14th Fixture - November 29, 2009 - Arsenal FC vs. Chelsea FC [R]

Great win. The 2nd half was filled with a lot of tension, but from 78' onwards the pace of the game slowed and their players were visibly frustrated. Drogba was immense.

 

Missed a good chunk of the game cause my landlord lost it and tried to have me and my roommate evicted for pretty much no reason at all. Got that straightened out finally but not till after the game

Glad to see we got another big result against a top side. I don't fear these games like i did last year. Drogba has just been immense this season

 

I think I mentioned before, (and if I didn't... well, I MEANT to), that Joey will probably take half a dozen games to become comfortable in that position. He's had about 3 or 4 now and, IMO, he's beginning to get there.

To be fair I think the problem most of us had was that we thought he might be a bit too inclined to sit back on a lead but, as is often the case, it depends on what players you've got available. The thing is that players like Lamps, Essien and even JT at the back will ALWAYS look for the forward pass if there's one available. Drogba and Anelka will ALWAYS try and get into a shooting position or into a position to make the final ball. It's just not in their DNA to play it back and forth across the back 4 and the midfield.

 

I agree completely. And tbh, oddly enough, that was one of the reasons I was fairly confident that Carlo would be the right person for the Chelsea job. He is extremely adept at using the right tactics to bring out the best from an experienced squad. He may not be quite as good with younger talent (Gourcuff would agree, but then again, Kaka and Pato would disagree) but with a team of experienced professionals, the guy is deadly.

And he also seems to have done the impossible and successfully play Anelka and Drogba together. I think the african cup of nations will be a real test to see if he can still grind out the results without a few major players.

 

Arsenal supporter, is he?

 

Haha, nah. More of a momma's boy and apparently we made mom mad....

 

Ancelotti has been great, but I wont take anything for granted until we actually win something significant.

 

.gif needed of Drogba's smile after the 2nd, stat.

 

Agreed.

It was like a "holy crap YES i can't believe it" look.

 

Unfortunately, Ancelotti's reign at Milan was riddled with games like those. We would rarely disappoint on the big nights but would fail far too often against the minnows who park their team bus in front of the goal.

However, with Chelsea having a far more physical side, that may not necessarily end up being true for you guys too. But your worry is probably not unwarranted.

 

Can't wait to get home and watch this...

 

We've already seen it with the Wigan fiasco. However, the side still has a lot of Mourinho's steel, and he's turning out to be the opposite of Benitez - great in the leagues, not so great in the cup competitions.

 

I couldn't find a *.gif of Drogba smiling, but I got this pict. It's classic. Checkout Alumina's facial gesture

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Seeing the arsenal fans here on Bigsoccer embarrasses me. there just soaking up everything Mr. Wenger says and just spitting the same trash out.

chelsea were not that good, drogba did not do much, blah blah blah!

Wenger is a legend, and deserves respect and his legacy, but the man is Really Pushing It these days.

The good news is that several Arsenal blogs, and fans from around the World, are starting to see the light.

Here is a good video, from a popular Arsenal blog that IMO perfectly describes yesterdays Match.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g5t0s_Fn9s"]YouTube- Capoeira vs Boxing[/ame]

 

The best part of winning a game against the other three "big four" teams?

It shuts up the pundits on FSC. No match commentary at halftime, and none after the game. Note, I could be wrong as I always fast forward through whatever it is they are talking about.

Plus, would it kill them to turn the match commentary over to the actual match commentators a few minutes before the game, rather than waiting until the ball has been kicked?

And lest anyone get too far ahead of themselves, I think we've been leading the league at the end of November every year for the past decade.

 

Great vid

Regarding whinger.... er, I mean Wenger... yeah, you're right but, let's be honest, the guy's done marvels buying players without spending a fortune for a few years now. I think the problem is that they're are all of a similar style. Yes, of COURSE you need players with great technique and speed who can pick out a pass and move the ball around the pitch but you ALSO need players who are as hard as nails and can kick people up the arse too. You need a balance IOW.

In fact that was my argument with Mourinho who, IMO, had a tendency to go for a certain style of player, (the hard as nails, bustling ones), and didn't seem interested in the 'fancy dans'.

 

Loved the match. I believe this is our best squad ever. Not necessarily the best defensively, but overall I think we are quite dangerous. I read something on some site today about how all the English teams must be shaking in their boots after seeing the best players in the world on stage in the "Classico" yesterday. My thought? Chelsea would be favored against either of them. Think we have the best side in the world at the moment and look forward to seeing how all 4 competitions play out.

As for the match, Fern you have it nailed. Wenger really is a genius when it comes to buying players, but they lack the steel they lost when Viera left. Remember when they were basically unbreachable with Tony Adams and that other cro-magnon at the back whose name escapes me at the moment? They may have been boring, boring Arsenal, but they won. They have just gone too far the other direction. Hey, I like slick passing as well as the next guy, but that stuff tends to work best against teams you are better than. Our boys looked like the Harlem Globetrotters against Wolves. Back-heels galore. Get to the big matches though and you need someone to get stuck in and someone to get into the box and put a head on the ball. Although I was very impressed with Arsenal's midfield yesterday (we definitely bought the wrong Russian), they simply were bereft of finishing ability up front. Really never threatened. If Van Persie was THAT important to them then they lack the depth needed to win the League. Maybe they are just hoping for cup runs with THE KIDS! OOH, THE KIDS!!! Not hearing much of that these days are we? Kids have to grow up eventually and what I see of the Arse these days is that when theirs start to grow up, they leave. Kroenke or someone is going to have to buy the club and force Arsene to start buying some Men for their squad or they are doomed to compete for the 4th spot in the League.

In terms of Chelsea we are seeing something strange for us. The lack of buying over the last couple years means that the current squad have basically grown used to each other and play as a unit. They may not have come from our youth teams, but after a couple years together, our world-class players know what the other players on the squad are going to do, where to put the ball, etc. It is a real treat to watch and even better than when we were winning with Mourinho, where I was always biting my nails at the end.

One last point. Did anyone else see the one attack in the first half where Drogba came down the middle with the ball and all of a sudden Anelka came sprinting like a bat out of hell up the right side? Drogba didn't get him the ball but I have to say I had no idea Anelka was THAT fast. He looked like a world class sprinter. I would imagine he will be playing alone up front come January?? so hopefully Carlo puts that speed to good use.

Love beating the Arse, anytime, anywhere. Dr. I, looking forward to a report from you on the atmosphere at the match. FSC didn't show much of the Chelsea supporters unfortunately.

 

Martin Keown. He looked like a throwback of some sort but actually he's quite intelligent and articulate.

 

Yeah, but isn't that just the way with all the best center forwards? They all are and have to be egoistical selfish bastards. The selfish ones have the best scoring records. The selfless ones will sooner or later find themselves on the bench for not having a better scoring record, regardless of how hard they work for the team.

Carlo has had a man-crush on Drogba for a very long time. He obviously has some pretty good ideas on how to utilize his talent..

 

Is he? Really? Wenger's big buys have nearly ALL been busts. Wiltord. Reyes. He doesn't do well with buying players that don't come from his system. Wenger isn't a genius at purchasing players, he's not a genius at training them either. What he is a genius at is installing his system and finding the right players for it. That's why he won't buy older players - because they can't be trained to play his way. The best comparison I can make is to "system" college football teams, like Texas Tech. They're full of players that aren't amazing, but they play a system that's perfect for them, and its the same system, always. What else explains nearly every single Arsenal player being worse when they leave Arsenal? Surely if Wenger were such a great manager and trainer some of his players would do well away from him, having absorbed all that training. Except that many of them flop badly. You have to wonder why at some point, and I think its because Wenger has the right players for his specific system. However, his problem is that he can't change his system. And that's why he doesn't buy big players and that's why he doesn't win games like yesterday's.