stuff.

[The Fox]

Second or third medical team under Wenger now I think, at least two internal investigations into our injuries. Ozil was given an extended break after the World Cup, and rested for the Capital One Cup game. Same with Ramsey, got a proper pre-season in, didn't play loads of games last season, rested for the Cup game then injures his hamstring in the next match.

It doesn't seem like this problem has any obvious solution in most cases. An awful lot of experts have tried and failed, and so far it doesn't seem like Shad Forsythe has made any difference either (early days though tbf).

[sith]

Could be a blessing in disguise for you guys though. Ozil has been average at best this season but it seems to me at least, that Wenger always finds some way to fit Ozil in to the team even when he's in bad form. Against Chelsea I have no idea how he stayed on the pitch for the full 90. This means more game time for Ox too.