With three games of the league season left and thirteen points clear of second place, Jose Mourinho's tactically astute Chelsea side look set to lift the Premier League title in what would be the fifth of the club's league title successes. It has been far from difficult for the West London outfit with the current champions Manchester City faltering in their bid to retain the title and Arsenal only starting to come in to the fold in the latter stages of the season - apparently too little, too late for Arsene Wenger's men.
Last Sunday, Chelsea, in textbook Mourinho style, went to the Emirates in what was a fascinating tactical battle. Arsenal, as per usual at home, dominated the possession, however this was without their usual pizzazz they have in the final third - why? Because Mourinho's men came with a plan and stuck to it. 'Boring, boring Chelsea' were the cries of the home crowd as Chelsea shut up shop against Olivier Giroud and co. As an Arsenal fan, it was agonisingly frustrating, but as a football fan, you can only admire and respect what Mourinho does in big games, particularly against Arsenal.
Boring though it was for an Arsenal fan, the facts speak for themselves; Chelsea in these last two months have been dreadful to watch - there was none of the early season style and suave we saw from Fabregas and co. But here we are, with three games to go, and the blues still remain top with quite a margin - what this highlights is above all is that this team, and in particular, Mourinho are winners. Their track record speaks for itself; in his first spell at Chelsea, Jose lifted the title successively in his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge playing with his usual pragmatic style and 6 years later, Roman Abrahamovic finally got his hands on the coveted Champions League with Chelsea once again playing in a pragmatic manner under Robert di Matteo. In that same period (I hate to say it), Arsenal have only achieved success in the form of one FA Cup last season.
I absolutely love and admire Arsene Wenger for what he has done for our club, he is a living legend and a purist of football. But the facts, I'm afraid, do not lie - whilst we always have been and will be the best team to watch in England, we have not maintained that level of success that our West London counterparts have; one FA Cup in nine years compared to eleven honours in that same period for Chelsea (sigh). Chelsea have been and always will be boring to watch, but their boring brand of football guarantees success - something which we as Arsenal fans have had a small taste though. I most definitely do not want us to completely abandon this 'tika-taka' brand that Arsene Wenger has brought to the club (it is part of what defines Arsenal as a club) but I feel we just need to adapt our style at times, especially on the big stage in Europe.
Despite this, it is not all doom and gloom for Arsenal, I certainly do not want Wenger to leave. This season, particularly in the second half, I have seen a tactical change in this Arsenal side and no more is this evident than in the game away at Manchester City, the home of the champions. We were disciplined, resolute and all the other adjectives you would use to describe a team that was, quite simply, parking a bus. Whilst doing this, Arsenal have not abandoned the fluidity in their game, the following week, we hammered Villa at home 5-0 playing in our most recognised, fluid style. What I believe this signifies is that we do have the ability to adapt, especially on the big stage, whilst sticking to our philosophy as a certain Mr van Gaal would say.
The last ten years have not been great for me and Arsenal fans alike as Mourinho so heart-thumpingly reminded us last week. But I remain optimistic, we are in the final of an FA Cup yet again - a chance to maintain success, and we are on course to finish second - would be the first time in ten years which would be a significant mark of progress. We have shown that we can go away to big teams and dig out a result - our visits to the respective Manchester clubs being the prime examples whilst maintaining that fluidity in our game. Whisper it quietly, but like Chelsea, we are becoming more pragmatic in the way we play which can only be a good sign in my opinion. This is exactly why next season, I am confident, as an Arsenal fan, that the Gunners can really mount a title challenge and hopefully claim their first league title in what would be twelve years. But crucially I feel this can all be done with Arsene Wenger at the helm.
No comments:
Post a Comment