Five massive positives Arsenal can take from Chelsea draw

The positives outweigh the negatives in 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

It is easy to look for negatives, especially following the abysmal first half at Stamford Bridge last night but on this occasion, there were far more positives that Arsenal can take from the game as a whole.

Huge character

Yes, Arsenal has rebounded from a losing position and a man down before but not against a top-six club, not on their ground. This very same team just a few months ago would have been beaten out of sight but not no more, now they dig deep, they show resilience and they do not let their heads drop. Last night they showed a character that we have not seen in years.

Gabriel Martinelli

Have no doubts, this young man is an immense talent, we are talking a player that could easily be worth over £100 Million in a year or two. Put it this way, if he played for Barcelona he would already be touted as a £100 Million player. If we was not certain before, we are now, he is a diamond and will very shortly be a genuinely world-class player and he is still just a teenager.

Granit Xhaka

When I watched the whole game back this morning without the anxiety and nervousness that came with the game last night the performance from Xhaka reminded me of that scene from the Lord of the rings when Boromir said to Aragorn “Our people, our people. I would have followed you, my brother… my captain… my king.” That is what his performance was last night, he was the true captain on the field. Just watch what he did with Mustafi after the penalty scored, he encouraged him, he showed true leadership and he got a great response from his beleaguered teammate.

Mikel Arteta

He is clearly making a difference at crucial times, I have criticised him for some parts but I will hold my hands up and say that he made a difference last night, he was constantly encouraging from the sidelines, having little words with the players when he could, in fact, he even listened to one of his assistants when he was on the verge of subbing Martinelli. This is a man that exudes authority but is not afraid to take advice from a more experienced member of his team.

Arsenal fans

They did not turn on Mustafi after his howler, yeah they did on social media but I am talking in the stadium, I heard no booing or abusive chants, I heard encouragement and it is one thing to have your teammates and manager to gee you up after such an error but it makes a world of difference when the fans do the same and last night, they did.

25 Comments

  1. We definitely need Mustafi again for the upcoming matches, because Luiz is on suspension, Sokratis is still injured and Holding hasn’t gone back to his top form yet. Hence we need to support him, because the reinforcement would not come so soon and the new CB would need some time to adapt

    Another positive note is Arsenal have stood their ground when playing with ten men in two tough away matches, thanks to Arteta’s system. This just couldn’t happen in Wenger’s and Emery’s tenures

        1. If a player is sent off for a professional foul (eg holding an opponent back when they’re through on goal) or a second bookable offence they will be handed a one-match ban so it’s looking like one game ban he’ll miss Bournemouth but will be back for Burnley along with Auba in the league 👊

    1. I think Wenger or Emery, lest focus on our man now, and support the present while we forget the past.. Support this guys while they still here at arsenal.

      For me the whole team was great… I enjoyed Xhaka at central back, and I will support him there more times.. Truly he is the leader there, but its not just the captain badge that makes you the leader…
      Luis, another leader…

      We love Arsenal

  2. I was pleased with this score line. Immense character shown. We can only get better from strenght to strenght. Good work by the entire gunners team, supporters and everyone.

  3. Chelsea’s away form up until two weeks ago was amazing.
    But equally Chelsea’s home form has been absolutely diabolical including losing
    to hopeless teams like Bournemouth, Westham + Southampton.
    The last half dozen games in particular have seen Chelsea implode completely.
    This was a golden opportunity to get a win at the Bridge but we fluffed our lines again.
    We are clearly on track for our lowest points tally in 25 years yet
    many deluded fans are still blindly saying how much we are “improving”!!!

    1. Stevo I don’t see the reason why you are Soo negative if you haven’t seen any improvement since arteta took over then nothing in these world of football makes sense to you.Though that’s your opinion which you are entitled to.Most of us here have seen how the team fights more unlike in the latter years of Wenger and emery.what most of us are looking forward to is how the team will play when the confidence and energy that MA has brought to this team reaches it’s optimal state. And I’ll have to mention the away fans were fantastic 👍👊👏👏👏 Let’s keep it up.onwards Gunners

    2. stevo, Far too pessimistic a viewpoint. No sensible fan thinks we are packed with huge talent throughout the squad or even team. BUT sensible fans also look for perspective, for context and can easily see the lack of fit, available alternatives right now, thanks mainly to Scrooge KROENKE AND HIS UNINTEREST IN HIS INVESTMENT. Sensible fans put the blame where it firmly belongs;ie on Kroenke. Sensible fans also see a huge difference in fight, commitment, team shape, compactness and character since MA came in and also see MA as currently out best hope for future success. To say nothing has changed since Emery, or that we are not improving in attitude and workrate is not something any sensible fan would say. I leave you to work out for yourself if YOU are a sensible fan. I know what I think though!

    1. That boy martinell is pure talent kev82 and he can only get better.Everything looks so easy to him we have been crying for him to have starts may be that Sina red was a blessing am now curious to see what happens when auba is back! Who goes to the bench? Laca/pepe!!??

        1. Kenya 001 he absolutely is and I’m more impressed with each game he plays, I just hope Arteta keeps him in the team now!! I would seriously think about dropping Lacazette for a few games, plus he could be a good option from the bench.. the forwards for me has to be Auba, Martinelli, Pepe that pace will cause any defenders problems 👊

  4. Martinelli was the difference last night. Young and hungry! That first half was awful though. It was everything that Arsenal have been for years. a horror show. Not one shot at goal. MA must have been thinking he was insane to take the job. Let’s remember it’s still only 7 point taken from 18 and whilst the second half was better and Bellerin scored a beauty, we were a little lucky to get a point from the game!

    Today’s headlines could have been so much different if Chelsea had not taken their foot off the gas. Our performance over the whole 90 minutes was still not acceptable although some of them did show greater character!

    1. GunnerRay
      I didn’t open the champagne but did have a celebratory G&T
      Squeaky bum time occasionally but a terrific show of resilience from the team.

  5. Take away your dislikes for a few weeks, study Xhaka without saying a word, and you’ll see alongside AMN, he has improved a lot.
    I don’t get why most fans suddenly acts like he’s always been a terrible player though.
    Few of us on here used to point out that Xhaka wasn’t this bad under Arsene Wenger. He wasn’t Pirlo, but at the same time he wasn’t a dreadful player under Wenger. Then of CU’s it became worse under Emery, I recall openly blaming Emery for putting Xhaka in that bad position and lot’s of people on here agreed with me. I think even an article was written about it.
    Xhaka was a shield for Emery, Xhaka took all the blames for Emery until Emery’s last few weeks. Xhaka was out of form, and Emery kept on playing him at the expense of Torreira. It was easy to attack and target Xhaka.
    I said Emery wasn’t being a good coach or protector, we were in terrible form, and Xhaka was also in a very bad form at that moment, yet you push him out there everyday with a knackered confidence, he knew Xhaka was playing terribly yet he kept on playing him, only for to sub off Xhaka during the second halves. He went ahead to announced Xhaka as captain. A lot of pressure were added on him.
    It was like feeding Xhaka to the wolves, Xhaka was taking all the bites for Emery’s poor management.
    Months later now, relaxed and under a new coach, Xhaka doesn’t even look half as bad as he was under Emery. He was never a terrible player under Wenger. The only time he’s been terrible, were during the past 12 months.
    Let’s get a better midfielder, but having Xhaka as back up ain’t a terrible idea

    1. xhaka has certainly improved because arteta doesn’t put players out there to be slaughtered unlike previous coaches. He put them in a system that mostly plays to their strength and covers their weakness. But players like xhaka, mustafi, sokratis are limited and there is only much one can extract from them. Xhaka can still be a valuable squad member.

  6. No one has mentioned Ozil and his continued poor form he just doesn’t get involved it was like playing with 9 men last night. Replace him with Martinelli.

    1. ozil is not mentioned because unbiased fans expect pretty much nothing from him as we know he is physically finished as an arsenal-level player. did it bring a smile to my face watching him having some good matches? yes but i also knew he would never sustain that level. I just hope this will make ozil fans understand why he has to be replaced. Epl has evolved to a point that good fitness is essential for players to perform.

  7. We are at days where a draw at Chelsea feels like a victory.
    I am not questioning the hunger and spirit of the 10 man Arsenal of yesterday, it was a beautiful fight. It is something to sheer about but it is still a draw, one of many. We need to start winning games and I just can’t see us doing so, for now.

    1. The signs are there AUBA-14 for you to see.The boys are just down on confidence the moment that changes we’ll be a different team and wins will be achieved on consistent basis and we are gradually doing that(building confidence)

  8. We are unlikely to string a run of wins together with our current weaknesses at CB and midfield .However with two or three good acquisitions in the summer window Arteta can take Arsenal back into the top four which to me would be excellent progress.This is very much a transitional season where we should not expect too much other than a safe position in the League and perhaps good runs in the FA and Europa Cups.

  9. One thing Arteta did last night was not change it straight away and when he did, it was nearly instant improvement, taking ozil off. Some will say, that was the right thing to do and it turned out it was. If it hadn’t turned out how it did, i doubt he would have been blamed for not changing straight away. But for once, (and in the past, it hasn’t worked) it worked out for him. This team needs a kick start, is this it, or is it back to default Arsenal.

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