Blue Armour

I think Dave can at least defend. Unlike ball watching Emerson.

Hopefully ONLY if both Alonso and James are fit. Any other full back playing will just put us on the back foot

You should be telling that to the board. In the Gooners case, that is exactly their problem. Their management doesnt care about trophies

No...no Emerson. His last real contribution was to gift Arsenal their goal at the Emirates. No more sub standard players filling roles because they are 'right' or 'left' footed.

Bogey stadium. No surprise in dropping points...but that win though. Its like a bunch of Spurs and Arsenal fans went to a witch doctor and commited some obscene sacrifice to get us to lose 3 points

Yeah, a bunch of our players had zoned out in the box thinking there was nothing dangerous to come. In fact I would blame neither Kepa and Rudiger for that one. They just happened to be closest. I would blame the players who were nowhere near the ball when they clearly were supposed to

Happy new year people!

I'm curious with your reasoning. If I choose to be 'pragmatic' why would top 4 not be a possibility? We are one match away from being halfway through the season, and regardless of the result we would be at least be level on points with 4th place at least. This is despite us starting the first half of the season with several players injured, and no transfer window. If I was pragmatic, I would assume the second half to yield even better results. You can play negative Nancy, as you are entitled to your opinion, but I'm not sure why you want others to adopt that view.

If a single match could encapsulate everything, today's match did. Our defensive line sucks ...whether it's a back 3 or a back 4

Ah that's annoying. Happy Birthday, though!

I stand corrected. Not sure what I confused it with back there. Apologies

Meh . Unlike many on here, I have next to ZERO reaction to this match. Chelsea have one of the worst boxing day match records in recent history. It's only typical that we beat Spurs away and end up embarrassing ourselves at home. When I saw the same 3at the back formation, with Emerson/Azpi at wingback I knew were in for an insipid first half. Out of form CHO starting was the cherry on top. Plus Kovacic out and RLC injured, we dont have any real runners from midfield. So on to the next. Jan transfer window cant come soon enough. Rudigers rustiness has convinced me that we need a new CB in addition to a LB

Great return after a spell on the sidelines. Well done

Rotate. We need him for Arsenal. Would switch to 433 for Southampton and back to 3 at the back for Arsenal

Lol. It may not seem like it, but I think Mourinho was low-key complimenting Rudiger there Sure, he might have been really annoyed about it, but if Rudiger was on his team and did it, he would have loved it.

Completely agree.... Sorry, meant to say 5 at the back for THIS game. Wouldn't want to see that all the time

Told ya, that 5 at the back is the way to go for this game Agree, @Tomo ???

Well RB Leipzig are higher than Bayern in the table. And we saw how Spurs did against Bayern..

I gave Azpi a lot of stick last season, and questioned his ability as a captain. But this season, barring the first few games and the mistake at Everton he has been good, especially during the 7 game winning run. I would definitely pick him over Alonso, or current-form Emerson who has declined since picking up an injury early this season. At this point, with Rudiger just regaining match fitness, I trust none of our defenders in a back 4, and that includes James as well. We need to put them in a 5 so that each of them have adequate cover. At least for this game

I agree...after the Wolves game, 3atb was boring to watch, almost akin to Contes 2nd season The only reason I suggested it, was to get a reaction out of the team. Because as far as the PL goes, the team is in a slump. They seemed to have given up ever since the Etihad game. Besides changing formation and starting personnel, I'm not sure how Frank is going to get a reaction out of his team. Not sure if he's yet at that stage of his career ala Klopp, who can motivate his team otherwise.

We are in a slump, and drastic change is needed for this game to give the team a shake up. Ditch the 433 for this one. Go to 5 at the back, with James as RWB. Hopefully Tomori will also be fit in time. Wing backs will allow for Pulisic to move into the center to influence play. We've been leaking goals for a while now, and a change in mindset is needed for this game at least. At least to throw Mourinho off, in what he would expect to be an open game

Yeah, the east and west stands were pretty quiet today. At the risk of sounding biased, those are the stands which have the most tourists. Dont think it's going to change much, until we expand. On a side note. Knew VAR would rear its ugly head today. It's becoming my eternal enemy

Wooah..didnt know they designed the birds nest in China. Club always had good taste when it comes to these kind of things

It is a beautiful design. Love the inter arching brickwork as well., and of course the tall corridors going around the stadium. Almost like a spectacular shrine of some sort.

Interesting to see they have preserved the old shed wall in those pics.