Well I’m happy with that result, I certainly have no complaints about going to the home of the champions , who are in great form with no injuries, with six of our nailed on first team starters missing, and playing in a more defensive way. It was however, not a case of parking the proverbial bus.
For all the stick Iwobi got on twitter, I thought he put in a good shift. Yes, he seems to freeze when he gets into the box, but he carried the ball well and always looked to get on it. I feel he offered more than Danny, who has struggled a bit of late.
Jack and Xhaka were both very good, as was ElNeny when he replaced Jack.
All three centerbacks played well with Hector and AMN playing a disciplined game, but still venturing forward when the opportunity arose.
Not many chances for either side. Perhaps that the Arsenal Yer Da wants back?
Shame about Jack’s knack, but hopefully its just a short term hiccup to his very impressive return to first team duties.
@arseblagger (Pedantic George)
Positively Arsenal 
Morning you beautiful people.
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Morning back to you PG. Short and sweet. I can take it.
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Good morning – not a bad game at all and more importantly a good result to take back to the Ems.
I was pleased with our no nonsense defending and Chels really had very few real chances. As I said last night Mustafi seemed to have a magnet attached to his head that attracted every cross.
I was also pleased with the VAR experiment with even the serial diver Hazard managed to control himself over 90 minutes. Never heard him scream once. – it must be a record. Not sure about this “control room in West London” malarkey though as I and the crowd at the Bridge had no idea what was going on or what was being reviewed.
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A fantastic result given all the circs and well played to one and all. I would love to see Chambers go on to become a great defender for us over a number of years and I’m delighted that he seems to be slotting back into the side right now after a long-term and difficult injury that cut short his extremely promising loan spell at Middlesborough. And how good for Rob Holding to have such a satisfactory game after his torrid afternoon on Sunday. I assume that given the extent of our injuries and our club in crisis status that Chelsea twitter, ex-players and pundits have been in melt-down mode after the result.
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Yeah excellent performance from a side that could be ARSENAL 2022. When top teams play each other small margins can make all the difference, so when you to go away from home without 6 first team regulars and a couple of back up players then lose your most creative player after an hour and still come away with a draw then you would have to be a dipstick to say it wasn’t a decent performance. Unfortunately ian wright let himself down again and proved his football knowledge and even common sense is very limited. I keep hoping that one day we will have a football show that will comment on football rather than the soap opera that surrounds it.
I have to say all of those players who I have criticized this season all played well last night and again if you can’t admit that you must have an agenda and in the words of Conte be a little man ( or woman or one of the other 72 gender types now recognised)
I thought VAR worked well last night considering its new and the time taken to give decisions should become quicker over time and the refs use of it will also be slicker overall a plus.
The argument about time can be resolved using a rugby style timekeeper, this isn’t an issue with VAR this is an issue that the officials have been ignoring for years.
All in all how strange football is that Monday everyone was so depressed and now the mood is considerably brighter
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Great performance in my view.
I’m intrigued that Arsene has decided to hold on to Kostas Mavropanos and not send him out on loan immediately. He must have impressed.
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A felt a little bit nervous as the combined loss of Wilshere and the introduction of the underused Willian tilted the attacking odds very much in the hosts expensively assembled favour (ok, very nervous), but they held firm and this time Willian was not allowed to contribute to a (legit) goal off the bench.
Well played the Gunners.
‘Twas a big call to start the BFG on the wknd but Chambers has had niggles this season.
There aren’t that many good young CBs about with a HG status, Stones needed a full season at City to bed in and as we saw the other evening he’s still making exactly the same kind of errors our own young CBs are. I wouldn’t have been so quick to write him off as per the usual experts. But
Speaking of which the G&G podcast is top top quality, not just the bit with George. Very level, and dare i say it sane. I guess they won’t get the clicks that a negative trolling social media platform would generate most AFC fans I can think of would enjoy the style & attitude of this podcast.
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I also thought it was a good performance, bearing in mind how many 1st team players we were missing.
I thought the defence, in particular, did well as did Ospina.
I wish we could find someone who could take a decent corner all of yesterday’s useless, as were most of the free kicks.
I have to laugh, however, when Conte started ranting at the referee the end because it did not give the penalty that was not a penalty, bearing in mind how he was so high and mighty last week when he criticised AW for containing about the Hazard penalty that was not a penalty.
That the media have skated over the penalty that was a penalty in our favour yesterday, is an indication of how they view us.
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Correction
I have to laugh, however, when Conte started ranting at the referee at the end because he did not give the penalty that was not a penalty, bearing in mind how he was so high and mighty last week when he criticised AW for complaining about the Hazard penalty that was not a penalty.
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9 comments after all that work? It took me almost 5 minutes.
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Like you jjg I assumed Conte was going mad with Atkinson about the non-penalty but he was not, it was about time added on, or lack of it;
Speaking after the match, Conte said he was “positive” about the potential of VAR to improve football, but added that the process can still be improved — there were more than seven minutes of stoppages in the match for video review and substitutions, but just six minutes of extra time played at the end of each half.
“You have to improve and understand that when you start to use VAR you then need to add more extra time,” Conte said. “The doctor went onto the pitch twice and the referee stopped to listen to VAR and you have to give more minutes in extra time. In Italy the extra time is sometimes seven, eight or nine minutes.”
Fair enough.
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From the bin
“Simple fact is we can not defend, we have defenders who have no idea, if we were to beat Chelsea 4-0, it wouldn’t surprise me if we lost 5-0 at home, that’s how naïve and inept we truly are. How the defence under Wenger non-existent is a travesty, what does Bould actually do apart from sitting there looking blank. This season will eclipse and become our worst season ever under Wenger and maybe if he truly cares he will leave because he is killing the club”
Oops, as they say.
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I try but to hear these geniuses who can’t even manage their bedrooms talk of Mr Wenger ‘killing our club’.
I just can’t engage with people like that.
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George
The binman was probably triggered by Henry Winter slithering on about neither Bould nor anyone else being allowed to do anything the other night. (The dictator, stopping proud Arsenal men from doing their job and helping the team. Those proud Arsenal men…accepting that lot?)
On that occasion, Danny Murphy actually made the obvious point of ‘but why would he take that?’ or something. Winter ignored him, as they do, especially on twitter, when someone says that their narrative can’t account for.
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Concise and accurate.
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hi
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George
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I thought
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you deserved
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many more
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comments
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after such
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a great post
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Andy, I refer the honorable gentleman to the comment I made some momments ago
“The argument about time can be resolved using a rugby style timekeeper, this isn’t an issue with VAR this is an issue that the officials have been ignoring for years.
All in all how strange football is that Monday everyone was so depressed and now the mood is considerably brighter”
I know it shouldn’t be in speech marks just in case Steww is watching.
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Quite right – I am a bit baffled by how the time keeping works now – the ref tells the 4th official and he keeps a record, and eventually lifts up a board
Why can’t the 4th official do the time keeping ? They do f*** all else – might keep them out of trouble!
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Young midfielder Trae Coyle has signed his first professional contract with the club.
Trae, an England youth international, has impressed while playing for our under-23s and under-18s this season.
From north London, he joined the club in May 2009 and signs on the day of his 17th birthday.
Everyone at the club would like to congratulate Trae on his first professional contract and we look forward to his continued progress.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/first-professional-contract-trae-coyle#LkUAtJFoY7Y128iD.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/first-professional-contract-trae-coyle#vfqXcWoLt3mKr34b.99
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Francis Coquelin has agreed to join La Liga side Valencia.
Francis spent ten and a half seasons with us, joining from French side Laval in 2008 and made 160 first team appearances, also being part of the victorious FA Youth Cup-winning side of 2009.
Early in his career, Francis represented his country at every youth level from under-17 to under-21 and was part the squad, alongside Alex Lacazette, which won the European Under-19 Championship in 2010.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/francis-coquelin-agrees-join-valencia#M7U7KyPLc8Iq86cA.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/francis-coquelin-agrees-join-valencia#IHfZ4z0LX5dU4CLI.99
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again it is sad to see coq go and sadder to see another first team player who was head and shoulder abouve every DM in the league in 2015 andfor two seasons 2014/2014 and 2015/2016 one of the best in the business, go for a paltry 12m when lesser players go for big money. that is majorly due t arsenal fans who love to pull down our home grown and and club developed players in order to please big money transfers. a lot has been said and written about his deficiencies even if they are all lies and less has been said about his strong points. arsenal fans never miss the opurtunity to analyse his mistakes while it was always convinent for them to over look games he stood out as the motm. the game against bayern came to mind. while it is true that robben score a trade mark goal that he has scored against many world class teams and clubs, many for weeks analysed it to bits and convinently exonorated other players who were also close to the action on the night.
i’m happy he is gone to a club that he will hopefully be appreciated for his effort and not for hollywood passes he couldnt play. fortunately there is gabriel, another one that left on the cheap who is now a regular for a club rubbing shoulder with madrid and barca. hoefully they make the champions league next season.
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layksite reports in spain say its £22M, that its £12m plus the rest of the Mustafi fee we owe Valencia, £10m
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I recall the whining and the moaning from the Scarfists and the fence sitters when Francis returned as emergency cover from the Valley
Within a month they had shut their collective trap
Classic Arsene
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also Coqeulin started 1 BPL game for us this season, so just how much should we be getting for a guy at the age of 26 who barely features for us this season
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“Alexis will leave Arsenal this month if suitable offer made & a replacement secured. Hierarchy both accept & expect it, talks continue with City. Arsenal want £35m, City want to pay £20m, poss compromise £25-30m. Malcom is first choice replacement.” – David Ornstein.
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Steady on – Olivier has started just once this season in the PL
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yeah and if he went to wenger and said he wanted out to get regular football, he would be sold. Wenger said he actually gave ollie the option to leave last summer. Wenger has never stood in the way of a non regular starter leaving if the player wanted out.
I would suggest that Giroud, Theo, and Ospina are unlikely to be at AFC next season, in the case of Theo, it seems he could follow Coq out this month.
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Elneny also a likely leaver too, and of course Debuchy
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Malcolm, no nothing about him, but a name of decent sporting pedigree.
Of course our own Super Mac, plus a guy who took nine wickets for 57 runs of the South Africans, cannot for now think of any other bowlers called Malcolm.
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Malcolm Marshall, Mandy. One of the greatest fastbowlers I ever saw live and in living color. Wow, that bouncer off a shortish run-up, those balls popping up in your ribs from just short of a good length followed by a devastating yorker. Glad I never played that level of cricket in that era. The cricket ball hurts very badly.
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Devon Malcom – fast bowler and one of the very very rare sportsmen who overcame a physical disability to play professionally and represent his country.
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Or was that Gladstone Small ?
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Gladstone was born with no neck, so probably him
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how many games did morata start for madrid before his 70m move to chelsea? giroud should go for peanut too right? sakho wasnt even in liverpool squad yet the price tag last summer was 30m or nothing. when a player isnt playing regularly for a big club doest means the player isnt good but might have been that he is being kept out by a great player. the same cant be said of a player in an average club. the way we talk about our squad players here and elsewhere is like placing us in the same bracket as everton of west ham. for crying out loud, players have left here and become regulars in bigger clubs while players we have spent fortune on to come here have more recently been average or ordinary.
clichy for instance for many seasons kept kolarov out of city starting 11. sagna as well. this are players derided by our fans. just look at fabianski ‘flappyanski for some. he is a better keeper than all england keepers. but when he was here, arsenal fans were asking for hart. woj left here for juve for how much? despite being the best keeper in italy last season, the news here was all about donnaruma. but juve were smarter and they got him almost for free. he is now kept 8 clean sheet in 9 games. all top opponents. today we are almost in crisis in that area of the pitch. unfortunately that is exatly the way we are treating wilshere now. always analysing his injuries and the fact he cant play or can only play in a certain part of the team. we enjoy destroying our own dont we?
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i was excited to see yaya sanogo get a goal in the week. a very good player but unfortunately he didnt come here on huge transfer so there was no way arsenal fans would afford him time to improve or prove his worth. i remembet his game against bayern. he was immense. giroud is as well a victim from the start. paltry 12m when the fans demanded for 50m+ striker. we have one now and we understandably accord him the respect and time that giroud never enjoyed. l read recently henry saying he likes his movement and link up play. i laughed because non of our strikers today has the movement of olivier in the box and his link up play is second to non. but you know what? he is a useless piece of wood. deadwood.
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layksite who is saying giroud or any of them should go for peanuts, but in his case his age will lessen any fee.
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wenger almost signed mbappe for free a couple of season ago but just imagine him coming here. a teenager who is yet to make a debut for monaco! i’m 100% sure he wont be the same player today. gone are the days whan this club use to be factory of great youg talents but this days these young players are the target of abuse and critics. iwobi, bellerin, are a few examples. i’m just sad this morning and i hope one day, this club can again be talking of selling players for 150m+
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because he’s started just only one el game edu
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anyone else loving the stupidity of the ASB’s claims that the signing of Mavrapanos was done without Wenger’s knowledge or say so.
but as we know they claim only the poor signings are Wenger signings and all the good ones are Dein’s or Gazidi’s, and as we can see from now on the good ones will be Sven’s, wait till Macrapanos makes a mistake, he will then be a Wenger signing that was done in spite to Sven
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the starting one game comment as you know is in reference to it being clear Coquelin and Walcott, and Debuchy are clearly not in wenger’s plans, cos along with not starting games they barely get playing time at all in BPL, while Giourd has come on almost every time he has been sub. We’ve had an injury crisis and yet Coquelin, Elneny, Walcottt and Debuchy have not been used. Do you really think any of them are remotely near Wenger’s first choice team or even in contention to be in it. Giroud would be in contention
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yes layksite, our young players are not given leeway at all now, they are like the rest of the team/squad, they are targets. A few exceptions, Jack for one, and as for the youths, Nelson gets leeway so far, but if we see a lot more of him that will change too. Holding was a Cup final hero, but now the same people would have him burnt at the stake.
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wenger on Team news
We had good news. I saw him walking. He’s not out of the game on Sunday.
We have Ramsey back in the squad, Ozil has a test tomorrow – 50/50.
Kolasinac has a little chance to be available.
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