Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal Player Rating and Match Reaction

[HCZ_Reborn]

Raya 7 - Didn’t have much to do, the power of Neto’s shot meant he didn’t have much chance of saving it


White 6 - Looks tired, just as well he’s not on international duty


Saliba 7 - Struggled at times


Gabriel 6.5 - wasn’t confident with the ball


Timber 7 - Actually didn’t play at all badly


Partey 6 - Not one of his better games


Rice 6 - Looked all at sea


Odegaard 7.5 - Despite lacking match fitness, made big difference for us


Martinelli 8 - But for a smart save from Sanchez would have had a brace


Havertz 6 - Didn’t need to be offside


Saka 6 - Largely anonymous


Subs


Merino 5 - Useless

Jesus 5 - Doubly Useless


Trossard 5 - Fantastic defensive block at the end when Havertz had a tap in, oh wait Havertz plays for us…trebly useless



Performance that was low on confidence. Not a terrible performance much like Inter wasn’t a terrible performance, just lacking the bite and maybe gave a wasteful Chelsea too many shooting opportunities.


This is a team that at this moment in time is not better than the sum of its parts, we have some top individual players…(and yes we have some absolute dross stinking up the place - Zinchenko, Jesus, Merino, Sterling are the offending quartet?

It needs to release itself from the shackles imposed on it by a control freak coach, as at the moment we aren’t scoring enough goals and we look nervous when defending a lead.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Well, who would've thought we would be out of the title race before the middle of November this season.

Genuinely I am really disappointed with the lot of them, they have all been poor & it started with a ridiculous and unambitious transfer window.

That was the catalyst for failure IMO.

[Letters]

Well, who would've thought we would be out of the title race before the middle of November this season.

I don't know if we are.
It does feel like a long way back but there's no way Liverpool are going to keep up this pace - I mean, if they do then fair play, but I can't see it.
And our season has been front-loaded with a lot of tricky away games. Let's see where we are at the turn of the year, we have a kinder run coming up.

[HCZ_Reborn]

If City were nine points ahead I’d say the title was over, but it’s Liverpool who have played the easiest fixtures. We absolutely need to make up ground in the next couple of months and if we are nine points off or worse by the new year I’d say it’s over, but at this stage? Far far too early

If it’s five points or less and we buy a striker in January (two big ifs) then actually I’d make us favourites again


City are as I’ve said haemorrhaging.

[Mac76]

It's obviously not technically over, but if we can't find a way of scoring more goals then clearly we're on a hiding to nothing

As you may have noticed I don't share people's view of Liverpool in terms of how likely they are to fade away, I think Slot is managing his resources well

I's say it's definitely between them and Citeh, and I say Citeh partly because of their form in the second half of previous seasons (and if you look at the fixtures they turn very freindly for them about that time)

Haaland's clearly off the pace atm despite scoring yesterday but it won't last a whole season, plus who's to say Guardiola won't bring in a Rodri-type player in January if he thinks he needs to

As for us I think slagging off Merino is pointless, he's there to shore up the midfield because that's what Arteta prioritised, so it's on Arteta if we have a player who is unspectacular and are still missing a striker

It's Arteta himself that makes me think we won't win the league

The next home game vs Forest will be a real test, they are in excellent form and we are struggling, plus they're now directly competing with us in the league

[Letters]

If City were nine points ahead I’d say the title was over, but it’s Liverpool who have played the easiest fixtures. We absolutely need to make up ground in the next couple of months and if we are nine points off or worse by the new year I’d say it’s over, but at this stage? Far far too early

If it’s five points or less and we buy a striker in January (two big ifs) then actually I’d make us favourites again


City are as I’ve said haemorrhaging.

I more or less agree although I'm loathe to write City off. They have previous for going in to beast mode and just winning every game after Christmas and blitzing everyone.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I don't know if we are.
It does feel like a long way back but there's no way Liverpool are going to keep up this pace - I mean, if they do then fair play, but I can't see it.
And our season has been front-loaded with a lot of tricky away games. Let's see where we are at the turn of the year, we have a kinder run coming up.

It's a 4 game swing minimum & we have to be perfect from now until the end of the season.
Our gameplay has been so bad the last 6 games that I cannot see us turning it around enough to be perfect.

Law of averages now suggests we are already out of it.

Which is a disgrace at this stage of 'the project'

[HCZ_Reborn]

It's obviously not technically over, but if we can't find a way of scoring more goals then clearly we're on a hiding to nothing

As you may have noticed I don't share people's view of Liverpool in terms of how likely they are to fade away, I think Slot is managing his resources well

I's say it's definitely between them and Citeh, and I say Citeh partly because of their form in the second half of previous seasons (and if you look at the fixtures they turn very freindly for them about that time)

Haaland's clearly off the pace atm despite scoring yesterday but it won't last a whole season, plus who's to say Guardiola won't bring in a Rodri-type player in January if he thinks he needs to

As for us I think slagging off Merino is pointless, he's there to shore up the midfield because that's what Arteta prioritised, so it's on Arteta if we have a player who is unspectacular and are still missing a striker

It's Arteta himself that makes me think we won't win the league

The next home game vs Forest will be a real test, they are in excellent form and we are struggling, plus they're now directly competing with us in the league

Forest lost 3-1 at home to Newcastle yesterday

They have made themselves tough to beat, but once the wall is breached….its breached

Score first (which we do 75% of the time) and they are done with


Arteta is a massive drag factor, but I think this team is capable of big achievements once it throws off the shackles he puts on us.

Really in terms of performances this season is not much different to the first half of last season. Disjointed, not great, galaxy brained tactics….only difference is far harder games have been played away from home


Goals are a concern, but the potential remains to score a lot of goals with the players we have.

[HCZ_Reborn]

It's a 4 game swing minimum & we have to be perfect from now until the end of the season.
Our gameplay has been so bad the last 6 games that I cannot see us turning it around enough to be perfect.

Law of averages now suggests we are already out of it.

Which is a disgrace at this stage of 'the project'

Why do we need to be perfect from now until the end of the season?

We need to go on a good run for sure. But that’s always been the case with us and winning the title

My marker is that we can probably be six points off the top by new year and still be well in with a shout

[HCZ_Reborn]

I more or less agree although I'm loathe to write City off. They have previous for going in to beast mode and just winning every game after Christmas and blitzing everyone.

There is a reason why they haven’t lost for almost two years in the league with Rodri in the team. There’s a reason why he won the ballon d’or, it’s a recognition that he’s the most influential player in world football currently.

It was clear to me looking at City that these defeats were only a matter of time. I’m not saying it’s impossible for this “beast mode” to happen, but in my view it’s at least 70% less likely. The last time Man City lost four times in a row was 2006.