Stamford Bridge was partly empty due to the sanctions in place but there were still enough supporters in blue. In the 1/8th of stadium were ladies and gentlemen sitting in red and white to support a team which had lost three easy games earlier. When the game ended, you could only see red jerseys in a blue stadium. It was beautiful. Players celebrated with fans for a good 10 minutes, showing what it meant for them to win a London Derby.
We beat Chelsea 4-2 at their home. After leading twice and giving it away within minutes, we decided it was enough. Eddie was brilliant, who opened the scoring capitalising on a Chelsea’s mistake. They levelled back. It was a brilliant Smith Rowe’s goal to put us in the lead again, but that didn’t last long. We went into the second half having played better football and a 2-2 score line. In 57′ minute, Eddie came to rescue again. Poor pass from Azpilicueta landed to Eddie’s feat after bouncing off from like 13 players and he don’t miss that.
Out last goal was symbolic in a way. Saka was handled in Penalty area and referee didn’t think much to point to the spot in spite of Chelsea’s players reactions. Everyone was expecting Martinelli to take it (even Arteta) but Saka was not in a mood to give it away. He scored, sending Mendy the wrong way and went straight to away section to celebrate with fans. We could all see how much it meant after missing one in Euro for England. He was a proud of himself and rightly so. I was buzzing for him.
4 goals from hale enders when we needed it the most. Who would have thought Nketiah can deliver better than Laca. Elneny got his first start this season and he didn’t disappoint at all. He is limited but a no nonsense player who have got a Ferrari engine fitted in. Our back three was poor but then a win’s a win and I will keep the complaining for some other day.
That leads me to talk about out top 4 chances. We are still in the mix with 57 points, level with Spu*ds sitting in 4th on basis of goal difference. We have to play Man United and West Ham and a six pointer north london derby. 6 game and it might feel too much of an expectation but I believe we should win all of them. United are sh*t, West Ham are tired and well, you can’t lose against Spu*s. Our other three games are against Leeds, New Castle and Everton – all winnable.
On the other hand, Spurs still have to play Leicester and Liverpool. They have games against Brentford and Burnley, they will do a spursy and lose some points I’m sure. In any case, we can’t afford to lose any more matches!
There was an argument going on twitter earlier stating Champions League qualification meant nothing since we are still building team and have areas to strengthen. We have lost against Brighton, Crystal Palace and Southampton and we should rather fix everything first and then think of competing in champions league. Well it’s a sh*t argument! By that logic, playing in a league with Klopp and Pep’s team – probably two of the best teams in recent times, is waste?!
Champions League attract players. Talents all over the world wants to make it big at the grand stage. Not only we will struggle to bring world class talents who constantly look for CL games, keeping the ones we have will get difficult. Saka, Martinelli, ESR would most certainly be dreaming of playing against Barcelona and Bayern and making their legacy. And it has it’s monetary benefit. When you have some 50m extra cash, you can afford to over pay for players like Ben White and not feel the heat.
We are playing Man United tomorrow at Emirates. I won’t mind seeing the same starting XI and the intent with which we played against Chelsea. They are not going to sit back like a lower mid table club and that gives us the option of playing our game. We have been shit with low block but play comparatively well against teams who wants to compete in possession. It’s probably the worst United side in years and three points should be a guarantee from Mikel’s team. Win this, and you are one step closer.
To the Chelsea fan who somehow managed to land on an Arsenal blog, repeat after me…
LONDON IS RED
This game is making me nervous. United have come to play today.
Yeah. ManU defence and trapping are quite atrocious, worse than anything we have faced. Appears their players were on a long suesta under Rangnick. Very poor, except Ronaldo who still keeps himself fit and in fine tune. De Gea is back to very good now
Le Grove site is down also
I think Elanga could become quite the player in the right hands and you’d imagine Sancho will put this season behind him and grow into the league but serious work to be done on their defence. My worry is that our defensive rebuild has been done and at considerable cost but I don’t see a title challenge being built on it.
Oh I though 2-0 should get the job done but then fuck.
Told you Tavares is poor defensively. We may lose this game now.
Why is Tets no seeing the danger and making changes?
Nuno is desperate to give away silly pens, David Luiz style.
Cedric been playing dangerous. Earlier 1on1 with Sancho handled the ball, Ref is sympathetic, but players should not push boundaries
Xhaka dunnit
3-1
Xhaka what a fucking strike!!!!!
Saka injured. If it’s anything more than a slight tweak, we’re in trouble.
Let’s hope Saka’s just minding himself. Penandes is some dirty prick.
Bruno ankle breaker, yellow. Elmo gets the ball and stamps on Utd player, also yellow. Fucked up.
Elmeny is a neat and tidy playi. Excellent pass conversion so no ball lost when passed to him. Something in range of Coquelin, he betters others. His back passing might be to following instructions.
Elmo has always been a pass and move player. Loads of back passes, but that’s his game. Risk averse ball recycler. Every team needs one in the squad for sure.
Fantastic 3 points! Get fucked Chelsea and Man U!
Onwards and upwards,all roads lead to the London stadium Sunday week,4.30. Brentford, over to you………..
Brilliant, win the NLD and everything is forgotten. #COYG
I’m off to a coffee house to celebrate the win. An evening game after long for me, worth celebrating 🥳
Rio fuming in the studio. Hate to see it.
Nice one, mb! Looking forward to your match report tomorrow!
COYG
Gabriel Jesus hitting a hatrick, same day we beat Manure.
What do you guys think of him making a move to Arsenal?
If we manage to tie Nketiah, we would have a proper CF in making, a poacher in the box, and adding Gabriel Jesus would help us a lot. He is experienced, playing in a complicated Pep set up and have won things. We need experienced players with winning mentality to compliment hale-enders.
Kroenkephobe,
You watching Selby v Bingtao? A throwback to the late nights of the 80’s,crucible buzzing here. Pure entertainment.
Almunia
What.A.Fucking.Day!
First things first, no snooker yesterday sadly, but if Ms K’phobe decides to be a bit laissez faire with me today because I took the boy to Sheffield (600 mile round trip, I cannot tell you how far in the arse end of beyond where we live) then televisually (made up word) I’ll be back in Sheffield at the Crucible.
His two mates who were with us – both manure fans. But we verbally pre-agreed an NPTP (non piss taking pact). I had some very tense moments in the back of the away stand at Bramhall Lane from 2-3pm as the minutes ticked down. GX finally doing something right by us helped. Very satisfying, but just seen the highlights and I’ll be letting loose a few opinions on it later. Sorry lads.
Cardiff were poor. As you suspected the Blades wanted it much more and they still have a bit more quality thanks to being more recently in the PL. The ground was impressive, one of those older, purely for football, stadia. A bit like Elland Road which I also love. I doubt I’ll be watching any more Bluebird games this season though – they’re a moribund club at the moment.
Drive home punctuated by lack of goals from Brentford made the day even sweeter.
What would we do without football? And road trips.
I (obviously) haven’t seen the whole game. Just the highlights. Great result but with an eye on winning the remaining ones, I think the team needs to dial down the emotion and frenetic-ness against West Ham. The Hammers won’t play a low block either (good) and we need to play through them calmly and be composed when chances occur. But we also need to defend better. CR’s goal was very similar to Chelsea’s second where he got in front of our defender from a cross. Great day for Nuno but the defensive coaches should have him in for overtime this week.
There’s a lot at stake now. Tets needs to restore some order and planning for the games ahead.
How many sleeps til the next game?
Almunia
At the rate he’s going I wonder how long it will take Ronnie to reprise that talk about his ‘cue action’
⚪🔴⚪⚫
That’s him scoring 8!
Kroenkephobe,
I wouldn’t worry too much about Cardiff,no chance of play offs or relegation,club’s like that end the season in limbo. Charlton are the same, literally nothing can be read into the last 2 months.
600 mile round trip is quite the road trip alright. We play most of our big hurling games in Croke Park,Dublin. That’s about a 4hr round trip, as long as it gets really unless I go to matches at the Emirates, that’s a whole different ball game (literally). Enjoy going to the crucible also but the next time I think I’ll stay outside Sheffield,had 4 days and nights there the last time and found it a bit rough. Have had weekends in Liverpool,Manchester, Newcastle,Edinburgh and a few others,all thoroughly enjoyable but Sheffield,no. What’s your take? Did I misjudge it?
Ronnie is talking utter nonsense continuously these days. Some see him as being quirky,a devil may care character who likes to stand up to those determined to make him conform. I just think he’s a bit thick. Harsh I know,but his interviews are cringe at this stage. Gifted,but not for me. My apologies to Mrs K.
As for yesterday that was a fabulous result that did absolutely nothing to suppress my doubts about this team under current manager. I could go into more detail but I’m aware that I’ve been cantankerous enough for one day!
Hope you get the day off and enjoy the sport. Say a little prayer for Mayo, their cursed journey begins again today……
Have to agree with Almunia on yesterdays result and looking at Arteta. ManU were utterly terrible but could easily have got a point – suddenly Nketiah’s the answer to all our problems and we should sign him up? Good grief – he’s already out the door and has most likely already got a deal lined up.
Fans who still have a brain need to look at the fan boys repetitive behaviour which is basically the following – anything that happens however bad is rewritten as being a positive. Which leads onto expectations being massively downgraded – Emery had a squad more than capable of getting top 4 Arteta missing out on EL is because the squad is terrible.
They will never stop – if we were relegated they’d blame everything and everyone else because it can never be Arteta’s fault and then tell us he’s the only one who could get us promoted.
If Nketiah is the answer then why wasn’t he given more game time earlier in the season? It’s not as if we were scoring freely up to a couple of weeks ago and it’s a recent problem – it’s all about moving the goal posts and not allowing any criticism of the anointed one
As for yesterday that was a fabulous result that did absolutely nothing to suppress my doubts about this team under current manager.
Typically well put mate.
I think I give Ronnie some slack because he’s a Gooner.
My prayer mat with GG’s face lovingly embroidered into it is wearing a little thin where my knees go, but I’ll certainly genuflect and give it the big one for Mayo. I’ll also have a butcher’s on sky and see if I can educate myself a bit more on GAA beyond being amazed at those lads’ skill, bravery and fitness levels.
Here’s a different question Almunia on a related theme. What is your opinion on Mark Selby? I want to like him but I struggle a bit. He’s inscrutable and a bit too cool for school. In matey terms, he’d be the kind of guy to get himself a sneaky lager top, shandy or a lemonade and pretend it was a g&t halfway through a serious session.
And if you bumped into him in the loos, he’d have a piss in a cubicle rather than stand next to you at the urinal. Hope that doesn’t sound as weird as it did when I wrote it.
Not sure he’d be much good either when the bottles started flying at the taxi rank after shutting time. Or maybe I’m just reading too much into things!
Hammers v Chelsea. A draw ideally. Merseyside Derby – not sure what I want to happen other than lots of red cards and injuries. Burnley to mangle Wolves and leave Everton in a puddle of diarrhoea.
Hi Ambarish,
The next time Pedro says that deeply moronic thing to a poster who doesn’t agree with him that Arteta is the second coming of Jesus, ‘take that nonsense to reddit’ (whatever the fuck that is!), why not chip in and say to whoever it is, ‘or why not switch to London is Red where your opinion will be listened to and respected’ . I swear the King of Arteta fanboys is on a mission to destroy Le Grove. Super odd.
Marc,
It is a lesson in semantics these days to argue against Arteta. Nketiah is a perfect example. A West Ham supporting mate of mine was asking me why Arsenal fans aren’t fuming with Arteta for having played Lacazette consistently ahead of Eddie when he was so obviously out of form. His take was that Eddie’s form should have been a further nail in Arteta’s coffin as it simply emphasises how badly he had been reading the situation. But above all because of his treatment Eddie will now leave on a free or hold the club to ransom on a new contract. So how in the name of God are Arsenal fans giving credit to Arteta for selecting Eddie? There is no logic only blind devotion and it is everywhere. I struggle with it to be honest.
Kroenkephobe,
I’m a huge fan of Selby the player, his will to win is what every sportsperson should aspire to. He has every single shot in the game and he has an a,b,c,d and e game. When you back him you will be given as honest a run for your money as you can get.
Off the table I suspect you may be on to something. He has been very public this year about his mental health problems,he has struggled for years but hid it. I would say he is quite unsuited to public life and is a natural introvert. The ‘jester from Leicester ‘ is a typical attempt to disguise these problems by creating a persona that is outwardly confident. His wife’s attendance at every match and his constant communication with her,even during games,tells me he needs her to support him mentally. I feel for him. Reminds me of how Tom Cruise had to constantly hold Nicole Kidman’s hand and whisper to her all the time to get her through public appearances.
Maybe Steve Round should give it a go, stop the durable bunny from wearing out the sidelines!
#the duracell bunny.
Almunia
Yeah it’s like giving Arteta credit for calling the Fire Brigade after setting something on fire.
Kroenke
Pedro has completely lost the plot. Now I’ll freely admit to having had plenty of arguments with him but he binned me during a discussion about unloading some of the deadwood last summer where Pedro’s position was we were going to bring plenty of money in – my position was that was unlikely in a COVID world where plenty of clubs were short of money. There was no abuse, criticism or anything nasty he just suddenly binned me without a reason and it’s been like that ever since.
The crazy thing is unloading players isn’t even Arteta’s responsibility and my position would have given Arteta some leeway this season.
I honestly believe he knows his position was stupid but he can’t bring himself to admit it for fear of ridicule and will destroy what was a great site because of it.
Dawson off for hammers. I reckon that leaves them with a massive CD shortage against us next week. And that cheating ba jorginho misses his pen.
Ba equals bas equals bastard.
And Burnley winning…
Marc
I agree with all of that. He makes masses of bold statements and prefictions (fine, we all do) but seems unable ever to admit he’s wrong or others have been proven right. By contrast,. most of the rest of us can face up to being wrong when we are. All that despite sounding Arteta’s death knell when we lost to Villareal. By the way, his vehement antipathy and all that good ebening shite when talking about Emery really jars. In essence he’s trying to be an alpha male when he doesn’t have the right tools. Moreover he’s clearly backing the wrong horse but cannot think of a way to turn the tanker around (deliberate mixed metaphor). It’s also a bit embarrassing to see so many lickspittle sycophants (real or imagined bloggers from Pedro’s imagination) sucking up to him. Reading all the insincere gushing about Arteta today (and the lack of opposing opinion because we’ve either been banned or become disenfranchised) you have to conclude that le grove has jumped the shark. Did you go yesterday? It must’ve been insane and seriously stressful at times.
I made it a deliberate strategy at the end to get at him through his agents, afcf, zacharse, nigel, positive and some awful creature called rambinho. It worked. He banned me too for next to nothing. I think I told him the site read like an echo chamber and that was it. I disappeared in a puff of smoke. 🔥