From: do_ob_tpkillr | #149 i see last season's arsenal in this one; everybody sings praises for a well-played first home leg, only to be brought back to reality in the second away leg.
But Barca weren't bad when they played us, and against Chelsea...well they actually were pretty poor.
From: Boudii | #144 I wonder what AVB is thinking. What an utter failure he was as Chelsea manager?
Probably wondering why he bothered looking beyond a few months because his chairman and supporters only have the foresight to appreciate short term success. If it wasnt for AVB they'd still be playing Anelka and Alex too. If you believe insiders the team is being managed by Terry now anyways, however you look at it its a short term fix and theres dark days ahead for Chelsea.
-- Smurf The cream of Sonic Fanboyism. I liked smurf until he declared me worst user on board 8 - the jp
Who are we? Are we the same Arsenal of the past four years, or have we rounded the corner at last? If we lose to those blue c***s tomorrow, we will certainly be at risk of throwing away all the hard work from the past three months. A win would be unfathomably big. I have a feeling they are going to be all over us to start because they're flying with confidence right now, but late on I feel like they could get tired and we could take advantage.
A draw is acceptable. Losing must be avoided at all costs.
Sorry Extha, but I'm giving Chelsea the advantage for this one because of this man: Mikel Arteta. He's been pretty influential during the streak and I can't imagine Alex Song being capable of starting attacks in Arteta's stead. The best they've got for central midfield is probably Aaron Ramsey or Tomas Rosicky, both of whom must be pulled back from their favoured attacking midfield position. Chelsea's midfield of Frank Lampard and Ramires certainly seems stronger than Arsenal's midfield. Of course, Chelsea's fatigue from Wednesday night and the lack of Drogba can't be ignored so I'm not going to count Arsenal out. I think I'll sit this one out at the betting window.
Interesting to see how Chelsea approach this match. With Arterta out they might try to use the aggression of Ramires and Torres to press high up the pitch, hoping to force errors from Ramsey/Rosicky/Song and the defence. Or they might sit back, soak up attacks, and look to counter-attack, like they and Wigan did mid-week. I'd expect the latter approach.
-- We are living our lives Abound with so much information
Assuming at least one of Tottenham or Newcastle win today, Chelsea will be 4 points off CL qualification with 4 games to play. Looks like they'll need to win it to be in it next season.
-- We are living our lives Abound with so much information
Result suits both sides. If Chelsea win their remaining games and assuming Spurs don't beat Man City then regardless of what Spurs or Newcastle do in their other games, Chelsea get 4th. Its theirs to lose at this point.
Chelsea have got it all to do, really. Both Sp*rs and the Toon are ahead and have a game in hand on them. Obviously they can handle their own business with the Toon but Sp*rs run in is just so, so easy.
Arsenal it's simple: Win the last three, finish third. Anything less at this point is unacceptable.
Absolutely fantastic result for us today, DOMINATED Stoke from start to finish, played some absolutely beautiful football, and scored some top goals.
Ba looked really sharp despite not scoring again, but i have no doubt he'll stop his drought before the end of the season, hopefully in the next game against Wigan, which is another must win game!
In the off chance (but not so off chance anymore) that we get in to the Champs League, i honestly thought we would struggle, but looking at how we played today reminds me of the current strength of our team, and although we wouldnt play clubs on the same level as Stoke in the Champs League, if we can play like we did today, we would have no problem competing in Europe.
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~C~ - NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png A Hot Dog will make you a fatty, a SuperNiceDog will make you a GURU!
Don't think Tottenham will get third anymore, and I can see us and Newcastle winning every remaining game, except Newcastle still has to face Man City which they can lose or draw as well I suppose. Exciting!
From: TheLastObelisk | #196 Hey ExTha want the last bench position in my Board 8 Baseball League?
no thanks man.
Can't believe Sp*rs' implosion.
We really need to make sure Pardew's c***s don't catch us because to lose 3rd place to THEM of all teams would be abysmal. Don't think they'll come out unscathed from Chelsea/City, but we definitely need to win out.