#107. Arsenal 2 - 1 Chelsea

0:00Hey, hey, how's it going guys? It's been a minute. Welcome back to the channel. Welcome back to the Furinoz podcast. I'm your host, Monicella. I have been sick the last couple of weeks. I don't know if it was COVID or flu or one of the many things that are going around. So I'm right cough in the middle of recording this episode here and there. Apologies in advance. I have been very unwell but I've been keeping up with the football from the quiet and safe space of my own living room for most of the time but yeah, it's been, it's been a good watch for many people. And I guess when I first started getting sick around the 12th which was the last time I recorded something, you know, Arsenal. My team had two games that didn't go to well. One at Brentford and the the Wolves game that's been pushed forward from week 31 to be played now due to the Caravall Cup final encounter with Manchester City. Both games ended in draws and

1:05I'll be honest, I thought Brentford deserved to get at least a point from that game and should have won. I know football doesn't work in the show devs and should not but yeah, I was happy that the team walked out of Brentford without defeat because I watched the team there that was just flailing. Towards the last 15-20 minutes of that game and Brentford, yeah, they were, they looked them all likely to get the next goal and it would have ended in defeat for Arsenal and maybe that would have been a kick in the butt that they needed. I don't know. I think it was still a hammering to the team's confidence that they were outplayed to that extent in that late part of that game. And Arsenal have been doing this thing with second hearts of games where they seem to just go through this inexplicable dip in games in second halves and things just start happening that

2:06you don't normally associate with certain players and it happened in the middle of the most recent game which was yesterday against Chelsea but understood that but I need to, it revolves, you know, it's hard to explain that one, it's hard to swallow that one, it might be costly, it may not be, we'll have to sway to see until the end of May what happens with the other results but like that one from 2-0 up against bottom of the league goals that one was a hard one to endure and it didn't help that I was also not feeling well. But other than that, you know, football is football, you can get crazy results and we've seen since then Austin will go to goals and get spanked 2-0. We've seen Arsenal make a bounce back, you know, with a win in the previous round of fixtures against Tottenham, Tottenham, yes, poor side but you have to play who's in front of you and Arsenal did well going to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and hand in business. It's been a bit of a interesting one

3:06from a content creative perspective because, you know, usually you're reacting in recording to each game but for the first time in a while, you know, I got sick and I decided not to make people suffer to list, you know, by listening to my compromised voice and me coughing every third word so I stood still for a bit and enjoyed consuming content and enjoyed watching some of the football. And yeah, in Arsenal now I in a situation where, you know, it's a little tighter to for comfort at the top of the league between them and Manchester City but I think broadcasters and the so-called neutrals that nobody ever knows are probably going to like that it is a race this year unlike, you know, last year there was no race really Liverpool ran away with it and everybody else was limping and I'm sure Arsenal fans, including myself, would have preferred a procession of winning the league, you know, a lot have been saying this should be done and they've been saying

4:10this since like January when we started coming dropping points and City were dropping points and they were like, yeah, the league could be 11 points, it could be 12, it could be this many. If you fall Arsenal long enough, you understand that Arsenal doesn't do anything easy. That's just, it's just the Arsenal DNA at this point, you know, Arsenal don't like to do things easy and make things easy for themselves which brings me back to the game yesterday against Chelsea because like that's the most recent thing and that's what I want to talk about in this episode. It was nice to go to Tottenham, spank them, it was cute, get out of there, you know, but the game against Chelsea is probably more, more worthy of analysis and appraisal than the Tottenham one. I know it wasn't comfortable for most people watching including myself but I liked a lot of what I saw in that first half if I'm being honest. I saw an Arsenal team play against a very good organised Chelsea side and find ways to put dependent back, find ways to press them really high and put a lot of pressure on

5:14on a weakened Chelsea defensive line with a very uncertain and insecure, insecure on the ball in Robert Sanchez. Arsenal's press was good, Giorgio Perez almost stole the ball from Sanchez to score, you know, a couple of moments including one where Sanchez tries to play the ball into midfield to be tapping at the back with a couple of defenders and definitely right steps onto it, passes it first time to soccer and we couldn't fashion, you know, high quality chances from from our good pressing but we had Chelsea pinned back for most of that first 20 or so minutes and the game was good in a variety of ways for Arsenal in that first half. Even the buildup play on the ball Arsenal looked more secure. Yes, there were a couple of loose passes that maybe didn't allow Arsenal to take full advantage of Chelsea's vulnerability in those early stages of the game and I was saying to some of my buddies that I'm going to grew chat with, I met Arsenal

6:16Buddy fans and we were chatting about, you know, the game as it was happening and I was like, man, we're looking good but I'm just worried about how Arsenal doesn't make the absolute most of the times they are dominant in the game because you know you can't dominate a game for 90 minutes against high quality opposition and you know we can make a joke about Chelsea's immaturity and petulence and our dislike for them for all the time that they, you know, they kind of ruined what was a good time for people like Manchester United fans and Arsenal fans and other clubs in England because Chelsea once got, they got that brown rich money, they, they rewrote Premier League history, you know, and so because of that like it's always nice to see them suffer but you can't dismiss the quality they have in their in the individual players they have especially in the midfield and in those attacking positions, you know, they have coal palmers still, they still have,

7:17you know, George Pedro who's an annoying kid but he can play and if an understood say, Quasero, you know, there's some really good quality in that team. By half time they were starting to reach James who I thought in that first half, if there was anybody who looked like the best player on the pitch it was him, you know, for both teams he looked like the player who wanted all the smoke the most and his is his deliveries his right foot is man I just I can't praise him enough it's good to see him have a good spell of health and be available and I know he's being managed through this season starting with Maraska and that it seems like Rosenio is doing the same thing and maybe this is a new thing that Chelsea's trying to do with the introduction of the medical team's voice be be prominent in decisions on whether players are being played or not at certain times throughout the season but it might be beneficial for someone like Reese James because when that kid is on the field he's not a passenger he finds ways to affect games whether from a free kick or from

8:24crossing or just from just being a lockdown defender when he needs to be and also being very influential in open play period. England are very lucky to have him and Trent Ellers and Arnold I know they haven't been able to figure out a way of using both those boys in that national team but not both at the same time I don't feel like England has gotten the best of Trent in an English shirt and the same is true for Reese James in my opinion I think in them too they have a weapon that most other countries don't have except maybe you know Morocco right so the game was a bit of a tussle you know it was it was it was never a game where one team was going to run away with it because Chelsea are in your face they compete and as they should and they have quality to make you have to answer questions calling the other way as well. I liked the way we were playing in that first half and then once they scored and the first I want to say 15 minutes or so of the second half and Chelsea had the momentum in that second half I think they were playing better

9:24and I know we were the one who scored you know and maybe had better chances than they did and we went to one up but it was not a very secure way of closing out the game from Arsenal again brings me back to the previous two games since you know I was sick and wasn't recording which was the Brentford game not strong towards the end the Wolves game and inexplicable 30 minutes basically from minute 58 to very end of the game Arsenal were just a strange team that I couldn't recognize and many people who watched this team even those of us all accepted that we don't play a beautiful brand of football at this stage it was it was even worse to watch that 30 minute collapse of Wolves not because Wolves were doing anything to Arsenal but it was hard to watch Arsenal do things to themselves that was so detrimental to the cause now I did say it will only be revealed right in the future because like that game is a week 31

10:29game we don't know what's going to happen between now and when that man city match up to play palace you know because we don't know when that's going for man city has been rescheduled for but I do think man city winning their last couple games like city and united are basically the most informed teams and then Liverpool behind them they've won four of their last five games only them three teams have won four of their last five games Arsenal is won three of the last five two draws Liverpool has lost a game to city but won everything else and city drew experts and won the last four straight and then united you know they're having they have been a vibesy last eight games or so since Carrick has been there and it's been fun watching them and it's been fun to see my mentors they united friends get a bit of pep in their step again you know they're talking big talk again it's fun when united at doing okay but whereas I go cities game against palace I don't know if it's been rescheduled yet actually I'm just trying to

11:34check that yeah that game is not it still says here that game is march 21 I know they won't play that game when march 21 because on march 22nd is the carnival cap final they haven't found a date yet for that game so we don't even know when it's gonna fall into cities calendar it might be by the time we get to week 32 and 33 that Arsenal have a two game I've played two games more than city hopefully they will find a space to play that game but with city and crystal palace both being in Europe it's gonna be hard I think to find a way place to squeeze that game in but they will have to figure it out but I do want to speak about a couple of individuals from yesterday's game I think Jury and Timber he had been definitely looking like somebody who needed time off and I think a week in between game was good for him because he was involved in both goals Arsenal he was involved in the buildup in in with that lead to the corner that that Arsenal

12:35scored their opening goal from was involved in a lot of other good things for sure going forward and he scored the second goal so you know besides the impact in the final third in the always you know what you're gonna get from him in terms of his you know defensive assignments he's usually the winner in whatever duel you put him in it was um it was a good performance from him was good to see him remind people that he is that guy and another aspect of this of course the email I'd have heard all the talk you know fan talk panda talk comparing him to risk James or you know who's like people saying who's better than who all that kind of stuff so it was nice for him to to to impact the game to this degree and another player that I've endured seeing in our in Arsenal shirt in the last few weeks has been Pierre or Encapier he had another good game yesterday I know the own goal has affected his score on sofa score and fought more but I think

13:40they haven't they haven't like under six scored you know five point eight or something like that I don't agree I think he was one of Arsenal's better players especially going forward but he also did some really good work defensively I think this kid is the player most Arsenal fans were hoping Karen Tieni would be I think Pierre or Encapier is that guy I think at fullback would him and Timba we have very very secure and it's good to see them not invert and and kind of hold with I know Timba still tucks in a little bit into zone 14 and and so does Encapier but what I've started to notice as well with Encapier playing more and more in the team and cradling giving us like a proper back four shape instead of like doing the three two thing that we used to do in buildup it's a loud cross art to to take and occupy spaces all over the pitch I've seen a lot of cross art in the last two weeks I know you got hooked yesterday before the hour mark but I've

14:41seen a lot of him in the right half spaces I've seen him in the right wing I've seen him in the middle of the pitch I've seen him on the left flank doing business cross art and as a in the last two game I know as it was not as good yesterday as it was against spurs I think against spurs he had a more complete performance I know as a will usually show up in moments that define the game but against spurs he did a lot more things like couple of dribbles a couple of turns and parsing you know a couple of interchanging with Pogaya Saka we saw a little fleshes of that yesterday hey no Martinelli did well when he came on but I think behind Geo Coraz is good to have a roaming cross art as a and Saka kind of like working as a trident and then Geo Coraz being kind of like the guy who who you know is at the end of finishing things I would like to see that again at Brighton hey you know I've been pushing for a tether to make changes and to use players to give everybody

15:45minutes you know which I was happy for yesterday when I saw Chris Chenogad coming on I hope death in rise not injured but rice was blowing he looked shattered I don't know if he was feeling bad pain or whatever other things because he was running fine so I'm assuming it wasn't a muscular issue with his legs or anything like that but he did look really really tired which is unlike him he's a very fit kid and he came out after 76 minutes which is something I've been hoping we do but I hope doing it yesterday doesn't mean he's hurt because my tether did say in the post match in press conference that rice had asked to be taken off and usually that means you know players feeling discomfort but with that said I am I'm very happy with the three points obviously I'm just unsure about our ability to close out games at this point I think we're not an explosive scoring to high scoring team and at the moment it seems like we've kind of lost our superpower

16:47of shutting teams out and that said I don't mean that I think we we are easy to play through I just think we've had some freakish things that have happened where teams have scored from very low probability chances which has created insecurity or a degree of insecurity and I think if you human you know events will kind of shake you up and make you doubt from time to time and that's fine it can happen I just think because ours not not the most high scoring team out there it's very important that they still find a way to be very secure in their rest defense and and I think this is going to be the the the thing that creates a lot of debate in terms of how Arsenal approach games because a lot of fans are unhappy with the way the team plays I understand it but I also see us go health forever and still not put teams away like even when we are trying to get a goal from a goal down like yesterday we scored two goals set pieces but we gave little away but the little

17:47that we did give was scary and then the same thing as first like they had no hope in opening us up but then we found a way to let them back into the game with our generosity that can rise in that day wolves right like it's like I said we we gave up a two goal lead against wolves and it wasn't anything that wolves were really doing to create the panic that was visible in the players so in my opinion we're going to have to just brace ourselves for some really uncomfortable football over the next 10 weeks or so because I know a lot of people place this on our teta and maybe some of it is on him but I think a lot a lot for me a lot of it is on the players I think the players are the ones who sit deep and fall into very low low block either hard time understand believing that that's the coaching that makes us fall so deep into our block and pretty much collapse into our block and

18:48let people cross unchallenged you know the wolves cross was an average one but it was uncontested the ball is in the air and it creates a little bit of chaos Chelsea if it wasn't on offside when Joe Pedro does the overhead kick it was offside so you know give the defense credit I guess for the offside trap but it was a nothing ball in by Kaisero which could have been very damaging you know there's a lot of things like that with Arsenal where late in games there's just a degree of insecurity and I think it's going to be it's going to be like this I'm just now trying to get myself ready for it the football is not going to be pretty I expect to see slogs against teams that we should be putting away because this is where we are in our journey at the moment this is where we are in our journey we are not that mercenary killer team that goes without emotion or because ice and our veins in these big moments that's not who we are and maybe we'll be that team one day I don't know but right now I think the key thing for fans especially those who are sort of big platforms

19:51or those who are at the stadium I think it's very very important that Arsenal players staff feel the love and the support I know it's hard because we're all anxious but I think that's what our this this Arsenal team needs I think they need to be supported unconditionally and we can then see how far that goes we can boot them in the beginning of next season for the first 20 games if they don't do it right but that's my view at this point I can swear at the TV because they can't hear me but at this point I'm choosing to I mean I might say some negative things here and there but like I think the point is to try and stay constructive because this is a hard thing that they're trying to do we've had better opportunities in previous years and we haven't been able to do it 20 plus years and I keep thinking back to the Steven Gerard moment when Brandon Rogers could have won the Premier League and you know Liverpool one of the greats of the game one of the greatest players of Liverpool if not the greatest player of Liverpool Stevie G had a moment

20:55of madness and I think I'm seeing this with Arsenal players I think players are human and until until they get over these demons support them and support them but anyway I digress it's been it's been kind of a challenge so to not be able to sit on the mic and share my thoughts and and chat with you guys and appreciate the support for the podcast and in my little YouTube channel I hope to stay well between now and the end of the season because there's a lot of really big things including Champions League and Cup finals and other things along the way but I'll talk to you on the next one thank you for for tuning in and cheers