Chelsea Game Positives. And Analyzing The Fixture List.


Much has been said about the Chelsea game. Most of it apocalyptic. And I understand that. I really do.

But someone has to write a different review of it. Don’t they? They don’t? Oh.

Why would I do this to myself? I’m not sure. It’s not like people have forgotten how to do a good stoning. They could arrange it at short notice, tie me to a pole, perhaps. Or maybe, more simply, tap me on the back off the head with a hammer just to get it all started, and then get straight on to the stoning.

But, here goes…In summary:

The Chelsea game wasn’t that bad. The biggest problem with this match was WE NEEDED A WIN or at least a draw. But going down 2-1 to Chelsea AWAY in a season in which they bought Hazard, Oscar, Marin, Moses and Ba among others on top of the most expensive squad in the EPL should not be a cause for fit of apocalypsy.

Last time we all checked, we played really well against Swansea in the FA Cup replay, especially in the 2nd half. And we played well, against Chelsea, in the 2nd half.

Why We Lost To Chelsea
1. Chelsea played sublime in the first half. It happens. It just does. A Purple Patch. You see it all the time with 5 set tennis.

2. We started way too slow and were rocked by Chelsea. The early goal didn’t help.

3. We only scored 1 goal. Duh! We waste our chances. But at least we are finally creating them.

Does that mean we are completely fucked for the season? I don’t think so.

The Positives:

1. We created plenty of chances over 90 minutes: We matched or outperformed Chelsea in the major categories apart from the one that has to do with Number of Goals Scored.

Chelsea 2 - 1 Arsenal_20130122_142515
Stats from http://www.squawka.com

People have said that perhaps Chelsea eased off in the 2nd half. Irrelevant. We had the chances. We just needed to take one.

2. Theo scored his goal to make it 2-1 in the 57th minute. We had 35+ minutes to get another goal. We had more of the possession. We were playing well. We were well in this game.

Theo 1

3. Theo played very well which was a big relief given the shit he would have gotten for a limp performance 2 days after signing his contract

4. A win against West Ham puts us 4 points out of 4th. I’ve seen worse. So have you. The Spuds are bottlers. We just need to breathe down their necks. They’ll do the rest.

5. This team needs leaders. 5 or 6 of them. Theo can be 1 of those leaders. Gasp! He leads comebacks. He led one against Chelsea but we fumbled the ball. You could see what that meant to Jack in the celebration after the goal:

Wlishere and Theo

6. Theo’s “assist” to Giroud was great movement and the perfect through ball. Only so much Theo can do!

7. Coquelin’s performance. Maybe he will make it.

Coq

Coq 2

8. Gibbs’s performance. Again.

9. Arteta being injured means he will get the break he needed either way.

10. Jack says he’s now back at 95%! That means he’s got another 5% to go! It also means he’s not red-lining yet.

Jack 1

11. The Fixture List is our friend:

11.1 We have 3 home games coming up. Spurs have 2 away games next.

11.2 We have only 1 more game against a Top 3 team – United at Home. Spuds have 2 more games against the Top 3 and 1 of them is Away.

11.3 We have to play Everton and Liverpool again but both at home. So do the Spuds but they have to play Liverpool Away.

11.4 We play Spurs on March 3rd, away. We can catch them then if we haven’t managed it before. The game after it for the Spuds is Liverpool vs Tottenham Away!

Date Home Away
23-Jan Arsenal  v  West Ham Utd
30-Jan Arsenal  v  Liverpool
2-Feb Arsenal  v  Stoke City
9-Feb Sunderland  v  Arsenal
23-Feb Arsenal  v  Aston Villa
3-Mar Tottenham  v  Arsenal
9-Mar Arsenal  v  Everton
16-Mar Swansea  v  Arsenal
30-Mar Arsenal  v  Reading
6-Apr WBA  v  Arsenal
13-Apr Arsenal  v  Norwich
20-Apr Fulham  v  Arsenal
27-Apr Arsenal  v  Man United
4-May QPR  v  Arsenal
12-May Arsenal  v  Wigan
19-May Newcastle  v  Arsenal

How about of we try and pair up the Arsenal and Spuds fixtures to compare them? Who has the better run in?

Let’s shuffle them around to do a like for like comparison and see what’s left over:
Fixture 4

So:
Arsenal have 4 EASIER identical matchups ie home vs away. Spurs have 2 Easier identical matchups. That’s good!

We have 7 equal ties relative to Spurs. 3 are literally equal eg the same team played at home.

Which leaves us with a few odd ties after every other tie has found a dance partner:

We have to play QPR away and Villa at home while Spurs have to play Chelsea away. That’s very, very good. That could easily be a 6 point advantage.

And finally there will be the NLD. We may even be able to lose the NLD and still survive. Though I wouldn’t recommend it.

Sandro looks out for the remainder of the season and he has been a linch-pin for Spurs.

I’ve checked out Everton’s fixture list, and it’s not any easier than for Spurs.

Just based on the fixture list, and if you agree we have started to hit a little bit better form recently, we may well be in decent shape right now, and we don’t even know it.

Which could be bad news for my new business: “Noose Rental for Gooners: 10 quid per day or 50 quid per week. Return package included.” But business has been brisk for the last couple of weeks, so…

Keep the faith, Gooners. Support the beejaysus out of this team, and we will make it back to the Champions League next year without the humiliation of having our face rubbed in shit by the Spuds. *pukes in mouth*

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