Dave’s Ramblings – Arsenal

September 7, 2026 Admin

When we last visited the EasyJet Arena (or whatever moderately reliable airline has bought the naming rights this season) our mission was simple. To stop Arsenal winning their first league title since football was broadcast in colour.

It was a noble cause. Sadly, our contribution to it was roughly as effective as buying priority boarding on a flight that’s already been cancelled.

Walking towards the stadium this time, though, everything felt different. We have a manager who appears to know what he’s doing, a team who genuinely seem to enjoy playing together and supporters beginning to believe again.

Hope has finally returned from the very long cruise it disappeared on several seasons ago. It arrived tanned, wearing a captain’s hat and asking, ‘Did I miss anything?’

Before I comment on the actual match, I should make one thing absolutely clear: I am not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t believe VAR is secretly working against Chelsea, referees deliberately favour other teams, or that officials gather in a candlelit bunker every Friday night to draw up a five-point plan for ruining our weekend, our goal difference and, if time permits, my blood pressure.

Well, not as a rule.

I am, of course, excluding Tom Henning Øvrebø from this statement, because I’m fairly certain even his satnav was programmed to avoid pointing towards the penalty spot that night. If it ever detected Chelsea entering the box, I imagine it simply announced, ‘Recalculating: advantage to Barca,’ before driving directly into the nearest hedge.

However, there are days when the evidence begins to pile up so convincingly that you find yourself measuring the spare bedroom for a giant noticeboard, ordering three miles of red string and printing photographs of match officials looking suspicious. By lunchtime, you’re connecting VAR decisions with international shipping routes, the moon’s gravitational pull and a referee’s suspiciously well-timed holiday in Marbella, while insisting to your family that this is just pattern recognition and not the beginning of a very poorly funded coup against football’s governing bodies.

Today was one of those days.

It all started so beautifully. Less than two minutes on the clock and Morgan Rogers volleyed in from the edge of the area. BANG. 1–0.

Not only was it the first goal they’d conceded all season, it came from a player who had the choice between us and them… and chose us. Oh, the poetry. 😂

There are few things more satisfying in football than scoring against a club that wanted you. Except perhaps scoring against them after telling them, ‘Thanks, but I’d rather play for Chelsea.’

Morgan Rogers: breaking their defensive record and their hearts in under two minutes.

Absolutely delicious. 💙😂

From then on it became a fairly open game, with chances at both ends and the general feeling that defending was something both teams had discussed beforehand but decided against on artistic grounds.

Then Kai Havertz decided to try his luck. Of course he did. His effort found its way in and suddenly it was 1–1. Because apparently the footballing gods had looked at our lovely opening two minutes and thought, ‘That’s quite enough happiness for Chelsea fans.’

We had opportunities to restore the lead, the best falling to Pedro Neto, who hit the post. The post, presumably, having recently signed a long-term contract with Arsenal.

Then, five minutes into the second half, they put together an annoyingly good move and went 2–1 ahead. There are few things more irritating than conceding a scruffy goal, but watching the opposition actually play decent football before scoring is somehow even more offensive.

We huffed, puffed and attempted to locate an equaliser, but apart from Estêvão giving their keeper something to do right at the death, that was pretty much that.

From 1–0 up after two minutes and floating around in football heaven to trudging home with nothing.

Chelsea Football Club: turning optimism into mild emotional trauma since 1905. 💙😂

My takeaways…

So we lost. But strangely, I walked away feeling far less miserable than I normally do after losing to that lot which, for a Chelsea fan leaving Arsenal, is practically personal growth.

I genuinely don’t think we deserved to lose and let’s face it, there have been plenty of occasions in the past when I’ve trudged away from a defeat knowing full well we got exactly what we deserved.

Today wasn’t one of them.

In my opinion, VAR and some questionable refereeing certainly played their part. VAR, of course, was introduced to eliminate inconsistency and obvious mistakes. Several years later, it appears to have successfully replaced them with longer delays, baffled supporters and a bloke in a room somewhere drawing lines on things.

We’re only a few weeks into the season and already the same old arguments are back. Decisions that look obvious one week suddenly require a completely different interpretation the next, usually depending on which shirt the player is wearing.

Anyway, rant over. I’m leaving it there because I’m sure plenty will disagree with me. Unlike those watching at home, I didn’t have the benefit of seventeen replays, six camera angles and a former referee explaining why something that looked completely obvious apparently wasn’t.

I can only comment on what I saw from the stands.

Admittedly, I may have been wearing slightly rose-tinted spectacles. They’re Chelsea blue around the edges.

What I definitely saw, though, was absolutely nothing to suggest Arsenal are better than us. Put Moisés Caicedo into that midfield and I honestly believe we’re talking about a very different result.

On paper, we failed the test today. No points, no glorious victory and no opportunity to spend the journey home reminding Arsenal supporters about it.

But strangely, that performance has left me more optimistic than I was before kick-off.

Get the injured players fit, keep building that team spirit and continue playing with the belief we showed today, and there is plenty to look forward to.

We might have lost the match, but I think we discovered that we’re a lot closer than some people thought possible.

If this Chelsea side keeps improving, this could be a very enjoyable season indeed. Although preferably with slightly less assistance from Stockley Park.

Photos are here https://www.flickr.com/gp/jtba/9yCPXy56NG

UTC 💙

Dave