Gunnerblog

Arsenal 0 – 0 Chelsea: Dreadful game, disappointing result, good weekend

27 comments April 22nd, 2012

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

I was furious at how Arsenal allowed the game to pass them by…
Chelsea are already in one major cup final, and could make it two.  This was, in many respects, our equivalent.  After defeat against Wigan, a win was required to restore momentum and build a protective cushion between us and the chasing pack.  I was bang up for this game, and had been excited all week.  However, from the first five minutes I couldn’t help but think that the players didn’t feel the same.  The game opened with a prolonged period of possession from the Arsenal back four, knocking it back and forth across the width of the pitch – there was no pressure from Chelsea’s attack, and little intent of driving forward from Arsenal.

It made for an incredibly dull game…
It burst briefly in to life at the latter end of each half, with Arsenal making most of the running, but it was more the most part an uninspiring affair.  It had the feel of an end-of-season game in which nothing was at stake.  And yet, bizarrely, there was a huge opportunity for both sides to secure a vital three points.  Neither team was at the races, and the game was there to be won for anyone who could find an extra gear.  However both sides seem to play with, as the Arsene Wenger might say, the “handbrake on”.

Arsenal’s midfield lacked shape and authority…
Mikel Arteta was a huge miss.  He is disciplined in his positioning, and intelligent in his use of the ball.  At the best of times, Aaron Ramsey isn’t really either of those things, and out of form and out of position he fell well shot of the Spaniards standards.  Alex Song was also poor alongside him, and Chelsea looked relatively comfortable in the middle of the park.

Abou Diaby could have a big part to play…
I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him taking the field with half an hour or so to play, but I was impressed in flashes.  With Arteta out for the rest of the season, Diaby (and indeed Francis Coquelin, who is also fit again) could be a key figure between now and the end of May.

That said, we did have chances…
With a fresher Robin van Persie, we’d probably have won the game.  Laurent Koscielny also struck the bar with a free header, and if any side was going to win it I was sure it’d be us – partly because of the inexplicable selfishness of Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge, who ruined several counter-attacks by failing to make obvious passes to team-mates.

I was possibly a little harsh on the team…
I’m sure they were up for it.  I’m sure they wanted to win.  We’re probably just a little jaded.  Due to injuries and lack of quality options, we have not been able to rotate the side much all season long.  Inevitably, we’re suffering a little for that in the final straight.

Spurs’ defeat made it a better weekend…
Every time I expect Tottenham’s form to pick up, they confound me with yet another disastrous result.  Their form is so patchy that Newcastle are arguably now the greatest threat to our third-placed position.  Arsenal have three games to go – our next, a trip to Stoke, is arguably the toughest.  That said, none of the three sides we face (Stoke, Norwich, WBA) have much to play for.  We should aim for nothing less than nine points, though I suspect six will be enough to claim third spot.

RVP is a deserving Player of the Year…
Despite his recent ill-fortune in front of goal, he has been a cut above everyone else in the Premier League this season, and is richly deserving of following in the foot-steps of the likes of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp by being voted the PFA Player of the Year.  There can be few greater honours than being recognised by your fellow professionals, and I hope this individual gong will be followed by the trophies his class richly deserves – with Arsenal, of course.

Fourth place is everything now

121 comments February 19th, 2012

Shell-shocked Arsenal players after the defeat at Sunderland

Sunderland 2 – 0 Arsenal

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

It’s been a bad week for Arsenal fans. A crushing defeat in Milan, followed by a comprehensive loss at Sunderland, and the evaporation of any remaining hopes of bringing home silverware. Arsene clearly broke a mirror in 2005, and good behaviour has not granted him any time off fortune’s sentence: it will now be seven long years without a trophy.

Yesterday Arsenal were beaten on a ground where just one week earlier they had been victorious. The matchwinner on that occasion, Thierry Henry, was conspicuous by his absence, and a succession of defensive injuries stacked the odds against us. Nevertheless we were outrun, outfought, and occasionally outplayed by a fresher and patently more motivated Sunderland side.

There is no point masking our disappointment. The FA Cup represented our most realistic chance of glory this season, and the draw could certainly have been more cruel, but this is an Arsenal side showing early yet familiar symptoms of the annual end-of-season collapse. We have played ten games since January 1st, losing five. Injuries are mounting fast and belief is fading faster.

There were some fans declaring that yesterday marked the end of our season. They could not be more wrong. To be out of the cup is tremendous blow, but Arsenal still have their biggest prize to play for: fourth place.

I have never subscribed to Arsene’s view that a top four finish is equivalent to claiming silverware. It’s nonsense. There is no explosion of joy, no entry in the record books, no trophy. But it remains absolutely vital. As bad as things are, falling out of the top four would be disastrous. It’s not a prize – it’s a necessity.

I’m gutted about the defeats to Milan and Sunderland, but if I had to choose between going out of the cups or suffering two league defeats, I think I’d choose the former. To win the FA Cup would be fantastic, but I’m not sure it’d be enough to keep Robin van Persie, or attract major talent to augment (or indeed replace) him. Fourth place might.

I don’t see the point in discussing the future of Arsene Wenger now – whatever your opinion, everyone is surely unanimous in their agreement that, for better or worse, he will be here until the end of the season. If he and the club decide to part ways then, I’d far rather we were able to offer a new a manager a brief to rebuild with the economic support and talent-tempting allure that Champions League brings.

In the light of recent results, some supporters have declared that we have “no chance” of achieving a top four spot. They are, of course, wrong. Take a glance at the league table – we’re the present incumbents. Arsenal have been incredibly fortunate that in a year when we’ve spent much of the time in disarray, our closest rivals (Liverpool and Chelsea) have conspired to be similarly calamitous.

Our next three league games see us face Tottenham, Liverpool, and Newcastle. As painful as our experiences at Milan and Sunderland were, I’d happily accept those defeats if fate were able to trade them for nine points from those forthcoming fixtures.

If, however, we lose, to Spurs next week, all hell could break lose. The day before, Chelsea and Newcastle both have relatively easy home games, and defeat to our rivals could leave us in sixth place and coming off the back of three consecutive defeats.

There have been big London derbies before. For Arsene Wenger, there has never been one quite as big as this.