Arsenal Look Way Off Beating Top Teams

Match Review: Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 - Premier League 06.10.14

It’s difficult to know exactly how to feel after that result. On the one hand, every defeat is frustrating and losing to that lot and their horrible manager is doubly annoying. But, on the other hand, we knew that anything other than a drubbing would be an improvement on the horror shows from last year. We were in the game for most of it and the second goal only came due to our pressing to find the equaliser. Our game plan and formation was right, but it was the execution that let us down.

As expected, we lined up in a 4-3-3, with a midfield of Flamini, Cazorla and Wilshere and Özil and Alexis on the flanks, meaning Chamberlain missed out. On the Goonersphere podcast, I said this is the formation I wanted and I think it’s the one that gives us the best chance to get results from the big games, particularly away from home. The problem with this formation is what to do with Mesut Özil. He isn’t effective on the left wing and although he’s slightly better on the right, it still gets nowhere near the best out of him. He isn’t the best option in the centre as one of the three either, as his ability to chase back and put in a defensive shift isn’t of a high enough standard to keep us balanced in this area. I think with practice and time he could learn to play off the right effectively, as it opens up the pitch on his left foot, but it also hampers us with a lack of meaningful pace on one side. If he can learn to perform the defensive side of the game a bit better, he could play on either side of the deep midfielder, but the bottom line is that at the moment, I don’t think Özil fits into the 4-3-3 formation. As such, I think that although it’s a shame to have to bench your best player, we should have bitten the bullet and left Özil out in favour of Chamberlain for this game.

Everyone knows what happened last season and how many goals we were down at various points of the game. However, this time, we looked a lot more capable of being competitive. We adopted a cautious and more compact approach than we have in previous years and it served us well as neither team had many meaningful sights of goal in the opening exchanges. Alexis had a shot from distances after ten or so and Chelsea’s first sight of goal came from a wide freekick about fifteen minutes in. The first big talking point of the game came five minutes later though as Gary Cahill went flying over the ball and caught Alexis with a very poor challenge. The defender was shown a yellow, when most people agreed it warranted a dismissal. It also caused an angry confrontation between Wenger and Mourinho. Wenger looked to walk down the line towards the incident and ended up with the Chelsea manager in his face telling him to get back to his own technical area leading to Wenger shoving the little troll. Despite Wenger’s anger though, Cahill stayed on the pitch with just a yellow card.

Unfortunately in games like this, moments of quality are what decide the outcome and it was Eden Hazard who provided it. We’d had a freekick on the right in our own half, but as usual we rushed it and lost the ball. The ball found its way to Hazard and he caught our defence on its heels. He ghosted past Cazorla and Chambers, the latter whom couldn’t bring the Chelsea man down having already been booked. Hazard pushed the ball past Koscielny and went down over his outstretched leg, a stonewall penalty. The only question was whether the referee would send Koscielny off. The case could have been argued either way and fortunately for us the referee decided on just a yellow. Hazard himself stepped up and rolled in the penalty for 1-0. A huge blow to the way we needed the game to go. We’d set up to keep things level and hopefully hit towards the end of the game, but the goal meant we were going to have to commit to finding an equaliser at some point.

The second half was as cagey as the first, although I’d argue we had a better foothold in the game after fifteen minutes or so. But we never created any real chances and Chelsea’s deep defensive line stifled us, as it always does. As time wore on, we pushed on more and more and it was inevitable that we’d either find an equaliser or get hit on the break. Of course, it was the latter of the two possibilities.

Chelsea won the ball back and it was Fabregas, who used to play for Arsenal if you weren’t aware, who pinged a fantastic ball over the top of our two centre backs. Diego Costa got between the two far too easily and without much challenge from anyone lifted the ball over a hesitant Szczesny and into the net. A story most Arsenal fans are familiar with and it doesn’t get any less depressing the more times it happens.

Anything other than a defeat would have been a positive for us, but again it proved too much. I’m not angry like I was with the six-nil, I expected us to lose. However, that doesn’t make defeat any less difficult to swallow, despite the improved performance and the sense that for once we weren’t ruthlessly torn to shreds. The most difficult game of the season is out of the way, although there are plenty more to come and I think if we want to be considered as even vaguely competitive, we’re going to have to show we can pick up points in these big games. We need to prove we belong at the very top and rid ourselves of the ‘also-ran’ tag and we can only do that by beating the top teams. Unfortunately, that’s something we look a little way off doing.

Teams

Chelsea (4-2-3-1)
Courtois (Cech 24’), Ivanovic (Y), Terry, Cahill (Y), Azpilicueta, Matic, Fabregas, Hazard, Oscar (Y) (Mikel 75’), Schurrle (Y) (Willian 68’), Costa
Subs
Cech, Zouma, Mikel, Willian, Luis, Remy, Salah

Arsenal (4-3-3)
Szczesny, Chambers (Y), Mertesacker, Koscielny (Y), Gibbs, Flamini, Cazorla (Chamberlain 69’), Wilshere (Rosicky 83’), Alexis (Podolski 79’), Özil, Welbeck (Y)
Subs
Martinez, Monreal, Coquelin, Chamberlain, Rosicky, Campbell, Podolski

Player Ratings

Szczesny - 6/10 - Couldn’t do much for the first but was hesitant on the second
Chambers - 7/10 - Thought he coped excellently for most of the game, but now suspended
Mertesacker - 6/10 - Found wanting a little for their second goal, largely played well
Koscielny - 5/10 - Has now conceded seven penalties in Arsenal colours, not a great habit
Gibbs - 6/10 - Stupid to take a quick freekick and get us in to trouble on the first goal
Flamini - 7/10 - One of the better performances, did his job with slidey aplomb
Wilshere - 7/10 - Our best attacking threat, just couldn’t find the end product
Cazorla - 7/10 - Was rightly unhappy at being subbed just as he was starting to gain momentum
Alexis - 7/10 - Gave it his all, but was left frustrated by our inability to carve out any openings
Özil - 4/10 - A poor day, defensively sound, but couldn’t keep the ball and got bullied
Welbeck - 6/10 - Completely isolated and starved of the ball, should have been sent off too
Subs
Chamberlain - 6/10 - Didn’t really have much of an effect but did ok
Podolski - N/A
Rosicky - N/A

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