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Arsenal visited Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a match that was important to both clubs, and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, who have had a very rough start to the Premier League, emerged victorious in the famous London derby.
A mostly even game saw Chelsea win 2-0 against a nine-man Arsenal team. So where did Arsenal go wrong?
Firstly, possibly one of the most controversial moments we have seen all season in the sending off of Arsenal’s centre-back Gabriel Paulista.
We have all seen how Diego Costa plays and it’s no hidden secret that he is a very aggressive player. Costa clearly got under Gabriel’s skin by getting up in his face and taunting him.
Gabriel (currently 24) showed a little bit of inexperience and reacted to Costa’s unnecessary antics. In the end, I feel Costa should have been sent off later on in the match for having a late dig at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, which I presume the referee did not see.
Gabriel should not have been sent off, and because of this incident Arsenal were heavily affected for the rest of the match.
Santi Cazorla’s dismissal on the other hand was a correct decision. Two poor, very unnecessary challenges from the captain. Cazorla’s defensive game is really affecting himself and the Arsenal team as a unit.
I now turn the talk to Arsenal’s manager, Arsene Wenger. It’s been in every footballing fan’s mind over the past few years and I honestly think it is time now for Wenger to go.
This game against Chelsea really made me think about Wenger’s decisions.
Arsenal are used to playing the classic 4-5-1 formation but in today’s line-up I realised a player was out of position.
Cazorla, who played for 80 minutes and then saw a second yellow, started the game in a central defensive midfield role alongside Francis Coquelin. Cazorla is predominately an attacking player so it seemed odd to me that he was playing out of position in such an important match.
Sure enough, we saw Cazorla struggle defensively and as a result Arsenal struggled defensively. A strange move from Wenger.
I also question the half-time substitute.
After Gabriel was given his marching orders, Coquelin moved to centre-back for the small remainder of the half. We then witnessed an inexperienced, out of form, 21-year-old Calum Chambers come into the match.
Not that Chambers played bad, but it was a risky move by the french manager due to how Chambers played against Liverpool. Debuchy to centre-back may have been a safer option.
But, Coquelin was 100 per cent the wrong player to take off. Coquelin is well known for his ball-winning attributes and this was needed against players like Oscar, Eden Hazard and Pedro. When Coquelin came off, Arsenal’s defensive structure started to crumble, leaving Pedro and Hazard a lot of space to move into.
For me, Aaron Ramsey had to come off.
I think Wenger is really feeling the pressure at the moment and he isn’t coping. The recent loss in the Champions League really displays how his Arsenal life is currently going. Is this his last year?
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