I spend a lot of time around those sides, even as a kid
Never forget I was talking to this girl on BBM years ago and she she made me meet her at Baker St. Said she knows somewhere nice we could go. These times I was like cool, whatever I donāt mind especially not if sheās paying lol. So Iām on the train and we keep going past the Zone 1 stops then we jump off at Elephanr and Castle and Iām thinking maybe weāre changing over to the Northern Line or something. Nah she really took me to Elephant and Castle shopping centre, went to that bowling place I felt sick inside.
In the two matches against Chelsea this season, weāve clearly bested them across 180 minutes and Iām much more confident if we meet them in Europa now.
As some commentator mentioned, probably our three best games this season has come to Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool at home. Feels good knowing we have the ceiling to fend off other top teams, now to add some consistency and defensive order and we got something here.
A few days late to the point that itās probably not relevant but I had a busy weekendā¦
Ozil. Itās good to refer back to him because I think heāll be back in the starting line-up very soon and the reason behind his absence against Chelsea was that Emery wanted to prove his team are capable of winning big games without him. I think now heās gotten that out of the way heāll play Ozil against United (either starting or coming off the bench) and heāll become more of a fixture again. Itāll be nice to see him back in the team again because itāll mean heās worked harder and heās got the drive to prove himself again. At his best, heās unplayable and we just need to see that more often.
Koscielny. There is life in the old dog after all and he came up with a performance that was reminiscent of Mertesackerās mammoth FA Cup Final performance a couple of seasons ago. Hopefully he can push on from that and if managed correctly it looks like we might be able to get one or two more good seasons out of him. His experience will be vital in the development of younger defenders so hopefully he can earn himself more starts this season. His partnership with Sokratis has promise based on yesterdayās performance and it helps that Sokratis possesses the physical attributes (pace and strength) to complement Koscielnyās declining physicality.
Bellerin. Heās vitally important to us and losing him now is a huge huge blow and I canāt express how disappointed I am that weāve lost him for what looks like the remainder of the season. Lichsteiner looks every bit as shot as his age suggests and Jenkinson, whilst hugely committed to the Arsenal cause, is not really up to the level required and I think Emery is going to favour playing AMN there now. Either way itās hugely disappointing and I really feel for the kid because heās shown himself to be a great fit for Emeryās system.
Xhaka. He started the game with a brain fart and or two and he ended it actually being one of the best playerās on the pitch. He defender very well and was vital in helping us shut up shop and restrict Chelseaās chances created. Itās just a shame he has a gross lack of athleticism and mobility to compensate for his stupidity in dangerous areas. I think he has to be moved on in the summer because heās not good enough to start and heās certainly too āvaluableā an asset to just sit on the bench. In an era driven by statistics heās someone who probably has enough good stats on his side and a long term contract to retain much of the Ā£35m we spent on him.
Ramsey. I donāt think he had a great games in terms of what he contributed to us from a strictly creative stand point but his work rate and hustling of the Chelsea midfield and defenders was a huge contributing factor to us dominating the opening proceedings against Chelsea. At the end of the day you donāt part with mega money for someone with work rate and hustling but he did what was expected and if we can get as many performances like that from him as possible ā then Iāll be very happy. Heāll serve his purpose at Juventus but I donāt think heās the creative midfielder that theyāve been crying out for.
Chelsea. I think Sarri needs time to implement his ideas and players that buy into it but I said in the summer and Iāll say it again ā heās gone to the wrong club. Chelsea might throw millions at the problem but they wonāt have the patience to understand it takes time to implement a philosophy. Sarri-ball is lovely to watch but it isnāt an overnight success. You need the right players and time to coach existing players a different way. The players have come from being managed by Di Matteo, Benitez, Mourinho and Conte over the last 4 managerial appointments and not one of them plays in a way that is directly similar to Sarri and itāll take Chelsea players more than a season to get accustomed to that. I can see him being sacked in the summer if Chelsea donāt finish in the top 4.
Diamond. I liked it and it worked well against Chelsea. It allowed us to effectively close Hazard and Jorginho out of the game and when youāve accomplished that ā itās easy to restrict Chelsea as we saw yesterday. Emery did his homework and it was refreshing to see formation changes in big games like this. That now needs to translate to big away games and we need to start picking up more points away from home and thatās a huge challenge for Emery.
So long as we never see 3 at the back again Iāll be happy. It isnāt an Arsenal system and we do not have the players for it. We look infinitely better with an extra midfielder or an extra attacking player and I donāt care if Kolasinac is only good as a LWB, the system is trash and simply does not work for us. It produced some of our poorest and most flat performances this season and is the kind of formation that earned Emery a lot of deserved criticism. It wasnāt necessary.
