FA Cup: Arsenal 1 - 2 Chelsea
Saturday, 18 April 09, 06:42 PM · Comments (64)
Match reports
The Observer, Paul Wilson: "Arsenal's supposed resurgence was put into perspective when they were faced down by more determined opponents and clobbered by a late strike from Didier Drogba that took Chelsea to the FA Cup final. This was the first time in more than 60 years that Chelsea had prevailed against Arsenal in the Cup, but Arsène Wenger's players only had themselves to blame."
Sunday Telegraph, Duncan White: "The winner, coming just six minutes from the end was vintage Drogba. Frank Lampard’s volleyed ball over the top looked harmless enough until Drogba started pounding across the turf. Mikael Silvestre was shrugged off with ease en route, as the Chelsea striker shifted the ball around the on-rushing Lukasz Fabianski with his right foot before steering it into the empty net with his left."
Independent on Sunday, Steve Tongue: "Lightning, and Didier Drogba, struck twice here as Chelsea repeated their victory from behind over Arsenal in the Carling Cup final of two years ago. Once again the excellent Theo Walcott scored the opening goal, only for his club's Nemesis to defeat them in the last 10 minutes. It was the Ivorian's eighth goal in nine games against Arsenal, climaxing another of his outstanding performances under Guus Hiddink, who has found the means of motivating him denied to some of his predecessors."
Sunday Times, Jonathan Northcroft: "Chelsea might yet also have Champions League final in the season’s final week and Arsenal could be their opponents. Should these teams meet in Rome, its Olympic Stadium would be glad to showcase a red-corner-blue-corner slugfest, the kind of which Wembley staged. The biggest crowd to attend a match at this stage of the competition saw one of the FA Cup’s best recent semi-finals."
Official Chelsea FC Website, Andy Jones: "We're going back to Wembley at the end of May after coming from behind to defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final."
Another happy ending. Photo courtesy of Mark.
The goals
18' Walcott 1-0
33' Malouda 1-1
84' Drogba 1-2
The preamble
Having conceded seven goals in the space of 180 minutes and in the process, having your keeper’s confidence shattered isn’t really the best preparation to be heading into a match against Arsenal who are possibly the form team in the country over the past few months (apart from us of course). The build up has inevitably centred around Cech and his recent troubles, a keeper who has now got his Hilario impression down to a tee. We all know that he hasn’t become a bad keeper overnight but just a nervous one. He appears hesitant and anxious when coming for any high ball or cross, which against a physical and direct side could prove costly but I felt that today was the perfect opportunity for him to return to his best against a team who refuse to play a long ball. Arsenal are definitely a side on the up in recent weeks but ever since Jose came along, I have felt strangely at ease whenever we play them. They are a small and technical side who are full of young players and are able to produce some bits of magic in front of goal when on form. But they’re physically weak and contain a few awful players in my opinion such as Diaby, Denilson and Bendtner. Plus the fact that they’re going through a defensive crisis means we had no reason to fear them.
Another controversial talking point has been the decision to host the semi-final at Wembley. On one side have been the traditionalists, walking around in a state of shock at the thought of having to travel to Wembley for a semi-final. Wembley to them should only be a place for cup finals (and Charity Shields, international qualifiers, friendly matches, rock concerts, the Race of Champions...), but apart from these events, a place for Finals. On the other side are the realists, who know that Wembley needs to be making money and staging as many events as possible is the only way that can happen. Personally, I’m somewhere in the middle. Having a 90,000 seater stadium on offer enables more of the fans to see their side but staging two semi-finals at Wembley in two days means we have to have a worse pitch. The pitch has to last up to 240 minutes in two days if it goes to extra time and so they leave the grass too long, resulting in a slow and rather dull spectacle. I’ve thought that ever since our FA Cup final win in 2007, where the game was held at walking pace and every other club game at Wembley has been pretty slow. But going to Wembley is still a special occasion and all of us hoped it would be a better game than our last visit when we lost to Spurs. An improvement on that performance and a more relaxed game were what most fans would have taken after two life-threatening matches in the past week for those with a heart condition.
The tactics
With all the attention on Cech and our leaky defence, few people seem to acknowledge how dangerous we are going forward under Hiddink. We’ve scored 11 times in the past three matches, so we shouldn’t have any trouble attacking a makeshift Arsenal defence and apart from the rollercoaster nature of recent matches, we’ve been playing some brilliant stuff so there hasn’t been any need for Guus to make any drastic changes. Our new 4-2-3-1 shape may have been leaking goals but we’ve been winning so why change it? Guus decided to keep Alex in the starting XI to combat the height and power of Adebayor and brought in Anelka for Kalou after the Ivorian’s dismal showing against Liverpool. I was a little worried that the Alex-Terry combination would struggle against the pace of Walcott and Van Persie but in Guus we trust, so I instead happily looked on at Arsenal’s starting XI. I was fearing an Arsenal front line of Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott, Arshavin, Van Persie and Adebayor but Wenger strangely went for a cautious 4-2-3-1 with Diaby and Denilson taking the place of Nasri and Arshavin. I thought this would be a costly mistake as the best way to play Chelsea at the moment is to attack us as our defence is lacking confidence, so seeing Wenger pick a defensive side with Van Persie being forced onto the left wing and a back four containing Eboue, Silvestre and Gibbs made me even more relaxed, especially considering Drogba’s awesome record against them. Arsenal games aren’t that nerve racking anymore and so I sat back getting ready to enjoy what should be a routine win.
The match
The opening of the match was a cagey affair with both sides slowly settling into the occasion. Both sets of fans were creating a great atmosphere but after a while it all settled down and I felt it was rather subdued. There was almost an anti-climactic air around the ground with fans instead looking forward to glamorous ties in the Champions League. Perhaps that’s a little harsh but Wembley hasn’t yet found its place in English football. Everything’s a little dull and a little too corporate and has never got near that famous day in 1997 when we beat Middlesbrough with flags waving and fans being in a party atmosphere. We all know the problems England have had in creating an atmosphere at Wembley when playing international football and perhaps that apathy towards the football on show has carried on to these club fixtures. Or maybe it was just that the football was a little slow in the opening stages with the pitch playing a large part in the slow tempo being exhibited by both sides. The game did burst into life with Drogba showing his power against Arsenal’s patched up defence and heading the ball past a hapless Fabianski, only for Gibbs to clear off the line. But Arsenal were passing the ball around well and their good play was rewarded with the first goal of the game. Adebayor held the ball up on the left wing and played the ball into Gibbs’ feet inside our penalty box. Gibbs was allowed to run forward with Anelka ball watching and he chipped over a cross for Walcott to volley home. Some may have blamed Cech with him appearing to stretch his hands under the ball but it was a crucial deflection off Ashley Cole which diverted the ball home. Not exactly the best start for our fragile defence. That goal seemed to wake us up after another sloppy start and we began to control the game. Our midfield was dominating the game as we continued to keep the ball and Arsenal were offering little apart from the pace of Walcott. Malouda was also seeing a lot of the ball and was looking impressive on the left wing when up against the frankly useless Eboue. And it would be Malouda who rightly levelled the game as a reward for our domination. Lampard sent over a lovely 50 yard cross field pass, which seems routine for him nowadays, Malouda controlled the ball with his left, dragged it inside and fired it past Fabianski at his near post. It was the least we deserved and it was right that Malouda scored as he was one of our most impressive performers in this half. For the remainder of the half, we drove forward looking for the second. Guus made a subtle change to our shape, rearranging the team into a 4-3-3 with Ballack in the holding role, thus unleashing Essien to power forward. We were pressing Arsenal into errors high up the pitch and with Essien, Malouda and Drogba surrounding Diaby in the box, the ball broke for Anelka to curl a lovely shot from the edge of the box onto the post. Usually when this dominance fails to result in goals, one would get worried that it’s ‘just not your day.’ But I was still strangely relaxed, just waiting for the second to come. Walcott’s pace was posing Ashley a problem at left-back on a couple of occasions but his final ball was poor. He has the potential to be a great player but needs to avoid becoming the next Wright-Phillips. The half ended with us again pushing forward but failing to score. We looked dangerous with nine shots, five of which were on target, in this half but it ended 1-1.
The second period began to an absurdly empty stadium. Both ends were full but the corporate seats appeared deserted with many apparently choosing a good prawn sandwich over the football on offer. It was another nervy start with both sides giving the ball away frequently. Arsenal began to keep the ball, something they failed to do in the first half and we were struggling to create many chances. Then Lampard won the ball off the lanky and cumbersome Diaby, sent the ball forward to Anelka who returned it to Frank only for Toure to block his goal bound effort. We appeared to be concentrating on counter attacking in this half, deciding to draw Arsenal onto us and exploit the space left in behind them. We had a couple of breakaways but our final ball was poor with Anelka being the main culprit. But we exploded into life, just like we did in the first half with a brilliant one-touch passing move between Ashley, Didier and Frank. Didier cut it back to Frank after collecting Ashley’s through ball but Frank’s volley went wide of Fabianski’s near post. We continued to push for the winner but few chances were being created and both managers decided to make changes. Arshavin and Bendtner came on for the anonymous Van Persie and Adebayor (£35m for him? Yeah right) whilst Kalou came on for the disappointing Anelka. It looked as if we would be heading to extra-time and possibly penalties but then we put together a great move to score a classic Chelsea winner. A defensive header from Ashley landed at Essien’s feet who fed Frank. He played a trademark first time ball over the top, reminiscent of the Jose days, which found Didier who outmuscled their two centre-backs, rounded Fabainski and drilled it home. It was a brilliant and classic Chelsea goal. It was billed as Didier vs. Adebayor but there was only one winner today. A pathetic yellow from the ref for Didier’s celebration though! It was a late second and we professionally closed the game out for what was a routine victory. After the crazy goings on of the past week this was a relaxed win with it being our first FA Cup victory over Arsenal since 1947 and we thoroughly deserved it. With better finishing it could have been four or five but instead it was a very professional job from our experienced lads against their naïve kids. The final whistle saw our lads dancing in the middle of pitch but the director instead decided to concentrate on an Arsenal kid in the stands who was crying his eyes out whilst punching the seat in frustration. It was a strange end to a very normal day.
The good
- Florent Malouda. Another very good performance from him on the left wing. He looks like a new player under Guus and perhaps he does have a future at Chelsea. He’s improved his final ball and is even putting in a lot more effort, the best example was when he tracked back to close down Walcott with Ashley out of position, outmuscled him and then brought the ball forward. Perhaps he’s not that useless after all.
- Midfield three. After a sloppy start, they dominated the rest of the game and if they stay fit, will prove a great test for Barca’s midfield of Toure, Iniesta and Xavi. Our midfield is experienced, powerful and have goals in them and easily outplayed Arsenal’s small and technical trio. Anyone seen Mikel or Deco lately as they’re nowhere near getting a place in this starting XI.
- Frank Lampard. May not have scored but two assists and another brilliant performance. Who cares if the PFA idiots don’t recognise his achievements, we all know that he’s the best midfielder in the world.
- Didier Drogba. Terrorised Arsenal again and scored again under Guus. The real Drogba is well and truly back.
- Petr Cech. No heart-stopping flaps at crosses, so well done Petr.
- Guus Hiddink. His decision to move Ballack into the holding role, thus allowing Essien to rampage forward was a great, yet subtle tactical switch.
The bad
- Arsenal. Apart from their goal and a few Walcott runs, they offered nothing. A rather pathetic showing from them for a semi-final. Why Wenger didn’t pick Arshavin, I’ll never know.
- Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor. Anonymous and were frankly awful.
- Our final ball. It was poor in the second half and with more composure we could have won this game by three or four goals. Anelka isn’t a winger and it’s strange that Malouda has now become our untouchable winger ahead of Kalou and Anelka. I wonder who’ll be given the right wing spot in the Nou Camp to mark Henry?
- Slow starts. We were sloppy at the beginning of both halves and it’ll be costly if we repeat it at the Nou Camp.
- ITV’s coverage. Just watching the highlights now and for an hour long programme, we saw precious little football. The commentary was again poor, but it’s ITV so why should I expect anything different apart from shit coverage?
Player ratings
- Petr Cech – 7/10 – I’ll give him a 7 because he appeared more confident than the past two games.
- Branislav Ivanovic – 6/10 – A crunching challenge against Van Persie aside, he was always in control and I’d pick him ahead of Bosingwa from now on.
- John Terry – 6/10 – His pace was exposed on a couple of occasions by Walcott but he didn't put a foot wrong and his sheer presence gave Cech a little more confidence.
- Alex – 6/10 – He may be my pet hate but he’s doing alright at the moment. No errors from him but we’ll need Carvalho’s pace at the Nou Camp.
- Ashley Cole – 7/10 – Was really up for it and had a tough task in containing Walcott but there’s no better left-back in the world and kept Walcott quiet for much of the game.
- Michael Ballack – 7/10 – His experience has been crucial of late and it was again on show today. He was twice surrounded by players on the edge of our box and instead of panicking; he simply tumbled over at the perfect time to win a cheap free-kick. He may be slowing but he’s still a class act.
- Frank Lampard – 8/10 – Another great performance but he always does it so few of us are surprised. Two assists and helped control midfield. Seems to enjoy his new position further up the pitch.
- Michael Essien – 7/10 – Once unleashed from the Makelele role, we began to see the real Essien. He’s so good wherever he plays that he’ll probably end up at left-back in the Nou Camp (a disastrous decision in my book) but he plays best as a box-to-box monster who can outmuscle anybody.
- Nicolas Anelka – 5/10 – I know 5 is harsh for someone who hit the post and was on the winning side but he was ball watching for Arsenal’s goal and offered nothing in the second half. Our right wing is definitely up for grabs at the moment.
- Florent Malouda – 8/10 – Another very good performance from the rejuvenated Frenchman. He looks something like the world class player he became at Lyon.
- Didier Drogba – 8/10 – A few sloppy touches in the second half but his hold up play was crucial and we always knew he’d score didn’t we? With him and Frank we can beat anybody.
- Guus Hiddink – 9/10 – Was always in control and his tactical tweaks were brilliant. He doesn’t like to make too many subs which is strange for a manager but it’s good that he’s keeping a settled side and his final game in charge will be a Cup final. Not too bad for a caretaker.
Man of the Match
It’s between Didier, Lamps and Malouda. Didier was again in monstrous form but I’ll give it to Malouda. He’s been ridiculed and laughed at by the fans but he looks like a new player under Guus and was great today.
Conclusion
As I said earlier, today’s win was routine and that was just what the doctor ordered after two crazy games. I did say that Arsenal were perhaps the form team in the country and the fact that we easily disposed of them bodes well for the Nou Camp. We were always in control and under Guus, I’m always confident that we’ll create chances. Lessons do appear to have been learnt after the shambolic defending of Wednesday night and everything’s looking rosy as the end of the season draws nearer. A possible treble? Why not? We’re playing well at the moment and if we tighten up at the back we can beat anybody. Bring on Messi!
Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!
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64 Comments · Add yours
Nice Report and sums it up nicely, stayed up to watch the match and always felt we were going to win. We just seemed to take control once they scored, it's a reflection on their spirit and determination.
KTBFF
As always, great review Habs. However I'm rapidly developing a pet peeve about your pet hate! :)
Alex may be your pet hate (and sometimes he worries me too) but he was magnificent today. A bit silly keeping his score low just because you don't like him. A few of the recent match reports have given him a slightly low mark, with a comment along the lines of..."OK today but I don't like him". Aren't player ratings meant to be an objective view just of the performance in the game in question? How well would the poor chap have to play to get a 7 or an 8? After all, if someone asked us to provide ratings for a ManUSA game we wouldn't give Ronaldo a 3 just for his being a c*nt! (although it would be sorely tempting...)
Habs-
I don't know what you are talking about. Bendtner is the best striker in the world. He said so himself.
Otherwise-
Great review. Malouda did look good. I can't imagine that we'd get as much as we paid for him if we sold him, so why don't we keep him? I get the sense that he likes playing for Chelsea, and he actually cares.
Glad to hear you thought good things about Ballack. He's harder to see on the screen, but I get the sense that he's very smart defensively. I don't see players tearing by him often. He might be better judged defensively by the Makelele standard- if he doesn't look very involved and they aren't scoring, he's having a great game.
How about Arsenal's run in for the year...
APR: Pool - Boro - Man U(CL)
MAY: Pompey - Man U(CL) - Chelsea-Man U(Prem) - Stoke
That does not look like a whole lot of fun. Only 2 "easy" games. Stoke may or may not still be fighting at that point, but I'm sure they'd love to stick the knife in again and take a scalp, especially at the Emirates.
Man U have an easier run in- only the Arsenal games, Spurs home and Wigan away for harder matches. I can't see them not taking the Prem without a major stumble.
Of course, Pool have only relegation fodder, plus Arsenal, West Ham and Spurs to play. And unlike the rest of us, no cup competitions. :)
Tomorrow's game should be good. I'm hoping for a cracking game that goes full overtime with an Everton win. That will leave them destroyed for the game at the Bridge on Wed. Between that, Arsenal away, and West Ham away, there isn't much between us and maximum points to finish the season.
Other thoughts at the end of the Liverpool thread.
Reply to kian_:
I know i'v been harsh on Alex in the past but he was very steady today and so i gave him a 6. I didn't think he was magnificent but he didn't make any mistakes either so i gave him a 6, the same as JT. Seeing as the starting point for a player rating in the papers is a 5, i thought a 6 would be a pretty good level for a calm and assured performance which he and JT gave.
Reply to haberdashers:
I actually thought Alex was great today and waqs right up there with Malouda for MoM.
Wenger certainly helped us with his formation and lack of adventure, but to keep quiet an Arsenal side that has been scoring goals and winning games asily was a good achievement. Their defense was always going to be their Achilles Heel and we could easily have scored more.
On an aside, it was great to have upwards of 30 Chelsea fans watching the game in a Melbourne pub last night. Fantastic atmosphere and not a bad effort for a 2-15am Kick Off!
I love Chelsea!
A laid back affair after the Liverpool one.
@Be_Champions I would agree if Malouda retains his current form till the season to keep him instead of selling him despite all that has happened. After all not long ago everyone was calling for Drogs head on a platter too lol.
After last night's match two things seem clear :
Essien and Ballack positions will greatly affect the outcome of the match at Nou Camp. First half the midfiled seemed cluttered as opposed to the 2nd half when Ballack took over the holding position. I would actually like to see Lamps in the position with Ballack and Essien playing ahead of him for the Barca match.
Secondly Anelka should come on as a sub. He seems a lot more menacing then if he were to start.
Finally Cech's Shoryuken had me laughing on the floor. He took out Drogs, Silvestre and Toure.
Talk about smugness. You will lose at the emirates on a better pitch. Your ageing team are about to go downhill. You won because of a fortuitous bounce for Lampard and the absence of 4 of our defenders. You will lose to Barcelona, may win the FA Cup, but if anything you only exist at this level because of the roubles, please remember that in your match report. You are not a big club.
Have to agree with RedGooner there - seems from comments made most of you wasnt even at the game yesterday so how you can report anything back from a 15 inch screen is beyond me.
Wow upwards of 30 Chelsea fans lol.......how long you been fans since 2002?
Shit club, shit fans and still have no history!!!!
@ comment 9 (and 10)
Talk about smugness.
Talk about sour grapes.
Lol fortuitous bounce. Um and your defenders decided to let our aging forward have a free run at the goal.
And yes we know our teams is old and if its so bloody obvious how the the hell did Whinger decide to not play pacier, faster and younger forwards. Oh yeah he decides to wait till the scoreline is 2-1.
Perhaps you guys thought you would win in extra time with the youth factor.
As for the history and roubles bullshit, its been blasted at Chelsea fans ad nauseum.
It's amazing how people like to bring up our lack of history. 10 years ago, when arguably we had even less "history" nobody even mentioned it!
As my Gran used to say,"better a lack of history than an overrated c*nt as a manager".
Reply to RedGooner:
Everybody watch out it is Arse-anal invasion. 606 muppets having a day off!!!
Lol a c*nt manager who whines and whine and whines and whines....
Oh Dear I see the Arse fans have original thoughts, of course we haven't heard any of those comments before, did you think them up all by yourselves?
And the better pitch comment, please explain were your lot playing on a different one to us? Funny I thought it was the same for both teams, and yes the surface was poor.
Greenlight,
Where were you watching the game in melbs? I'm down towards St kilda way- just moved here and looking for some decent folk to watch the games with.
JT & Alex were immense. Never seen Adebayor and the rapist kept so quiet. We're on a roll, momentum is building, Hiddink is a genius, which we could keep him.
That pitch was an absolute disaster, going to be funny watching the mancs and the blue scousers hacking each other today!
Those arse fans above are hilarious. We're creating history, while they're becoming a feeder club! Ignore the jealous twats.
Still, I hope we didn't dent their fragile confidence too much, we want them to beat the scousers on Tuesday and the mancs in the Champions League. On the evidence of yesterday, not very likely unfortunately.
Great report Haberdashers, clearly an educated man - did you go to Haberdashers, Haberdashers?
After our slow start and Arsenals goal we came to life and it was men against boys. Compared to recent games that was about as stress free as a win can get. Well done Chelsea.
Wembley’s crap. Insufficient toilets that make our East Stand look spacious, overpriced tasteless beer, seats too far from the pitch even though I was in the most expensive seats towards the back of the lower tier and, to cap it all, a pitch that seems optimized for Horse of the Year Show. Still the Arse have got a few donkeys in their team so it’s a bit rich or them to claim the pitch suited us.
On the train in we were outnumbered by Gooners and they were full of it. When I was younger I’d cry every time we lost so I ended up crying most weekends (that’s where I was when we were shit) so having watched the highlights this morning, I know it’s callous, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching that young Gooner sobbing his eyes out.
Reply to RedGooner:
A bad workman always blames his tools.
Reply to Mark25:
I was standing next to a couple of Gooners on the tube going to the game too - who made the classic tempting fate comment that they both thought Fabianski had been playing really well since he came in for Almunia.... good to see above they're taking their come-uppance with their usual style and grace.
Dire Dire Report...Almost went to sleep...
The match was a lot better than the way you chose to present it...utterly turnoff after rushing to find what I saw from our boys.
But am not surprised who could right so excitingly.
Clearly not impressed...but I guess butchers will always be butchers, entertainers remain entertainers and as for you my friend I do not know
Reply to Jose Musumba:
But am not surprised who could right so excitingly. ... and yet your prose are such literacy masterpieces full of excitement ...
I wish the trolls would crawl back under the rock they appeared from. Pehraps it's too much to ask for!
Splendid stuff from both the team and Habs (ignore the idiots). Was quite surprised how poor the Gunners were after the opening 15 minutes or so. Don't think they have anything to complain about, they were beaten by a better side on the day. Sour grapes.
Thought Alex was bloody brilliant, definitely an 8/10 performance.
As for the Arsenal kid bawling his eyes out and throwing a tantrum, while it's great to see such passion at an early age, it was the perfect reflection of all that was bad about the Gunners: immature, petulant and borderline hysterical at times (Denilson should have been shown a red for his behaviour). It was all very "Rio" at times.
Come on you Toffees!
Slightly surprised the gracelessness of the Arseboppers showing up here -- though of course every club has its share of ill-mannered trolls ... The Gooners I was overhearing on the train back to Marylebone seemed to have a perfectly good appreciation of what had happened in the game.
Though I must say it's quite funny listening to various Arse types giving their version of when the game changed. It's rather like a fishing story, the period of Arsenal's opening "dominance" gets longer each time it's described. At first they were saying they were all over us fr 15 minutes, now Walcott's quoted as saying they were in charge for half an hour -- soon someone will claim that we were being crushed by the red tide until the 85th minute.
Truth be told, they never really looked like scoring even when they scored, though certainly their midfield was more fluent than ours until the Beast woke up. Fabregas (who** I like as a player) was almost entirely invisible.
Habs has it right: the whole afternoon just felt ... comfortable.
[** or, in deference to the exacting literary requirements of Mr Musumba, "whom"]
Reply to Mark25:
Thanks for that. Nothing else is requied to shut these idiots up.
And damn, it looks like you've discovered my secret identity.
The irony...
Yawn Yawn
Hehe the technical skill of Berbatov.... the irony.
Everton just made my week. :D
Watching that shocker of a semi-final, we should haveno worries in facing Everton. They play negative, defensive, long-ball football and we should easily beat them.
It is Everton. It was everything I wanted- a nil nil draw, extra time, and penalties for Everton to win it.
The Dodecatuple is officially off for Man U.
Nice penalty Berbatov.
Blimey, I know Berbatov's style is officially described as 'languid', but what a shocking penalty.
Reply to haberdashers:
We should easily beat them Wednesday- an emotional 120 minute game with only 2 days rest afterward. Clearly they are no pushover, but that tilts the tables majorly in our favor.
Great end to a terrific week.
Good to see Old PurpleNose showing so much respect to his opponents and the FA Cup.
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
No it wasn't, it was perfect, he missed it!
Definitely good week, could not be any better football wise. However, I am slightly disappointed that we do not meet Man USA in the final. I so much wanted to see them loosing to Chelsea in the final.
Reply to KaiserJonny_II:
For those old enough to remember The Magic Roundabout - I doubt Dylan could have been more laid back then Berbatov for that penalty.
Time for bed.....boing!
A great win - without too much hard work. Loving it today.
BTW, on the subject of Alex, it looks like Guss likes him - LINK .
Have been reading your blog for some time now and loving it, but your constant hatred towards Alex is my only peeve. He is the most underestimated player at the moment in the Chelsea squad - especially in the absence of Riccy and Essien for most of the season. He has had his share of mistakes, but not more than any other good defender in EPL this year. Guss was spot on when he said about his ability to read the game - just like Riccy.
Perhaps you did not like him because JM did not like him as well.
I really hope you bring some objectivity - and I see you had nothing bad to say this time about Alex :-)
Cheers!
PS: So, dress rehearsal of the FA final this Wednesday. The ipod hype is finally over!
Reply to Gary:
that's a frightening read.
"Mourinho preferred bidding for Standard Liege’s Oguchi Onyewu, available for £1m or Deportivo La Coruna’s rather more expensive Jorge Andrade."
Onyewu? I watch him play for the USA all the time- he's really not very good, and he's playing at his limit- there is nothing better out there for him. Boulahrouz is a much better defender, and we shipped him out.
Reply to Peter Osgoods love child:
For your information D**khead having grown up across the river from Stamford Bridge, I've been a fan since 1949, a little bit longer than than you've been a gunner fan I suspect
Reply to Peter Osgoods love child:
Funny..... The 8 Gooners in the pub seemed quite impressed by the noise our little group of 30 made! Jog on, dickhead!
Reply to Dylbo:
Hey Dylbo,
Welcome to Melbourne. We generally meet at the Charles Dickens in Collins St, Melbourne for the late night games.
Won't be there on Thursday for Everton as it's a 4-45am Kick Off (it won't be open), but hope to catch up with you there at some stage over the next week or two.
Chelsea fans are all plastic glory-hunters. That's why The Fast Show did a regular sketch about them.
Oh.
Reply to Nick:
I'm plastic, and i like it that it stings you. I take my plastic money to the megastore and get me some goodies. I am plastic, and will not decompose, i will outlast you. I am solid not specious like you, take some lessons in logic, and you won't make such silly statements. Stay away from our plastic site, and go to your obsolete one
Isn't it amazing how four teams managed to play at Wembely this weekend, yet 2 played on a different pitch to the other two.
Here's a big pile of straws - have a big clutch at them......
You have to say at least Arsenal gave it a bit of a go (though clearly Wenger was resting some players for God-knows what reason), McFergie showing his usual level of respect for a competition that Man U treat more like a tropical disease than the best domestic cup competition in the World.
But do I care? Do I fuck.
Everton sans Arteta and Yakubu in the final, while a tough game, shouldn't cause a firing on all cylinders Chelsea too many problems.
Hiddink is Great.
Fergie can't decide whether he wanted to give a youngsters a shot at the big time, or wanted to spare his superstars the pain of playing on ahorrible surface - who says you can't have your cake and eat it!!
isn't it amusing how the press have gone from talking of a quintuple to a quadruple without missing a beat!!
You have to laugh at the press, here's me thinking that the quad entailed the FA Cup not some World Club Championship. Afterall they only played two games to win it, against teams I've hardly heard of. I'd put the Carling Cup higher up the rankings than that.
maybe they will award themselves trophies for wins in their tours of Asia and can make it an heptuple :)
They could even win the emirates cup, if they cajole Arsenal sufficiently to get an invite; and make it an octuple
Had an e-mail from the kids’ Primary School this morning in anticipation of their return tomorrow. As they are both in the Infants a lot of time is spent painting and making things.
They are always on the look out for useful bits and pieces that can be used in their “cut and paste” sessions.
They are happy to accept all sorts of old junk you don’t have any more use for: cardboard, plastic bottles and containers, egg boxes, scrap paper, card and quintuples.
Perhaps Mr Wenger and all his complaints about the piece of agriculture his team had to put up with.
I think the FA should plant some spuds (not Spurs) so Arsenal having something to pick up at the end of the season.
I thank you, and get my light coat it is spring afterall
Reply to Clive:
The Weekends Fooball as reported in Farmers Weekly
“For 2 men outstanding in their field, it was indeed a "harrowing" weekend. Still they must "plough" on, despite the seeds of doubt that heave been planted, as by and large they both appear to growing a decent young crop.”
Well done on the report Habs. I didn’t feel as confident as you even if the Arse had a defensive crisis. But for me the glass is always emptying rather than filling. As with others I do think you have to give Alex another point as from what I heard on the radio and then saw on the box, he not only had a solid game but got in a couple of vital “JT” like blocks. Go on melt that hard heart a little.
A bit concerned about the slow start, we can’t make that a habit but in the end we had got on top and neutrals I spoke to seemed to thing we deserved it.
I’m glad we’re playing Everton in the final, not because I think they’re more beatable, just that it’s nice to play someone else for a change and should we lose, well someone else is getting a turn.
I feel I may have turned the game for us because I started by listening to R5 Live and after we went 1 down risked Radio London despite the presence of Gooner Watts of Eastenders fame (about 100 years ago). We never looked back.
Did anyone listen to the Spurs v Newcastle game of Radio 5 (I know I know, like you would)? It was interesting from the point of view that Shearer sent them out as the old 3-5-2 with loads of players out of position.
A shambles ensued. Steve Claridge was summarising and was gobsmacked as to how, after a week to prepare no-one seemed to have a clue. After 20 mins when Dawson was being treated for a bad injury the Barcodes basically had a team meeting with Shearer and Dowie trying to show the players what they were supposed to be doing.
The commentator started laying into the players (professional players, why can’t they sort it out) only for Claridge to repeatedly point out that you can’t expect to play loads of players out of position in an unfamiliar system and expect it work without good preparation and drilling. He was obviously criticising Shearer but didn’t want to name him. The commentators wouldn’t even go that far.
The Beeb are happy to lay into everyone except their own
All..
Is sunday the beginning of the week or the end? I thought its the beginning! anyhoooo..it was a great ending for us & a sweet beginning for this week. dont want to sound arrogant and pompous( dont wanna be like that Scouse manager!). We are having a 'good' run, hope it continues.
I still curse myself for sitting at a 'new' table during the premier league game against the spuds! I was telling myself..'go sit at your usual table, we dont wanna lose'!! Imagine, if we had won that game, Scousers & Manure would be shit*** in their pants!
Hows the general mood of my brethren here?
I have a perpetual smile on ..!!
a month and a half more to endure :)
Is it Guus? Essien? or Drogs? ..voting anyone? I would put mine on Drogs.
Reply to BlueBayou:
I do wonder whether someone in the business of punditry and analysis will, at some point before the end of the season, break cover and actually question the wisdom of Shearer's appointment; did see the 'team meeting' you refer to and thought it was all a little Claudio-esque. Complete basket case of a club.
Reply to blue_shy:
I see there quite a few of us that are superstitious!! Can we all coordinate from here out :)
I am a die hard gooner, a season ticket holder, a 31 year old man who has been going to watch football and more specifically Arsenal from the age of 7. never in my life have i felt intimidated or threatened at a football match like i did on Saturday. Chelsea fans really are the biggest scum and racist bunch of fans that I have ever witnessed, Saturday was the first time in my life that I have experience racist abuse, and it was shocking. As most Gooners will know, North London has a large Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot community. Walking along Wembley way after the match with virtually no segregation from those racist bastards was a frightening time. For half an hour, I had to bite my tounge and not retaliate to chants of Turkish scum, Turkish bastards, we hate Turks…….the list goes on………………I consider myself to be a nice guy, however, I genuinely hope that those racist cunts that were chanting that get ran over and left to rot in hell……………sorry to sound so harsh, and sorry to swear, but I was SO close to retaliating to the racist chants that i had to endure, and I have never resorted to violence in my life. I just had to get that off my test and see if anyone else experienced such crap in this day and age. Can i also add that the system at Wembley with both sets of fans walking side by side in there thousands is an absolute disaster waiting to happen. How i would love to meet that skin head Chav bastard on another day, if you are reading, bring it on you racist twat!!!!!
Reply to Ed:
Apologies for that Ed, but if you look at the early comments on this post you'll see that every club has it's fair share of mindless morons.
Back to ours and one aspect of the match which stood out for me was the poor distribution by Ballack and Essien.
They were immense in the middle and controlled the game, but their accurate, forward passing was minimal and for us to progress in Europe they will need to sort this out.
Contd:
Maybe Essien is more used to carrying the ball forward on smaller pitches but isn't Barca's biggish too?
Also think that Nic's had unnecessarily bad reviews.
He did play a part in their goal but was actually in our box marking their man which means that he'd done what was being asked so just give some credit to their forward play.
Reply to Ed:
Sorry u met the wrong bunch of blues; we are a pretty diverse base, and have no room for racism otherwise we'd likely hate soem of our own players. Anyhow sorry again. I'd buy you a drink but the thoguth will have to do
Looking back at #9+10, how sad must those guys have been when they woke up on Sunday morning?
Also make me appreciate the visitors we had from Villa, who were Shakespearean by comparison.
maybe sometimes chelsea want go to my country and doing match with our team.
i from indonesia and like it chelsea
ca yoo chelsea
Reply to Ed:
Must have been one fool! Talk about the football. I am as "brown" as you can get. We see just one color, Blue. Don't bring this rubbish here.