Kevin Whitcher
Cast your mind back to September. Chelsea, suffering two defeats in a row, looked at what they are doing and decided to try something different. In the 18 matches since, they have dropped five points. Arsenal, year after year, go to Stamford Bridge, get outmuscled, and continue with Arsene Wenger’s way of doing things without any noticeable change. With the same result. Good enough players to get in the top four, but never any danger of a title challenge past Easter. Arsenal have now lost five Premier League matches, and still have to visit Anfield, White Hart Lane, St Mary’s and the Britannia Stadium, as well as hosting Manchester City and United. It’s Chelsea’s title now and credit to Antonio Conte for turning a team that was 10th last season into title winners in his first campaign in the Premier League. Of course, Arsene Wenger won the title in his first full season in England, although Arsenal were actually second in the table when he arrived in 1996 if my memory serves me correctly, and fell away to third as Wenger learned about the English game. Still, that was a looooooong time ago, and as the game has evolved, Arsene looks like more and more of a dinosaur with every passing season and every footballing lesson handed out to him by teams that Arsenal are supposed to be on the same level as.
Chelsea fans sang the now familiar refrain of “Arsene Wenger – We want you to stay”, which I haven’t heard get an airing from Gooners for a long time, if ever. A fan held up a banner in the away end reading ‘Enough is enough, time to go’ and was castigated by Gary Neville, who thinks Arsenal supporters should be happy with being in the top four. I guess it could be worse, we could have Neville as our manager. Be careful what you wish for?
Arsene Wenger told the press on Friday that he almost signed Kante when he was in France, and again last summer, but Chelsea were a more attractive proposition for the midfielder. The last time I checked, Arsenal’s wage bill was more or less the same as Chelsea’s so one has to wonder why Kante chose to move to Stamford Bridge. Perhaps it is the same reason Jamie Vardy preferred to stay at Leicester – Wenger is a standing joke amongst professional footballers, along with fans of other clubs.
So Arsenal lined up with a central midfield of Coquelin and the Ox – is it any wonder Arsenal were dispossessed and outmuscled so often during the game? The full backs played as they always do and both played high up the field simultaneously exposing their team to counter attacks. Yes, Arsenal fashioned good chances from which Gabriel and Mustafi should have scored, but I lost count of the dangerous counter-attacks the home side fathomed to scupper thanks to a poor final ball. Chelsea, even if they had less possession, were by far the better team.
Critically, they outmuscled Arsenal. For the opening goal, Walcott was not interested in mixing it in his own area and allowed Alonso a running jump of Bellerin, who was helpless to prevent the goal, getting injured in the process of trying. Arsene Wenger clutched at straws after the game with his view Alonso fouled Bellerin, one not shared by any neutral. For the second, Coquelin ended up on his backside as Hazard held him off and waltzed through Arsenal’s backline. For the third, Petr Cech forgot which team he was playing for and passed it to a blue shirt. Cesc Fabregas had the decency not to celebrate his goal. Fabregas did more in his ten minutes on the field than Mesut Ozil managed in 90 minutes. Sanchez was also kept quiet as Chelsea targeted the men that they felt could be a danger. Arsenal were less attentive to Eden Hazard, who shone far brighter than the Gunners’ pair of supposedly World Class stars. On a more prosaic level, was Theo Walcott even on the pitch? Aside from his no-show for the opening Chelsea goal, I am struggling to recall any contribution from him.
Arsenal did make a fist of it until the opening goal, with Iwobi and the Ox pressing high up on Kante and Matic, but over 90 minutes, quality told. Two players in their natural position did their jobs far more effectively. I was listening to the radio before the game, and journalist John Cross suggested that Kante might not have been pursuded with total fervour by Wenger last summer because he might block the development of Coquelin. That is difficult to believe (although the manager has history for that kind of thing) but there is little doubt that Kante would have proved a better use of the money spent on Granit Xhaka.
Le Coq was removed from the fray at 2-0, leaving Arsenal with a central midfield of the Ox and Iwobi. Vieira and Petit it wasn’t. Wenger once had the knack of signing unknowns on the cheap who could do a job. Now he spends big money on players who don’t have any impact in big games like these. Arsene Wenger sat amongst the Chelsea fans to watch the game yesterday, albeit the well-heeled ones who can afford their version of club level. It would be interesting to see him sit with Arsenal fans as I suspect he’d hear some interesting comments.
Olivier Giroud entered as Plan B in place of Coquelin and in injury time scored a consolation goal from a Monreal cross, which displeased Conte greatly. It pleased me plenty. Before the kick off, I put £50 on a Chelsea clean sheet, and would have made £100 profit. However, I lost my nerve shortly before Gabriel put a clear header straight at the keeper in the last ten minutes of the first half, thinking Arsenal always score, however poorly they play. So I cashed out when I was £10 in profit rather than lose the £50. Now given that Arsenal do always score, just imagine what they could achieve with a bit of work in defensive basics…
So the top four is still on, but so what? Chelsea weren’t in the top four last season. It only matters if you have a chance of winning the Champions League. Arsenal quite evidently don’t. The significance of the extra income is far less these days in comparison to the money received for the Premier League TV rights, so it really isn’t that big a deal if the club fall out of it. Having said that, to the board, it could be more significant than the lack of a title challenge. It has become evident that the business, its growing value and profits, are more of a priority than sporting success, so if Wenger cannot deliver Champions League, it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall at the board meeting after that.
However, many believe this will be Arsene’s farewell season and if it is to be (and the majority are hoping it is, even those who support the man and just want to see him end with his dignity intact) then it will have to be another FA Cup triumph if he is to bow out with his head held high. I bet you we see a decent team for the Sutton game, and strong selections in subsequent rounds if the Gunners do manage to negotiate that.
As for a first Premier League trophy for 13 years, at least the last two games have got rid of any illusion, any false hope. The reality is that Arsenal have enjoyed some good fortune this season, their points total could easily have been at least five less putting them in sixth place, and with their remaining fixtures that may well be where they end up. The rest of February sees Hull at home, Bayern, Sutton United and Southampton away, before March gets going with Liverpool away before the return leg against Bayern. How many wins do you see out of those six fixtures?
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