We do have more depth. JM has sorted our squad depth for the first time in ages. But also we have a winning mentality. You can't just switch that on and off. Barca real United etc play ALL competitions to win. Arsenal need to win the Carling cups and fa cups if they are ever to win the league
The WUMS have started to appear now that we've had two pretty poor results, one against one of arguably the best sides in Europe and tonight against a resilient and slick Chelsea side, and us with loads of first teamers out. I wouldn't read too much into it.
Just got back from the game, and that was terribly bad. Please people, don't make ****ing excuses for that loss, what's up with this new dumb excuse of "well we didn't get dominated bla bla bla" Chelsea were better, clinical, and it doesn't matter if you didn't get dominated and still lose, a loss is a loss. That's 2 games against 2 big teams in a week, at home, and it's been 2 losses. Come Saturday, nothing but 3 points will do, I don't care if we're losing 5-0 and come back to 5-5, we need to win against a big team, especially at will be at home again, if we can't be picking up the wins against the big teams at home, then you can forget about being contenders, we need a win to make a statement. And for the love of God, Bendtner should NEVER play for us again, those of you who have hopes that he might 'surprise' us need to take your heads out of the sand, the only surprise is he managed to play for Arsenal making 50+k a week.
Chelsea weren't exactly playing their 1st eleven, if our B team isn't good enough, that's not an excuse you know? We have lost 2 games against 2 big teams at home, I certainly would read a lot into it, pretending that it's not a big deal is just being in denial. It's not good enough, and we need to win on Saturday, not just be content with getting a point as you said before.
Just watched the game after recording it on sky. Even game. Very similar stats and both teams had times in the game when they where in control. Didn't quite click up front and i think Bendtners poor performance was key in this. I'd like to see Park get the nod as the back-up ahead of Bendtner tbh. Chelsea obviously got the two goals, but i think it was a close game. I thought Ryo did well as a young player against a good team. I think he offered a lot defensively, working really hard and he kept getting into good positions, won a coupel of corners etc... I think he will make it at Arsenal even if only as a squad player. Jenkinson crossing was poor today, despite getting forward a lot ad his header was poor for the first goal. Overall not too dissapointed considering it's a league cup game and that we didn't have Ozil/Giroud on from the start and where missing Oxo/Pod/Arteta/Flamini/Sczc. But we will need to come out firing on all cylinders against Liverpool on the weekend. Our next few league fixtures could really help shape our season or close up the top of the table between several teams. Liverpool and Southampton are both near the top of the table and playing good football and Utd despite there rubbish start to the league have a squad filled with quality players and can't ever be written off, especially at Old Trafford. If we come out of these 3 games still top of the table then i will start to gain some real hope for a shot at the title this season. Another note about this game - Chelsea have a great squad with fantastic depth. They will be up there come the end of the season and if we are still in it come the final couple of months it's them i think we will be going up against. I'm impressed by the squad and with Mourinho leading them they will be title challengers rather than top 4 contenders this season i think.
Napoli-Spurs etc are good teams, but Chelski-Dortmund are a step up and better, and we've faced both at home, and lost, no matter how you look at it, that's not good.
Don't worry my friend, a few posters here sadly live in a bubble and always manage to spin something bad into "hey this is a positive and we did good", tune into Arsenal fan tv to get some proper reactions. Most fans I saw today were sure as ****ing hell not going around saying "yeah this wasn't too bad, no problems bla bla bla". The only positive is that since we're not in the cup, it means no Bendtner.
Of course we need to improve, though I'm not that bothered about this loss (A couple of players performances I am), but this assertion thst we've played no good team is just ****ing bullshit to put Arsenal down. We do have to step up vs the top top sides (players look far better away from home)
Btw, just for the other fans out there saying so what it's only the CC etc, Arsenal ARE NOT IN A POSITION to be saying well this is a minor cup, we're not in any position to be throwing competitions out, it's only bloody ****ing november, you don't start saying it's ok to lose in a competition during this time, maybe come April and we're in the league hunt, and still in the FA cup then you can talk about sacrificing a competition, **** me, some of you lot on here are really ****ing arrogant all of a sudden thinking Arsenal have done something to be able to say OH WELL WHO GIVES A **** ABOUT THE CARLING CUP.
As long as we don't beat your Chelsea's etc, the wums-pundits will have the ammunition, it's up to this team and Wenger to shut them up, they have the perfect opportunity on Saturday.
The thing you have to realise is this, and nobody has picked up on this point before, that Mourinho sets his teams up such a way that it almost restricts Arsenal to a certain style of play. Now this in no way absolves us of blame tonight but there are a few factors to take note of. One, we had no width and Chelsea purposefully defended deep reducing us to aimlessly passing outside and around the area. They set out with the aim of not losing the match first and waited for us to err, which we did (Arsenal often offer up opportunities defensively and a clinical team will take advantage), once Chelsea had their one goal lead it was easy to congest the midfield and narrow the play as much as possible forcing Arsenal into a constricted area. As the game lengthened, they knew they would find opportunities on the break, as is normal for any side. In fact the way they played today reminded me very much of what we did to Sp*rs a few months back. If we'd not conceded the first STUPID goal, we might have been in with a chance but the thing is, we can never finish a game with individual errors leading to the opposition scoring. Until our defensive mindset is regained and we learn to concentrate for 90 minutes, we can expect similar results against any top side. Basic errors are what are stopping us from progressing. Always has been.
Disagree. I actually thought we started on the front foot and had the early momentum. It had nothing to do with being defensive. Everyone knows how to play against Arsenal at the Emirates. Stay compact and counter, that's something Chelsea, United and even Villa have done for years now and something many teams in Europe have done including Dortmund. For Arsenal to progress they have to have a Plan B. The real reason why Chelsea won is because we worked harder off the ball and pressed high up the pitch so when Arsenal did win the ball they had to travel 30-40 yards to get within a sniff of our goal. Both Chelsea goals came via lapses in concentration and it's something Wenger will want to redress ahead of the game against Liverpool because you can't make those kind of mistakes against Suarez/Sturridge and expect a different outcome.
me : put a good strong team out , get in front maybe by two goals , take off a couple of players to rest them for the weekend . Arsene : put a weak team out , go behind , continue watching till the 60th minute , put a couple of stronger players on ,now we chase the game thereby giving them ample chance of catching you on the break , lose. If you start out NOT strong enough to win , you will lose . Start out as strong as possible , get in front , let THEM chase the game .
