Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United

comment by Samir. (U2630)
posted 16 minutes ago
We played well
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No you didn't. Neither did we to be honest, but you certainly didn't play well. I've seen Chelsea play a lot better than that, so if last night was your definition of ''playing well'', then you must have low expectations of your team.
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I'm not going to pull out a game from 2004 where we played magnificent and measure us against that for the rest of my life when watching Chelsea. I think you know exactly with what I meant by saying we played well. Not too hard to figure out.

I'm not going to pull out a game from 2004 where we played magnificent and measure us against that for the rest of my life when watching Chelsea.
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That is not at all what I meant. I meant I've seen you play better than that THIS season, I don't see how 2004 is relevant at all. Yesterday was a snoozefest and neither team created enough clear chances to win. I'd even say a point for each side seems generous considering how dire the match was.

Don't get ahead of yourself. We didn't play well and neither did you.

I'd say that game along with Bayern, City and West Ham game were one of our most solid games. Like against City, we frustrated you lot, and on another day that frustration could have led to your team making a mistake, therefore going away with 3 point.

We had chances too at 0-0, mainly in the last 15 minutes, so it works both ways.

The home teams job is to entertain i always thought

Didn't Wenger finally break his philosophy and spent on Ozil for these games ?

TheChameleonProject

You were set up to stifle our play. What were we meant to do when your plan was to stay compact and hit us on the break? Defensively you were very solid but offered little firepower or creativity in attack. The fact that Mata didn't even feature in the game at all typified Mourinho's intentions.

Like I said before though, we were poor. No pace to our game, no pressing, loose passes and not enough energy in the side. Both sides should see that as an opportunity missed because both sides were there for the taking at times.

With that said, our records in the big games aren't that good anyway so I can't say I'm too disheartened with a point. We've already got more points this season against you than we did in both matches last season, so that's a crumb of comfort at least.

''Didn't Wenger finally break his philosophy and spent on Ozil for these games ?''

No. Next.

The fact that Mata didn't even feature in the game at all typified Mourinho's intentions.
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And what intention di playing Hazard and Willian typify then? plus restoring Lampard to his goal scoring midfield role rather than his defensive midfield role.

Fact is we had two very good opportunities to score in the first half and in the 2nd half at least 3 very good counter oportunities where we were 4 agst 3 but we just don't have good enough players who make the right final pass or put the ball in the net, this has been our problem all season.

You were set up to stifle our play. What were we meant to do when your plan was to stay compact and hit us on the break?
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Find another way to play, this is exactly the reason Arsenal have been trophyless for so long, you do not have a tactical alternative, if sides only have to rock up and play counter attack football to stifle you then frankly you are not a very good team.

''And what intention di playing Hazard and Willian typify then? plus restoring Lampard to his goal scoring midfield role rather than his defensive midfield role.''

Hazard is your best winger and is a first-team regular, I'm not surprised he started. Willian? With all due respect, but are you being serious? What the hell has he done apart from score a belter against Norwich several months ago? He's not added any potency or creativity to your side.

Mata was voted your player of the season twice in a row and has given us a dícking every time he's played against us. In fact, he's scored in the last 4 meetings against us, so that should be reason enough to start him or at the very least, bring him on later on. Why did Luiz and Schurrle come on when the master of the final ball was left on the bench? We all know what Mourinho wanted from the game and in the end, he got it.

''Fact is we had two very good opportunities to score in the first half and in the 2nd half at least 3 very good counter oportunities where we were 4 agst 3 but we just don't have good enough players who make the right final pass or put the ball in the net, this has been our problem all season.''

As you say, that is your problem and not ours. Football is about making the right choices and putting the ball into the net and if you can't do that, you only have yourselves to blame. We also had 3 good chances to score (2 from Giroud) and each time we fluffed our lines. As I said before, it works both ways.

In the end, neither team were good enough to win so we had to settle for a share of the points.

''Find another way to play, this is exactly the reason Arsenal have been trophyless for so long, you do not have a tactical alternative, if sides only have to rock up and play counter attack football to stifle you then frankly you are not a very good team.''

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Years gone by, you could argue this, but in the last year, this has not been the case. Wenger has made us into a less possession-based side with a less gung-ho approach and isn't playing as high a line as he used to. Our defence plays slightly deeper and is more concentrated then previous teams gone by, we have the likes of Flamini screening the defence and we are being more efficient with our passing, making sure we end up creating chances or making sure the ball goes forward rather than backward and sideways. We also have the likes of Ramsey arriving late in the box to get on the end of crosses or pick up any loose balls in the box which gives defences other things to think about.

We've dealt with teams who stifle our play and hit us on the break before this season. But you won't get the result you want every time. The conditions didn't help either side, but we had too many underperformers that day. The fact Ozil got Arsenal's MotM award says it all, as I didn't even think he played particularly well.

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Years gone by, you could argue this, but in the last year, this has not been the case.
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Until you actually put away Chelsea, United or City those claims will remain out there, however correct or incorrect they maybe, personally i feel the game on Monday provided compelling evidence that it is the same old Arsenal, although i totally accept your point about the conditions for playing football would have had an effect.