Chelsea’s strong record against London rivals Arsenal continued this afternoon with a 2-0 home win at Stamford Bridge. Carlo Ancelotti’s men took the lead five minutes before the interval after the tenacity of Ramires fed Ashley Cole with an incisive pass who cross for Didier Drogba to net his thirteenth goal in thirteen matches against the Gunners with an improvised finish, beating Lukasz Fabianski at hit near post. Despite incessant Arsenal pressure the three points were wrapped up by Brazilian centre half Alex who blasted in an eighty-fifth minute free kick from twenty-five yards after Nicolas Anelka had been fouled by Laurent Koscielny.
Arsene Wenger’s side today proved once again that whilst their majestic approach play is pleasing on the eye it counts for nothing if the ball does not end up in the back of the opponent’s net. Don’t get me wrong, I am always going to advocate playing the beautiful game the right way but in the big matches trying to walk the ball in simply hasn’t worked for them. There is a subtle difference between sticking to a philosophy and being too obstinate to adapt a pragmatic approach. You play the team that is put in front of you and respond to the tactics they employ. Today, Essien, Mikel and Ramires provided a very solid wall in front of the back four which Arsenal could not break down. In spite of this Marouane Chamakh did very well in the air without actually testing Petr Cech and he has given them a different dimension, but the Gunners are still not mixing it up enough for me. What every fan from North London is screaming out for is end product after five seasons without a trophy.
Young players cannot live on potential alone forever and sadly the cutting edge was largely missing today. Arshavin drew one splendid save from Cech but nothing will be added to the Emirates’ cabinet if the players cannot finish their attractive build-up. Matters are not helped by the fact that Arsenal continue to be dogged by injuries but for all the complaining Wenger has done his side would still benefit from toughening up. If you look at the Gunners’ squad there is only really Alex Song and Abou Diaby who will put their foot in and the latter’s fitness has often been questionable. The defence itself for me lacks some meanness as well. Koscielny’s foul on Anelka which led to Cheslea’s second goal smacked of tiredness. Admittedly Arsenal are not going to have their hands full with the likes of Drogba every week but again if you want to win titles and cups it is big matches where the back four have to stand up and be counted.
The performances of the other so-called ‘Big Four’ will be put under the microscope this weekend. Manchester United, especially in the first half, away at Sunderland yesterday were way below their usual standard and the Black Cats deserved to win the game. Here I would question Sir Alex’s decision to start the in-form Dimitar Berbatov from the bench. As for Liverpool, no excuse will suffice for a home defeat to Blackpool. We are talking about some of the same players who won the Champions League back in 2005 losing to a squad of players inferior on paper at least to that of Burnley, who similarly won a famous victory over United at Turf Moor last season. Full credit should go Ian Holloway’s side for this giant scalp, but there is no positive to take for Roy Hodgson. Board room antics and Fernando Torres limping off after ten minutes are immaterial. Each of the Reds XI is probably worth at least five times more than any of their Tangerines counterparts, or so their agents will tell you. The team spirit in the Anfield dressing room is starting to come into question and to be frank after a result like this they deserve to be in the bottom three.
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