Okay, so it’s been what, uhhmmm a week or almost a week since that heart-breaking game at the bridge. London …No, Stamford bridge didn’t fall down as we thought it might. Alonso wouldn’t allow it! instead, it was more heartache to pointless for Emery and the boiz. The most pulsating yet annoyingly bizarre game of the EPL season thus far was on display. If you were neutral, you would have had sumptuous attacking football served Unai-Sarri style. For us who are loyal fans of Arsenal or even Chelsea’s I may dare to say, Yes, you would have acknowledged the expansive footie on display but been appalled by the reckless abandon of defensive naivete that manages to surprise and excite all at the same time. That being said, here are my thoughts on the game.
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| Image Credits: Getty Images |
1: Don’t Play The Highline Without The PRESSING!!.
Rule number one: Never play the highline if your team can’t aggressively press the opposition!! In case you missed the point, please read rule number one. Arsenal isn’t good at pressing without the ball, especially high up the pitch and this was painfully exposed by Chelsea at the bridge. The first and especially the second goal came as result of the gunners not bein able to press Chelsea into a turnover, with a simple ball over the high line releasing Morata for the second goal. Playing a highline is particularly dangerous if your players aren’t gingered to retrieve the ball immediately they lose it. Doing this against a speedy counter-attacking side I pure suicide so I hope we have learnt our lessons before meeting the likes of Tottenham and especially Liverpool. I repeat do not try this against Liverpool!!
2: Cech Continues to make his case
I don’t know about his twitter spat with the German troll of a club but, Cech seems to have seen the writing on the wall with Leno’s arrival. He out in another solid performance with some key saves at 2-0 nil down and after the gunners drew level. His distribution also seemed better as compared to the first game. He still needs to sort out his foot work on the ball when Arsenal try to play from the back. That like I noted in my last post will likely be his struggle as it’s a weakness, is Leno any better? Well Let’s see.
3: Ozil continues to Polarize the fanbase
The narrative of Ozil continued as he wasn’t able to conjure the magic at Stamford bridge. He did come close in the early minutes of the game when he tried to guide cushioned ball into the net and only missed by whiskers. Mickitaryan had to come out to defend his teammate, stating how much of a fantastic player he is and what an influence he is on and of the pitch. Most fans remain divided though, Ozil can do more…. score goals but that being said, he needs to step it up. He has the coveted #10 jersey now, he is the highest played Arsenal player, the world cup nightmare is over, he should know that by now. it’s time we saw his magic conjured up more consistently…….. God knows Arsenal needs it!
4: Guendouzi remains the bright spot
Its really amazing how far this young lad has come. Only playing second-tier football as a teenager some few months back and now a starter for the gunners. You can understand why he has remained the constant shining spot in both defeats the gunners have suffered this season. Particularly he was very impressive against the far more experience Chelsea midfield of Barkley, Willian, and Jorginho. He was involved in ensuring the ball moved forward with his passes, long and short, completing over 90%, while winning 8 of 11 duels, 4 interceptions, 8 recoveries all ensuring that he covered a lot of ground in 11km. His reaction to Aubameyang’s awful miss was just epic. Love the guys already. It's still a long long season ahead with lots of games, I would want to temper expectations a little cuz its way too early to give him the pass mark just yet, but I must say so far, he is looking good at the base of Arsenal’s midfield. He could form an amazing partnership with Torreira. time will tell.
5: Hammer Time! A must Win
2 games down, 2 losses, no points. The gunners welcome the hammers from the millenium stadium. A west ham team whose form mirror’s the gunners own form as we type this post. I do like Pellegrini, he is a class coach but, there is nothing friendly about my expectations when they visit the Emirates come Saturday. Una and the boiz must chock up the 3 points with goals to spare. We are on a -3 deficit already and that’s not good at all. Whatever boots Auba and Lacazette wore against Chelsea must be changed for their scoring ones. The gunners can’t afford to drop any more points again, definitely not against Westham. No more mister nice guy, so its win Ugly if u must Emery, but just win!! That’s the simple minimum expected from the game. I would not want to go into details on how poor we were defensively against Chelsea, the gunners need to be better organized and Emery must figure out the system that brings out the best in his players. Over the next few transfer windows we shall be able to peek into his grand design for the gunners but for now, let's make lemonade out of life’s lemons. Our short preview for the game this is, if I may change anything from the last team, it would be Torreira starts ahead of Xhaka, sorry bruv but we need more steel in that middle. We could change it up when we are a few goals up by bringing on Ramsey (sign that contract son) and Xhaka, anyway that’s me shaa it's up to Emery. That’s it from us over here, remember to hit the subscribe button so you get our posts as the drop while you can also follow us on Facebook Here Do enjoy the game wherever you are…..Ciaooo
