s Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal: 5 Key Things We Learnt Chelsea’s 6-0 demolition of Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday sent shockwaves across the league, ruining a landmark occasion for Arsene Wenger and it also had a drastic influence on the Premier League title race. Samuel Eto’o opened the scoring before Andre Schurrle doubled the advantage moments later. Then, a bizarre incident of refereeing saw Kieran Gibbs dismissed, when it should have been Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Eden Hazard dispatched the resulting penalty. A brace from Oscar and Mohamed Salah’s first Chelsea goal finished off the Gunners. The match was Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th in charge of Arsenal and he was looking for a result, potentially his first win against Jose Mourinho. However, what he actually got was a horrific display from the Gunners since the first whistle was blown and Arsenal were swept aside with ease. Chelsea are now looking in good form for the Premier League title, while Arsenal are now seven points off the pace. The game taught us many things- here’s the five most important that we learnt. 5. Referees Are Worse Than Ever Before Throughout the season the officials have been under scrutiny after numerous questionable decisions and mistakes. However, this weekend Andre Marriner took things to a whole new level after a bizarre incident at Stamford Bridge- where he made a high profile mistake that will be remembered for years to come. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made a diving save to get a touch on the ball with his hand inside the box, an obvious penalty. Andre Marriner took an age to point to the spot and there was confusion as to who actually made the decision. Then, he elected to show a red card to the Arsenal player when it should have only been a yellow, as the ball wasn’t going in. Finally, he sent off the wrong player- with Kieran Gibbs given his marching orders instead of Oxlade-Chamberlain. Referees will always make mistakes but sending off the wrong player is inexcusable. For starters, they each have different numbers and names on the back of their shirts to ensure that things like this don’t happen. Then there’s the fact that Oxlade-Chamberlain told the referee it was him and many other players on the field pointed out his error. Referees have become unreliable and you can’t trust them to give the correct decisions in a game anymore, which will have consequences on the title race and relegation battle. With millions of pounds at stake, as well as the future of many football clubs, you have to question what the Football Association will do the combat the errors that have plagued the division this season. 4. Arsenal Can’t Cope With Pressure This point actually applies to two areas, which are both vastly different but both have dire consequences on the football club as a whole. If Arsenal want to achieve the heights that they should be at then this point is one that they will have to address quickly. First, Arsenal are unable to compete with the top sides in the big games. Over the last five seasons, they’ve won just one game away from home against the other top four sides. This year has been worse than ever as they lost 6-3 to Manchester City, 5-1 to Liverpool and now 6-0 to Chelsea. The problem here is that Arsenal crumble under the pressure. Secondly, Arsenal can’t cope with pressure on the field from the opposition. Both Liverpool and Chelsea put the Arsenal players under pressure when they had the ball and forced them to make mistakes, before capitalising on them and blowing the North London side away. The fact that this tactic has become obvious is concerning as it will mean that other sides will employ a similar method in future games, as Arsenal seem completely inept in overcoming this problem. It doesn’t bode well for Arsenal as they are favourites to win the FA Cup and the semi-final against Wigan is just a few weeks away. However, with this kind of expectation on Arsenal the tournament will not be as clear-cut as it should be and Arsenal could end up trophy less once again if they fail to overcome the fact that they fall apart in the big games. 3. Mourinho’s Tactics Work Jose Mourinho is often criticised for the style of football he makes his sides play and it’s always been a ‘problem’ for a lot of people. Mourinho is often happy to sit-back and grind out a result, settling for a draw when it suits him and pushing forward on the counter-attack at the times he wanted his side to get forward. The style of football is not the most interesting to watch and is overshadowed by the style of football that is played by his top four rivals and even clubs like Southampton. However, Chelsea fans won’t complain as it is working and there is no sign that he will alter his style of play, or that something will throw a spanner in the works and his club will decline. Against Arsenal, Chelsea were happy to force the opponents to give away the ball and throw themselves forward- grabbing goal after goal. In fact, with the way Arsenal were on the day, a more attacking side would’ve secured an even larger victory. However, there was no need for Mourinho to do this and he knew it. He got three points and his ideas worked. Earlier in the season he was criticised for going to the Emirates and parking the bus, forcing out a boring 0-0 draw. He knows that one point is better than a loss and he is not afraid to play ugly football in order to get a decent result. When you’re chasing the title it’s an important trait to have, especially when things are as close as they have been this season. 2. Arsenal Are Out Of The Title Race Mathematically Arsenal are still in with a shout of lifting the Premier League title in May. However, theoretically this isn’ the case as they’ve shown recently that they are not able to compete with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and even Liverpool. Now, they have to ensure that they get that all important Champions League place. Arsenal have now lost two of the last three Premier League games, scoring just one goal in the process. Between those matches they’ve reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and drew at the Allianz Arena but the North London side haven’t won back-to-back league games since mid-January. For a team that is hoping to win the title this is obviously not good enough. The next three league games see them tackle Swansea, Manchester City and Everton so it is likely that this poor run of form will continue as you can’t imagine them picking up maximum points from these games. Arsenal now have to fight to win the FA Cup, which is well within their reach considering the stage of the competition they are in and the ability of the other three sides left in the tournament. For the league, Arsenal will have to wait until at least next season though that means Wenger, and Arsenal, will not have lifted the Premier League title for a decade. 1. Chelsea Will Win The League Chelsea have been amongst the favourites for the title since it was announced that Jose Mourinho was returning to West London. They’ve shown throughout the campaign that they are contenders but no performance was as good, and as prolific, as this weekend’s crushing of Arsenal. Arsenal of course were a side in the title race before Chelsea arrived and put a massive dent in their hopes, which the North London team will be unable to recover from. They have a stern test against Liverpool coming up at the end of April but they have the easiest run-in out of all the title chasing sides and it is extremely likely that Chelsea can nick a result at Anfield. By that point, Liverpool themselves may be out of the title race and it could well be a two-horse race between moneybags Chelsea and Manchester City. Chelsea managed to dismantle City at the Etihad, when it previously looked impossible to do so. The Blues have impressed throughout the year and it looks like they will be rewarded for the performances they’ve put in. Manchester City may have three games in hand but they also have the more difficult games out of the two. Chelsea lead the pack and when it gets to this stage, that is the best position to be in. At this stage, Chelsea are the favourites to lift the Premier League title.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 12:16:49 +0000
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