Magic Lamps

off to Real madrid lol. a shame that this ridiculous work permit issues prevent the EPL from competing for players out of the top footballing nations. gives us a huge disadvantagein commerically accessing the emerging markets of china, india

i guess there won't even be a stream actually. has always been like that in the first round of our games vs lower league opposition

Doesn't really matter which team we pick. does not even matter if we go out actually. better go out in the first round of the coc than lose the final anyway bego Aina(?) Papy JT Baba RLC Ramy Oscar Traore Remy Kenedy To my shame i don't know shit about aina, but the midfield should be defensive enough to contain any danger for our improvised defense. the offense is a bit improvised, too but has plenty of pace and trickery and finishing prowess so it should suffice for league 1 level

Well, Arsenal did set up to exploit Ivanovic's weaknesses but he just refused to blink. the weeks rest did him a whole of good. Despite of arsenal's attacks 54% came on his side, of all our players, he won most tackles and aerial duells, completed the most clearances and interceptions. If only we would rest him more so he can be fresh for challenges like this one.

It is Diego fucking Costa. He doesn't get sent off. Have you ever seen him red carded? I haven't. No one in the last 3 and a half years has. Arsenal only had a few poor shots on target and only once proper chance by accident. we were in control of the game all the time, we would have been even if they had 12 players. We might not have turned the corner yet, but what is most important in football is confidence and luck and it looks like we got both back. MOurinho masterminded the rest and credit where it is due, it was a sublime tactical display. Most other teams play a low block vs arsenal and park the bus. we did the opposite and played a high line, made the midfield tight and they did not get hold of the ball at all. yes we are far from perfect, but we again showed the intensity you need at this level after it had been missing for weeks if not months. I am not a fan of Fabregas either, but as long as he does what he does best, i am satisfied. he is not a world class midfielder but can deliver world class assists.

He got a player sent off without even committing a single foul the whole game. He looks like a hothead, a thug, but he is extremely clever in that. he winds up the opposition but escapes punishments. That makes the opponents angry and angry men make mistakes.He played shit but still arguably won us the game with that sending off. can't complain. He has not been sent off since 122 games in which he only recorded 36 yellow cards btw, completely in control of wha the does. when he slapped koscielny, he knew no ref watched him. when he stood up, chest bumping kos, he had his hands close to his body, he would never get sent off for that either. That's just what he does. And everyone at the club knew what he was like. a warrior. some might think this is just what we need.

Walsall and and a horrible Newcastle will be just the right opponents at just the right time. Hopefully we can crush Porto afterwards and we are in a decent position to recover some of the 8 points to City in fall

So all in all, improved display today. best we have been all season on both ends. still far from what we are capable of but a nice step in the right direction. Ivanovic was back to his old self which means. no perfection but a combative display. he even delivered 2 good crosse. i was dumbstruck. Azpilicueta was an absolute beast tho. anyway, our defensive shift was improved. arsenal even with 11 men had close to zero chances, i only remember the sanchez one and a couple of half chances like that walcott shotlet. our high line dominated them all game, no wonder we had all the posession. Fabregas whipped in a delightful freekick for zouma to crown his motm display with a brilliant header. midfield and attack were decent in passing but still lack decisivness in the final third. esp, the front 3 were misfiring. with that and our midfield improving, i can see us becoming one of the better teams in europe again. also matic played a brilliant 2nd half.

and de bruyne scores on his debut....fuck it

incredible what west ham have done so far.on the other hand city don't looklike clicking with kdb at the 10 and otamendi-mangala in defense.

well, this contriubtion might make him more useful there than here.

finally hazard scores. so deserved

wut? arsenal got a 2nd red. again my stream was down in that exact moment. what happened?

well, that was maybe not a penalty but surely a freekick but i guess chelsea just don't get penalties

pedro and haz are so wasteful

btw costa has been a dead end to our play almost every time. crazy how many turnovers he causes

we really have to be more clinical but boy have arsenal corners been shit. agains that ours vs everton were setpiece masterclass

this is probably why pedro did not start for barca

them down to 10 men at least gives me the confidence that we won't lose. either 1-0 us or 0-0 by the looks of it

great game so far. been the far better side but not really dangerous in front of goal. btw i missed the red card. what happened?

lol koscielny. you can only shepher the ball when you actually have it in control. one of the most obvious body contact pens i have ever seen. holy crap ivanovic has delivered a good cross. i think this is the end of the world

what a fuckin penalty that was

can't believe i say this, but we actually play some pretty football today. only matic and costa still look a little bit rusty.

Ferreira, Arbeloa are not exactly strongmen. being 6ft tall, which is still rather small imo, does not make you an imposing figure. Skill is much more important in modern football than athleticism. Not that it is irrelevant. Esp. in the epl you can't have 11 matas on the pitch. most successful sides as bayern or barcelona feature some degree of athleticism but with a clear emphasis on skill. As for Mourinho, he probably played iva throughout last season cos he scored some prettty vital and brilliant goals not many fullbacks would score. he gave us offensive balance regarding willians lack of goal threat. not that it was a great tactic but as long as it worked....

Whilst tel aviv made it really easy for us with one of the worst performances i have ever seen in the ucl, we did not play particularly well either. But better than in the last few games. created a bit here and there, some nice individual play and decent defense. What a difference it makes having 2 full backs on the pitch, finally. We cut through their midfield like a knife through butter it was a pleasure to watch even though the general quality of the game was mediocre. i particularly liked the performances of the youngsters. also ramires looked fine for a change. we even scored 2 goals from open play. besides the game pretty much showed what hazard still lacks. against a 2nd tier opposition a player like him has to score with the chances he had. look at cronaldo. against such a side he scores 3 one yard tap ins and 2 penalties. not particularly difficult, but in the end this is what counts, what gives you confidence.