Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal: atrocious Dean gifts Chelsea the win

Initially I had no intention of writing the review. Not because I was fuming at the result (I was, though), but because the game was lost courtesy of a highly incompetent Dean. Why write about something so trivial and done to death already? I mean, how many times can we say Mike Dean was horrible?

After giving it some consideration, I decided to go ahead and write the review. After all, despite Arsene being almost exclusively asked about the referee’s performance in the presser, there were some other talking points.

The first half

It was a game with little between the two sides. Chelsea dominated a bit more, but it looked as though we allowed them. Knowing for them a win was a must, we had the luxury of sitting back and playing on the counter.

Wenger seems to have picked his team with exactly this point in mind. And it worked. Walcott looked lively, we tried to get the ball to him as quickly as possible, all the while remaining cautious at the back. We didn’t leave space for Chelsea to exploit, Gabriel and Koscielny snuffed out any danger emanating from Costa and Bellerin pocketed Hazard. The stage was set for us to win the game in the second half. But for one thing.

Gabriel’s sending off

After another lost battle in the box, Costa twice used his hands on Koscielny’s face. Deeming it not enough, the Spaniard then pushed Kos to the ground. Inside I was gleeful. I thought “This is it. We got under the fucker’s skin, he committed a blatant act of unsporting behavior. No way he’s staying on the field after that.”

All of this was based on the assumption the referee, Mike Dean, will follow the rules and send Costa off. A brave assumption, as it turned out. Dean only flashed Costa a yellow, while showing Gabriel a booking too, for standing up for Koscielny.

It seemed the incident has run its course, but unfortunately, it didn’t. Costa immediately got into Gabriel’s ear, the Brazilian flicked a foot at the aggressor and got a straight red from the ref. The ref who didn’t even see the incident and seemed to have given in to Chelsea players’ demands.

Now, after some thinking, Gabriel did exactly the thing Arsene warned about: he reacted. He was stupid to do that, however, the simple fact remains Costa should have left the field before Gabriel flicked his foot.

I also didn’t like no one from our players talked Gabriel down and got him away from Costa. The red might have been avoided if someone did. However, none of Cazorla (our captain), Monreal, Koscielny or even Cech calmed down Gabriel. It hints at the lack of leadership and it’s not the first time I level this accusation at our players. Perhaps the situation would have been avoided had Mertesacker been on the pitch, or even Arteta, but neither of them were and Gabriel saw red.

Chelsea’s goals

Both were shit goals, to be honest with you. First was from a free-kick, one which was wrongly given by Dean, the other was from a heavily deflected shot in the 92nd minute. After we went down to 9 men, that is.

Oh, by the way, about Cazorla’s sending-off. It was every bit as absurd as Gabriel’s (I kid, I kid, nothing gets more absurd than that). It was absurd enough, though. Santi is not a malicious player, certainly far less than Costa or Ivanovic. He got the first booking for a tactical foul and the second for going for the ball and mistiming his tackle a bit. However, I was not surprised to see the Spaniard sent off for the only two fouls he committed all day. By that point, I was convinced beyond any reasonable doubt Mike Dean was an incompetent prick. On a side note, are there any Fabregas lovers left after yesterday? Asking for a friend. You see, Cesc did everything in his power to get Gabriel and Cazorla sent off.

Back to Cheslea and after seeing their almighty struggles against 10 men yesterday, I’m convinced the Blues are going nowhere this season. They were far from their best yesterday, but  think it is clear for anyone with a working brain and a pair of eyes attached to it. They dominated territory and possession, sure, but Cech was hardly troubled. If it takes you an undeserved free-kick and a wild deflection to score twice versus ten men, you’ve got problems.

What’s next

For us, it’s recuperation. The players shouldn’t beat themselves up for the loss, the game was ruined by the referee. Our only concern will be bouncing back midweek against Tottenham, something we’ll have to do without Gabriel, Cazorla and Coquelin. Coq sustained a minor knee injury close to the half-time mark.

It’s also worth considering whether we should give a rest to Sanchez and Ozil. The latter to avoid a burnout and a subsequent injury, the former seems way off his best. Alexis was yet again sloppy in possession, overcooking a lot of situations, spurned a brilliant chance to equalise, his cutting inside has become too predictable and easy to defend against and, finally, he didn’t help us defend after we went down a man. Here’s hoping a bit of R&R will help him get his mojo back.

However, I’m more interested in what FA should, and must, do. First off, they should impose a ban on Costa, maybe even fine him. The man was at his dirtiest yet again and he will do it again next week and the next and the next. He deserved a red for the push alone, however, I counted at least four other separate, and bookable, offenses: a push and a hit on Koscielny, a dive and a flick at Oxlade-Chamberlain. Not all of these are red-card punishable, but the cumulative effect could have seen him sent off three times yesterday.

The FA should also contemplate what they with Dean, or, how I will call him from now on, the inept twat. In his usual “By The Numbers” section, @7amkickoff focuses solely on how Arsenal play when the inept twat is the referee and the numbers look grim. Check it out. However, even the highly below-par performance yesterday should give FA food for thought.

Last, but not least, I believe Gabriel doesn’t deserve a three-match ban. One game maybe, purely because he retaliated, but three is harsh, especially if we take into context what Costa did and the fact he stayed on the pitch despite that.

Luckily, there was a silver lining to our loss yesterday, one that considerably cheered me up: City lost at home to West Ham. That means we slip to fifth, but we are still only 5 points behind City, which is a lot better than 8. So kudos to the Hammers.

Right, that’s it for now. Back with a preview of our now absolutely crucial midweek game.

Until then

P.S. Bravo to Koscielny and Chambers, by the way. Koscielny handled Costa's disgraceful behavior with the professionalism which wasn't lauded enough afterwards and Chambers put in a massive second half in defense. The own goal wasn't his fault in the slightest.

Chelsea preview: banish the ghosts at Stamford Bridge

Our first big game of the season has finally arrived and it’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

This will probably sound smug, especially in the light of our midweek demoralising defeat, but I don’t think we’ve been better suited to beat Chelsea in the league for a long time. The reason is simple: their atrocious form.

You do not need me to tell you Chelsea only garnered 4 points in 5 games. You also don’t need me to tell you the Blues currently sit 17th in the league. Or that they have, indeed, conceded 12 goals. You also surely know Chelsea suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in God-knows-how-long.

What you probably don’t know is that Chelsea conceded most shots on target this season: 38. In simple terms, they average almost 8 shots on target (against) per game. Barring Azpilicueta, there is no defender on form right now. Ivanovic, Terry, Zouma and even Cahill are far from their best. Same can be said about Matic, Cesc, Hazard, Costa etc. etc. It’s easier to count those who are on their game, but it looks like two of those will miss the clash: Willian and Pedro.

But I got a bit sidetracked here. The point I was trying to get across is not so much Chelsea’s bad form overall, but rather their horrible defensive record this season. Arsenal, meanwhile, has one of the best offensive records.

Before you scream at me: “But we only scored three goals!”, I’ll elaborate on what I meant: we are poor finishers (for now), but excellent creators. We top the league in chances created (87), big chances created (17) and shots taken from prime positions (33) (these stats courtesy of 7amkickoff). Finishing is the easiest problem to address, so I’m sure we’ll get better in this regard as the season progresses.

But what’s even more interesting is that Arsenal has one of the best defensive records, with just three goals conceded, while also restricting opposition to 3 big chances and only 9 shots from prime positions. We are third in the league, which is about where we deserve to be, however, it’s easy to see where, how and why we have the potential to improve. And now onto the game itself.

Team news update

“We have no injuries and we left Ramsey and Bellerin behind [for the Zagreb game]. They integrate into the squad again. Mertesacker may still be a bit short, I have to decide that today (Friday).”

That’s that, basically, though I regret dearly we have neither Welbeck nor Wilshere to shake things up from the bench at least. This is especially relevant since Arteta, our only midfield option, played 90 minutes against Zagreb, while Oxlade and Campbell hardly grabbed their chances to stake a claim at the starting spot.

I also wonder whether we can find room for some youngsters on the bench, strange as it may seem. Not necessarily tomorrow, I’m talking in general. Shame we don’t have Akpom or Gnabry at hand, but we do still have Iwobi and Jeff. The former looks a particularly tasty option for me, as I was hugely impressed with him energetic display against Lyon. Iwobi looked powerful, fast and every bit as able as the seniors who surrounded him. Hope we’ll see him in action against Spurs in the cup.

Squad and approach

Cech, our full-backs, Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin will, and should, all come back straight in. Apart from maybe Debuchy, their stand-ins did little to convince they are worthy of a starting place.

From where I am standing, there are only two real dilemmas for Arsene Wenger: Mertesacker/Gabriel and Giroud/Walcott. Regarding the German it looks like he’ll be a bit short, so I personally wouldn’t risk him. No need for him to have the first game of that intensity after a month’s break, especially since Gabriel is performing admirably. However, Wenger was full of praise for Per, something that may hint he’ll return sooner rather than later:

"He has a lot of class on the pitch and after the game. He is well respected, also in the dressing room, because he is always 100 percent committed and gives everything for the team.

Every day he works with 100 per cent commitment. They are typically German qualities but even more typically Mertesacker.”

As for striker, Arsene said he’ll make a late decision on that front:

“At the moment I must say that is a decision I still have to make tomorrow morning. I try to use the best solution that gives us the most efficiency offensively.

Every game is different and that is why I don’t deny at all the quality of Walcott. I am very happy that he scored so many goals in so many starts. He shows as well that when he comes on, he can score as well, which he did in Zagreb.”

Might he be playing little bit mind games with Mourinho? Oh the sweet suspense. Mourinho is probably pulling his hair out as we speak, not knowing which central defenders and approach to use because Giroud and Walcott are so vastly different. But then again there’s a suspicion lurking at the back of my mind Mourinho wasn’t being honest regarding Pedro’s and Willian’s availability, so we are going to see whether he likes the taste of his own medicine.

Predicted line-up: Cech - Bellerin - Gabriel - Koscielny - Monreal - Coquelin - Cazorla - Ozil - Alexis - Ramsey - Walcott

As for our approach, it’s difficult to say what we might do. We are used to dominating possession and space against The Blues, but that’s because they allow it, knowing we are unlikely to hurt them this way.

However, we showed willingness to cede possession in the Community Shield. We started brightly, dominated the game, scored the goal and then gave the ball away. This approach proved efficient in the extreme, as Chelsea failed to break through our organised defense, while we got brilliant chances to make it 2-0 right at the death, catching Chelsea on the counter.

And I suspect we might adopt this approach from the off at Stamford for several reasons:

1. Chelsea need a win much more than we do. For us a draw would be an acceptable result, even a good one in the grand scheme of things
2. Chelsea are suspect on the counter. Rediscovering their defensive nous when parking the bus is easier, doing so when playing in the opponent’s half with gaps between midfield and defense is harder
3. Our usual domination tactics may not lead to anything against Chelsea, but we have the perfect counter-attacking weapon in Theo, with Cazorla perfectly able to supply him from the deep

However, knowing Arsene Wenger, I won’t be surprised if he adopts the usual domination approach.

The verdict

Zagreb game may be a different competition and it may not hugely affect what we do on Saturday, but it was still our last game, one which we lost. Thus we need to bounce back. A win is probably the only way to do that.

As always, I believe we have what it takes to win. This feeling is somewhat reinforced by Chelsea’s recent league travails, but only so much. It is the Premier League, it’s Chelsea we are talking about, they will be hell-bent on beating us and they also have the quality to do it. They are the reigning champions, after all.

Here’s hoping we can what needs to be done. Come on you Gunners.

Back with a review

Zagreb 2-1 Arsenal: mental collapse proves costly

After a loss I almost always swear and say I won’t write a review. The truth is, I will. I’ll even go as far as to say you are more likely to see a review of a defeat from me than a review of a resounding win. I’ll explain why.

A little over two years ago I started a blog, which served a dual purpose of relieving my relatives of constant babbling and keeping my English alive. I wrote posts almost every day (definitely every two days). Their quality was, let’s just say, below par. I didn’t care at the time: I knew I was just a novice learning his trade, I didn’t have a lot of readers and I mostly wrote them for myself. It was my outlet, a place where I could express everything I wanted, my grief included.

Fast-forward two years and a lot of things changed. The quality of my posts improved, my audience grew (thanks, Dave) and I’m, in fact, now writing for a website, not just for my blog. But one thing remained: I still use my posts as an outlet, as a means of expressing anger, joy, sadness, frustration or whatever else is on my mind.

Which brings me to my original point: I’m more likely to be here after a loss because this is a place where I can speak my mind freely and know my thoughts will resonate with people. The fact I can share my grief or, at the very least, just put all that bothers me in writing, helps ease the burden. So here goes my review of our yesterday’s debacle.

The rotation

Wenger made six changes to the side that dominated Stoke. Ospina, Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Oxlade and Giroud all came in.

After the defeat Arsene was accused of rotating too much. I presume the same people would have chastised the Frenchman had he put out our strongest squad, especially if these players looked legged against Chelsea.

That’s not the important thing for me, however. The important bit is that the players who came in should have been more than capable of beating Dinamo Zagreb. Just look at who came in: all, bar Ospina, were starters a year ago. The Colombian, meanwhile, was a part of a team which had a storming end to the season.

The problem

“The problem is not the problem, the problem is your attitude to the problem”.

Our yesterday’s problem was not Dinamo Zagreb. Our problem was that of mentality. We didn’t turn up. We expected to walk the game. We thought Dinamo would be easy prey given their Champions League travails. And we were wrong.

I always fancy Arsenal’s chances in any game as long as we fulfil two simple requirements: turn up with the right attitude and play 11v11. It’s when we fail to meet either problems arise. Yesterday we failed to meet both.

I’ll return to the subject of Giroud a bit later and focus my attention on our mentality for the time being. It’s the second time we turned up with that attitude this season and the second time we lost. You see the simple connection? Twice we were overconfident and twice we were punished for our arrogance. Yesterday we were immobile and pedestrian and not only the new faces were to blame. Bar Gabriel, Koscielny and probably Ozil, everyone underperformed hugely (Theo gets an honourable mention for a well-taken goal).

Alexis was invisible all night (only 2 shots, both off target, only 36 attempted passes), Cazorla went into hiding (0 shots, only 2 chances created, both from set-pieces), leaving Arteta to mop up the mess, Gibbs ducked for the second (he fucking DUCKED), however it was Oxlade who is my pick for worst performer. His numbers in full:

1. 40 touches (in 60 minutes). Ospina had 30, for comparison’s sake
2. 1 shot (blocked)
3. 17/22 passes. Only 17 completed passes in 60 minutes
4. 1 chance created
5. 0/4 crosses
6. 2/4 successful dribbles
7. No tackles or interceptions (even attempted). Remember, he was supposed to help out Debuchy
8. One runner he failed to track
9. One own goal

Yes, I know the own goal itself was an accident, however, Oxlade should have done better before the ball rebounded off him into the net.

The case of Olivier Giroud

He didn’t deserve to be sent off, simple as that. Two bookings for dissent and a flailing leg respectively were as soft as it gets. Yes, I would like Olivier to be less articulate on the whole and more cautious when already on a yellow, but I think we know he would not have been sent off for these things in the Prem. As much as we like to moan about Premier League referees, their standard isn’t as low as it currently is in Europe and definitely not as low as that of our yesterday’s official.

However, what I liked far less then the sending off was the reaction of our fans. Olivier was immediately accused of every cardinal sin the fans could have come up with and I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

For starters, he actually had a very good period prior to being sent off. He forced the keeper into a spectacular save from a corner, hit the post from the only chance Oxlade created that game and did everything in his power to drive the rebound in. He held up play as usual, battled up front on his own with no help from teammates and movement between the lines, so labelling him a donkey for the performance is lazy and inaccurate, to put it mildly. I’ve dealt with the sending off above.

We also shouldn’t forget that out of the three goals scored in the League, two came from Olivier Giroud. One he created himself with a beautiful shot, the other was from a big chance. Ollie only took one big chance out of five in five games, but before you start moaning he’s a bad finisher, I’ll say that:

1. He is actually at 20% conversion rate (which is not at all bad for a Prem striker)
2. Theo fluffed 4 chances out of 4 against Stoke ALONE, yet didn’t get half the critique the Frenchman got

So get off Giroud’s back. If we are to be successful this season, we need Ollie on top form, which can only happen if he knows he has our backing.

The aftermath

We knew from the beginning topping the group wouldn’t be easy. Topping any group with Bayern in it is not easy. In that sense yesterday’s result hasn’t changed much. I’m pretty sure we’ll still qualify. If we want to qualify from the first spot we still need at least 4 points from two games against Bayern. What changed is that we no longer have the luxury of slipping up against others.

Now we put ourselves together, get our regulars back into the starting XI and go to Stamford Bridge with the right attitude, Cordon off the area where our Champions League memories reside and focus on the Prem. We are on a decent run there.

That’s all from me for now. Back with a preview.

Until then

Dinamo Zagreb preview: all about building up momentum

Well, this is awkward. A few times a season such a thing happens: we play a team I know nothing, or next to nothing, about. And yet I have to write a preview.

In such cases I try to concentrate more on what we do and how we approach the game and this is exactly what I’m going to do now. However, you can check out this article if you want to learn a little about our opposition.

Team news update

The big news is that Jack Wilshere will have to undergo a surgery on his ankle. The operation and subsequent rehabilitation will see Jack sidelined for around three months, in a year when staying fit was pivotal for Jack’s stake at a starting spot.

For him the lay-off means he’ll miss a lot of football and will find it hard to break into the starting XI when fit again. For us it means Arteta is the only fir central midfielder on the bench. And, though I like the Spaniard a lot, he is just one man. I think it would be sensible to have at least one more option from the bench, be it a talented youngster or someone from the current starting XI. We’ll see how Arsene reacts, but it looks like he is content, for the time being, with having just Arteta as a midfield sub.

Everyone that was available against Stoke will be available today, so we should put together the usual good squad. However, with three players already out with long-term injuries, any further injury would see us looking at youngsters, so fingers crossed we can avoid it.

Squad and approach

“You need to find the balance between urgency and confidence and at times that is difficult as you can quickly be too confident and lose your urgency.”

Interestingly enough, Wenger has confirmed Bellerin and Ramsey were left behind (in London), so that they could get a rest. That means it will be relatively easy to guess who will play.

As highlighted by the quote above, Wenger will most likely use this game as an opportunity to rotate, so I think a slew of regulars will get a rest. It’s also important to keep other players happy, not just provide the starters with a breather.

The big decisions for me are who starts in goal and whether Arteta comes in for Coquelin. I’d say Cech is more likely to start, as we don’t have a tradition of rotating keepers in the Champions League. As for Coquelin, this is one of the few opportunities to rest the Frenchman, so I think Wenger will start Arteta over him.

“I think he has an eye for the goal. The quality of his receptions in the box is at the top. He will become a instinctive finisher when he has a couple of goals behind him.

He needs a few more goals to score a bit more spontaneously. He is quick and gets into good little pockets."

Does this mean Theo will start? For me it sounds like he will. I suspect he’ll lead the line against Chelsea on Saturday, so it’s important to give him a chance to build up some momentum.

Predicted line-up: Cech - Debuchy - Mertesacker - Koscielny - Gibbs - Arteta - Cazorla - Ozil - Oxlade - Alexis - Theo

As for the approach, it’s hard to say, really. Will Dinamo be forced to play even a little bit before their own fans or will they shut shop completely? If they want to make at least third place to subsequently feature in Europa League, their only chance is getting as many points at home as possible.

The verdict

“It is important we go to Zagreb highly focused and conscious at what is at stake there. You can be quickly out of the Champions League and we want to start well and we know we have a battle first to qualify with Bayern Munich [in the group].

We have Olympiacos and Zagreb first and we have to finish above them and the result will come down to that. I think it is important to start well.”

Well, that about sums it up. Having learned the hard way what complacency can lead to, we should go into this game with our usual attitude. If we manage that, we have the quality to claim the three points and kick off our European campaign.

So come on you Gunners.

Back with a review.

Until then

Arsenal 2-0 Stoke: profligate Gunners get the much-deserved points

I’ll start my review with two simple facts:

1. Jack Butland would be my MoM if I could have voted him. The man made 10 saves. That’s more than Petr Cech against Liverpool (8).
2. If you can’t enjoy the win and the performance because Arsenal were quite profligate again (or for any other reason), I suggest you find a new team to support or, even better, a new sport to watch.

I suspect the review will be a short one today, as I’m not feeling well. I’ll thus get straight to the point.

The chances we had

“Maybe if I wanted to be critical I could say that that there is too big a difference between the number of chances we created and the number of goals we scored but that will come quickly once you win your games at home.”

Frankly, we nearly played Stoke off the park in the opening ten minutes and we came out of that period without finding the back of the net, I admit I was worried. Games where you start like that and fail to score an early goal don’t always turn out the way you want them to, but luckily, it was not the case yesterday.

Ozil and Cazorla were our top players yesterday in terms of chances created, with 8 and 7 respectively (each got an assist for his troubles). Unless I’m much mistaken, Ozil created the same amount of chances yesterday as Fabregas in 5 games (lol). The German also tops the league in 2015 calendar year with 76 chances created. On a side note, Bellerin fancied 4 chances for his teammates yesterday, making him 3rd in this regard.

On overall, we created 24 chances yesterday (remember, a chance is a pass that leads to a shot), but the crazy stat is that out of those 24, 9 were big chances. A big chance occurs in a one-on-one, as a result of a shot from close range or in other scenarios in which you’d reasonably expect your striker to score. By taking 2 of these 9, our conversion rate went from 0% to 12% (last year we had a 45% conversion rate of big chances).

You can check out some other interesting bits here.

Theo Walcott vs Olivier Giroud

I’ll put it in black-and-white: Theo was extremely profligate. Out of 9 big chances we had, 5 fell to Theo: a rebound after Sanchez hit the post, a header, a one-on-one, a flick at the near post and, finally, a goal.

In simple terms, Theo had a bad day in terms of finishing. He scored the least easy-looking chance, yet horribly squandered everything else. Giroud would have been slaughtered for such a performance (indeed he was, when he failed to take any of his 6 big chances against Monaco in February).

The upside is, of course, that Theo did finally score. Also, he got into dangerous positions, ones in which Giroud probably wouldn’t have. I think a run of games will ensure Theo’s finishing improves and it looks like Wenger will give him a chance:

“He has chances. He can be a prolific goalscorer. When you come out of the game and look at the amount of chances he scored. The bigger the belief he has to score the more he will score. But he gets in good situations.”

Giroud, meanwhile, came on as a substitute and sealed the game in the 85th minute. But not before he fired wide with the goal at his mercy. It’s amazing, really. Ollie can screw up the easiest of chances and then score a worldie. I don’t have stats to back this up, but I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking this.

However, I’ve liked what I’ve seen yesterday. Letting Theo rip from the start and then throwing on Giroud for 20 minutes looks to be a very good plan, one which suits both the players and the team. Theo’s impact is maximised when he starts (11 goals in 11 starts), Ollie is a devastating player from the bench. Hope we’ll see more of this over the course of the season.

By the way, do you get the feeling we cross the ball when Theo is on and then start playing through balls when Giroud comes on? It’s not the first time I get this feeling. Weird.

What next?

Among other things, Wenger vaguely touched on why Mertesacker didn’t play:

“He should not worry. He should just come back and play. It is good we have four centre backs and this produces a problem.

It is always a vicious circle and at some stage you just have to believe in your players and Gabriel has shown that he can play with Mertesacker, he can play with Koscielny and he can be a great defender.”

Does this mean Mertesacker has been dropped in favour of Gabriel? Cause Wenger didn’t exactly say “Per is short” or “Per hasn’t yet fully recovered”.

When I saw the squads, I thought that Mert just isn’t fully fit, yet from Wenger’s comments it looks like this wasn’t a decision based on fitness. Guess the next game will tell us more.

Our next game is the first Champions League game, where we face Dinamo Zagreb away. And a couple of days later we have a trip down the road to our old pal Mourinho. The poor lad isn’t looking too good these days, that with back-to-back losses and four points in five games. Hope we’ll be the final nail in his coffin.

Right’ that’s it for now. So much for keeping it short. Enjoy the win and I’ll be back with you with a preview of our midweek game.

Until then