Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea - Post Mortem: Tale Of A Parked Bus And An Empty Tank

The game was just a straight-forward dress-rehearsal for the grander occasion at Camp Nou. Chelsea came, parked their bus, quite literally on the best football pitch of the country, and gave an honest demonstration, not to Arsenal, but to the Catalans, what they are capable of doing on Tuesday night. In a perfect predicament, Chelsea had two choices ai??i?? field their first team and go for the kill or rest their best players and sit and defend against an out-of-steam Arsenal side. Quite evidently, they went for the latter.

Arsenal needed to win this game to stay out of reach from Spurs and Newcastle United, but they failed to breach the Chelsea door-bolt, faultlessly positioned by the tactical brain of Roberto Di Matteo. Though Arsene Wenger has faced ten different Chelsea managers over the last 16 years in England, his strategy wasnai??i??t good and tested enough to get the better of the travelling party. Arsenal tried, slogged, forced themselves and finally ran out of fuel and surrendered. The game ended at stalemate.

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Arsenal Strategy And Gameplay

How They Started?

[4-1-4-1] – Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Song, Ramsey, Rosicky, Theo, Oxlade-Chamberlain, van Persie

Arsenal, without their in-form central defensive midfielder, Mikel Arteta, who is out for the season, were all set to grab the headlines by beating a Chelsea side without their best players. Oxlade-Chamberlain was placed on the left hand side of the field, playing instead of Yossi Benayoun, who was ineligible to play due to FIFA rules. Arsenalai??i??s main driving force Thomas Rosicky looked his usual self yet again, trying to force the issue on his own, without getting much help from the men around him. Ramsey and Song had quite an unmemorable first-half, both losing possession on countless occasions. Arsenal wanted to penetrate with their sharp passing and one-touch game, but the plan seemed to have failed quite drastically, with Chelsea sitting in their own half and defending like there was no tomorrow.

Young Oxlade-Chamberlain spent most of the game in the middle of the park, drifting inwards and trying to drive into the Chelsea half, one fails to understand if it was based on Arseneai??i??s instruction or just a discretionary attempt from the youngster to showcase his flexibility. Aaron Ramsey had a poor outing yet again, still bereft of confidence and match sharpness, though he did come to life in the final stages of the game when Arsenal were trying to force the issue. Theo Walcott looked to have done his hamstring after another timid performance; he is most likely to be out for the season ai??i?? another injury blow to the Gunners. Talking of injuries, Abou Diaby returned back to the team, and looked quite assured when he came on in the second half. Robin van Persie, the man with the Golden Boots, missed quite a few chances, a below par outing especially based on his extremely high standards.

Top Performers – Laurent Koscielny, Thomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagna

Chelsea Strategy And Gameplay

How They Started?

[4-2-3-1] ai??i?? Cech, Bosingwa, Cahill, Terry, Bertrand, Essien, Romeu, Malouda, Kalou, Sturridge, Torres

If Chelsea were solid against Barcelona a few days back, they werenai??i??t any less against their London rivals, despite making eight changes to their line-up from Wednesday night. Full-Backs Bosingwa and Bertrand started, having to deal with the pace with Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott. For most of the afternoon, Theo was surrounded by three defenders almost all the time, every time he got a sniff of the football, a strategy ingeniously executed. Essien, who has now become second-choice to Mikel in the team, bullied the Gunners in the middle of the park, but still lacks match practice and failed to make a mark in the attacking department. A surprise start for Romeu was too much for the young man to digest, he looked quite clueless in possession, but still managed to hold his ground when it really mattered.

Kalou and Sturridge did break through a few times but failed to deliver the killer-ball to Torres, who looked his usual shy self ai??i?? a long throw from the Fernando Torres the Gunners feared from the Anfield days. Terry was up to his task yet again, knowing quite well that he has another 90 minutes of drilling to deal with from Messi and co. three days later. Juan Mata ai??i?? Chelseaai??i??s player of the season, came on late and showed some attacking fervor but it was not enough for the away team ai??i?? their desire to ai???stick to the initial planai??i?? stayed till the end. Chelsea came to frustrate Arsenal and went back home completely satisfied. Roberto Di Matteo has now set his team for the biggest game of his short tenure ai??i?? itai??i??s a little matter of playing the best football team on the planet at the Mecca of football in Spain.

Top Performers – John Terry, Michael Essien, Gary Cahill

TheHardTackle’s Player Of The Match

Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)

The Arsenal man had another fantastic outing after coming back from suspension. With him in the defense, the Arsenal team looks much assured along with the goal-keeper. Koscielny annulled out any threat from the Chelsea attackers and made life impossible for Fernando Torres. He, and Vermaelen, need to keep themselves fit for three more games to keep Arsenal in Europe for next season.

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Tags: Arsenal FC