The Dossier: How do Arsenal avoid another Chelsea massacre? The Gunners were destroyed 6-0 at Stamford Bridge last season and Arsene Wenger has not won in 11 meetings with Jose Mourinho but there is hope if the Frenchman springs a surprise “Its one of the worst days in my career.” So said Arsene Wenger in the aftermath of the 6-0 thrashing his side were dealt at Stamford Bridge in March. The Frenchman remarked that every Arsenal defeat left a scar in your heart that you never forget” as he approached that game - his 1000th and the joint-heaviest defeat of his managerial career. Arsenal must hope the scars of that March massacre elicit fundamental changes as Wenger prepares his side for the daunting task of heading to the league leaders on Sunday afternoon. This London rivalry has taken on a new lease of life since Jose Mourinho’s return a year-and-a-half ago and the Portuguese rarely appears to have as much fun as when he’s winding up Wenger. Branded a “specialist in failure” last season, Wenger has already had to endure taunts from west London over the 10-year trophy drought he oversaw. But there is a more up-to-date statistic Mourinho will be looking to add to: In 11 attempts, Wenger still hasnt beaten him. In fact, even with Mourinho in Madrid, the Gunners haven’t tasted victory over Chelsea for three years; not since the ludicrously fun 5-3 win at Stamford Bridge in 2011 when Robin van Persie ran amok. Surprisingly, Arsenal have only scored two goals in the six meetings since then. Petr Cech may have been demoted, while Ashley Cole was allowed to join Roma, but the Blues brought Europe’s best young goalkeeper in from the cold and, in Nemanja Matic, have the best defensive midfielder in the top-flight protecting the defence. We are assuming Arsenal play into Chelsea hands; that they front up to the Blues and persist with the philosophy that regularly steamrolls the likes of Galatasaray. Games in front of buoyant home crowds are different though, but would you know it by analysing Wenger’s approach? The Champions League last-16 second leg game against Barcelona in 2011 was the last time Wenger sent a team out to hold what they have. They countered where possible and defended fastidiously on the edge of the box. It didn’t work, but not because of the system, because of the outrageous decision to send Van Persie off for kicking the ball away (shooting a split-second after the referee’s whistle went). Arsenal were 2-1 up (3-2 on aggregate) at that stage and looked set to eliminate Pep Guardiolas brilliant Barca. Since then, results in games away at elite opposition are mixed. There have been wins at Bayern Munich but heavy defeats to Milan and Olympiakos. This season theyve only beaten Aston Villa on their travels, while last year saw the traumatic thrashings at City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Up against someone as shrewd as Mourinho takes away a lot of the unknowing though. He gives no quarter. The 64-year-old is wedded to his possession-oriented style but Arsenal only picked up six points from 18 against the other members of the top four last year (one win over Liverpool, three draws). They haven’t won any of their previous 14 meetings with Chelsea, City and Manchester United and youd be forgiven for thinking there is a fundamental problem here. With any luck, Wenger will have noted his team’s struggles against the elite sides. The Gunners have become predictable in their approach and deeply susceptible to teams who pick off their neat triangular passes and counter quickly. Yet this is where Arsenal can draw strength ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge. If last season’s 6-0 loss was memorable for the speed at which Chelsea snatched possession and launched raids on their exposed backline then this year should provide a different test. Mourinho’s side are growing into their billing as the team to beat this season and place emphasis on dictating games rather than pouncing on mistakes - bar the 1-1 draw at Manchester City. But the days of backs-to-the-wall defending and countering at speed appear reserved for only the toughest away games. Their transitions remain impeccably precise and dynamic, as Andre Schurrle’s goal at Manchester City attests, and that will be a danger to Per Mertesacker & Co, but there are opportunities for Wenger if he springs a tactical surprise of his own. The worry though is whether wily old Mourinho will let Wenger have his way. The master tactician has seen it all before. He’s never lost to Wenger and knows exactly how to dismantle a bold Arsenal. He will happily scrap the blueprints for another three points, no matter how its achieved. Analysis of Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham will show the way and the 2-0 loss to Dortmund will reinforce it. Both defensive performances, though different in their intensity and organisation, showed that damage can be done by furiously pressing the Arsenal midfield and defence. Dortmund capitalised on it; Spurs didn’t, but still exposed the Gunners in three-versus-three situations. They are susceptible, but often only because Wenger bullishly sticks to his philosophy and tries to dominate games and situations which call for a more cautious approach. But let’s say Arsenal allow Chelsea to dominate possession; to tempt Cesc Fabregas into breaking them down. They have the players to do serious damage on the break. It has been speculated that Mourinho will use two holding midfielders to counter this threat - Matic and John Obi Mikel - but that combination haven’t started a game together this season. We can rule that out. Fabregas is excellent, but can be caught out of position when Chelsea don’t have the ball. It is these moments that the “electric” Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez, supplemented by the incision of a central playmaker - finally Mesut Ozil, must look to spring the trap and get at Gary Cahill and John Terry. The pair are rarely exposed but Olivier Girouds chance in the opening few minutes of the 6-0 reverse indicate that clever movement, of which Welbeck has in abundance, can bamboozle the duo. You have to hope we are treated to this kind of tactical chess match rather than the more predictable match-up weve seen under Mourinho. Speaking after Arsenals win over Galatasaray, Per Mertesacker gave hope, hinting at a change of approach for this game: ”We know we can do better than the two consecutive seasons [there] before and I think well try new things on Sunday to get a better result than last year.” The combination of Wenger’s stubborn nature and trust in a rigid philosophy seems certain - based on past evidence - to result in another defeat. But if he springs a surprise and hands the onus to Chelsea, he has the players at his disposal to make this an eighth Premier League win at Stamford Bridge - a record in the top-flight. He just needs to outmanoeuvre Mourinho for the first time. AKN
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 22:30:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015