From Fiona : scouts and the bench
The bench against West Ham was very strong.
What killed us was Cech playing like Almunia, woeful defending and a starting 11 that looked like they had never played together.
From Alex Marc : in 11 years habits are created…
Dear Myles,
Great to see you plugging away as a writer & consolidator of quality content.
What a start! And we were officially mentioned as favourites.
Same old, same old…
But I don’t really blame Cech for it…
On the first goal, you said it:
1) With his injury background he won’t do “kamikaze dives – taking everybody down” on his way to the ball.
but…
2) He would not need to if the defence was positioned properly, and they weren’t: Payet had the space to put it just behind them yet far enough from goal to make it a (very) risky endeavour for Cech. Not excusable at that level from Merte & Kos.
On the second goal, I do not blame Cech at all.
How long does it take for you to form good habits?
How long would it take you to react differently to a situation you have dealt with many many times exactly the same way, and suddenly in a split second it comes at you totally differently?
In essence, over the course of 11 years, Cech has seen some of the best, meanest, most stable and reliable defensive units deal with loose balls just in front of him, and he has been used to the danger being cleared consistently.
How thinkable is it, with this background, that 4 Arsenal players will get in each others way on the edge of their own box and litterally gift the ball to one single opponent?
With Chelsea’s no-nonsense defence still engaved, it is simply unthinkable.
So he starts moving the other way, starting to relax until the next attack unfolds.
We know the rest…and quite simply he had no way to grasp with how fast Arsenal units loose their composure under pressure, because he has never been down 0-1 with them in a game which they all thought would be a walk in the park.
Now Petr Cech knows how fragile we really are.
Our season start next week!
Myles says:
Can see zippy, ebullient Man City beating Chelsea on Sunday.
But can’t see this gutless Arsenal outfit winning at Crystal Palace.
Had a diary meeting with Miran yesterday. We have 8 screenplays to finish by Xmas and I’ve a tricky synopsis to finalise before Friday. If that goes well, ANR’s season might start on Monday.