Stats suggest Wenger was RIGHT and Arsenal WERE unlucky

Arsene Wenger was clearly frustrated after Arsenal succumbed to another away defeat at the hands of one our big rivals. But the Frenchman also claimed after the match that the Gunners were unlucky, as an Arsenal.com report shows. His main example was the penalty claim on 63 minutes when Wilshere’s shot was blocked by the hand of Cesc Fabregas. But the Frenchman also felt that the game was decided on small details that just did not go our way and that the referee’s leniency allowed Chelsea to repeatedly break up our attacks with fouls. So was Wenger right?

First the handball and it clearly struck the hand of Fabregas. The Spaniard was pretty close to Jack and it was a fierce shot but you could also say his hands were up and not really in what they call a natural position. You see them given all the time and we have certainly conceded penalties for less, so I would say we were a bit unlucky there, although it was not nailed on.

And when you look at the stats on Arsenal.com and Squawka.com, they show that Arsenal stood toe-to-toe with the home side in most areas. We actually had twice as many shots and created more opportunities. And although the stats show that none of our shots were on target, that includes blocked shots, so Wilshere’s goal bound effort that was blocked by Cesc’s hand does not count, which seems a bit harsh.

Surprisingly, the Gunners also won more challenges, had more possession, passed the ball better, made more clearances and more interceptions. We just could not quite manage to turn our play into goals, while Chelsea hit us with two sucker punches. Football is not an exact science and on another day it could have been Arsenal that left with the points.

So while we were not exactly robbed, we did match Chelsea and better them in many aspects and could consider ourselves a bit unlucky. What do you think Gooners?

Tags Fabregas Wilshere

68 Comments

  1. Stats?the most important stat is we scored zero goals and had a grand total of zero shots on target and we all know goals win football matches so Wenger was wrong!

      1. That’s the first thing I noticed even the chance were Chelsea almost scored ox was on the ball chambers made the overlap but he decided to dribble infield instead of using the width then got disposed. The costa goal came from wilshire not under presure long ball to Sanchez who let’s face it was pointless vs terry ivanovic Cahill the ball got intercepted three passes later And it’s a goal

      2. @galaxygooner
        Good article. Phil made some very valid points, especially about our defending as opposed to thiers. Every Chelsea player chipped in defensively and some of ours still fail to even try to get involved defensively. The big difference.

    1. damn straight – take your stats and smoke them elsewhere jay and silent bob.
      i wait for the day we become winners again.

      something tells me klopp is coming at the end of wengers tenure-
      until then, sopranos and breakin bad reruns

      1. WHY WHY WHY would you want KLOPP!?!?!?!?! He is the same as Wenger. You surely don’t watch Dortmund and just say things because you think it will make some sense. Klopp and Wenger are the same coaches with the same problems

        1. i dont want klopp. prefer martinez- but just have a feeling…that tonights gonna be a good night 🙂

            1. i can see bould,
              cant understand why wenger turned viera and bergkamp down to join his staff- threatened by them?

              can u imagine those two coaching our lot

              1. I wish after Viera gets his badges with ManC, he comes to us(though chances are very remote).

                But i was reading extracts from Stillness and Speed.
                Bergkamp mentions he spent a lot of time with Wenger discussing football and philosophy.

                I hope Bergkamp comes and with out new-found financial power and his love for attacking football, I will miss Wenger only 20% maybe.

                But knowing our fans, it will be like……….Boom sakalaka after each match.

                1. @NY Yes he has a fear of flying. But he flew for the away matches across Europe whilst playing for us without making a fuss.

                  And now that he has taken up a managerial course, he knows he has to go places. I am sure that it will be no big deal.

              2. And sol Campbell would be a great defensive coach but arsenal haven’t given him a chance.

                Of topic Brian macdormott is said to have joined the back room staff

    2. Mr wenger was not right to say that but he did not have argument to justify this defeat.this is the crocodile tears.the arsenal were not unlucky but they were tactically down.this man wenger needs to get a suitable job but not to be a football coach.I agree

  2. Chelseas’ defence is mean. They don’t allow people to run past them. We needed to take more shots from outside the box.

    Anyway, starting cazorla, wilshere and ozil together was a recipe fated for disaster. I knew that once I saw the lineup. I regret watching that match( hopes’ a bitch).

    Arsenal are asrsenecally poisoned. Need an antidote.
    #Wengerout

    1. Once Wilshere started it was obvious that our fluid passing game we played against Galatasary would be ruined,the team needs Ozil and Cazorla in the centre with Welbeck,Sanchez,OX forming the pacy front 3 with Walcott also set to come back

      1. Wilsher is someone who posses the ability to play the fluid passing game you are tllk about, there others do not. Sometimes i wonder if some of you people are under drugs or something.

        1. Wilshere is just another over rated english player who was hyped up by the media,players like Ramsey,Cazorla,Ozil are all better for the team dynamic and what passing game Jack just runs with the ball without releasing it until he’s tackled it’s no wonder he suffers so many ankle injuries

          1. O sigh i am tired of lecturing people about football matters. I can clearly see that many of you people dont play the game yourself.

            How do you come in the conclusion that Ramsey is a better player then Wilsher?

            Whoes fault is it that they have to play on a pathetic 4-1-4-1 formation which doesnt suit anyone.

            He runs with the ball bec somene has to, bec passing the ball endlessy bring nothing. And if you keep the ball longer and take players on you tend to lose the ball many times.

            Overrated this overrated that. Our team is good enough but the only person i would dare to call overrated is Wenger. He is on 8m a year and people think of him as great, when in reality he is a specialist in losing.

            1. Ramsey is better for the team,he scores more he assists more is an all round better player so stop talking nonsense

              1. Dont be a fanboy but explain how he was better for the team this year? All around better player you say then Wilsher? Loool

                1. Got the winner against CP. 3 points.
                  Got the first goal against Everton. 1 point.

                  4 points from our current 10.

                  Not bad for a box-to-box midfielder i say. What you think?

                2. Thats not a valid point Pakistani boy. Even the worst player in the pitch can score the winning goal but still play a shocking gam. Right?

                3. I am not Pakistani, you Swedish man.

                  But if the player who has a bad game pops up with the vital goal is better than a player who has a good game and does nothing, is better. Right?

                4. You cant label a players good game and call it a nothing in the end bec of goals. Take example in the keeper role. Someone else scores the goal, but that certain player was more important in the game. Try to think Pakistani boy.

                5. Ramsey has made the most passes in the prem this year shows he is at the heartbeat of our possession play.

                  Wilshire long ball to Sanchez who was central is what caused the second goal.

                  Wilshires lack of tactical awareness when playing in a more advance role (not dm) also leaves us open to the counter

        2. 1st half wilshere was not in the game at all. Because of a fast taken free kick, we are 1 goal down.

          Wenger decide to change the gala winning team was the worst decision. Wilshere was totally not into game for the 1st half. Wenger should keep the gala formation than change from there.

          Chelsea did scared of our fast players so yesterday don’t really try to open attack us, they are scared but we didn’t use our fast players wisely.

          Our offensive unable to coordinate that the reason we got no shot on target. Why? My observations is wilshere and ozil.

          1. If you play a Galata game against Chelsea you will end up losing to 6 goals bro. Wilsher was bad in the first, but the best player in the second. ( in my opinion)

            1. I think if I were going to criticise Jack is that he tends to hold the ball for to long which slows the pace of the game. However, as you say it was not him who lost the game, but Wenger’s tactics. Ironically, Tony Pulis knows how to play a Chelsea team well. drag them on and counter fast.

              1. @Colin
                It wasn’t AW’s tactics which lost us the match. It was lack of defensive focus which let the goals in. *galaxygooner put up a link to Nevilles analysis of the match. Read it.

    2. Chelsea defence is not mean. They only kept cleansheet against Arsenal, Leicster and Sporting Lisbon this season. If it weren’t for refeering decision they would be bottom of their Champions League group today.
      Fabregas goal vs Schalke, 2 pass before the goal, they won the ball through a foul also Sporting didn’t get a blatant penalty against them in the second half of that match.

  3. How many times are we going to say we are unlucky against the other TOP TEAMS? Each and every season we are saying unlucky, it’s been 10 years now, same old “bad day in the office crap”..

    I am wengers biggest fan but as I have said since last season, I just think he has lot that hunger, that enthusiasm, that will to be the best, he is stuck in his own little perfect world where he won’t take any criticism about the style of football and players he is recruiting..

    We are so predictable, slow, weak, players just get bullied off the ball so easily, no real fight etc..

    I said after we won the FA CUP, if Wenger does not buy a real Striker, a decent powerful and quick DM and another CB. But he refused to address these positions, so I just gave up..

    1. yes, and it’s not like Chelsea haven’t been scored on this season. In fact we haven’t scored on Chelsea in about 4-5 meetings.

      So the question is, why aren’t we able to score on them while other teams are?

  4. yes, football is very unpredictable and instances in games CAN actually change the whole course of a game (kos penalty & 1st potential red card of the game)… but this is NOT an exuse for Ozil not playing with fire, him playing on the left, carzola substitution, ox not starting perhaps amoungst other things! i’m not part of the WENGEROUT# brigade but i’m losing faith in the man with every game…

    1. okay, we know that Ozil should be able to play well on the wings given his caliber. But time after time, game after game, Wenger puts him there and Ozil is not as dominant.

      Then the matches against Tott, Aston, and Gala, Ozil was in the middle and guess what? He was brilliant – man of the match performances. And yet against Chelsea, Wenger puts him back on the wings. So ask yourself, why did Wenger put him back on the wings?

      If Wenger would rather play Jack and Santi in the middle over Ozil, fine – manager’s decision. But that means he should start a proven winger like Ox or Campbell rather than Ozil who we all know should only play in the middle. Wenger is trying the same experiment and failing every time. We’ve figured it out – why hasn’t he?

      1. Like fabrigas ozil was absent all game and created that one chance that would make the difference only thing costa was at the end of one wilshire the other

    2. @Drew
      And AW is not the to blame if the players don’t know that they have to work off the ball as well as on. I’m sure he drills that into them. Kos was the only guy tryin to stop Hazard with the exception of Sanchez who marked him until he ran into 2 other guys who let him glide past. Watch the match next time before spewin bullsh*t.

  5. no world class no 10 can thrive without a solid defensive midfielder.even zidane himself complained and even struggled when GREAT MAKELELE WAS SOLD.FABREGAS HAS MATIC.THE SUCCESS OF A WORLD CLASS 10 IS DEPENDENT ON THE SOLIDITY OF THE DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER BEHIND HIM.OTHER EXAMPLES—-SILVA–YAYA TOURE,FERNANDINHO,DENNIS BERGKAMP—PATRICK VIERIA,ZIDANE–MAKELELE,.great 10s thrive better with a solid defensive midfield.lets get a ruthless DM AND SEE HOW IT GOES.

  6. Little details decided the game but d details are hard work from our rival, we needed a world class striker to decided big matches, we also needed a very strong Dmf and another CB but d manager failed to address our old problems meanwhile mourinho did, datz why i have lost faith in AW we need a new vibrant manager to take us to where we belong, its now obvious dat its our manager dat is killing d club even with money to spend he stil could not address our problems

  7. Nothing anyone can say should make us feel better about that performance. How does a manager put over £100 million worth of Arsenal talent on display and fail for 90 minutes to register ONE decent shot on goal to test the keeper? How can Wenger fail to get it right 12 times against Mourinho… 12 fukkin’ times? Wenger’s men shipped 17 goals in 3 big games last season, failed to beat the weakest Man United team, stumbled our way past Wigan to end our trophy drought, led most of the season but couldn’t sustain momentum when the big fights came to town. Arsenal teams of recent years have just been strong enough to beat the rest, but cannot contest against the best! No matter who’s in Wenger’s teams, Arsenal is known to plays the same type of football. With that type of football, it seems Arsenal displays similar type of weaknesses. It is, therefore, Wenger’s approach to the game that is outdated & must be changed to get over the hump of mediocrity!

  8. Man I love Sanchez (no homo though).

    Against Chelsea he did something we seriously lack. In the beginning of the match, the start was nervous for both of the teams and Sanchez decided to shoot from 30 meters out. Yeah sure he didn’t hit the target but at least he isn’t afraid to shoot. Especially in the beginning keeper could easily spill it out or concede a corner or at least something. I got mad about Wilshere’s reaction to that because he wants to walk the ball to the net and does so, probably once or twice a season.

    Another thing was his run behind the defence (does anyone remember who gave the assist?). Unlucky with the first touch but that’s what we need to rip defences. We can’t just do one thing – we have to be able to throw long balls behind defense if we have a bus against us. Once they get used to long balls, switch to short passing etc. VARIETY of attacks is much needed but apart from Sanchez, Arsenal is trying to walk the ball to the back of the net.

    1. thats right, nd its not new, for some seasons now we try to do that, when we could try to shoot, and if it is blocked but the shot is strong, the block can be like a back pass, en then catch them by surprise,
      oh well, one can only wish,

    2. This! This is the only complaint I have of this team. I’m not a jackass who can’t see that we’re still building, so shaky results are to be expected. But really, this team takes one too many touches on the ball EVERY TIME. Try a cute one touch shot. Maybe it soars over the bar, maybe it works the keeper, at least you are trying. That Wilshire debacle where he brought the ball into the box, JUST SHOOT THE BALL, stop trying for that perfect goal!

  9. Some supporters im sorry to say on this site are delusional and cannot handle the truth, that arsenal has problems that needs to be rectified, to make us the invincibles we once were! Coyg!

  10. after watching that match against Chelsea I think I starting to grow up on this going to be our only last for the season arsenal fan i know u are frustrated but look at the match in its entirety we played well only for a few mistake going forward we going to be ok mark my word

    1. Looking at this particular match itself we did better than before. However, in tough games, we have always come out second best in recent years. Arsenal is way too big of a club to be kissing Mourinho’s ass 12 times, because Wenger plays the same type of football, displays the same type of weaknesses, and just will not devise a decent plan of assault to turn things around. Losing that many times is not a questions of Chelsea’s billions, rather Wenger’s lack of tactical flexibility!

  11. a Little bit unlucky yes.
    but by now we should know better, AW should know better….REFS HATE US!! deal with it and play like you are already 2 null down.

  12. First of all we have to admit that we have a problem, and then we should change things for the better. And not claim that everything is fine and pull out bs out of nothing to delude our self int thinking that we are good enough.

  13. History shows that arsenal’s style of play will always struggle with the way chelsea approached the match and them having better players made it quite easy.we didn’t play poorly and I quite enjoyed some of the football we played.we just need players with power especially in midfield since we aren’t barcelona and we don’t have messi

  14. Here’s my opinion.. I don’t care we lose to Chelsea.. I really don’t care coz I know they are really that good.. Ok fine.. But after this please don’t lose to other team.. I can accept lose to Chelsea.. Game against pool n manure need to win.. They are not better than us

  15. so since when has stats started to win games . the excuses peoplepeople come up with here on this page is beyond belief . learn to lose first , then you will appreciate winning .

  16. Bs article.

    Wenger is useless, he choosed 3 creative players to play together and there is the result. Most teams only need 2 playmakers, atacking midfielder and b2b. This idiot wan’ts to play with three and sometimes 4 cams. But who cares. We will win the next game and people will be happy again with the lanky frog. Theres no regular support from arsenal fans when it comes to a change. Most guys only cry and moan when we are loosing but they never do nothing to change it

  17. Wenger you incompetent loser. Go back in playing the 4-3-3/ 4-1-2-3-1 formation or whatever it was called.

    ——————-Seza———————
    Cahmber-Big Potato head- Boss- Gibss
    ——————Flamini————-
    ————-Ozil——-Wilsher——-
    Chamberlain—————–Sanchez
    —————-Danny—————

  18. First of all, the ref tried to keep 22 men on the pitch for BOTH sides, there were decisions that other refs would have disagreed with but once he let one or two go he had set the bar.
    Secondly it was an improvement on last year, still no where near good enough but an improvement. This Chelsea team is special, they have top drawer players in every single position, it hurts to say it but it’s true. IF we had a full strength team who knows it could have been different, they had a full strength team – if it was reversed who knows. However this is not an excuse because Chelsea and City have real strength in depth, something Arsenal have themselves to blame for. If we can go on a decent run now and quietly go about our business collecting points against some weaker teams, we will have our best players back by the time we have some big matches.

  19. Wenger is wrong, that’s just it. The only detail that matters is chealsea had two goals and three points while we had Zero. Wenger has become Mourinho’s bitch.

  20. Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 – really the only stat that matters. In all honesty can’t really even claim to be unlucky, got what we deserved = nothing.

    Still at least we can all look on the bright side, we luckily escaped getting the MOTM, having already got the player who was possibly the worst on the field.

    Can’t say I believe that Wenger has any tactics, but on Sunday he proved me wrong. Taking off Alexis / Cazorla / Wilshire, but leaving on Ozil, majestic ploy to fool Mourinho into believing we had surrendered the game – and it worked, we had!

  21. Wengers a top genuine bloke with a philosophy dreams are made of:-
    Unbeaten for a whole season, most FA cup wins unearthing henry fabregas anelka viera etc… Double seasons double seasons…blah blah blah..

    Like it or not we lost our mantle of a top team when we moved from highbury.. Now we are a money making club with a bigger stadium that gives 2 fingers to the real fans desperate to emulate the times at highbury..all the people at the top are interested in is bank balances and the top 4…

    Wenger has had his day, players the world over that harbour any real ambition to win something don’t come here..
    Ozil case in point.. Lacklustre no desire and suffering from bigtimimeitischarlie…

    I’m not banging on wanting Wenger out.. Although he has had his day and needs to allow our club to thrive and prosper once again..

    Because at this moment in time.. For all our endeavour .. Is being wasted by a man caught up in his own ego.. A man living on past glory without any thought on the present..

    The mini league between the top 5 teams looked pitiful when it appeared on TV last night..we were bottom and have conceded 22.. Chelsea were top and conceded only 3…
    I can’t believe a so called top team with CL and BPL aspirations cannot sort out a glaring defensive deficiency that has been plaguing us for nigh on 10 years..

    The manager HAS to be held accountable for this … But.. As always.. Nothing is done or said…!!!

    1. Agree 100%.Wenger is gr8 but we have stagnated & so has he.I think it’s d “tunnel effect”.
      Although i absolutely loved it when he shoved mourinho,still has some fire.

      1. Ha ha too right it was pure tv gold Wenger v mourhino..
        In ‘slow mo’ Mourhino had a worried look while Wenger was the aggressive monster..
        Wenger went up in my opinion- but still down for failing to change after all these years..

  22. Difference b/w Chelsea & Us was desire.
    Wilshere,alexis,ozil, kept commiting mistakes & giving d ball away. Chelsea on other hand didn’t do anything special bt just held their own.
    No mistakes + professional fouling + breaking up play or momentum,delaying our throw-ins,kicking d ball away before free kicks.Doing everything to win fair or dirty.
    We never looked like winning.Period.

  23. Unlucky my ass just not good enough MEN V BOY’S . CHELSEA BULLIED ARSENAL OFF THE BALL.
    Chelsea players looked faster bigger and more up for the game than Arsenal. Mr Wenger has lost his way and it showed with his antics shoving Mourinho. Wenger knows Chelsea are streets ahead of Arsenal. We need a change of Manager because Wenger will not change and Arsenal need to move forward not stay stagnant under Wenger. So far 7 games in with 2 wins 4 draws and 1 loss
    that is 10 points out of a possible 21 points not good enough. Arsenal already 9 points behind Chelsea.

  24. All have been said and done. However, we shall bounce back into contention. There are still 31 Barclays Premier games to play for 93 points. And we already have 10 points in our kitty. 89/90 points will win this Premier League. We are looking for 79/80 points to do the mission impossible. Gunners, please win 27 games out of the remaining 31 games or collect more 80 points to become champions.

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