NICK FEINBERG: CHELSEA V ARSENAL HAD EVERYTHING

HELLO my good football people, I trust all is well! Wow, I just found love again!

Some will say there was “not much quality”, but as a game of football, Chelsea against Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday was a proper derby!

It had everything (cliché as that sounds), but edge-of-the-seat stuff and a real story of the commitment of 10 men against all odds. Look, let’s get it out the way... Moises Caicedo was clumsy to make the challenge he did on Mikel Merino and he knew it as he wriggled around for a minute pretending he had been hurt. In today’s game, if checked by VAR that’s a red card all day.

At that point, the Blues were the better team. Closing Arsenal down, creating the better chances, Eberechi Eze walking around following his hat-trick against Spurs, getting nowhere near the ball, in Caicedo’s pocket, while the rest of the side struggled to find rhythm to their normal possession game.

It was a huge blow and I had resigned myself to another loss against my archrival. Losing the world’s best defensive midfielder, however, didn’t make the impact Gooners had hoped. The brilliant Reece James played an even more central dominant role, directing the team with great ball-winning, switch of play and energy.

All the while that annoying k**b Mikel Arteta (and I respect what he is doing at Arsenal) is swinging his arms around, shouting at officials, waving for cards…What a horrible little runt he is.

If he just humbled himself a bit and behaved like a gent, he’d be a far better coach. Of course we want passion, but he is just lacking (as we say in football) “class”.

I was quite surprised that the recently-returned Wesley Fofana, didn’t do much wrong in the first half, but those lapses of intelligence nearly cost Chelsea two goals. Both times he was ball-watching, losing his mark. The second time, Mikel Merino headed in an easy equaliser. That was disappointing.

Otherwise, mate... I’ve been consistently saying Chelsea are far from ready to challenge for the league title, and I don’t think we’ll be there at the end of the season. But following the absolute destruction of Barcelona, and now that incredible team performance against Arsenal, it does feel like this team of kids is making very strong headway.

That is two games against Europe’s best and we’ve been the better side.

I can’t help, however, think about Burnley two weeks ago, where despite winning 2-0, Chelsea could quite easily have conceded a couple of times in the second half as the Clarets upped the intensity and the Blues couldn’t match it.

So yeah, as Chelsea fans we should remain cautiously optimistic, while being super proud of recent huge gains.

Elsewhere, talking about optimism, I guess Liverpool fans will be feeling like doomsday has been halted slightly. It was a big call seeing Mohamed Salah benched, but he wasn’t missed.

It wasn’t a stand-out performance, but Liverpool got the job done. It still feels however like there is a lack of commitment and energy. There is no real connectiveness in how they’re playing.

I saw a Curtis Jones interview on social media recently where he was obviously really embarrassed and angry at how his team were allowing visitors to come to Anfield and take the piss.

I really thought it must have been AI created as it’s highly unusual for a player to be so vocal. This I thought might really backfire on him. But it’s precisely the attitude that Arne Slot needs back in his team to really get them out of what is probably the worst slump after a title win I’ve ever seen.

Meanwhile, Manchester United picked up a not very convincing, but nevertheless good win at Crystal Palace, (in my opinion) one of the best sides in England. There has been talk of “turning the corner” but I can’t say I’m convinced. It’s better than it was a month ago, but I just don’t see this set of players headed by Ruben Amorim as being the future of such a massive club.

It’s a football fest this week, as games are scheduled for every day except Friday, all the way to next Monday when United travel to Wolves… On Tuesday, Newcastle v Spurs should be lively!

Chat next week, bye bye.