In this post; my thoughts on Sunday's draw at Chelsea. Then a personal view on the David Coote video. And finally something personal I need to share regarding the use and abuse of social media in this crazy world. So let's crack on:
The much hoped-for return of Martin Odegaard following his late cameo in Milan on Wednesday came to pass. This meant many things; firstly as regards personnel, and secondly on the shape of the team.
With Thomas Partey currently undroppable and able to take his place in midfield, Odegaard's reinstatement at right 8 meant that Rice (despite a reported broken toe) was pushed up into the left 8 role; thus relegating both Trossard and Merino to the bench. As expected, frankly. As was the presence of Palmer in the Chelsea XI. The choice of the annoying Cucurella - comfortably in my Top 5 of most punchable PL players - over Reece James was perhaps surprising. But the Spaniard did a pretty decent job (in more ways than one) on Starboy. For Arsenal, Odegaard's return meant that Havertz could spend more time occupying the opposition centre halves; better shape than the past few games.
Expectation was clearly in the air. Chelsea are no longer a laughing stock of a team, and have begun to come together as a pretty decent and exciting outfit under Maresca; with Palmer the key. And it was Palmer who had the first chance, rifling in a missile from fully 25 yards that Raya tipped over the bar. And for the first half hour Arsenal were clearly second best , failing to get a grip on either Palmer or Chelsea's midfield shape, as the home team found gaps between the lines almost at will, and created several chances.
White was sorely tested by Neto on several occasions (he dug out one cross that Gusto, arriving late, should have finished at the far post), and both Odegaard and Saka were on the wrong side of some robust challenges whenever they did see the ball. No surprise to see Colwill booked for one assault on the Norwegian.
But from half an hour in the tide began to turn as Arsenal got to grips with Chelsea's game plan; all initiated by the forcing of a mistake out of Colwill as Chelsea tried to play out from a goal kick. Saka, fed by Odegaard, cut inside and had his shot blocked, but the ball fell to Martinelli who frankly didn't do enough to really trouble Sanchez.
Very soon after, Saka was fouled (yet again) by Cucurella and Rice took a swift free kick that set 'Chelsea reject' Havertz in on goal. A sublime finish, but the German was, unfortunately, a few inches offside when the kick was taken.
The Chelsea players had surrounded referee Oliver in the interim, but I simply have no idea what they had to complain about. And by this point it's worth noting that a slight tweak in Arsenal's midfield had seen Palmer's threat almost nullified, as he no longer had the space he needed to work in. Chelsea's threats were down the flanks from then on.
So 0-0 at half time, but I still expected goals. And the second half started off pretty even, with the early chances falling Chelsea's way. Give their wingers time on the ball at your peril. There was time for our friend Michael Oliver to get properly involved, however, as he decided to book Havertz - who was bleeding profusely from the wound that he suffered in Italy in midweek - for sitting down for treatment instead of leaving the field of play. All this whilst letting the likes of Colwill and Cucurella kick seven shades of sh*t out of Odegaard and Saka. It feels like referees have been told to punish technical stuff, instead of violence. Bizarre; and Arsenal have certainly suffered again and again from that this season.
But, on the hour, Arsenal went ahead. Some sublime skill from both Odegaard and Partey created space for the former, and his inch-perfect cross found Martinelli. The Brazilian beat Sanchez at his near post; frankly embarrassing for the keeper, but who cares. Oh, and do take a look at the work that Partey and Odegaard do here to create the opportunity: https://x.com/Arsenal/status/1856723377077051761
The question was then whether Arsenal could finally hold onto a lead. And, regrettably, the answer was no. It took just 8 minutes, and a switch by Maresca to send Neto to the right hand side in place of Madueke. Substitute Fernandez found himself in acres of space and fed Neto, who cut in and rifled the ball home from fully 25 yards. Nothing that Raya could have done, frankly, but Arsenal's shape was all wrong and Arteta needs to sort that out.
At that moment there was no room for Chelsea to attack down their left, with Saka and Odegaard both covering back. But Chelsea had lured Saliba out to the left- this was 'second phase' following a corner - and both Partey and Rice had dropped back to cover for him. All that had sucked substitute Merino further into the middle than he needed to go. The gap between him and Martinelli was almost 10 yards - something of a chasm - and neither reacted quickly enough to the yards of space afforded to the Chelsea players. The shot was unstoppable once it had eluded the dual lunges of Gabriel and Timber, but it was annoying, to say the very least...
Maybe I'm being harsh, but for me it all stemmed from Partey dropping too deep - with Saliba our of position, of course - and thereby dragging Rice back in to cover. Whilst I'm loath to criticise the Ghanaian, who has been Arsenal's best midfielder this season, he doesn't offer the levels of physicality that Rice does in the 6 role. Really good on the ball; not so good off it. And it's therefore easier for him to start deeper than chase and harry back. Thus space was left and exploited. Terrific goal from a Chelsea point of view. Poor from Arsenal's. And at some point, when everyone is up and running and at full fitness, Arteta will have a difficult decision to make with regard to Partey. For all that, as I say, he has excelled so far this season.
From then on, despite the suspicion that one felt that Chelsea may then have the momentum, Arsenal looked far more likely to win the game in the final quarter than the home side. The play was often end to end, but Chelsea created little or nothing. On the other hand... Merino almost got himself onto the end of a typical Saka drive and cross, and another sublime cross from Odegaard almost saw Merino and Havertz combine for the go-ahead goal. By this time Saka had been forced off by yet another sneaky thump from Cucurella, and his replacement Jesus fed Merino (arriving late again); his shot was saved by Sanchez and Trossard (on for Martinelli) blasted the ball over the bar from close range. And then with the final kicks of the game Odegaard found Saliba (overlapping at left back) and his cross was diverted across goal by the Belgian where, had he left it, Havertz would have been left with an absolute sitter. Agonising...
In all that time, Chelsea had fashioned a single chance; Jackson running on to a through ball and slotting past Raya - but literally two yards offside when he received the ball. Two things here. 1. I have no time whatsoever for Jackson; he's a literal waste of space as far as I'm concerned. He did nothing all day. And 2. Why, Mr Referee's Assistant, are you not putting your flag up? If it's tight, then fair enough. But this was not. By no means. So it's a a waste of energy... and could lead, of course, to injury. Bl**dy PGMOL (who I'll come back to shortly).
And so on the whole, a satisfactory draw. Especially with City losing again; although Liverpool march on. With Odegaard back, things should be looking up now. However, news that Ben White has been under the knife this week is not so cheerful. I expect that we'll see Timber at right back in the interim. We're into another Interlull, and whilst a number of Arsenal players have been summoned by their countries key players - namely Saka, Rice, Odegaard and Partey - have stayed at home. This is good; and with the fixture list easing now Arsenal have the opportunity to make a run back into contention - because 9 points is a lot!
Now onto PGMOL; and specifically David Coote. And maybe I'll look at this differently to other people. Firstly - and against my better judgment - I have to admit that referees are human. And if Coote has taken a dislike to Jurgen Klopp (easy to do if you ask me - he's full of charm and bonhomie for the cameras when it suits him, but just look at how he's interacted with Coote in the past. Is this normal behaviour?
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Nobody should have to deal with that. And yes, people may argue that all managers behave like that. But I don't think they do. PGMOL may have been aware that Coote had a problem with Klopp and therefore Liverpool, but it's worth pondering on the fact that he failed to award two extremely good shouts for penalties in favour of Aston Villa against Liverpool just this weekend (Klopp is gone now, of course).
Referees, like anybody else, have people they don't get along with and clubs they perhaps don't like; but it's their professional duty to put that aside. And whilst I go on here about conspiracy theories almost every other week, it's surely merely incompetence, inconsistency and general poor judgment that has given this particular set of referees the reputation they have. For whatever reason, standards are considerably higher in other parts of Europe.
I almost feel sorry for Coote. That video should never have been made, and the guy who took the video - and released it - is the real villain here for me. I'd be absolutely certain that there are plenty of referees who have similar conversations with their mates. But they do have a job to do. Although I return to saying that they often do it badly... Give Coote the rest of the season off; then bring him back. That's more than enough as far as I'm concerned.
Finally, before I go, a bit of personal news. Historical followers of this blog may rememer that I had a 'troll' a few years ago - somebody who'd jump onto the comments every week and insult me. I know who he is/was (a Tottenham fan; and we had our run ins in person as well), but he's out of my life and living 200 miles away these days.
However this week things have reached a different level of abuse. I made the mistake of posting a response on X to an Arsenal fan with a rabid pro-Palestinian viewpoint (mine is very much different; and backed up by history as opposed to hysteria). This 'lady' is quite well-known, and has thousands of followers; and my somewhat jokey response to one of her tweets did not go down well. I'm not going to share her name on here, by the way. She doesn't deserve the publicity.
Firstly, she tracked down my blog and commented not about football, but about me being a 'racist' (I'm not). And she's since had a number of her followers jumping on too. Got my clicks up, at least...
It's all quite pathetic, and I'm perfectly calm about it (they've all commented anonymously, of course, like their mask-wearing mates do on their demos). I've deleted all the comments, but don't want to shut comments down if I can help it. Although I may have to if this continues. I've also, by the way, reported this harassment/abuse to Arsenal.
In case you weren't aware, social media can be a cesspit. I've no desire to go back there again, so I shall merely block and ignore from now on. It's a much safer policy. I'll let these lunatics use up their anger and energy elsewhere.
That's it: I'm done. All that remains for me to say is COYG!
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