Frustration and disappointment are the two overriding
emotions flowing through my mind on the back of Arsenal’s first defeat of the
season yesterday, at the hands of Chelsea. In truth we were up against a
well-prepared and decent side that dictated large portions of the game, and
probably deserved the three points (as much as that pains me to say). But both
of the goals we conceded in the 2-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium were clearly
avoidable, and pointed towards certain old habits that have haunted us in the
past.
Pre and post match debate has largely revolved around
Arsene Wenger’s decision to “rest” last weekends MOTM Per Mertesacker,
recalling captain Thomas Vermaelen to start alongside Laurent Koscielny at
centre back. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but this was a call that just
didn’t pay off as both players were at fault for the goals conceded and didn’t
look comfortable playing alongside eachother. Vermaelen sloppily gave away the
two free kicks in identically dangerous positions that led to the goals, and
Koscielny allowed Fernando Torres to beat him to the ball for the first, and
helped the ball past a tentative Vito Mannone into the net for the second.
 |
| Kos aids Chelsea's second. |
I said last week that Mertesacker should be first choice
centre back in the team, and yesterday further enhanced that view as his
organisation and general presence was greatly missed, and our back line looked a
totally different outfit from what we’ve seen so far this season. It was a
return to the dodgy, unpredictable and error ridden defending that we’ve been lambasted for
in the past, and added fuel to the view that Vermaelen and Koscielny is a
partnership that just doesn’t work. Injuries aside, it might be one that we now
don’t see again for a while.
With little to write home about defensively, aside from
further improvement from Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs, errors were also
prominent further up the pitch. Having smacked both Southampton and Coventry
respectively for six in our previous two home fixtures, the front unit left
their goal scoring boots at home this time with another depressingly familiar
case of glorious missed chances costing us points.
Gervinho scored impressively just before half time and
although it was good to see him get involved, it was another unsatisfying
display from a player who is capable of moments of magic, but by large is more
resembling of a headless chicken. At least he’s scoring though, and you can’t
fault his effort even if his execution is often amiss.
Further chances weren’t scarce either, as Santi Cazorla
had several opportunities but failed to trouble Petr Cech and often shot when
passing seemed a better option. Lukas Podolski was exceptionally quiet again,
but did force Cech into a good late save with a placed header. And despite
getting off the mark on Wednesday night, Olivier Giroud wasted what was
Arsenal’s final and best chance at an equaliser having rounded Cech only to
blast into the side netting.
 |
| Wenger's reaction to the late Giroud miss - who says he doesn't care? |
Tough to take for the fans and Manager alike, and a nasty
reminder of what happens when you play against top sides yet fail to put your
opportunities away. Elsewhere, Abou Diaby went off injured early on and is now
out for three weeks unfortunately. His replacement Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had
a solid outing, and I was impressed with Aaron Ramsey in the first half before
he dipped a bit in the second and was eventually replaced. Mikel Arteta
struggled a touch as Chelsea pressed him pretty well, and we’ve seen a lot
better from both Cazorla and Podolski previously this season.
All in all it was a painful afternoon to take, but you
have to commend Chelsea on their well thought out game plan. They weren’t
brilliant themselves, but I’m sure they’ll get over that quite quickly and
celebrate the three points they earned that on another day could quite easily
have been ours.
There was some doom and gloom post match, which was total
overreaction if you ask me. We have been progressing nicely, but if you
believed that we would do this again this season then you’re either insanely optimistic, or a little bit deluded. It’s just
obviously annoying that the unbeaten run came to an end so early in the season
and against that lot, but it now presents us with an opportunity to show a
great amount of team spirit and mental strength in bouncing back from this
setback, which starts on Wednesday night when we host Olympiacos in the
Champions League.
 |
| More goals will come from Giroud, now he's off the mark. |
I think we can expect a few changes for that game,
certainly with Mertesacker coming back in, and I’d be surprised if Wenger
didn’t give Giroud, Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin some serious game time
after they impressed against Coventry last week. Then we travel to Upton Park
on Saturday in a game that would be very ideal to win ahead of a two week
International break.
Worth remembering that it’s a long old season, and we can
only hope that days such as yesterday don’t occur too frequently. Plus with
Jack Wilshere playing his first competitive football for 12 months on Monday,
and with Bacary Sagna and Tomas Rosicky not too far behind there’s still plenty
of reason for cheer and optimism for the future.
But in the here and now, the prime focus must be
eradicating the errors that crept their way back into our game and ensuring
those old habits stay away. And let’s hope for a positive and confident response
from the players on Wednesday.
Follow me on twitter: @mattlittlechild
No comments:
Post a Comment