Trying to take a balanced view of who holds the upper hand going in to the second half of the season, I really don’t think it’s as clear cut or easy as the most of the media and fans would have us believe. Was it this time last year that gooners had been crowned champions? By all and sundry?

I personally never doubted for a second a February collapse.

We are a much better team the arsenal, we were last season and even more so now. I don’t see us having that kind of collapse, but that doesn’t mean the title is in the bag.

There is a fagpaper think gap between us and city and really I really think it will end up coming down to the finest of margins and unfortunately maybe some bad reffing.

We are more or less even at the back, I would give us the edge as they haven’t got a decent second centre back but I also think they take the pressure away from the defence more than we do by being slightly better in possession. In centre mid again there is not much in it, we are probably a bit better defensively while they have Yaya. In terms of ability on the wings I would give us the edge but on any given day it’s such a small margin.  They have segrio which is the big big difference player but he’s rarely fit.

 

My one area of concern is that they seem to do more in the last 3^rd then us. You will always see zabaleta getting to the box and providing an option, toure and silver, nasri also are always looking to make runs in advance of the ball and the less said about that new fella they got in over the summer the better.

 

Our players seem to play behind the ball, Hazard, Oscar and Willian great ball players but you can’t have all 3 players standing there receiving the ball, trying a few tricks and then moving it on. If they manage to go past someone and get the ball in, it’s predominately just Costa there trying to get on the end of something. It actually drives me a little nuts. Robben, Duff and cole would bust a gut to get on the end of a chance when they ball was on the other flank. The one time the Cesc made a run in the box, costa going the other way it paid dividend…. Why then does it happen so rarely, Costa’s movement is amazing but kind of pointless if no one is giving an alternative option?

 

Andre does, but sometimes ends up taking the same position up as the striker and Jose clearly doesn’t trust him in terms of his overall team contribution (maybe that will change). I just don’t get it. I don’t think it’s Jose because his previous teams have done it. I just can’t help but think it will be this lack of incisiveness that makes the difference at the end of the season.

 

Have a great xmass all…. What I want for Christmas is movement in the west ham penalty area 

Our next 3 games are a lot tougher than theirs. Bit worried about who will be top come the end of New Years Day.

That is the biggest difference between us and City. We are not as comfortable on the ball as they are in the final third and for that reason they seem to create a hell of a lot more chances and key passes in the the opposition. As for us, we take quite a long time to create attack after attack.

 

As a team, I would say Chelsea are more secure and reliable but City are more potent with more match winners.

Its a lot about full back play imo. Kolarov and Zabaleta give them so much going forward. Whenever they are up against a packed defense, it is usually a run from the fullback that creates an opening for them or a moment of magic from Silva or Aguero. 

Andre Schurrle is the answer, doesn't want ball to feet, looks to run beyond the last man and suddenly it stretches defenses and gets you an extra body in the box.

Andre Schurrle is the answer, doesn't want ball to feet, looks to run beyond the last man and suddenly it stretches defenses and gets you an extra body in the box.

 

 

Don't disagree with this at all but as i said in origional post, Jose seem's to prefer the balance Willian gives the team. Id start Andre against Spammers for sure. Willian needs a rest, he looked abasloutly spent against stoke. If it happens it's on Andre to stake a claim for the spot. However, one player doing it is not the answer, HAzard and oscar need to be getting on the end of stuff as well. (some times they do but not often enough)

Don't disagree with this at all but as i said in origional post, Jose seem's to prefer the balance Willian gives the team. Id start Andre against Spammers for sure. Willian needs a rest, he looked abasloutly spent against stoke. If it happens it's on Andre to stake a claim for the spot. However, one player doing it is not the answer, HAzard and oscar need to be getting on the end of stuff as well. (some times they do but not often enough)

As I mentioned in the Willian thread I don't think we know who Jose's preferred player is because Schurrle started the season and then through injury and the virus has missed a lot of football and Willian played himself in to the team.

Now Schurrle is fit again he's showing enough to suggest he could start and I expect the playing time to be shared between him and Willian from now on.

It is very frustrating. Even more so on the wings when we can do basic things such as overlapping runs to create space and opportunites

I think City's defense is as good as us. They are so good defensively this season compared to last, they have only conceded 1 more goal than us.

 

In terms of attacking play I think they are better than us. The way they destroy parked buses is just quite amazing. I think their attack is that good that I can say they are the best team in unlocking parked buses. They can attack from anywhere of the pitch I mean their fullbacks are dead good in crossing especially Zabaleta whose cross definitely hit one of their players in the box. Their width play is amazing, and if it's not then there is always Yaya Toure who will just score a screamer from outside the box or Lampard(sigh) who'll even finish hardest of chance. And obviously the flair of David Silva.

 

Their only weakness is that they can't adapt to various styles of play/ tactical inability of their manager. That's why they struggle against big teams and in Champions league.

 

On the other hand we have 2 creative players in the form of Cesc and Hazard in terms of flair who can also unlock tightest defenses. But when any of one gets marked our creative players our attacking threat get somewhat nullified especially Hazard, then on the other wing Willian just do nothing in terms of attack other than running. And our fullbakcs Brana/Azpi hardly provides any attacking threat in terms of crosses from wide. And when there is simply no attacking threat from wide we shift centrally where 5 defenders are in front of goal so we just simply pass and pass and pass.

That's why we somewhat struggle against parked buses.

 

I think we should play team like this against parked buses, Luis would provide us far more attacking threat from left, and Azpi playing on his natural position can also throw some good crosses.

 

Courtois

Azpi, Cahill, Terry, Luis

Fabregas, Matic

Schurrle, Oscar, Hazard

Costa