Sunday 10 November 2024 Stamford Bridge USA TV: USA 11:30am ET The kinder pundits are saying we’re just having a bit of a wobble lately and we miss our MF general. I'm not sure, but we can take a few positives from our latest defeat at San Siro, including: 1) MO8 came on at the end for a bloodied Kai so perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel is finally upon us 2) We played much better in 2T, though it’s debatable how much that was down to us taking control vs Inter ceding control But certainly to get a win at the Bridge, we’re gonna need considerably more offensive creativity, ruthlessness & clinicality. Not just 45 hopeful crosses! Chelsea are decidedly more impressive this season under Maresca, but they’ve also had some recent setbacks: loss @Newcastle in the EFL cup and draw @United. And Palmer picked up a knee injury so he’s a little iffy for Sunday. As for us, I’m sure Mikel would like to embrace the every-3-to-4-days mantra and choose the same XI, but there are some new questionables: Merino left the match at HT... not clear if it had anything to do with getting punched in the head earlier or if he was just “not feeling well” as Arteta said Rice’s foot injury seems pretty significant, though I still haven’t heard what it is: toe, metatarsal, ligaments, or what?? But I heard he couldn’t put a boot on it recently... no bueno. Havertz had a big, gushing head wound, forcing him off late. Hopefully it’s patchable and playable AND that there were no concussion symptoms. Odegaard seems back... but just! Hard to imagine him ready to start, but if both Merino & Rice are out, then I could see Mikel taking that risk. Perhaps we’ll get more info in tomorrow’s presser, but then again it’s Arteta so probably we won’t
And so... largely true to form... Mikel today said this about player availability: on whether Declan Rice will be available: I have to be very vague on that one because there’s no clarity on whether he’s going to be fit for the weekend. on whether he has a broken toe: That's for the doctor, what I can say is that he hasn't trained yet and it is not clear whether he’s going to be available or not to play. on if Martin Odegaard could start: Everybody that is in the squad is going to be fit and available to start the game, so then it will be a decision whether it is too early or the right moment for him to make that step again. on if Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino are OK: We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how they react. Kai had quite a nasty cut and he could not continue. With Mikel, to be fair the day before he wasn't feeling great and we decided to sub him at half-time. As well as a few other interesting/humorous tidbits: on whether he’s had to lift the players after recent results: ... We have a problem, and the problem has to be resolved by scoring more goals than the opponent - that’s it. on if the team has needed a reset this week: We don’t need a reset. We need, in one particular aspect, to go from 95 to 100 and I’m not going to tell you what that is. https://www.arsenal.com/news/every-word-mikel-artetas-pre-chelsea-presser
I hope we spank them, their fanbase online is certain even without Palmer they are turning us over 5-1 etc. Hope we give them a good, tasty 2-0 loss at home just to remind them of the Arsenal defense being the best in the league.
We are in a bit of a rut, so I'm guessing a 2-1 loss. Maybe we will change the way we setup after the international break, and then our fortunes will change, but our bad week will very likely get worse tomorrow.
May be a bit much for tomorrow but I do agree with the sentiment. Don't expect much action this Jan but I would really like to see us add a young #6 and W/ST that we can start grooming to contribute next season.
To add to that though..... If we can find a young (u18) #6 with the upside of Nwaneri/Dowman we potentially have our MF set for the next 20 yrs if managed properly.
Not great, but not really bad. That would be if we were 1 or 2 goals down. So far our defense has held. Early doors.
Chilwell on the Chelsea bench wearing a Yankees hat, which isn't a thing I think I've ever seen in the Prem.
Some day, some day they will use video review to get calls like that right. Clearly a corner to us was called as a goal kick.