Match Review : Arsenal vs Chelsea

By Alameen KH

Arsenal vs Chelsea – Saturday, 24th September

“Arsenal are doing to chelsea what chelsea have done <to them> in recent years”  these words from the commentators  described the Gunners’ efforts against London rivals Chelsea on Saturday night.

Arsenal had not defeated Chelsea in nearly five years coming into this match at the Emirates. But what Saturday night witnessed was the answer from Wenger’s side for all the humiliation suffered in the recent past, when Arsenal fell short of victory despite outplaying their opposition.

Arsenal were utterly sensational in a blistering first half display against Chelsea. Playing with a ruthless precision in attacking areas without squandering chances and maintaining their discipline and shape without the ball, Arsene Wenger’s men quite simply played Chelsea off the park.

The pace of the players on the pitch, both going forward and defensively combined with the intensity of the high press and the speed of the tight, intricate passing was simply far too much for Chelsea to handle.  On the night, Arsenal were a side, compact and sound in their defence with all players  tracking back whenever they loss their possession.

The best play from arsenal came from the right flank where both Walcott and Bellerin were outstanding in stopping the hazard. Eden Hazard, Chelsea’s best attacking player was very quiet throughout and this was not just down to Bellerin defending well. Walcott, who had been highly criticised for his defensive work rate, tracked back admirably on Saturday, limiting the dangers of the overlapping Azpilicueta and highlighting Hazard’s laziness in tracking back.

Arsenal’s first goal came from the effort of Sanchez who capitalized on a mistake from Cahil with a calm finish over the Courtouis with the ball landing on the left side if the net.

The second goal will go down as another one of the top team goals in the club’s history. Alex Iwobi brilliantly picked out Hector Bellerin who was wide open. The young Spaniard used his space to find Walcott who had to merely tap the ball into the net. The third one was the result of an absolutely brilliant collaborative display between our two superstars, Alexis and Ozil, with Alexis assisting Ozil this time.

Match Overview

Arsenal started with a traditional 4-2-3-1 with Cazorla and Coquelin at the mid and Sanchez, Walcott and Iwobi in the attack.  But the backbone for this win was the solid midfield partnership between Coquelin and Cazorla where they soundly confirmed their place against strong opponent. Though the calm and clear presence of Xhaka is a perfect addition for the squad, the Coquelin – Cazorla partnership must be executed against strong opposition.

Coquelin and cazorla is a partnership borne of a series of extraordinary happy accidents. Coquelin’s rise from the ashes has been well documented, but the transformation that has seen Santi Cazorla turn into one of the country’s finest deep lying playmakers has been just as remarkable.

The Spaniard’s suitability to the role really became evident during a series of great matches where Arsenal beat Man United and Bayern last season and Chelsea on Saturday.

Wenger likes his players to be self-sufficient and figure their own solutions to tactical teasers, so it’s somewhat fitting that Cazorla’s transformation was effectively voluntary. Coquelin has added some bite and power to the base of the midfield and together, these two midfielders have dovetailed into the perfect mid-shield. This is a particularly handy combination to have in games where Arsenal are less likely to dominate the ball.

When the strong side dominates with such possession,  Arsenal’s tactics was to wait for the perfect time to  unleash their attack by perfectly combining the speed forwards with the vision of Ozil. Against Manchester and Bayern, Arsenal deployed a similar tactics, wherein Walcott was deployed as a centre forward with Sanchez and Ramsey in the wing. In their last match, Arsenal recreated the same strategy with some high intensity gameplay in the first 40 minutes of the match where Arsenal absolutely overcame their opposition with a resounding three goal lead to take into the half-time break.

This backs my previous argument that Arsenal should deploy the Cazorla-Coquelin partnership in the midfield since these are best players in the Arsenal squad to retain as well as win back possession. Though there is a pressing concern regarding Coquelin’s injury,  it wouldn’t affect the team much, since arsenal are not playing against any strong opposition in the coming weeks and it could pave the way for Xhaka to find more opportunities in the center of midfield.

Overall this is what we, as Gooners have been wanting to see –  A complete and total victory, utterly decimating a strong opposition and long time rival. We were defensively superb, offensively unstoppable. This was an all-round great performance by the team, who rose to the occasion and made Arsene Wenger’s 20th anniversary, a most memorable one.