Kevin Whitcher
The visit to Chelsea does not require a particularly lengthy examination. The better team won, and the result and performance were merely confirmation of what we have seen so far this season. The Blues, in their second season under Jose Mourinho since his return, are stronger than 2013/14 and it is difficult to see past them as title winners. There is even a worry that they might match Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ season if they can stay relatively injury free. They have negotiated the toughest fixture of the season by visiting Manchester City and coming away with a draw. Will anyone beat them at home? Who would you fancy to beat them when they travel? Manchester United have the firepower, but not the defence to do it. Liverpool? Arsenal? Mourinho’s side mix control of matches with individual moments of brilliance and just enough cynicism to keep eleven men on the field.
In mitigation for Arsenal, they were shorn of a potential four first choice starters whilst Chelsea were full strength. Whether or not the presence of Debuchy, Arteta, Ramsey and Walcott would have affected the result, we will never know. Certainly Calum Chambers’ booking in the first half meant he was not able to halt Eden Hazard’s run that led to the award of a penalty. There were red cards that could have been awarded on either side, although Arsène Wenger’s reaction to the Gary Cahill ‘challenge’ on Alexis was doubtless a consequence of the similarity to the fouls that broke the legs of Eduardo and Aaron Ramsey. Fortunately, the contact was not three inches higher, or the Chilean might have been out for the remainder of the season.
Chelsea were quite prepared to pick up yellow cards to prevent Arsenal developing moves, a tactic that worked. Ultimately, the game was decided by moments of quality. Hazard’s run for the penalty. And in the second half, the precision of Fabregas’ pass and Costa’s finish. Decisive moments that the visiting team were unable to create. There was too much deliberation and waiting for the perfect opening, so much so that neither Courtois nor Cech was seriously tested. Wilshere and Cazorla had the best opportunities, but both lacked control at the vital moment.
Arsenal did battle hard, with the exception of Ozil, who largely seemed to be a passenger, totally unsuited to this kind of game. Why he remained on the pitch as others were hooked off was a bit of a mystery, and if he was to start the game, why not put him behind Welbeck and use Cazorla wide? A lot of the work he does is tidy in terms of possession, but it has no effect, little cutting edge, when the defence he is up against is organized and not leaving spaces. Mourinho knew exactly how Arsenal would play, and his team nullified them. Granted, Arsenal competed and were only exposed on limited occasions (certainly an improvement on last season), but the margins were there for all too see. In the key areas of the pitch, the Gunners were simply second best.
Wenger put the defeat down to ‘financial resources’ in his post-match interview, which seems a strange thing to say when Chelsea are now abiding by FFP rules and his own club had an circa £65 million available and unused at the end of the summer transfer window. He was also of the view that Arsenal had more shots on target, suggesting he might be getting delusional. To beat the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal need to mix it up a bit in attack. Try something different, take a chance by shooting and following up on rebounds, fizz balls in from the byline and get numbers in the box attacking. The tippy-tappy eye of the needle stuff is not going to work. There are young, hungry managers in other countries who have shown that bigger spenders can be overcome with motivation, winning tactics and good organization. This is how Arsenal can return to the glory days. Winning a trophy and at least showing the they could compete in the league for three quarters of the season in 2013/14 was a boost to the club, but it does appear that now, they may be slipping backwards, that the FA Cup was a peak rather than a platform to greater things.
Obviously the motivation of the club’s controlling shareholder is a factor here. If he is happy with what Arsène Wenger is achieving, then nothing is going to change quickly. And able to extract money from the club in the form of payment for advisory services, Stan Kroenke is obviously content. He certainly has no interest in football beyond the possible financial benefits it can bring him. Trophies are not a huge issue for him. A huge contrast with Roman Abramovich, but at least, going forward, now that a leveler playing field is in theory developing, at least Arsenal should make the most of their available resources to compete. It’s not happening though.
A different manager may have cut his losses with Mesut Ozil and used his option to bring Cesc Fabregas back. Wenger didn’t because he wanted to keep Ozil. Fair enough, but he could have afforded to bring Cesc back and play him where Chelsea played him today instead – as one of two deeper screening midfield players. He certainly had the money. Instead we are left to rue the thought of the Spaniard finally lifting the Premier League trophy with another club, as Robin van Persie did almost 18 months ago. Both players left Arsenal because they wanted championship winners medals on the sideboard before their careers were up, and they knew they were unlikely to get them under Arsène Wenger.
Games like those at the Bridge tell us why. Not quite good enough. When opposition fans are chanting, ‘Arsène Wenger, we want you to stay’, people can draw their own conclusions. No-one sees an Arsenal team under his stewardship as credible challengers anymore. Good to watch sometimes, but not a serious threat.
On a separate note, the fans that decided to take flares to the Bridge, and presumably let them off when they realized they were unlikely to get them through the body searches, should be aware of the implications for their fellow supporters. Body searches at away games will now become more thorough and delay supporters getting in, causing inconvenience for everybody. Had they managed to get them in and let them off, the consequence may well have been a restriction on numbers at future away games as punishment. You have to wonder about the mentality of some that follow the team.
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
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Further Reading
A sequel to Arsènal – The Making of a Modern Superclub and entitled Arsène and Arsenal The Quest to Rediscover Past Glories has been written by myself and co-author Alex Fynn. It takes up the story of the club from the last update of the previous book, and can be bought online here. Use the promo code ‘Gooner’ to get 10% off the publisher’s price of £8.99.
