A few thoughts on Chelsea-Arsenal with particular reference to Cech and Rosicky jotted down in Notepad while watching the match via quasi-legal online television and later expostulated upon for this entry

A few thoughts on Chelsea-Arsenal with particular reference to Cech and Rosicky jotted down in Notepad while watching the match via quasi-legal online television and later expostulated upon for this entry…

• Can the absence of Didier Drogba alone be blamed for Chelsea’s complete lack of attack or was Arsenal really that dominant on the offense…?

• If the time of possession was indeed 57-43 in favor of Arsenal, that must’ve been, what 75-25 in the first half…?

• Rosicky was a joy to watch that certainly made his teammates happy, looking good while involved in the passing game the entire time. A bit of a black mark, though, for the offsides on the disallowed goal in the 82nd…

• Cech, on the other hand, um, didn’t look so good most of the time (for the praise vis-à-vis the minority of the time, see directly below), getting totally burned and coming out way too far on the Gallas goal, “an uncharacteristic error,” as ESPN would have it…

• On the other hand, kudos to Cheh for a pair of sweet saves in the 88th minute when all seemed essentially lost. Pity for the blues that Shevchenko and Chelsea couldn’t capitalize on the impressive header directly afterward, nor on the free kick in injury time…

• On the other other hand, maybe it was a poor bandwidth or some such nonsense, but just what the hell was Cheh wearing on his head? A helmet? What kind of football is this?

From after the game:

• Some excellent prose in the indomitable Guardian style is available here. “Arsène Wenger’s team gouged out a victory,” writes Kevin McCarra, while showing “spasmodic slickness on the counter-attack.”

“Off-colour Blues,” indeed.

• And a nice few seconds of non-sequitur YouTube to close things out…

Cheers.