Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea: A Point Is Better Than Zilch

Almost Like A New signing: Diaby

When the Chelsea squad was announced, with 8 changes from the team that beat Barcelona, I was a bit worried for our chances to win the game. A second string team that includes Torres, Malouda, Sturridge, Essien, Bosingwa and Kalou is something to make you more than a little bit worried.

To make matters worse, we lost our previous game at home against Wigan, so naturally the Arsenal wagon was bound to develop a mechanical fault and have the handbrake on.

But once the game kicked off, it was clear that Chelsea had come to park the bus and simply not lose. Considering their league position, one would have thought they would have come out all guns blazing to try to get all three points. They seem to have made up their mind that they will win the Champions League this season. I sincerely hope that they do, because if they don’t, and they finish 5^th or 6^th... Anyway, enough about Chelsea.

Arsenal showed a bit more endeavour in the opening stages of the first half, the closest we came to scoring was hitting the post and bar from Van Persie and Koscielny efforts respectively. Chelsea had come to practice their tactics for the Barcelona game and were happy to sit back and try to hit us on the counter.

Van Persie had a couple of chances in the second half to score. First he rushed a right-footed shot when he could have controlled the ball and brought it on his left peg. Later on, he found the ball on the left of the Chelsea box, dribbled before having his shot blocked.

The introduction of Abou Diaby with 25 minutes left in the match gave Arsenal some much-needed drive from midfield. Diaby had a shot blocked. His ability to dribble, pass, tackle and shoot may just come in handy in the last 3 games of the season. I sincerely hope he stills fit for the remaining 3 games.

After the game, Arsene Wenger says he hopes Diaby can help us for the remainder of the season. A sentiment shared by Thomas Vermaelen.

Theo Walcott’s season is over after he tweaked his hamstring. He rather strangely, tried to “run it off”. But I doubt the damage will be too bad. He should be fit for the Euros this summer- if he is selected.

And so we emerged from the Chelsea game with a draw, a single point.  Make no mistake, a point against Chelsea at any stage of the season is not a bad thing.

Thankfully Spurs lost against QPR, leaving them 6 point behind us. At this stage, Newcastle are 3 points behind us with a game in hand. Even if they win, we still have a superior goal difference so we still have 3rd place in our control- for now.

We simply need to win 2 out of our remaining 3 games to be make sure 3^rd place is well and truly ours. Hell, let’s win all 3 remaining games to be absolutely sure.

Come on your gunners!!!

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@ the_afrogunner on twitter

Arsenal vs Chelsea Preview: Must-Not-Lose Game

Preparing for Chelsea

The Afrogunner is back after being admitted in hospital for the past week. In that time, I have missed (thankfully) the loss to against Wigan. Tomorrow sees us take on Chelsea and we have no time to feel sorry for ourselves.

I have not even bothered to see highlights of the game against Wigan, relying on what other bloggers and pundits and Arsene Wenger had to say after the game. Apparently, Arsenal were poo, played like little 7-year old boys at times and even lifted their skirts to Wigan at times!

We have left ourselves vulnerable to losing 3rd place if we don't win against Chelsea this weekend. We are fast running out of games, yet somehow the Gods are still smiling on us. But if we continue to fart in the faces of the Gods, pretty soon we shall lose their favour.

We really must beat Chelsea this weekend.

Injury News


Mikel Arteta is out for the rest of the season (4 games) after doing his ankle against Wigan. We all know about Jack Wilshere, Per Metersacker and Frimpong.

Almost Like New Signings


Vassiriki Abou Diaby is back from his perpetual ankle problems. Apparently he played 45 minutes in some friendly and if the coaching staff are careful enough with him, he could make the squad tomorrow. I like Diaby, but I wouldn't start him in a game of such magnitude; he might just play 23 minutes then have to be subbed.


Francis Coquelin has not played since March and bringing him into the team against a rejuvenated Chelsea will be risky to say the least. Like Diaby, I don't trust his hastrings.


Laurent Koscielny is back from his two-match suspension and should come into the defence in place of the very (currently) shaky Johann Djourou.

The loss of Arteta raises questions as to who comes into the midfield in his place. Aaron Ramsey is out of form and is playing so bad that people are clamouring for the Ox. I say lets stick by him in the starting line up. He may be poor at the moment, but you can never fault his work ethic. We really need his energy in midfield if we are to have a chance against this uplifted Chelsea side.

In the days of AVB, Chelsea had become something of a joke, but not anymore. Our players will really need to put in a shift if we are to get anything from this game. The usual suspects are well documented...

As for the fans, go out there and support the team in the next remaining games. The team really needs a push to get over the finish line. The end of the season is upon  us and there is plenty of time to moan, criticise, insult, review, chant, name calling, etc etc.

Let's shout the names of all our players at the top of our lungs and hope we get 3rd place.

COYG!!!!
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@ the_afrogunner on twitter.

QPR 2-1 Arsenal: Just Not Good Enough

"What we produced was just not good enough"

So-said Arsene Wenger after the defeat to relegation contenders QPR on Saturday. He then goes on to say we shall go back to basics, that we have been exposed to this kind of situation before this season, that the players know how to respond....

Contrast that with the talk over the past two weeks, where the players were quite literally sucking each others' dicks, talking about how good we are, the quality etc etc...

It buffles me very much that Arsene Wenger is unable to change his team formation or personnel early in the game when things are not working out. That's why we really lose, especially to hard working, so-called lowly teams. It was very clear that the team was not balanced as early as the 15th minute. Playing Ramsey on the left attacking berth was very strange to me indeed.

Arteta, Song and Rosicky collectively were not getting any joy in midfield. They were being hustled into errors and conceding possession. Their speed of play was too slow and thus allowing QPR enough time to read  their passes and organise themselves defensively. We looked like a team that had played a 180-minutes game of football in the previous 24 hours. Such was our slow pace.

Thomas Vermaelen had a stinker of a game. The first goal was directly his fault and he played a big hand in the second by falling over. Diakite was standing alone in the middle of our box, with no Arsenal players within a mile of him. He was able to side foot into our net without so much as a challenge coming in.

Robin Van Persie really needs to start scoring and stop scoring only when he wants to. At 1-1, had he scored that chance when put through by Song, I think we might just have gone on to win or at the very least draw the game.

That brings us back to the issue of coaching, team selection and motivation. How many lessons do we need to learn before we start winning games such as the one on Saturday? How many times are we going to go back to the proverbial drawing board? How many times are we going to "come back stronger" or "respond" in the next game? Why couldn't we up our game once we levelled and put QPR to the sword? Why didn't the players pick up their game, especially in the second half? Why didn't we show hunger for the 3 points on offer? Why weren't the subs made much earlier to address the fact that we were too open at the back  because our mid-fielders went clubbing?

I have not looked at the stats, but we didn't create many chances throughout the course of the game. Our problems really stem from midfield. When the mid-fielders are out-fought, out-thought and they also take a holiday, you are bound to see team performances such as the one on Saturday.

I must say that Arsene Wenger does not seem to know how to deal with teams who defend narrow. Games like that require more usage of crosses from the wings into the opposition box for your strikers to head on target, knock down or cause errors/own goals for defenders. Trying to go through a tightly packed central defence by passing, when you don't have the speed and skill of Barcelona, is really futile.

I can live with Arsenal losing after they put in a shift, but what really pains me is losing when we play below par. On Saturday we just weren't putting in the effort. Our tactical approach was poor and our manager didn't or couldnt do anything about it. We looked timid and QPR sensed it. Taarabt was having a good game, even show-boating with flicks and nutmegs! And our players just stood there, marvelling at his footwork.

Now Tottenham have caught us on points, something that we really could have avoided. Next up we face Manchester City at home. I fancy us to beat them if we play to our potential and the manager gets his team selection sorted out. One thing is clear; we cannot afford another below-par performance otherwise Chelsea and Tottenham will overtake us in the race for 3rd place.

Let's keep supporting the team for the remaining 7 games, hopefully we shall avoid another blip.

Sideways march the Arsenal!!
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@ the_afrogunner on twitter