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 half
Whatever 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!
