Blue Armour

Everyone is angry, understandably, but I hope this match doesn't ruin anyone's day. If you're going to hold onto the rage and expectation that something drastic happens in the next 24 hrs, like Lampard getting sacked, forget it. Not going to happen. Also a 4th defeat doesn't do anything much at this point other than more or less confirm that we're not title challengers in anyway. We were always going to drop points in this match. And I mean just by the stats alone. (Not because its destiny or a Christmas present for Arsenal). I'm repeating what I said. Arsenals first penalty against Chelsea since 2007. Arsenal's first direct free kick against Chelsea since 2004. That, along with the outrageous goals from Sako, missed penalty from Jorginho. This was a seriously warped result. All it took was a little lack of intensity from the Chelsea players to produce this perfect storm of a result.

Looks like the slump is officially here. The W Ham result was only delaying the inevitable. The team sees that the PL title charge is no longer realistic, and have given up. Prepare to see up and down results like this until the last third of fixtures, when they decide to get their tails up to try and sneak into top 4. Symptomatic of Chelsea post-2015.

First Arsenal penalty against Chelsea since 2007 First Arsenal direct free kick against Chelsea since Henry in 2004. Arsenal, a side with 5 points from their last 10 games are 2-0 up Its like the clock was itching for this to happen.

Yes, it was so obvious. Regardless of how it actually happened, the math showed it was only matter of time before Arsenal got their tails up again. Its stupid. And this overreaction is even more ridiculous. Can guarantee a lot of Arsenal fans will be clamoring for Arteta to stay and get backed. A lot of Chels fans will claim that Mikel is a better manager. Anyway, regardless of the horrendous 45 mins. Still not ruling us out. 2-0 goal leads are not unassailable. And definitely not against a team in this position of the league

Fucking knew this script was written. Doesn't matter who we had in charge, or who was starting. This is how the game was going to pan out

Didn't realize Liverpool & Tottenham were getting an extra day of rest. Thought it was just Man Utd. Scumbags, the lot of them. Greedy, just like the arseholes at FIFA who push for international fixtures in these times.

Fucking annoying...and he's not the only one. Almost everyone and their dog is saying that Arsenal are due a Christmas present, and apparently we should oblige by sticking to the script. So many things killing the pre-match mood.

Hazard is one of the best things to ever happen to Chelsea, both on and off the pitch. IMO, single handedly defined an era at this club, just like Drogba/Lampard/Terry did.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9054745/As-January-fast-approaches-winners-losers-transfer-window.html Interesting to see a relatively unbiased article from the Mail, considering all the flak they've given Timo (some of it rightfully)

Kante slipped in that corner which led to their goal. Thankfully he already slipped when playing West Ham last game. So hopefully that means he's fulfilled his quota for this week. Or at least this month. Or this season.

Same. Playing Emerson itself doesn't inspire confidence,..Emerson against an 'out of form' Willian sounds even worse. Thiago Silva will have his hands full. Emerson being the only available LB is almost reason enough to go with 3 atb (and yes, I know playing 3 at the back was useless at the Emirates last season)

Good for those teams, but sounds 'meh' if any one other than Brentford win it. For Spurs it would be just a repeat of their 2008 carling cup win. A simple reason for them to say that they finally broke their trophy drought. For City, it will be another routine Carling cup win, just like Arsenal and the FA cup. A United victory would mean more for Ole, than United. A chance for Ole to claim his first trophy as manager, and a chance for United fans to bleat when comparing him to Frank.

Well..not sure how much of a positive this is, but at least Tammy, Giroud, Pulisic and Azpi have scored against Arsenal. And at least one, if not all, of them will be playing on Sat.

The pundits on ESPN said there will actually be more pressure on Chelsea in this match, because anything other than a win against this team would be unacceptable. I'm so nervous about this match given how the stage is being set,...will take any kind of win. Even if we scrape it by some fluke. Losing or drawing in any way would be beyond embarrassing. Also have to hope that no shit refereeing or VAR decision comes into the picture. Would be typical for the officials to grant Arse or one of our rival teams a favor

Looks like Aubameyang is a doubt for this game (and the next few games apparently) ?

Struggling to think what this ass-whooping will mean for our match. You would think they'll be determined to put things right again on their home ground. Thank goodness they won't have crowds in their stadium.

Think they're planning to do more frequent checks for tier 4 area clubs. If nothing else, hope it helps to isolate infected players before they spread it everywhere.

Okay my mistake ( @MoroccanBlue ) , thanks for correcting. Yeah, now I recall. It worked well against Spurs, but backfired against Arsenal (who were anyway playing dour football at the time)

tbf...we've beaten all 3 of them convincingly in some matches under Lampard. But yes, our overall record against each of those 3 NEEDS to improve.

I think the first time we tried 3-4-3 at Emirates, we were decent. The mistake for that game was that Lampard started with Emerson (sigh) and later hooked him to bring on Alonso. I don't recall that we changed formation (could be wrong, that game was a year ago). It was just LWB for LWB change if I recall correctly

Seriously ought to consider going with a back 5, for at least one of these games. Don't care how good Silva & Mendy have been, don't think they can compensate for every single mistake that both our stand in fullbacks could make. Plus it could make us less predictable. We can always switch back to a 4-3-3 during the game if needed.

Maybe trust Emerson at LB for 1 game.., but expect him to be reliable for all 3 games including City?? No way. Attackers like Mahrez will turn him inside out. It would suck to change our team shape for just one missing full back, so not sure what the best option is. Silva could be real busy for the upcoming games. Hopefully James can return, and we can play Azpi at LB instead

Who is the referee for this game anyway? Better not be Antony Taylor. EDIT: Just checked., Its going to be Michael Oliver Fourth official: Stuart Attwell. VAR: Paul Tierney. Assistant VAR: Constantine Hatzidakis.

What are the odds that we play a 3 at the back against Arsenal with Alonso returning as LWB.

Ah well.. I'm not expecting much from Emerson or Azpi in attack, but I hope they can remain defensively solid. Our central attacking midfield needs to step up to support our wide players.