Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean. Arsenal outgunned by Chelsea
A brief disclaimer: that’s if you believe the implications of our composite team, picked ahead of one of the season’s pivotal matches, which...
https://sportrow.blogspot.com/2014/03/arsenal-outgunned-by-chelsea.html
A brief disclaimer: that’s if you believe the implications of our composite team, picked ahead of one of the season’s pivotal matches, which will be shown live on BT Sport.
Arsenal have six players, to Chelsea’s five, in a team selected in a fashionble 4-2-3-1 formation. It contains some left field choices, in challenging positions.
It can only have one manager, Arsene Wenger. That’s not merely down to the occasion marking his 1000th game. Jose Mourinho simply lacks his class and distinction. Here’s the team:
Petr Cech: He may not be Chelsea’s best goalkeeper – the extended exile of Thibault Courtois at Atletico Madrid remains puzzling – but he lacks the flakiness of Wojciech Szczęsny. Consistent and calm under pressure.
Bacary Sagna: Arsenal’s parsimonious approach to contract renewals might just cost them the services of one of the League’s most productive right backs. Manchester City, or United, would pay his asking price, a new three year deal worth £130,000 a week.
Per Mertesacker: The BFG has been a revelation, finally explaining why he has been a fixture in Germany’s defence. He may lack grace and dexterity, but he reads the game impeccably and has the required resilience.
John Terry: The CLL would be the captain, naturally. Even those of us who struggle to think of him as a legend, and consider his absence from the England team a blessed relief, have a grudging regard for his leadership qualities and sheer force of will.
Kieran Gibbs: Unfortunate to find himself pushed to the margins internationally, where Southampton’s Luke Shaw has replaced him as England’s future left back. Despite intermittent injury problems, he is suited perfectly to the adventurous demands of the role.
Nemanja Matic: Chelsea swallowed their pride, and dropped around £17million, to bring him back from Benfica. It has already proved a brave and far-sighted decision. Physically imposing and perpetually alert, he will be a key player at the Bridge for the next decade.
David Luiz: A maverick who will never win Mourinho’s trust, he is likely to start next season in the centre of the Barcelona defence. A shame, because his occasional brain fades cannot disguise his potential, surging forward from a deep-lying midfield role.
Mesut Ozil: Altogether now: “What a waste of money.” Nonsense. The teething problems of transition will be forgotten in future seasons, when his energy, technical quality and intelligence will compensate for his current mental and physical exhaustion.
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain: Fits the principle of thi
s team, in which players would be fluid and interchangeable. Used mainly in a wide position, he has the power, pace and penetration to be a revelation centrally, behind a single striker.
Eden Hazard: Will contest the Footballer of the Year award with Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. A player of beauty, whose improvisational skills and quick brain complement his speed across the ground and his eye for a pass and a goalscoring opportunity.
Olivier Giroud: In this team almost by default, since Chelsea do not possess a striker worthy of the name. He is a nearly player, neither dazzlingly quick nor overwhelmingly powerful. He is reactive, and though he links play well Arsenal could do better.
Agree?
Arsenal have six players, to Chelsea’s five, in a team selected in a fashionble 4-2-3-1 formation. It contains some left field choices, in challenging positions.
It can only have one manager, Arsene Wenger. That’s not merely down to the occasion marking his 1000th game. Jose Mourinho simply lacks his class and distinction. Here’s the team:
Petr Cech: He may not be Chelsea’s best goalkeeper – the extended exile of Thibault Courtois at Atletico Madrid remains puzzling – but he lacks the flakiness of Wojciech Szczęsny. Consistent and calm under pressure.
Bacary Sagna: Arsenal’s parsimonious approach to contract renewals might just cost them the services of one of the League’s most productive right backs. Manchester City, or United, would pay his asking price, a new three year deal worth £130,000 a week.
Per Mertesacker: The BFG has been a revelation, finally explaining why he has been a fixture in Germany’s defence. He may lack grace and dexterity, but he reads the game impeccably and has the required resilience.
John Terry: The CLL would be the captain, naturally. Even those of us who struggle to think of him as a legend, and consider his absence from the England team a blessed relief, have a grudging regard for his leadership qualities and sheer force of will.
Kieran Gibbs: Unfortunate to find himself pushed to the margins internationally, where Southampton’s Luke Shaw has replaced him as England’s future left back. Despite intermittent injury problems, he is suited perfectly to the adventurous demands of the role.
Nemanja Matic: Chelsea swallowed their pride, and dropped around £17million, to bring him back from Benfica. It has already proved a brave and far-sighted decision. Physically imposing and perpetually alert, he will be a key player at the Bridge for the next decade.
David Luiz: A maverick who will never win Mourinho’s trust, he is likely to start next season in the centre of the Barcelona defence. A shame, because his occasional brain fades cannot disguise his potential, surging forward from a deep-lying midfield role.
Mesut Ozil: Altogether now: “What a waste of money.” Nonsense. The teething problems of transition will be forgotten in future seasons, when his energy, technical quality and intelligence will compensate for his current mental and physical exhaustion.
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain: Fits the principle of thi
Eden Hazard: Will contest the Footballer of the Year award with Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. A player of beauty, whose improvisational skills and quick brain complement his speed across the ground and his eye for a pass and a goalscoring opportunity.
Olivier Giroud: In this team almost by default, since Chelsea do not possess a striker worthy of the name. He is a nearly player, neither dazzlingly quick nor overwhelmingly powerful. He is reactive, and though he links play well Arsenal could do better.
Agree?
