Game of two halves. I can only say I've never witnessed an Arsenal side as poor and devoid of heart as I did in the first half, we could and should have been out of site at half time and 4 or 5-0 wouldn't have flattered us in the slightest. Second half I don't recall us getting out of our own half, it was a spineless display and a better side would have probably beaten us. The pleasing thing was the work rate and the performance. Showed two different sides to our game and now an 11 point gap over Arsenal and 5 over Spurs (as it stands). Reading and Newcastle away who IMO are poor sides so hopefully we can build up a bit of momentum.
we seem to struggle to keep possession when teams step up a gear against us, and with the players we have we should be far more potent on the break when we are pinned back as we were in the second half. And as for torres, one scuffed shot and a heavy touch when through on goal and he failed to stay on his feet when trying to hold the ball up which then led to their goal, he really does not look good enough.
Suprised by the result, not by the game. Firstly Arsenal were very poor for half the game. Chelsea played almost as well as they have at any stage for first 45 mins. Second half is what should worry us. We were reduced to very ordinary by Arsenal simply upping the tempo, and frankly, we couldn't go with them. Why ?? Well I think it's because Lamps ran out of legs, and Rafa doesn't know how or when to make subs. Frank has played brilliantly first half, even passing like he hasn't done in a long time. He played equally as well for 3 games in a short time, and was clearly knackered by 60 mins. So when the midfield stops working, the team struggles big time, exposing yet again our lack of a great midfielder. Luiz wasn't in he squad, so Rafa fiddles with the attack, but fails to correct the problem .This worries me. Ocsar and Ramires as a pairing cannot control the midfield, both played very well but don't give us the stability if in central mid. We have a hole to plug for sure. That said, how good are Mata and Hazard ?? Ba also looks the business. 3 points earned, in the end, more difficult than it could have been.
So you're saying that Rafa should have taken Frank off earlier and yet he was castigated for taking him off after 80mins the other night. Seems he just can't win can he? Should he rest Lamps for the Swansea match or shouldn't we play 2nd string then? It's a bit like Ba missing the chance to put the game to bed.If that had been Torres he'd have been slagged off all day long. Fans eh!!!!!
CP--Thank you!! I keep going on about subbing and the fact that Raffa seems to ass it up frequently, but it falls on deaf ears! Today it was clear to the whole world and his dog that we had a striker on the pitch who when we were bossing it, booted the ball everywhere apart from where it was supposed to go! We had a classy striker on the bench, who was ripe for action , but he sat it out until the game was virtually over, before he was called on to sub! I wonder sometimes if I could deliver the prizes that Roman wants!
Rafa is paid several million to make the decisions. When he took him off early, it was not a tactical move that improved the team, in fact, it did the opposite. When Frank was very obviously flagging, as he was 2nd half against Arsenal, he should have been brought off. Both of Rafas' decisions were wrong, not a case of either /or. Thats why, for me, he's not a great manager. I would not rest Lamps for the Swansea match, but would make provisions for him needing to be subbed after 50 mins or even at half time, by having a mid field replacement sitting on the subs bench. Personally I would not play 2nd string, as we are looking better for 4th place. Had we lost to Arsenal, I would have said play 2nd string. However, fortunately for all concerned, I'm not Rafa.
Not convinced. First half was all down to a shockingly poor Arsenal performance, and I'm disappointed we didn't score a 'clean' goal. As someone has already said - given the amount of space we had, we should have been out of sight by half time. Second half was all down to the fact that we seem unable to gear ourselves up. It was obvious Arsenal would come out all guns firing, yet we didn't seem to anticipate that. I would expect the manager to have prepared us more properly for the expected onslaught. To Rafa's credit though, the Bertrand sub was a great one. Hazard still has a lot to learn about the defensive side of the game and it was only with the Bertrand sub that we began to get back into the game. Probably made the difference between one point and three. Despite his goal, Mata, like Hazard, is infuriatingly frustrating when we get put under pressure. He seems to freeze up when not given time and space on the ball. Not sure he is the right kind of player we need to defend against an onslaught. I such circumstances, a midfield composed of: Oscar, Luiz, Lampard, Mikel (if available), Ramires - players whose performance levels are not affected as much in situations where there is a lack of space.
CP/Blue - agree with the subs issue. I was getting madder and madder yesterday, watching what I thought was going to end up in a draw (or worse) after an exceptional 1st half. Anyone could see that Arsenal stepped up and changed a gear in the 2nd half, and we (for whatever reason) were just not able to cope with it. After 10 minutes of backs to the walls and losing total control in the middle (without the ability to hold the ball up when moving forward), Rafa should have made 1 or 2 changes to stabilise matters. By the time he started messsing around, it was almost too late. Whether it was going to be Torres, Oscar or Lampard is definitely a matter for the coach (as he should know/see/understand their fitness levels as well as being able to see how they are playing), but it was obvious as anything that something needed to change. We did have some chances in the 2nd half, but it almost looked like we were too scared to win it. I appreciate we can't expect to dominate teams like Arsenal (as we did in the 1st half) week-in week-out, but we definitely need more consistency.
Agreed we need more consistency but sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition who went for it with nothing to lose. It would have seen a whole lot more confortable had Ba taken his chance to before the late onslaught. We are a work in progress but top 4 looks a lot healthier this morning for us and we've got home games against everton and spurs to come.
Chelsea - Champions of Europe 2012 Don't disagree with that view, but my point is that we would have known that's what they would be trying to do, so should have been prepared for it in terms of formation and players/positions. You're right to talk about us being work in progress, especially when you look through the current probable starting 11, vs what it was 12-18 months ago. Losing Drogba as well as reduced roles/playing time for Lampard & Terry is massive for us. They've been that spine for so long. Add to that the attmept to play more attacking options / be more creative, it's clear that results were going to be mixed this year - for me, even more reason why Lampard should be with us for another year. I'd like to think that we can hold 3rd this season.
Agree completely. Rafa did get the Bertrand sub right, but too often, and not just the Arsenal game, his subs are like for like. That gives us legs, but bugger all else. It seems to me that the subs bench needs to always have an option for keeping the midfield working. That means someone to control things. it's not Ramires, his strengths are in his tireless running, it might be Oscar, it certainly depends on whose at DM. As a work in progress we are on track, in my opinion because the new players have matured and slotted in, as opposed to the Manager bringing them on. We are flush with clever darting players, sadly lacking in mature creative midfield,though Luiz looks better than promising, and playing around with the back 4 too much for mine. JT will be a big asset, but don't see him as the be all any more after this season. Third place is looking more secure, who knows, we might even scrape 2nd. Whatever, we REALLY should go all out for top 4.
