I'm a little bit peeved that we lost that, as based on our first-half chances, I don't think we deserved to lose. However, you can't defend the way we did for all 3 of those goals and expect to challenge for things. These players still have a lot to learn. That being said, Aubameyang picked a bad day to miss three absolute sitters. That game could have been put to bed by half-time. Chelsea were better than us in the second-half and they took control of midfield. We were inviting too much pressure onto our midfield and defence because we kept dropping back and the deeper we got, the harder it was for us to break away. Aubameyang couldn't hold the ball up to relieve the pressure from Chelsea's relentless pressing. And when Hazard came on, I knew they were going to get another goal, so it was vital for us to get a 3rd. Shame that we didn't. Overall, it's mixed emotions. I wasn't expecting us to get anything from the game. But to lose in the 82nd minute because of wasted sitters, and slack defending from Lacazette and no-one in midfield tracking Alonso's run, is a bit difficult to take. So long as we learn from this and aim to put it right, that's all that matters. Onwards and upwards.
We should have been 2-4 up at HT and had this game in the bag. Ironically our defence was better in the 2nd half despite conceding the goal that cost us the game. I can see what Emery is trying to do, but this is going to take time to gel. We look horribly disjointed at times. I would honestly think about dropping Bellerin for Lichsteiner. And Torreira has to be ahead of Xhaka. Guendouzi was a positive again. But make no mistake this is a project that needs a lot of work. We just need to stay calm, keep playing and working and get a win under our belt to calm things down.
Our defending is way too easily exploited. I am not sure what these guys do in training but we were all over the shop at the back.
Our keeper looked suspect and your forwards wasted some big chances And why the hell is Xhaka starting? He is a terrible player!
Well not sure what to say about that performance. We lost, so can’t be happy. But we came back from 2-0 down, which is difficult to do against a top 6 side. I think defensively we are still awful, and I think we started the game extremely poor, that same backward sideways “playing from the back” without going anywhere. This is the type of game that will be much better evaluated about a year from now. Today, I think it’s still just early days in the emery reign and the team needs more games to get used to his tactics.
Yeah just said, Torreira needs to start ahead of Xhaka. Bad game for Aubameyang to miss those sitters. But he'll come good. Kepa looks vert underwhealming for £71m. He looks like a Kid.
Early days I guess. I will admit i'd never even heard of the kid. Like I said in my original post, two teams very much in transition, both all over the place. Could have gone either way
On a slightly more positive note, I thought Guendouzi was outstanding in midfield. We've picked up a real gem of a player there. He's going to be quality. The confidence he plays with is incredible, for a player that came from the second tier of the French division. He certainly doesn't look out of place.
Yeah crazy game really. We should have been 2-4 up at HT and killed that game. We swung from being utterly clueless to looking like we could score at will in the first half. You controlled the game better in the 2nd half, but we still had chances to score. Bit gutted to lose that game based on the overall play. Thought we deserved at least a draw. But you're right, early days for both teams.
I think a fair assessment would be to say both teams are indeed on a level and will probably be fighting it out with either Sp*rs or United for 4th, 5th and 6th place. Chelsea's forwards were way more clinical than ours. Our defending was about the same. I think we played better than we did against City. Looked more cohesive going forward. Our defending is shocking.
Kovacic looked good when he came on as well. You've got an incredible midfield it has to be said. Also, I'm so facking sick of that prick Alonso scoring against us . Always seems to do us over.
Genuinely think that if Hazard hadn't come on in the second-half, we would have got something from that. His acceleration, agility and ball control are just too good. Chelsea fans must be delighted he's not going to Madrid this Summer. He can single-handedly win a match by himself. Players like that are so valuable to any team.
Knew as soon as he skinned our fullback that Chelsea would score. We conceded a similar goal against City last week. Our fullbacks are positionally suspect and that's only exacerbated when you have a quality forward haring down on them.
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of him defensively and actually thought he was partially to blame for Iwobi's equaliser. But offensively, there aren't many better wing-backs in the league. Times his runs well and has a lethal left foot on him.
Torreira and guendouzi in midfield are the way forward for me for sure. Surely xhaka must be benched now. I think lacazette losing the ball and then being casual about it is VERY Wenger era. It’s those types of things emery must eradicate, and the players need to know things like that are not acceptable.
That was poor from Lacazette. Can put it down to early season rustiness. But that sort of **** needs to be stamped out pronto.
