Kevin Whitcher
In the greater scheme of things, the victory over Chelsea at Wembley yesterday will probably not count for much, but nevertheless, it was an enjoyable afternoon in the sunshine. Whether or not defeat for Arsenal would have had any psychological knock-on effect when the teams meet for real over the course of the season, we will never know, but the displays of the likes of Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny gave confidence that the team may be in better shape to get the results required than they looked at times during the opening months of last season.
With Alexis unavailable, Wenger fielded a similar line-up to the FA Cup final against Villa, bringing in Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right wing. It meant shifting Aaron Ramsey, and rather than put him on the other flank, the Coquelin-Cazorla axis was broken up, with the Spaniard moved wide and Ramsey playing in the centre. It’s certainly where the Welshman would prefer to play, but Cazorla, as a consequence, seemed less influential.
Generally, in attack, Arsenal did not look particularly inspired, and going on chances before things got frantic as Chelsea chased the game, in fairness the result could have gone either way. Ramires missed a couple of excellent chances, whilst Eden Hazard blasted over in the second half with clear sight of goal.
When Arsenal got their chance, they took it, a fine move starting with Ozil and going through Walcott, was finished with aplomb on his weaker foot by the Ox with a pearl of a strike.
At the other end, it felt like the opposition were targeting Hector Bellerin a bit, and certainly the young Spaniard had a busy afternoon. His selection indicates that, for now, he will retain his place when West Ham visit next weekend. At times, the Gunners’ play out of defence was sloppy, and the attempt to play the short passing game in their own half did lead to danger. They got away with it yesterday, but it is a weakness that pressing teams are going to exploit. Sometimes, it is better to play safe.
Mesut Ozil was generally peripheral. Often shadowed by Matic, he struggled to influence matters. His pass to Walcott that led to the goal did open things up, but he needs to become more dominant in terms of his involvement if we are to see the best of him.
The amount of pressure Jose Mourinho’s side put on as the second half wore on was a good test for the defensive side of The Gunners’ game, and they came through it well. The difference that the qualities Petr Cech brings to the side were obvious, with his saves, punches and excellent distribution, whilst the back four grew in strength as the game wore on. Chelsea were ultimately nullified, their pressure soaked up. We hold what we have stuff from Arsenal with sub Giroud left to plough a loan furrow (and miss a couple of good chances).
Late on, both Cazorla and Gibbs should have made the margin of victory greater as Arsenal exploited gaps at Chelsea’s rear, but Courtois demonstrated why Cech spent most of last season on the bench.
As for the non-handshake after the presentation of the shield, both managers looked like they were happy to avoid it. Does it matter? Not really. But it was an indication of the genuine dislike between the two men. Wenger should have risen above it, offered his hand and let it be rejected. That would make Mourinho look like the sore one. As it is, it demonstrates that the Portuguese has got to the Arsenal manager. That his words have actually bothered him. He should be old enough and wise enough to know better. He has allowed himself to get wound up.
Next week, the real thing. There is still the best part of the month to make a couple more signings that could really help the side to push on, and certainly the money to do it. To bed new arrivals in, it would be good to have done the business already, but such is the Arsenal way…
*Title of a 1980s track by the Pixies, referring to the Mourinho record monkey now off AW’s back.
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
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