It's not big and it's not clever. But it is funny. Two intelligent, urbane, well-educated continental manages flapping at each other like a couple of school boys after too many Wotsits and too much fizzy orange.
2) Courtois hands Cech his chance
Petr Cech will not have taken any joy from the circumstances which sent him back onto the pitch to keep goal for Chelsea against Arsenal.
The scrum cap worn by the Czech shot stopper is a constant reminder of his own head injury, suffered against Reading when he collided with the right hunt of Stephen Hunt. It was an impact that knocked him unconscious and fractured his skull.
Thibaut Courtois elected to remain on the field after his coming together with the knee of Alexis Sanchez after being assessed by Chelsea physio Eva Carneiro, but was soon on the floor, reportedly complaining about some bleeding from his ear.
News soon emerged after his withdrawal from the field that the Belgian had been taken to hospital, where he remains at the time of publishing.
In the eyes of some pundits, the identity of Chelsea's number one is by no means as clear cut as Courtois' billing suggests, and it appears that Cech will now have a run of games to prove his credentials with his younger rival presumably set for some recovery time.
Still, Cech wouldn't have wanted his chance to come like this.
3) Flamini the enforcer isn't what Arsenal need at the back
Arsenal looked less naive on their first trip of the season to Stamford Bridge, with their 4-1-4-1 formation compacting into a 4-5-1 when out of possession.
It was a smart tactic, and the team initially did well to contract back and shrink down the amount of space they made available to Eden Hazard and co. as the Blues tried to break down field and overrun the Gunners.
However, Mathieu Flamini still looked suspect as the designated pivot around which this defensive plan hinged upon.
The Frenchman is a good ball winner, and clearly fills a niche that has been left empty in recent years at Arsenal, but he is too easily drawn out of position and lacks the discipline and poise to mastermind the sort of system his manger seems intent on implementing.
Given the wealth of midfielders and playmakers available to the Gunners, a 4-1-4-1 formation makes sense, but it only takes one look at the set up's greatest proponents in recent years to see what's needed of the man left at the back.
Bayern Munich moved Philipp Lahm into midfield to act as their anchorman, with Pep Guardiola highlighting the full-back's intelligence ahead of all his other attributes as the key quality he wanted in his defensive lynchpin.
Flamini is an enforcer, not a thinker, and Arsenal may need to reconsider their transfer policy come January in order to find the missing piece in this fragile, midfield jigsaw. Until they do, a title challenge will be beyond them if Arsene Wenger remains determined to deploy such tactics against the biggest teams.
4) Mikel and Matic: the closers who could win Chelsea trophies this season
Never a fan of "hockey scores", Jose Mourinho replaced Andre Schurrle with Jon Obi Mikel just before the 70 minute mark, to create a stranglehold in midfield next to Nemanja Matic with the score still only 1-0 in his favour.
Some may question the decision to seek safety rather than a greater advantage, but the introduction of the often forgotten Nigerian further highlighted the variety of options the Chelsea manager now has at his disposal this season.
Together at the base of the midfield, Mikel and Matic allowed the Blues' defenders to manage their opponents at their own pace. They had all the support they needed to pick and choose their moments to intercept Arsenal's passes and shepherd their runners into less threatening areas of the pitch.
It's a combination that also freed Fabregas of his defensive responsibilities, allowing the Spaniard to find his fellow countryman Costa with a majestic pass that ultimately put the game beyond doubt.
Regardless of the quality Manchester City may possess, when it comes to seeing out games, the lockdown pairing of Mikel and Matic look ready to win a few pots for the Portuguese this season.
5) Welbeck and Wilshere produce plenty of beauty but not enough shots
As Moss of the IT Crowd put it: "the thing about Arsenal is, they always try to walk it in."
Judging by his social media profiles, Jack Wilshere was clearly delighted with the summer signing of his international team mate Danny Welbeck, and against Chelsea the two Englishman combined well to produce a number of eye-catching moments of inter-play in the final third.
However, their movement and passes were all too often fancy rather than threatening against a defence as mean and physical as Chelsea's back line.
Against teams like the Blues, your forwards and midfielders need to not only take advantage of the few chances that come along but also pounce on whatever half-chances can be ground around the opponent's box.
Had Wilshere and Welbeck – along with their other team mates pushing forward to probe Chelsea's area – decided to pull the trigger rather than hold back for the perfect shot, they may have been able to snatch some dirty, scrappy points rather than fading into a beautiful defeat.
No comments:
Post a Comment