Team News: Chelsea vs Arsenal

Appears Arsene's game plan of only worrying about our own game and not really focusing on how to deal with the opposition is working a treat again.

Naija - Arsene doesn't do staying compact, that's the problem.

Wenger is right about the art of tackling disappearing. Our midfield don't seem to understand what it means. Chelsea have tackled us out of the game.

Diaby is not ready to come back. He has to go off at half-time, probably for Ramse, maybe even for Frimpong. And I know he's alienated everyone at the club but Arshavin surely has to come on - he's better than what we've got out there atm.

2nd best in every position all over the pitch. Lucky not to be at least 4 down with that pillock diaby wrestling in the box and other numerous chav chances. Sagna is stinking the joint out again counting down the months til the summer. Yet more naive keeping from chesney too. Struggling to see a solitary positive from this. Our only realistic hope in this is for a great feck off blizzard to call it off. Grim times with a manager sitting on his hands refusing to change course from the iceberg dead ahead.

Actually there is a positive, our 100k wally has finally stopped taking the set pieces.

One of the key qualities of Wenger's better sides has been quick strong starts to big games. That seems to have all gone now; we have been late starters in most huge games and this can't be good for confidence.

Theo!!!

Chelsea have been listening to our manager and been very physical, almost like a planned attack on Coquelin and now, Theo.

It's all about patience and composure, Bowie.

Great keeping from Chesney

Gibbs has had another fantastic game. He's some player.

That has to be it for any aspirations we might have for climbing that table. If anything, we need to start looking over our shoulders. Wenger doesn't affect this side anymore, I don't care that there was a reaction in this half, really. I go with how Niko reads it: we only start to play when we are psychologically out of it.

i'll be happy if we even qualify for europa next season

For years now we have ambled into the start of games obviously under instruction to pace ourselves, that it's a 90 minute game and it's better to come good at the end when the other team is tiring, this is just not working for us any more as we don't have the cohesion and defensive ability to keep teams that do start brightly out. Yet again we could have conceded an early penalty through cuddling in the box, I know Diaby is not the brightest of buttons but having seen a team mate walk only a week ago for the same offence yet there he is hauling a player to ground in the area? Just mindless. Self destruct then partial redemption followed by glorious defeat seems to be our modus operandi in the bigger games and has been for so long now I just fail to comprehend how our strategy and planning can be so consistently flawed. Stay compact from the start, harry the opposition into conceding possession build n it from there. We start every game so poorly these days, are they listening to Leonard Cohen in the dressing room pre match?

Without new blood and top quality new blood at that I can't see much for us this season at all. We look mid table, without any special quality at all as a team.

I knew it wouldn't be our day when I saw Torres had trimmed his locks for this one;-)

torres played better than giroud today though , he just need that goal , good game though.

I don't think we could have put any more pressure on the Chelsea goal than we did in the last part of the game, but we were up against Chelsea, not a mid-table team. Santos coming on instead of Arshavin wou;d've been retarded.

Giroud is turning out to be Bendtner but without the boasting. I think he'll come good as he adjusts to the league but Wenger has left the team so threadbare that he wasn't allowed a season to bed in because he's our only friggin' striker! Complete team my ass. Onthe bright side, a Spuds loss today and a win over the hammers on Wednesday puts us back in the thick of things with Man U, improving Liverpool and Everton at home, Spuds away our toughest games left. Spuds still have Man U, Man Citeh, Everton, and us at home, Swansea, Liverpool and Chelsea away. Our main positive is an easier schedule. Everton has the hardest of all - Man U, us, Spuds, Poll and Chelsea away, Citeh at home. Fourth is definitely possible, even probable if we buy a couple of upgrades in the next 11 days. Stay positive!

The thing, Amos, is such a flaw could have been corrected from the technical team before the half ended but Wenger spends a lot more time remonstrating with the officials than giving ad hoc instructions to his team. If he or Bould got up to shout the instructions, who's to know if the result may have been different? Our keeper did well today but still needs to learn a few tricks from a veteran who has won things; Julio Cesar, Hugo Lloris, even Pepe Reina. He is loud but seems to fail at directing his defenders aright. His distribution and choices also need schooling. It is not a criticism of the kid but an observation of areas of his game which need can be improved upon with an active older head around him.

Hazard looked incredibly dangerous first half, but seemed to go AWOL the second. Would love to have seen him in an Arsenal kit.

I also think Giroud is floundering a bit. Its a pity he never had the opportunity to adjust to the pace of the league while RvP was still at the club as it undoubtedly places more pressure on a new striker. We are crying out for a clinical finisher...someone who will commit to the box everytime. Crap...RvP scores again!

...as if to remind us what we are missing. One chance= 1 goal! Contrast that with Giroud's missed opportunities.