Well it was a game of two halves if ever there was one! The first half display was limp and lacklustre to be polite, but by the end, Chelsea were clinging on; withstanding wave after wave of red and white attacks.
The most disappointing element of the first half was the apparent lack of effort put into stopping Chelsea's key playmakers- Mata, Hazard and Oscar- who were able to roam around our half at their leisure, given the vast expanses of space our midfield afforded them. As I pointed out in my preview of the game, getting in their faces early would be crucial, and it looked like Wenger had recognised this in his decision to play Coquelin, a mainly defensive-minded midfielder and his move to shift the more creative and less workmanlike Cazorla onto the flank, presumably intended for Diaby and Coquelin to smother Chelsea's attacking midfielders. But in the first half hour especially, it seemed that most of the team were largely disinterested, preferring to saunter about the pitch, rather than close down the opposition tirelessly.
There also seemed to be some confusion as to whether the team was meant to be pressing the ball high up the pitch- as the forward line of Giroud, Santi and Theo were doing- or allowing the opposition into our half before squeezing up and eliminating the space- a tactic that our deep lying midfielders and defence seemed to be adopting. This caused major issues, as it created a large gulf between our forwards and the rest of our team, a gulf which was easily exploited by Chelsea's playmakers. Whether this was down to Arsene's communication of his tactics or just a lack of effort, we will never know.
The decision to play Santi on the left wing was a very questionable one. Being small, lightweight and not astoundingly quick, Cazorla is not the best player to assign the task of helping out a fullback- in this case Gibbs- the weaker of Arsenal's two fullbacks defensively. This led to our left flank being largely overrun in the first half. As well as this, Santi's composure on the ball was badly needed at times in the first half; he rarely gives the ball away, a trait that was really from our midfield when we had our back against the wall in the first half.
Something else which was clear was the frustration of Jack Wilshire- who was assigned the more free and creative attacking midfield role, which is usually where Cazorla is positioned. due to our lack of solidity further back, and our inability to pass the ball safely out of defence, Jack saw very little of the ball in the first half- which often led to him having to drop deeper, outside the remit of his role. His despair at his teammate’s lack of closing-down was also clear to see. Told not to do the job of tracking back into our own half himself, Jack could only watch on as Mata and Oscar received the ball with ease in the centre of the park.
Wilshire- a frustrating first halfWhatever the reasons for our failure were, there was no doubt we deserved to be behind 2-0 come half-time.
However, credit has to be given to Arsene as whatever was said at half-time clearly worked and gave the players a much needed kick up the rear. Arsene isn't know for giving the hairdryer treatment to his players as Ferguson is, but sending the players out 5 minutes early was obviously just as effective a method.
In the second half we displayed a new re-invigorated urgency, starting on the front foot from the off, not allowing Chelsea to control the game, wrestling the momentum from them. I was particularly impressed with the way our fullbacks pressed on in the second half, forcing Chelsea back and creating numerous one-on-ones with their fullbacks, particularly down our right- where Cashley Cole was run ragged.
As we asserted ourselves on the game, we began to dominate possession, leading to Wilshire and Cazorla being able to take more prominent roles. With us pressing forward, Theo was able to make those run off the shoulder of the last man that have become his trademark- the combination of these two factors eventually leading to our goal.
However, we lost our way slightly as the half wore on, beginning to resort to hopeful hoofs, and despite a late siege the rally proved too late to affect the result. Although the second half offered a clear positive for all Gooners, to get anything out of the game would have felt like a bit of a steal, given the nature of our first half showing. I must be said that we didn't get the rub of the green in regard to decisions, with replays showing that Coquelin was clearly fouled in the build-up to Chelsea's first goal and that Ramires slipped when it was deemed that Szczesny had tripped him. Although, but were hard for the ref to spot, and apart from that I don't think Martin Atkinson got a thing wrong, so to blame the ref for our poor start would be totally unjust.
We must now bounce back in midweek with a victory against big Sam's lovely Hammers, in another key London derby.
COYG!
