closed Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea

[Vesper 28,877]

Frank Lampard details Chelsea's triple injury blow ahead of Arsenal showdown

The Blues will be without three first-team stars as they travel to the Emirates Stadium to face the Gunners on Boxing Day, just two days before they host Aston Villa

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/chelsea-team-news-injuries-ziyech-23213597

[Vesper 28,877]

Arteta must trust Arsenal’s youngsters to be difference-makers

https://theathletic.com/2279750/2020/12/23/arsenal-gabriel-martinelli-arteta/

As the full-time whistle blew to end Mikel Arteta’s fourth meeting with Pep Guardiola as opposing managers, there was an eerily familiar feeling of frustration surrounding the preceding 90 minutes.

Similar to their three previous games, against Burnley, Southampton and Everton, Arsenal had encouraging spells against Manchester City only to throw them away, losing real control of the game.

Heading into last night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final, the one saving grace for Arteta was his record in cup competitions. Prior to this 4-1 defeat, his only loss in cup action since taking charge a year ago came against Olympiakos in the second leg of a Europa League last 32 tie.

A common characteristic in these games — whether they have been in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup or Europa League — has been the deployment of a trusted core with a mix of rotation. Bernd Leno starting had been a common theme (when he was available) and continued at the beginning of both the Carabao Cup and Europa League campaigns this season, proving beneficial when his Anfield penalty shootout heroics earned Arsenal their last-eight place in the former.

The decision to change course proved costly, with last night’s inclusion of Runar Alex Runarsson.

While his positioning and handling error that led to the second City goal was the most eye-catching mistake of the night, the 25-year-old littered the game with moments in which he appeared overwhelmed. Rushed passes out of play, heavy touches forcing him into long punts and a mistimed dive for the visitors’ third goal were also moments to forget, even though he also made an impressive save just ahead of the break.

Contrast this with the returning Gabriel Martinelli and the dread and short-lived hope that has followed Arsenal of late were both on show.

Making his actual return against Wimbledon for the under-21s in the Papa John’s Trophy, Martinelli’s thirst for action both with and without the ball was still visible. That was the case again in his first senior start of the season as, while captain Alexandre Lacazette could be seen flinging his arms in the air when City had possession, the 19-year-old took it onto himself to press as far back as Zack Steffen in the City goal to make a difference.

In possession, the fearlessness that comes with youth also remained. Bending a ball into the box with his right foot, Martinelli wasn’t fazed when it was unsuccessful. Instead, seconds later, he chose to attack down the outside and swing it back in with his left, a cross which Lacazette was in prime position for to nod home and draw Arsenal level.

Unfortunately for Martinelli, his animal ambition, which made Arsenal somewhat dangerous, is also what led to his early exit from the game.

Chasing a lost cause, a characteristic that has seeped out of Arteta’s side, his collision with Steffen brought a premature end to his night five minutes after half-time. Although there wasn’t a concrete timeframe given immediately for his recovery, there is an underlying nugget of context which provides hope, backed up by Arteta’s post-match update.

“It was just a really bad kick on his (Martinelli’s) shin and it was swelling up, and he could not continue,” the Spaniard said.

“(At half-time) he was pushing. He was saying he was completely fine, that he wanted to carry on. He had a scar that wasn’t open and he wanted to try, so we gave him the opportunity to try; and when he was on the pitch, he was uncomfortable, so it was an easy decision to take him off.”

Martinelli impressing so much on his return followed the trend of Arsenal’s Jekyll and Hyde season, where their youngsters have had the biggest impact on the side.

In the Premier League, this role has been taken by Bukayo Saka but Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson have followed suit in Europe. The latter pair have met the fair critique of performing in the lower standard of that competition. However, in Emile Smith Rowe last night, Arteta had another youngster step up against one of the Premier League’s leading sides.

Within a minute of replacing Mohamed Elneny just past the hour and the score already 3-1, the 20-year-old burst in between the lines ahead of fellow substitute Nicolas Pepe to try to receive a pass. Although he didn’t get to the ball that time, he made another run which saw him gather it just outside the City penalty area later in the move and slide it through to Lacazette in the box to shoot at goal.

Smith Rowe’s off the ball movement, which we explored ahead of the Everton game, once again came to the fore. Aside from that initial flash after coming on, he constantly made bursts in between the opposition’s right-back and centre-back but wasn’t found by Sead Kolasinac. (The left-back also failed to pick out Folarin Balogun, who made a number of good runs when he came on for the final 15 minutes.)

Just as crucial was the pace Smith Rowe injected into the game with his one-touch play. Bouncing passes in to a team-mate and immediately dashing towards goal brought a much better flow to Arsenal’s play in the middle third, particularly when he combined with Dani Ceballos, Willock and Balogun. Watching this unfold after Martinelli’s impressive cameo drew more frustration over the fact such promising young players haven’t been trusted more often in the Premier League.

Aside from anything, after long spells in which individual errors and collective lethargy at the start of each half made breathing feel like a long-forgotten language, Martinelli and Smith Rowe pumped air back into Arsenal’s lungs.

After mixing and matching in the Premier League, Europa League and Carabao Cup, now has come for the time for Arteta trust those who have proven they can make a difference, no matter their age.

The condensed fixture list will enforce rotation, understandably, with the FA Cup third round just around the corner and the Europa knockouts starting a few weeks later but that shouldn’t stop a framework being formed to build within.

As a new year looms, Arsenal cannot afford to simply enjoy promising spells but must have the players on the pitch who give them the best chance of taking control of games when in possession and strangling sides when without it. As things stand, it’s trusted seniors like Leno and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (off the back of his goal against Southampton), as well as the young core of Gabriel, Saka, Martinelli and Smith Rowe that fit the bill.

The time for experimentation has passed.

[Jase 43,479]

Arsenal team news...

https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news-aubameyang-martinelli-partey

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Right calf. Sustained a slight calf strain in training last week. Auba is working hard with our medical team in order to regain full fitness as soon as possible. Has now joined outside drills and will continue to be assessed regarding availability ahead of Saturday.
 
Gabriel Martinelli
Right shin. Sustained heavy impact and bruising to right shin during our match against Manchester City on Tuesday. Gabi is recovering well and we hope he will be able to participate in full training ahead of Saturday.
 
Thomas Partey
Left thigh. Sustained a thigh strain during Tottenham Hotspur (a) on December 6. Thomas is currently unavailable, but is progressing well to now working outside on close ball work, together with the continued focus on his overall fitness rehabilitation.

[Special Juan 27,429]

Fully expect Arsenal's Xmas gift come direct from us on Boxing Day

[Atomiswave 6,072]

35 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

Fully expect Arsenal's Xmas gift come direct from us on Boxing Day

I def wont bet against it, we have sadly mastered this ability.

[Jap Si. 50]

I have watching AFTV Arsenal have many ugly fans ha ha I am laughing. I am not understanding the way that they do speak they are cockney like Dick Van Dyke?. What is fam, blud, and bruv is this being English ? anyway lets hope Super Franklin and boys tearing them new asshole then they get job on AFTV innit bruv I am laughing again ha hee.

[Tomo 21,733]

This "we always give out of form teams a gift" narrative is getting tedious, it happens no more to us than it does to other clubs. It's getting to be worse than the myth that all these teams who we have no rivalry with apparently save the game of their lives for us while rolling over for our competitor's...

[Jase 43,479]

2 hours ago, Tomo said:

This "we always give out of form teams a gift" narrative is getting tedious, it happens no more to us than it does to other clubs. It's getting to be worse than the myth that all these teams who we have no rivalry with apparently save the game of their lives for us while rolling over for our competitor's...

[Vesper 28,877]

Arsenal provide injury update on three stars for Chelsea clash including Thomas Partey

The Gunners welcome their London rivals to the Emirates on Boxing Day in desperate need of a win but with question marks over the fitness of several star men

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-provide-injury-update-three-23218400

[Azul 1,615]

This "we always give out of form teams a gift" narrative is getting tedious, it happens no more to us than it does to other clubs. It's getting to be worse than the myth that all these teams who we have no rivalry with apparently save the game of their lives for us while rolling over for our competitor's...

Should I provide proof that what you're talking about is absolute nonsense, and that we infact do lose a lot of points against teams that are out of form?

 

[Tomo 21,733]

6 hours ago, Azul said:

Should I provide proof that what you're talking about is absolute nonsense, and that we infact do lose a lot of points against teams that are out of form?

 

And in the last week or so alone I've seen Spurs, United, City and Southampton fans all say the same thing about their club (Spurs fans regularly banter themselves as "Dr Tottenham").

If you want to show me proof then please bring comparison to rivals. If we've in the last say four season's plus this one dropped significantly more points to out of form teams (let's say teams who gained no more than a point a game average in the 6 matches prior to the games in question) then I'll relent and take the L but if I was a betting man I'd guess if we're in the lead on that regard it will be marginal at worst.

[Atomiswave 6,072]

16 hours ago, Jason said:

Such a great pic that, lovely movie too.

[Vesper 28,877]

7 minutes ago, Atomiswave said:

Such a great pic that, lovely movie too.

Samuel L Jackson meeting a bad end

 

 

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

And in the last week or so alone I've seen Spurs, United, City and Southampton fans all say the same thing about their club (Spurs fans regularly banter themselves as "Dr Tottenham").

If you want to show me proof then please bring comparison to rivals. If we've in the last say four season's plus this one dropped significantly more points to out of form teams (let's say teams who gained no more than a point a game average in the 6 matches prior to the games in question) then I'll relent and take the L but if I was a betting man I'd guess if we're in the lead on that regard it will be marginal at worst.

Seriously, who the hell cares about the other teams? 

Dropping points against out-of-form or poor sides can obviously happen but if we really want to challenge for the league title, if we really want to win it, then we need to be beating those sides way more often than not. Am sure there are more examples going back to Sarri's season, Conte's second season etc but here are some of our shockers under Lampard, including the opponents' form and league position pre-game:

L 0-1 West Ham - 5 losses in 6 games; 17th in the table
L 1-3 Everton - 8 losses in 11 games; 18th in the table
L 0-1 Bournemouth - 1 win in 10 games, including 5 consecutive losses; 15th in the table
L 0-2 Southampton - 2 losses in 3 games; 17th in the table
D 1-1 Brighton - 5 losses in 9 games; 14th in the table
L 0-1 Newcastle - 4 losses in 6 games; 13th in the table
D 2-2 Arsenal - 2 wins in 15 games; 10th in the table
D 2-2 Bournemouth - 12 losses in 16 games; 16th in the table
L 2-3 West Ham - 8 losses in 11 games; 17th in the table
---
D 3-3 West Brom - 19th in the table; 1 win all season. Do I need to say more?
L 0-1 Everton - 9th in the table but 1 win in 7 games, including 4 losses
L 1-2 Wolves - 10th in the table but 1 win, 3 losses in 5 games

[Atomiswave 6,072]

8 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Samuel L Jackson meeting a bad end

 

 

Watch the Irishman if you havent, another masterpiece

[Atomiswave 6,072]

Just now, Jason said:

Seriously, who the hell cares about the other teams? 

Dropping points against out-of-form or poor sides can obviously happen but if we really want to challenge for the league title, if we really want to win it, then we need to be beating those sides way more often than not. Am sure there are more examples going back to Sarri's season, Conte's second season etc but here are some of our shockers under Lampard, including the opponents' form and league position pre-game:

L 0-1 West Ham - 5 losses in 6 games; 17th in the table
L 1-3 Everton - 8 losses in 11 games; 18th in the table
L 0-1 Bournemouth - 1 win in 10 games, including 5 consecutive losses; 15th in the table
L 0-2 Southampton - 2 losses in 3 games; 17th in the table
D 1-1 Brighton - 5 losses in 9 games; 14th in the table
L 0-1 Newcastle - 4 losses in 6 games; 13th in the table
D 2-2 Arsenal - 2 wins in 15 games; 10th in the table
D 2-2 Bournemouth - 12 losses in 16 games; 16th in the table
L 2-3 West Ham - 8 losses in 11 games; 17th in the table
---
D 3-3 West Brom - 19th in the table; 1 win all season. Do I need to say more?
L 0-1 Everton - 9th in the table but 1 win in 7 games, including 4 defeats

That is a horrific....Chels is the gift.

[Vesper 28,877]

11 minutes ago, Atomiswave said:

Watch the Irishman if you havent, another masterpiece

will download it now

thanks for the recco

[Azul 1,615]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

And in the last week or so alone I've seen Spurs, United, City and Southampton fans all say the same thing about their club (Spurs fans regularly banter themselves as "Dr Tottenham").

If you want to show me proof then please bring comparison to rivals. If we've in the last say four season's plus this one dropped significantly more points to out of form teams (let's say teams who gained no more than a point a game average in the 6 matches prior to the games in question) then I'll relent and take the L but if I was a betting man I'd guess if we're in the lead on that regard it will be marginal at worst.

I'm not talking about the first 4 seasons by the way, I'm talking about our one and a half year under Lampard. Second of all, bringing rivals into it is irrelevant because as a club we should focus on our own performances. You said that us losing points against out of form teams is a myth, as soon as I challenged that you start bringing rivals up and comparisons within the last year four years etc. Just admit you were being edgy, and didn't have a clue what you were talking about.

Let me start bringing up some facts. Us losing points against teams that are incredibly out of form started early last season. On Nov 30 2019, we lost 0-1 at home against a West Ham team that lost 6 out of their 8 matches and won none. Imagine facing a team that didn't win in their last 8 games and gifting them 3 points at the bridge, incredible. On Dec 7 2019, we faced Everton and lost 3-1 to them even though they lost three matches in a row. On Dec 14 2019, we faced Bournemouth at home that lost 5 matches in a row and guess what? They won 0-1 at the Bridge when teams like Wolves, Newcastle etc were destroying them in that 5 games losing streak that Bournemouth had. On Dec 26 2019, we faced a Southampton team that only won 1 of their 3 games and we lost 0-2 to them at home. 

After these fixtures we had in November/December we went 4 games unbeaten faced Newcastle on Jan 18 2020, they only won 1 game out of their last 6 and guessed what happened? Ofcourse we lost to them 1-0. After this game we went on another crazy run, until Jul 1 2020. This one is shocking because we faced a West Ham team that only won 1/drew 2/lost 9 in their last 12 games!! The match they had before facing us was a loss by the way, so we made them kickstart their relegation survival form. They beat us 3-2 and had a good form afterwards which meant that they didn't relegate.

Now you see why people talk about us gifting points against teams that are out of form. The same pattern is occurring this season, we lost against Wolves and Everton that were out of form. And when did that exactly happen? In December...... some things just never change under Frank.

P.S. All of the teams I mentioned lost before facing us so it's not like they won a game and continued that when they faced us. We made them start their good form which is worrying considering we want to be where Liverpool is in the near future. There is clearly something wrong with the mentality of the players and the coach.