Chelsea FC: Post Arsenal Reflections

Article by Lee Beevor

Jose Mourinho once again demonstrated his tactical mastery of Arsene Wenger, with his Chelsea side enjoying a relatively stress free night at the Emirates. Before the match, there were concerns the vulnerable Blue’s defence would be dissected by the intricate passing moves of the home side. In fact, this threat never materialised, as the absence of Wilshire and shackling of Ozil blunted the Gunners’ attack. That Arsenal failed to adjust raises doubts about their chances of sustaining their title challenge.

The main reason for their discomfort was the presence of Mikel, who effectively shielded the back four, closing down any hint of open space. Restoring the Nigerian to the team had the additional benefit of allowing Frank Lampard to make his trademark surges forward. I recall three specific occasions when his undetected movement nearly resulted in a breakthrough. Had his volley from Hazard’s sublime pass gone in, instead of striking the underside of the crossbar, it would in all probability have formed the base of a comfortable win.

Instead, Chelsea had to be content with a clean sheet and a confidence building result. For me, it is promising that it was achieved so easily, with Arsenal registering half the number of scoring opportunities of Chelsea, despite home advantage. Furthermore, my feelings are completely at odds with that expressed by many of the national press this morning. To describe the game as dull and negative is, in my view at least, lazy journalism. For this was a tactical plan, perfectly executed, which completely nullified the effect of the opposition’s best player.

In my opinion, Mourinho is working wonders in his second stint as Chelsea’s manager. That we are once again in the midst of a battle for the title, is in stark contrast to the weak effort of last season’s campaign under Benitez. The improvement that has been orchestrated by Mourinho in less than six months at the helm is staggering. Terry and Lampard have been reborn and are playing at their best level for years. The steel and resilience is back in the side, with its belief growing steadily as the season progresses.

The one remaining concern is the lack of a truly world class striker. Mourinho has extracted a higher level from Torres than his predecessors, but this is still well short of what is required. Taking into account the comparative riches in this position at our principle rivals, we are performing well to maintain our challenge. To overhaul the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, this piece of the jigsaw needs to be addressed, with the January window hopefully providing the answer.

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