• wills

  I’ve got a feeling Eboue will start ahead of Traore, I’m still praying Gallas will play though ahead of Silvestre.

  Eduardo needs to prove himself today, and he won’t get a bigger game to do it in.

  Win, and our season is right back on track, we’ll be 5 points behind with a home game in hand which we really should win.

  Lose, and we’re 11 points behind, with a game in hand, so realistically 8. That’s a tough ask with half the season to go.

  Should be a great game, if we win the midfield battle, we should win the game. Song can take care of Fat Frank and hopefully he’ll give Drogba a dig in the ribs early on.

  If we play our fluent, passing attacking football, there’ll only be one winner.

  COME ON ARSENAL!!!!

• Debs

  No Theo, I think! What??!!

• Fabrez

  u sure debs?!?

• Debs

  They did a quick team news on five live, and they said we only made 3 changes to mid-week team- don’t think I heard them mention Theo’s name as one of the changes… I do hope to God he’s playing!

• Fabrez

  Hmm…I’ve not seen any team news yet so I remain optimistic on that Theo call…will suck if he aint playin tho :S

• Pete

  Almunia

  Sagna Gallas Vermalan Traore

  Song Cesc Nasri Denilson Arshavin

  Eduardo

• wills

  Almunia
  Sagna-Gallas-Vermaelen-Traore
  Denilson-Cesc-Song
  Nasri-Eduardo-Arshavin

  Cech
  Ivanovic-Terry-Carvalho-Ass H*le
  Mikel
  Essien-Lampard
  J.Cole
  Anelka-Drogba

• Pete

  Theo’s on the bench

• wills

  We look like we’ve got more match winners on the bench than the Chavs, Walcott can come on and make a real difference, as can Rosicky and Vela.

  COME ON ARSENAL!

• Debs

  Yep, Theo’s on the bench. Disappointed, but hey, he could well turn out to be our super sub! Come on Arsenal!
  Anyone know if Rosicky’s on the bench?

• Pete

  More confident having Gallas playing. Would love him and Verminator to score. Come on Arsenal!!!

• Pete

  Yes he is Debs.

  Subs: Fabianski, Rosicky, Vela, Walcott, Ramsey, Silvestre, Eboue.

• Khai

  GALLAS!!! . let’s hope our mighty duo shut the chelscrap up.
  come on gunners!!

  somehow seeing gallas back on the team gave me a confidence boost. if only rvp was around, then we’ll rip chelsea.

  nonetheless, let’s win this! go gunners!!

• Sam

  Go Gunners, Go!

• Pete

  FA Cup 3rd Round draw:

  Arsenal play West Ham

• wills

  FA Cup Draw:

  West Ham v Arsenal!

• Debs

  Good start, good start! Come on Arsenal!

• Khai

  at least we can see our players working their asses off. good job gunners. now to score..

• Pete

  Drogba scores for Chelsea. 1-0

• Khai

  damn u drogba.

• Pete

  Own goal from either Gallas or Vermaelen. 2-0

• Debs

  Wow! Chelsea just did EXACTLY what we did to Sp*rs. Wow!

• Khai

  it’s vermaelen. he got the last touch. think he presumed that gallas managed to clear the ball.

  okay this sucks. come on gunners!!!

• Pete

  Half time.

• Pete

  Still another half to play so you never know.

  Come on Arsenal!

• Debs

  It’s just half time, and I am still a bit confident we can nick a draw! Come on!

• Debs

  Next goal will be crucial. Come on Arsenal!

• Khai

  we were quite unlucky with those two goals. but we could’ve done better. sigh. come on wenger. give them the half time talk they need. we have the possession tho we arent really troubling cech. sigh. let’s do this. we can!!

• Fabrez

  Wow…ok…well… I’m sure we can get a draw at least. C’mon boys…show us what u can do! The true strength of a team is shown in times of disappointment! I’m sure we’ve got 2-3 goals in us! We can do it!! We have to be very very ruthless tho! 2nd half…we’ve got character so let’s show it!

• Debs

  Call me crazy, but I think we can still get something out of this game. Theo needs to come on, though…

• Berth

  Half time. Lol. Am afraid no coming back in this one.

• salaquin

  the gr8 wenger’s master plan – IDIOT

• Khai

  we should really have a chatroom during matches. then we can collectively curse and swear at opponents.

• salaquin

  im sorry but that’s bollcks w’ve had posession in so many games and still he idiots lose this is pathetic management

• Debs

  Woooah… Theo on, but for Song?

• Fabrez

  Wow…and here r the doubters…

• Pete

  Theo comes on for Song.

• Khai

  o.O. wenger knows best. i really hope he knows what he’s doing.

• Khai

  come on gunners! we can do this.

• Pete

  Vela on for Eduardo.

• Khai

  come on vela. show us some mexican love!

• Pete

  Rosicky comes on for Nasri.

• Debs

  Traore’s had a good game, actually.

• john

  Absolute rubbish, 2 down and still no one will have a shot?

• Khai

  </3

• Pete

  Drogba scores again. 3-0 Chelsea.

• Khai

  drogba has successfully scored against us since god knows when

• Debs

  Wow! I hate Drogba! Lol. I actually saw that goal coming.

• Debs

  You know, sometimes, you just have to say well played to the opposition though.

• Debs

  Gutted though. Very.

• Khai

  true. i cant even remember us having a potential goal.

  as much as we hate it, chelsea is the more effective team tonight.

  we could’ve done alot better. their defense really shut us out. if only our defense could have been as effective.

  sad as i am. i really hope the lads bounce back from this defeat. we really need a way to beat chelsea. they seem to trump over us all the time. overpowering us and drogba that shithead, scoring.

  gunners 4eva!

• Pete

  Know what you mean Debs. Its a shame. Lots of possession but not enough shots on goal unfortuneately. Drogba was the difference for Chelsea up front, and unfortuneately our real goal scoring difference is injured for 5 months. Credit to Chelsea though, they’re probably the only side who can come to the Emirates and do that.

  Got lots of winnable fixtures coming up in the league though, so I’d epect us to pick up points again soon.

  Chin up Gooners!

• Debs

  Oddly enough, at the beginning, we were actually winning the physical battle, but surely enough, they wore us down in time. That’s 2 losses in a row, and RVP’s a massive massive miss. If only we could wrap him in cotton wool all season and keep him away from the national team. I’m going to steer clear of the newspapers for the next few days! Lol

• Debs

  Another mid-week game, thank God. I hope the young guns come out blazing against City. They don’t seem to know how to win matches, so hopefully we’ll capitalise. It’s not the end of the world guys. I’m going to forget the Premier League, but maybe the CL would be where we’ll do well? Let’s wait and see the draw, I guess!
  Heads up, guys!

• Khai

  haha. yeah. damn the nationals. bendtner and vela need to step up. and i’ve got exams coming up in 11 hrs time. great.

  was hoping for a victory to boost. but oh well. let’s take comfort in seeing at least we showed some fighting spirit in the physical aspect of the game. (though the part when traore rolled over after he tried to push drogba tickled me) : X

  let’s pick it up from here.

• JDD

  i was there and i cant beleive we lost 3-0 when we were the better team for the 1st 40mins.and most of the 2nd half.almunia is just not good enough hes one of the worst goalies on the prem.eduardo was poor again,walcott has no strength.i thought gallas and vermaelen did well against the chelsea attack.yes we conceded 2 goals but teh goalie shud have came and collected.arshavin and fabregas were the only players they played with passion for the whole 90mins(arshavins push on cole was brilliant).the rest of the players showed passion for moments but didnt seem to want to get inviolved in a dog fight.although 11 points behind i think we can still WIN the league.just got to hope these 2 losses are just a blip like the losses in manchester were.hopefully players will be bought in january a goaly and a strong cf.next up man city in teh carling cup hopefully some of the bog boys will play we need to win a trophy this season.

• Berth

  funny comments folks. Wengers policy isnt working. He should buy please Eduardo Bedtner and vela cant do the job. Am sure about that. Again what de hell is Arshavin doing this season; seems his body is failing him.

• Kuka

  There are times when it’s OK to admit when you loose to a worthy opponent. Chelsea out-did us today and I really think we should just own up and wait for the next game. I watched the game and while I agree that we had a lot of possession, the Chelsea defense was resolute. Drogba’s two goals were top class. Vam’s own goal was bad luck, though Ashley cole’s cross was quick difficult to defend. Part of the game is giving in when we loose to a worthy opponent, which will happen occasionally.

• Debs

  Exactly my sentiments, Kuka.

• Debs

  Watching Barcelona and Real Madrid to get over the loss asap. Would have loved us to play this game with RVP, because that would have been a real test of where the team is. Oh well, that’s what injuries do!

• JDD

  yes chelseas defence playd gd but they were up against soft strikers eduardo , walcott , vela nothing against them there not that type of player.but they could have got stuck in a bit more.

• Leeroy.N

  Chin up Gooners! We have to drive on despite everything mounting against us.. results aswell as injuries. Our game was decent in some aspects, but in the final 3rd as usual we got lost, giving an extra pass rather than taking a chance on goal. Players are either lacking confidence or are playing with one hand tied behind their backs. We have players capable of striking from distance. Running into a Chelsea box, with Carvalho, Terry and Cech is near impossible, thats their territory, where they perform best. We really needed to mix up our game today. Looking back, if Walcott was on from the start, Cashely Cole would have been limited to making those runs forward. I’m not sure whether Song had a slight knock, but I would have kept him on if we could. As much as Eduardo isn’t cutting it upfront, the more minutes he plays are crucial to he confidence as much as his performances. The less minutes he plays, the less amount of chances he is able to create or go for. He is the only REAL striker we have and we have to give him as much support and time as we can allow. We are able to get goals from al over the pitch. Just some fine tuning and a fresh face for the next game in the Prem. We still are too predictable for established teams. My heart goes out to Vermaelen. That own goal really got to him. We’ll bounce back like we always do. Here’s to another 10+ games unbeaten after 2 losses! Come on you Gunners!!!!!

  Win, Lose or Draw.. Gooner Til I Die!!

• Debs

  I actually thought it would be maybe Traore to score an own goal! Lol. I’m gutted for Vermaelen though, but he’s a tough nut- he’ll bounce back and score a cracker, next match!

• Debs

  I watched the end bit of the Sky Sports Final Word (is that what it’s called?) and the analysis made sense. Most pundits just say stupid things, but I thought Andy Gray’s analysis was top class, and I just hope when Wenger does his own analysis, he’ll come to a similar conclusion, and we can work on it.

• Leeroy.N

  I know, as much as it seems silly and I know Wenger and his team get paid MILLIONS between them to be their own pundits, but just looking at these games from an outside perspective may help in some cases. They are paid professionals but the MILLIONS watching as well as the pundits can see flaws in certain areas of a team or a game, just something as small as a players positioning could lead to a fast break or prevent being caught by one. Obviously I dont know what goes on back in those important areas, but I feel it’s only a few small changes which are needed in our game.. I just hope Wenger can spot them!

• Debs

  I know what you mean, Leeroy, but I think it would run contrary to EVERYTHING a club is about, if they go outside,and seek advice on THEIR team. I think maybe what can be done instead, would be maybe to bring in someone new, just to have fresh ideas coming in, as opposed to asking some outsider for advice- you never know if they support your rivals deep down, and give you shitty advice! Lol

• Berth

  Men against boys, but that is the reality.

• Leeroy.N

  They could bring me in! I wouldn’t cost them that much either! HAHA!

• Debs

  I wouldn’t agree with that, Berth. When we beat Chelsea at the Bridge last season, I didn’t hear anyone saying it was men against boys. We lost, because Chelsea were (and are, at the moment) the better team- that is the reality. It had nothing to do with our players being young or otherwise.

• Debs

  Send in an application, Leeroy, you never know!

• Debs

  If only this headline were true, huh? Lol
  tweetphoto.com/5574543

• RF

  Some Live, Some Die, Some Win, Some Lose. To the White, Red & Blues, It is ARSENAL what I choose. Unwisely Laughs the Loner, geared in his tuner. Comeback is sooner, So Chin Up my Gooner!! ARSENAL 4 EVA!!

• Fabrez

  Really disappointing but we need to continue to learn, stick together and grow. I’m not gonna panic but give Jack his jacket… Chelsea were more efficient than we were and, like Man U tend to do, got the job done no matter how good/badly they play.

  We certainly looked better in the 1st 40 mins but all they need is a chance or 2 and they get a goal…efficiency. We ran into a brick wall 2day. I felt our CB pairing did a decent job, Sagna was good, Traore is a very good 3rd choice LB…granted his obvious lack of a right foot is horribly noticeable! Cesc was good too. I’m inpressed how much Cesc has come along in terms of dealing with the physical aspect of the game. We had ideas but Chelsea were solid and played as a strong unit defensively. The 1st goal was crucial and we didn’t get it, then the OG was unfortunate. I wasn’t in the slightest angry with Verm.

  The GK thing…i really don’t know anymore. I think we needed Given and we missed him. I think Almunia is good but he does look suspect at times…like goal number 3. Bet your bottom dollar Given/Cech/Van der Sar would have saved it. In fairness to him, I couldn’t see him preventing either of the 1st 2 goals tho.

  I really liked how Rosicky was stuck into Mikel! I enjoy seeing us get stuck in but we did try just ran out of gas. Nasri was very physical so he tried his best too. Theo’s season hasn’t started properly so I didn’t expect a miracle from him…he needs games in my opinion…as does Vela but I felt Chelsea’s defence was just too good for him and Eduardo 2day.

  I love how Man City can’t win games so mid-week shud b interesting. Big Clubs respond to disappointment, not dwell in it! Gooner 4 life!

• Fabrez

  If only it were real debs!

• Debs

  I know! *Sigh*. I think when next we play Chelsea, someone should lock Drogba in a room and only release him when the game’s over! I think he was the main difference (and Ashley Cole a little bit) between the 2 teams, and I do think Chelsea will struggle when he’s away, and who knows, maybe he’ll pick up a handy injury! Lol

• Berth

  Wenger is a slow learner. He had a rush of blood in changing Song and Arshavin should reinvent himself pls.

• Pete

  The difference was Chelsea has their main striker available and we didn’t. Otherwise we pretty much had the better of them. Drogba was the only Chelsea goal scorer, and you can bet your bottom dollar that RvP would have scored today as he’s our most reliable player in the final 3rd. He’s the one player we have who can break a deadlock. It could also be said that had Drogba not been fit, Chelsea wouldn’t have scored today.

  Song had to be taken off as we needed another attacking player. Theres no point in having defensive player when you’re chasing a 2-0 deficit.

  I’m not going to come down on Eduardo or Vela because thats just looking for excuses. Chelsea were just able to field all their best players, we weren’t, and in games like this you can’t afford to be without your best.

  Still, fair play to them.

• Fabrez

  Yeah Pete…can’t blame Edu and Vela…they did try but weren’t gud enuff on the day unfortunately. No RvP really did affect us as well.

• Gooner Get Ya

  We certainly got a lesson in football upfront today. Did we actually have a shot, Eduardo couldn’t even do the basics right, no control, run timings were off. Theo couldn’t dribble past a traffic cone. Arshavin just annoys me with his sulky attidude. We need improve and quickly as the Sp*rs have now gone above us in the league….and that my fellow Gooners is unacceptable.

• kodjo

  We have to accept that we got beaten by a better team with the right tactics. it also didnt help missing our top striker. all in all wenger has lessons to learn ..he has built this team and there are obviuos dificiencies with this team when it comes to playing certain teams…wenger has to find the right personnnel especially for such a long season.

  i hope wenger is listening to me…put your money where it belongs…take a gamble on carlton cole…he is the only striker in the league who can make a difference in our team

  the players have to learn to play the game with grit and with simplicity …there are a lot of teams that we can pass off the park but when it comes to other teams the players have to take collective and individual responsibility to vary the game…i saw countless times when theo could have played a pass quick and simple…and vela on the attack could have been direct…its time to take a look at jay simpson…the no frils and direct approach is critical in games such today’s..

• Leeroy.N2

  I agree we needed RVP today, but the reallity is that we are going to be without him for a Very long time. Who we have in place of him HAVE to raise their game. From our earlier matches, we had scored from good and well worked set pieces, from shooting outside of the 18yd box etc.. We seem to regress into the “old” Arsenal and rely too much on our passing ability and our ability to keep hold of the possession. We are going to have to try and relight the burning passion we had and get it into the players heads. We play great when confidence is high, but it shows when it isn’t. Nether the less, I’m a Gooner through thick and thin. I just want to see them players play with the heads as much as much as the hearts!

  Win, Lose or Draw.. Gooner Til I Die!!!

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