Stolen but quite enlightening FYG ...How Arsene Wenger must despise his journeys home from Stamford Bridge. Almost always defeated, frequently humbled and usually sent on his way from Jose Mourinhos fortress with patronizing and loaded words from the Portugese ringing in his ears. Arsenal followed its feisty managers lead by being up for the fight in its latest attempt to bridge the divide between north and west London. But, when push came to shove, touchline tetchiness and on-field tenacity was not enough. Arsenal proved to be a middleweight against heavyweight Chelsea. Mourinhos side has scored eight goals without reply in this fixture since his return to SW6 last season. It is a damning statistic, as is the extension of Wengers winless streak versus his nemesis to 12 matches. Yet the scars from Arsenals first league defeat of the season will heal far quicker than they did after the 6-0 humiliation in Wengers 1,000th match in March. Watching Eden Hazard weave between defenders as if they were training cones and Diego Costa lift an inch-perfect Cesc Fabregas over Wojciech Szczesny to finish off a classic sucker-punch will have felt as familiar as it was numbing for the Gooner faithful. But the story of yet another Arsenal defeat to Chelsea was not merely that of a more powerful and resilient unit utilizing a superior tactical plan, as has so often been the case. Wengers men were organized and well drilled. They came out battle-ready. There was no amble down King’s Road with the ball. They were alert to the danger of Chelsea counterattacks and crunched into tackles with the same enthusiasm as Mourinho’s men. Cold analysis will show that Arsenal lost because it made a few avoidable but crucial mistakes. Alexis Sanchez unnecessarily lost the ball in the build-up to the first Chelsea goal in precisely the manner for which he had been dropped for the previous two league matches. Santi Cazorla should have been streetwise enough to foul Hazard before he entered the danger zone. All is not lost for Wenger and his team. They have had a testing start to the season, with assignments against three of last seasons top five in their first seven Premier League matches, as well as a Champions League trip to Dortmund. Arsenal has showed only fleeting glimpses of fluency in those matches but have displayed an appetite for battle that was not always in evidence last season. Wengers side will grind down the leagues middling and weaker teams with their dominant passing game. It should hand them enough points to offer a better challenge to the two big guns, Chelsea and Manchester City, than rivals Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton. The squad is stronger than last season and is better equipped to cope with the never-ending catalog of injuries. All four of the major summer signings look smart acquisitions, with Sanchez likely to develop into a bona fide star of the Premier League when he learns not to hold on to the ball for too long in dangerous areas. It is being drilled into him every day in training. With the returning Theo Walcott to support Sanchez, Danny Welbeck, Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, there is enough goals and invention to cover for last seasons top scorers Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey. Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny are the clubs most solid center-back pairing since Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure. It will agonize Wenger over the international break that he has been second best once again to Mourinho. But the good news for the manager is he only has to share a touchline with the Portugese twice a season.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 04:09:24 +0000