Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says Arsenal need to show greater discipline against Chelsea this season if they are to secure three points on Saturday afternoon against Antonio Conte’s side.
The Gunners had three players sent off against the Blues last campaign; Gabriel and Santi Cazorla dismissed at the Bridge and Per Mertesacker given his marching orders at the Emirates, in games that ended 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.
While Gabriel’s sending off for a clash with Diego Costa was later rescinded, with the Spaniard himself earning a ban, the Ox says Arsene Wenger’s men need to keep their emotions in check.
“It’d be nice to keep 11 men on the pitch against Chelsea this time round,” Oxlade-Chamberlain told Arsenal Player.
“I know it sounds funny but generally speaking in the last few games against them, it’s always a big clash with a lot of emotions and maybe some mind games.
“First and foremost, it’s a massive game and we just need to keep our discipline and stay in the game. I’d back this team to be able to beat anyone in the league on our day.
“It’s going to be a big occasion but we can’t get too caught up in it, we just need to go out and play our game.
He added: “It will make a difference [playing at home], but at the same time you’ve got to keep a cool head and you can’t let all of that cloud your judgement or get the better of you on the day.
“You know, if you go a goal up and the crowd starts getting right behind you it can push you on. At the same time, sometimes you might end up going a goal down and the crowd can show their frustration and you can’t let that affect you too much because you’ve got to focus on getting the right result and keep plugging away.
“The crowd will be massive and I’m sure the atmosphere will be great. It always is for the big games and we’ve got to use that to our advantage. We need to get the right result so everyone leaving the Emirates happy.”
Arseblog News will now be putting £10 on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and / or Kieran Gibbs getting sent off. Easy money.
Will Lucas start?
Yes?
Yep / Arsene
Will Ox start?
Haha, yes let’s hope not!
I will probably start Alexis up front again!
Wait. They’re not the same person?
You beat me to it!
Sounds like a decent plan, Ox.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-21/richest-african-dangote-plans-to-buy-arsenal-within-four-years
He must be having a laugh!
Nice try, Gibbo.
Haha.. Well said Ox!
We shouldn’t fall prey for their mind games this time around and should keep our heads held high.
Personally I would start a midfield three of Cazorla, Xhaka and Elneny with Ozil and Sanchez playing behind Lucas/Giroud. Let us change our formation all of a sudden and confuse the shit out out of the opponent and cause havoc.
Tell you what, it has been fun to even think about forming a starting line up this season.. With the kind of squad we have.. The Boss must be having fun as well doing the same.
Like it. Keeps the Xhakneny midfield going and allows the Santi/Ozil/Sanchez triumvate to play further up the pitch.
Perez to get a hat trick. 🙂
“Arseblog News will now be putting £10 on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and / or Kieran Gibbs getting sent off. Easy money.”
If Andre Marriner is refereeing, they’ll both get sent off (for the same foul).
We were better than them last year. That Riley cunt helped them win. This year they are worst, we are better and the Riley cunt won be officiating. 3 nil to arsenal this time
I seem to remember Mike Dean reffing last year
That would explain a lot
Mike Dean is a cunt!
Yes you are right. It’s Dean the twat and not Riley.
You mean they’re not the same person?!
Well they are both cut from the same cloth. Cunt! If that helps
Why is there a picture of Gibbs?
I know. How could you get something as basic as that wrong?
We need to cunningly get diego costa sent off as payback, or just break his legs / face / whatever
He’s due a kicking.
His face is already broken
Aye but judging by his behaviour it’s not broken enough.
For the last few seasons we’ve gone into a lot of these games with Chelsea so wound up we shoot ourselves in the foot. We have to shed the victim mentality because we’re beaten before we even step on the pitch, they just have to pretend they’re Hull or Sunderland not a bunch of bullies about to steal their lunch money.
This year feels different because AW won’t get himself wound up about facing Moremoanio. It’s just us that will still be wound up by Costa – what odds on his first dive holding his face within 10 minutes? It’ll be worrying enough with Le Coq in the team, Xhaka too would guarantee us a red card!
Well we’ll find out tomorrow
I wish we’d move one from being able to beat anyone “on our day” to just being able to beat anyone, period.
We’v been stuck there for this past 10yrs or so.we need everyday and every week to be our day/week. Consistency.
I believe this squad is strong and mature enough to take that step. COYG! Smash those chavs!
I think we’ll win it, but we need Xhakas commanding midfield presence.
I would go for
Cech
Bellerin Koscielney Mustafi monreal
Xhaka Cazorla
Ozil
Walcott Sanchez
Perez
Personally I would have preferred Giroud, but don’t think he’ll br fit for it. There is no no NO way Sanchez up front would work against Cahill and David Luiz. I don’t think Perez is mentally ready for a derby, but after the two goals I think it’s worth it to gamble on his confidence and put him there in the starting 11. HOWEVER, if we have a fit Giroud, go for Giroud
If Wenger goes for this team selection, each one of you Arseblog readers shall be forever indebted to me infinitely. Please note that I’m not doing this for quick money
Iwobi walked back into the team against PSG away and was rested for Forest. It hard to see Wenger not picking him. Plus, there is the fact that Sanchez and Walcott have never started out wide in the same game. Wenger has always gone with a more box to box midfielder like Iwobi, Ox, or Ramsey on the other side of Sanchez or Walcott. The only time this wasn’t the case was when injuries gave Campbell his chance. My guess is that Wenger does this because it allows Ozil and the wide striker, whether Sanchez or Walcott, to do their… Read more »
I forgot when Wenger plays Welbeck opposite Sanchez but Welbeck starts from a much deeper position than Sanchez.
Also, I am not saying Sanchez doesn’t track back, but how he is allowed to play out wide with Arsenal, it doesn’t matter if he gets caught too far up field. Our team is built to cover him if he is too aggressive going forward.
Speaking of Welbeck, who else misses him? Thumbs up if you do, thumbs down if you don’t.
I dunno i think most things should work against david luiz
Wenger has been reluctant in starting Xhaka and Cazorla together. They played together when Coq had a slight problem. So, it’s either Coq+Santi or Xhaka+El Neny. I actually prefer the latter for this one.
Yeah, I’d also go with Xhakneny. If alexis plays up front and with theo/ox on the right wing, Xhakas long balls for alexis and theo/ox would be lethal against their slow CBs.
We are due a win against them now. The 5-1 hammering we got two and a half years ago was our own doing and we deserved that loss but the loss last year was due to Cunty Costa’s cunty antics and Mike Dean’s piss poor officiating.
For fucks sake this time just tear them open and leave them for dead. 15 goals to none and with Costa bleeding from the rectum after the righteous boot from Xhaka.
as depressing as it is for me to point out, I believe that hammering was 6-0.
My memory is shite so you’re more than likely correct. All the more reason for us to get our act together tomorrow.
If you put Lucas and Sanchez în the same lineup, and Giroud is injured and not on the bench, you find yourself in a position with no cf on the bench. With all the respect to Akpom, i don’t think he’ll make the bench with the depth we have. So Sanchez should be a false 9 with Chambo and Lucas coming on in case we need them. I dont’t think Arsene’s problem is who plays up front but he needs to find a midfield formula to dominate chelsea’s. Cazorla Xhaka and Ozil should do it but giving the fact that… Read more »
Costa is an insult to the circus but he, sure, does look and act like a clown.
True, but I think Sanchez would be ineffective against that back four in a false 9 position. Whereas I would rather have him on the wing giving Ivanovic nightmares. Sanchez on the wing is a different player. Better to act first n score before reacting to injuries
Not having a CF on the bench isn’t a problem if you start with two (or even three, counting Walcott) players who can play there, so I see no reason why Alexis and Lucas can’t both start. For me it’s a straight choice between Lucas and Theo for the chance to play alongside Iwobi and Alexis (though Theo would start on the right, not up front, obviously). I agree with others that Arsene seems to have doubts about Xhaka and Cazorla being his midfield duo for any games except home games against weaker teams, and I’m not sure those doubts… Read more »
Not much talk of Iwobi! I think he has to start after last week – we will retain the ball much better as well so I think Alexis should stay up top with Perez as sub. Agree Xhaka should start.
I put money on Costa having a go at Xhaka. If Xhaka gets sent off I hope he puts his foot so far up Costas arse he has to leave his boot in there for surgical removal after the game.
I would put money on Xhaka not starting.
Who’s ref? If it’s Mike Dean then prepare yourselves for a shit time.
Oliver
I actually like him. Among other things, he sent off Di Maria against us in the FA Cup.
Lets hope Ox isn’t one of the 11 on the pitch to begin with.
Fuck that. Stand behind your team. That’s exactly what Ox said and how influential that is.
It doesn’t matter what happens this time, we will beat them silly trust me
I will be at the game and dont mind who plays, i will stand, sing, shout and swear for the good of the team. So COME ON YOU RIP ROARING REDDDS!! Feckin smash the chavski cunts!!
With Kante in the Chelsea midfield, we definitely need a tenacious fighter in ours as well; Francis has to start.
Good call. I forgot about Kante. More than not being defensively secure per se, I think the real reason not to start with only Xhaka/Santi is that they don’t have the mobility to compete with Kante. The guy covers an unbelievable amount of grass. So Coquelin it is (or Elneny, but I’d go with Francis). Playing with a midfield three and playing Ozil out wide in a front three might be the way to go…
Kante! Covers every goddam blade of grass on the pitch
Has anyone followed them at all this season? I mean last season they were dull as dishwater and lost whereas the season before they were dull as dishwater and won. Dullest fucking team in the PL under Mourinho. Has the new manager added a bit of spark to their game or is it still piss boring?
Will a draw be a decent result? Or will it cause another meltdown?
Another 4-0 would be nice 🙂
If we want to make statement of intent then we ought to smash them. We did it with the saints who put us through misery last season. We need to beat them at emirate. This is symbolic, not just the points. 1 nil will do but 3 nil will be absolutely fantastic
…or: we can start breaking their heads off ONLY after we score three-four goals!… 🙂
Watched Chelsea play against Liverpool last week, Liverpool were quite good, especially in the first half, and Chelsea were just about as shite as last year. They looked slow as molasses, and they even have Sideshow Bob back from Paris–you thought Arsenal were the ones going in circles! If I were a Chelsea fan I’d be in total despair, but then I’d probably also be a knuckle-dragging xenophobic fuckwit so it would be the least of my problems. No guarantees we’ll be able to take advantage of it though, given the deer-in-headlights approach we’ve had with that horrible fucking club… Read more »
Even better if it takes a deflection off his face…and knocks him out cold ?
I like that Ox has taken on the Johan Djourou role: Arsenal Player media duties. That is just where I like him best.
Hopefully, Saturday ref won’t be one the goofballs who get their kick from tormenting arsenal.
I very much like what how the Ox is talking about shit
Soz, just how. The what is what he’s been asked about and how he answered is what I likes. Squadage!
I really feel we need both Perez and Xhaka on the pitch. It’s time to put some grit against the blue bullies. This year gives Arsene the perfect opportunity to match our players on the pitch so that we can deal with the style of the team we are playing. We finally have the depth and variable player styles and strengths to do it.
My line-up for tomorrow game:
Cech
Bellerin Mustafi Koscienly(C) Monreal
Cazorla/Conquelin Xhaka
Walcott Ozil Iwobi
Alexis(Perez)
Impact subs: Chamberlain, Perez, Elneny.
Score prediction Arsenal v Chelsea: 2-1 or 3-2 (arsenal win) or 2-2.
No matter who start up front, either Sanchez or Lucas, I want cazola vs Xhaka to start the mid and u will know that Chelsea is nothing before Arsenal
Forget the crowd. This Arsenal side should be good enough to beat anyone home or away.