2011

[Slava]

The criticism on Wenger is that he doesn't know what a defensive tactic is even if one hits him in the face. His set up on that Milan game shows how badly out of depth he is in planning for a champions league game of that magnitude.

They still do not know how to handle a physical striker despite getting man handled by Drogba on every occasion they faced Chelsea in the past 5 years or so in the premier league. I don't understand why Robinho got the MoM when Ibrahimovic was having a field day against that defense.

Now I really think how important a guy like Viera was for Wenger in the mid 00s. He was likely more influential than Henry or even Bergkamp for Arsenal.

[5DOM]

London got owned this weekend.

[5DOM]

Liverpool/Brighton vs Stoke
Chelsea/Birmingham vs Leicester
Stevenage/Tottenham vs Bolton
Everton vs Sunderland

Best possible draw for Chelsea again. Now **** win

[treiz]

The criticism on Wenger is that he doesn't know what a defensive tactic is even if one hits him in the face. His set up on that Milan game shows how badly out of depth he is in planning for a champions league game of that magnitude.

They still do not know how to handle a physical striker despite getting man handled by Drogba on every occasion they faced Chelsea in the past 5 years or so in the premier league. I don't understand why Robinho got the MoM when Ibrahimovic was having a field day against that defense.

Now I really think how important a guy like Viera was for Wenger in the mid 00s. He was likely more influential than Henry or even Bergkamp for Arsenal.

But Wengers always been like that. People forget that he inherited the famous back 4 of Dixon-Adams-Keown/Bould-Winterburn, his defensive coaching is not his strength because one of his main beliefs was to defend by having posession. With the back 4 along with Seaman that he got from George Graham (as noted by the famous 1-0 to the Arsenal chant) all he had to do was concentrate on attack. Which brought them great success throughout the years. People will bring out the Invincibles but the old back four was very influential in bringing that back 4 to what it was, I think it was the year after Seaman, Adams and Keown retired IIRC.

In all honesty they haven't been able to find a solid CB since Campbell left them until Kos this year. Toure sort of regressed ever since Sol left and he was part of the Invincibles.

But I agree wholeheartedly about Vieira, they sorely miss his presence and I was shocked he was never offered a coaching job at Arsenal when he retired. Think at the time that young midfield core could've used his leadership. I think he was definitely for influential than Bergkamp or Henry. When Adams retired, he took the role as the heart of that team and carried on the success.

[5DOM]

Brighton with 4 goals at Anfield

[Sandlot]

Brighton with 4 goals at Anfield

And a loss . . . go figure. They outscored Liverpool. I thought the first one was just a good set up by Johnson but the other two were awful defending.

Andy Carrol played great and that was in big part because of the great service from SG.

[LittleOzzy]

Replay 6 March 2012 Birmingham City v Chelsea
Replay 7 March 2012 Tottenham Hotspur v Stevenage

[IronChef]

The criticism on Wenger is that he doesn't know what a defensive tactic is even if one hits him in the face. His set up on that Milan game shows how badly out of depth he is in planning for a champions league game of that magnitude.

They still do not know how to handle a physical striker despite getting man handled by Drogba on every occasion they faced Chelsea in the past 5 years or so in the premier league. I don't understand why Robinho got the MoM when Ibrahimovic was having a field day against that defense.

Now I really think how important a guy like Viera was for Wenger in the mid 00s. He was likely more influential than Henry or even Bergkamp for Arsenal.

But Wengers always been like that. People forget that he inherited the famous back 4 of Dixon-Adams-Keown/Bould-Winterburn, his defensive coaching is not his strength because one of his main beliefs was to defend by having posession. With the back 4 along with Seaman that he got from George Graham (as noted by the famous 1-0 to the Arsenal chant) all he had to do was concentrate on attack. Which brought them great success throughout the years. People will bring out the Invincibles but the old back four was very influential in bringing that back 4 to what it was, I think it was the year after Seaman, Adams and Keown retired IIRC.

In all honesty they haven't been able to find a solid CB since Campbell left them until Kos this year. Toure sort of regressed ever since Sol left and he was part of the Invincibles.

But I agree wholeheartedly about Vieira, they sorely miss his presence and I was shocked he was never offered a coaching job at Arsenal when he retired. Think at the time that young midfield core could've used his leadership. I think he was definitely for influential than Bergkamp or Henry. When Adams retired, he took the role as the heart of that team and carried on the success.

There are some good points, but it's not entirely fair, imo. Wenger made them better than they were before. He rejuvenated those players even if he did not recruit them. He did buy Campbell, he bought Toure, Vermaelan, and Koscielny. Although he certainly has bought some duds, usually when he goes the experienced route, oddly enough (Squillaci, Sylvestre, Cygan). Also some solid fullbacks in Cole, Lauren, Sagna.

EDIT: I'll certainly agree we miss Vieira. Not just his steel, and leadership in midfield, but he allowed us to play with one less body in the centre of the park because he was so good. Him and one other player could dominate possession and break up play, even if the other side played with three in the middle.

[Ted Lasso]

He did buy Campbell

Correction; Arsene Wenger signed that spineless traitor on a free.



As for the criticism of Wenger, i'd advise anyone who'd like for him to be sacked to take a quick look at the transfer activity balance sheets of top English clubs over the past few years. The man has done a masterful job keeping Arsenal competitive all this time.

Until someone conclusively demonstrates that Stan Kroenke isn't actually pushing for profits yet Arsenal still don't spend money because Wenger is some weird hoarder with an unhealthy obsession of young player development, i say he is world class and deserves more respect.

[IronChef]

He did buy Campbell

Correction; Arsene Wenger signed that spineless traitor on a free.



As for the criticism of Wenger, i'd advise anyone who'd like for him to be sacked to take a quick look at the transfer activity balance sheets of top English clubs over the past few years. The man has done a masterful job keeping Arsenal competitive all this time.

Until someone conclusively demonstrates that Stan Kroenke isn't actually pushing for profits yet Arsenal still don't spend money because Wenger is some weird hoarder with an unhealthy obsession of young player development, i say he is world class and deserves more respect.

I'm all for keeping Arsene, but there definitely needs to be some changes made. Arsene has made several comments alluding to difficulties on the board level, and there has been plenty of speculation about him not having the transfer budget he's reported to have, but he's not the type of person to call out the board in public. Personally I'd like to see Peter Hill-Wood gone, and ideally, David Dein brought back.

I think we need changes at a coaching level as well. I love Pat Rice, but perhaps we need a change of voice and view point in that position. Also, I'd love to see Martin Keown brought in on more of a coaching capacity than just scouting, and Tony Adams brought in too would be nice. There's been reports of Steve Bould being moved up to a more prominent first team role, possibly replacing Pat Rice as assistant.

As for the players, I'm all in favour of the Wenger packing RvP, Wilshere, and Chamberlain in a Ford Fiesta and leaving everyone else behind route. In truth, there are more players I'd like to keep, Vermaelan, Koscielny, Coquelin, Miyaichi, Ramsey, Szcszesney, but there definitely needs to be a large scale overhaul or car boot sale (two for one?) of all the useless players either still at the club or out on loan. I think Wenger deserves a chance at rebuilding the squad.

[LittleOzzy]

Replay matches are on Tuesday and Wednesday.

6 March 2012 Birmingham City v Chelsea
7 March 2012 Tottenham Hotspur v Stevenage

[treiz]

Di Matteo's first game, as much as I do love Roberto he better win this game

[treiz]

Pretty dull game so far, Luiz with a heck of a game, dealing with everything that's come at him so far. Other than that everyone besides Ramires, Cahill, and Cech has played really poorly.

EDIT: Am I the only one not watching the Arsenal-Milan game?

[treiz]

Sloppy goal from Mata, but every Chelsea fan will take it!

[treiz]

2-0 Meireles! Great goal, he's had a very efficient game today deserved a goal IMO.

Bring on Lukaku for Torres please, he's just become unbearable to watch.

[treiz]

Should've let Torres take the pen

And Mata has his saved again....

[Ill]

Really should have let Torres take the penalty.

[treiz]

Sturridge with another one

[treiz]

Good 1st game for Di Matteo, done what was expected and a pretty professional job about it.

Don't really need to say much about Cech, other than that save from Zigic was pretty much untested. Commanded every cross with typical Cech presence.

MOTM for me is David Luiz, dealt with everything that was thrown at him including having to deal with Zigic in the air. Had some shaky moments towards the end but was immense nonetheless. Gary Cahill had a good game as well, made a couple of crucial intervention towards the end, the one against King was a highlight, great tackle as wel as that last ditch header where Davies was right behind him. Ivanovic was his usual self, although a bit conservative in the 1st half really got into it in the 2nd half and really caused the Birmingham left back along with Ramires serious trouble throughout the whole game.

Really disappointed in Bertrand, had a good game defensively was sound until about the 80th minute where Birmingham's right side was getting some good product. But his offensively display was poor, his crosses were poor and his passing was poor.

Midfield was alright, efficient but nothing spectacular. Mikel and Meireles who had his best game for us in the last 2 months combined. Ramires was his usual energetic self, caused the LB so much problems today.

Up front Mata was again the only thing positive, slow 1st half and could've had a goal within the first 10 minutes if he found Kalou but completely took command of that zone between the strikers and midfield and caused so much spaces for Torres and Meireles to exploit behind the defence. Great game from him. Kalou was useless, apart from a couple of runs was wasteful in possession. Torres looked piss poor in the 1st half, that shanked shot at the end of the 1st just sums up his Chelsea career thus far, he did pick it up in the 2nd half even winning a penalty which he should've taken, but typical Torres today.

[5DOM]

Other than that one sublime FK that ended up giving De Gea his confidence back, Mata has been dreadful in set-piece situations. I think Drogba should be taking the corners again.