I have to say, I 100% saw this result coming based on recent weeks of play from Chelsea. Arsenal are basically a caged animal in the corner fighting for victuals of scrap for points, sniffing the relegation zone. With a team on a bit of downturn and Arsenal hungry, this result wasn’t shocking. Haven’t seen a lot of Arsenal this year so I can’t say I have a ton of thoughts on them as a team, other than what I saw today. Sure seems like a lot of players with a lot of talent played their best today when they haven’t remotely done that recently, an obvious nod to this game’s importance as a derby.
This game started with a lump in my throat as Arsenal were taking chances, getting crosses in and looking dangerous through the first five minutes and largely keeping Chelsea out of their half. Chelsea looked flat again like they have recently, with Reece James and Ben Chilwell especially, who are both definitely injured. It came out this week that James may need surgery on his knee, but that he might also play through it; exactly the kind of situation that can derail one’s career early so that’s fun. Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney took advantage of James early in this game and throughout, pushing forward and shockingly outpacing James at times. Ben Chilwell wasn’t luckier on the other side as Hector Bellerin performed similarly through the center.
After an initial mini-onslaught, Chelsea acquired some sustained possession with Christian Pulisic creating chances along with Tammy Abraham who honestly played well enough based on his chemistry rather than his actual performance. Timo Werner was again snake-bit and with little chances in the first half was subbed off for Callum Hudson-Odoi at halftime. Early on, it looked like the schedule finally got to N’Golo Kante as Emile Smith Rowe absolutely demolished him, taking the ball, then earning a foul on Kante. He continued to lose the ball in dangerous situations, looking absolutely spent, which I assume he is, playing in virtually all games this season. Chelsea seriously need to add Declan Rice in January or someone else to get some depth here. Mateo Kovacic, his partner in calamity, had multiple bad first touches, his signature move and somehow got himself rocked on a challenge because of it, though he drew the foul. Pulisic once again was the most dangerous Chelsea player on the pitch throughout the early parts of the first half. His pace onto the ball even on the right side drew so many Arsenal defenders to him, that it freed up Werner and Abraham to little avail as several opportunities presented themselves. Pulisic finally looked all the way back early, getting comfortable on the ball especially on the left side as Werner and he switched sides a couple times throughout the first half. Things were actually looking up throughout the 20s, with Tammy, Pulisic and Mason Mount combining well, building off their chemistry and earning numerous corners. Unfortunately, Tierney got the better of James and earned a penalty in the 32nd minute which Alezandre Lacazette promptly put away. I can’t say Arsenal hadn’t earned it given their play throughout the early part of the first half, but it’s clear how tired Chelsea looked, giving what they had on offense and midfield, failing to control that midfield and finally giving up a goal to Arsenal.
The signs of fatigue showed by the increasing kick and shit nature of this game, as Chelsea did little to hold onto the ball, sending sailing balls forward, only to have Tammy fumble with the control. His aerial game which to his credit has improved considerably, was not on point and it was curious that Olivier Giroud didn’t make an appearance. Ben Chilwell couldn’t do anything with the ball at this feet in any sort of attacking sense. His balls forward were prayers to Werner and Abraham, with his own pressing ability completely tamed as it has been recently. I think he’s still injured from a few weeks ago and that was before he turned his ankle against West Ham last week and had to be subbed off early. Along with him, Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma and Reece James also struggled to get the ball forward, though Kovacic and Kante were wholly unwilling to exercise their will over the midfield at all, so to be fair to them, they kind of had to send hail marys. These teams that challenge the Chelsea midfield, especially when that midfield isn’t playing well, seem to have the key to beating them through disrupting possession and disallowing the buildup of Chelsea’s offense. This culminated in Bakayo Saka earning a free kick on the edge of the box that Granit Xhaka converted on a wonderful free kick. Just to be clear, fuck Granit Xhaka. His performance in the FA Cup Final was goddamn shameful, where he fooled the referee twice into thinking it was Mateo Kovacic and not himself, who had fouled the other, earning Kovacic a red card.
Now down 2-0 at halftime, Frank Lampard took a desperate measure, one that usually involved Pulisic last year coming off for Willian or Mount, but this time, he finally benched the icy cold Werner, along with Kovacic. This allowed Callum Hudson-Odoi at his natural right wing role and Pulisic on his natural left side. As I wrote earlier in this season, I’m so happy they held onto Hudson-Odoi despite interest from Bayern Munich, knowing his depth would be crucial. Hakim Ziyech isn’t getting any younger and Hudson-Odoi just turned 20. Ziyech’s game will age very well, relying on skill rather than pace, but Hudsod-Odoi can also be deployed on the right side with Ziyech in the midfield. As several Champions League fixtures have shown, this pairing works. In the second half against Arsenal, Hudson-Odoi, Pulisic and Tammy were much more dangerous, creating many chances with lovely interplay between them. Unfortunately, Arsenal’s press proved too much for the backline as kick and shit continued. The Arsenal players pressed so much that Edouard Mendy consistently found himself having to punt the ball instead of playing out of the back and maintaining possession. Mendy is fine with his long ball distribution, but he’s no Ederson so combine that with the midfield showing a zero (other than Mason Mount), it’s no wonder that Mendy missed a Saka cross that somehow made it into the top corner to put Arsenal up 3-0 in the 56th minute. It was a tough call but Mendy should have had it. I can’t say we can really complain at all, since his biggest asset is being not Kepa, but a couple of nervy games lately. I’m a little more patient than most fans though so whatever, this was his worst game and he’s entitled to have those every now and then considering his role this season.
At that point after the third goal, I had dreams of another Pulisic hat-trick to bring things back but the midfield continued to struggle to maintain possession, though Jorginho provided some offensive spark with his creativity. For some reason, Kante continued getting way too far forward which culminated in a great Pulisic press with a wonderful pass to a surging…Kante, who’s obvious height disadvantage led to nothing. I do believe this game showed that Pulisic can create, especially since last year he seemed to defer to Willian to be a playmaker for everyone. Pulisic in his Chelsea time has largely created chances for himself directly and only created for others indirectly by directing defensive attraction towards him. In the latter stages of this game, Pulisic looked wonderfully comfortable and created several crossing chances, including the Kante one. Finally, Kai Havertz relieved Kante in the 74th minute, not a minute too soon. I understand what Frank’s doing with Kante this season as Chelsea’s best player, but he was dogshit yesterday because he’s worn out. He’s 29, still one of the world’s best defensive midfielders, but they have to get someone in there to spell him because it isn’t Kovacic or Jorginho. Billy Gilmour seems great, but he honestly looks younger than Justin Herbert (he’s 19) and has minimal first team experience. He might be really great in two years, but unless they pull the trigger on Jorginho, Gilmour might be stuck in development/injury hell for the rest of this season. With Havertz on, he continued his disappearing act, further indicating that COVID might have really affected him, given that his poor play has really only started after his bout with it. Lampard asks a lot more of him than Bayer Leverkeusen did and he performed pretty well earlier in the season, it’s just been of late that he’s suffered since he had COVID.
The latter part of the second half saw consistent chances created by Pulisic, Hudon-Odoi and Tammy. Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic looked particularly in sync with their movement with each other along with Mount in support. Havertz roamed around, but again looked like a shell of himself. I was honestly shocked that Giroud didn’t get the nod for Tammy, though Kante needed it and fortunately Tammy was able to convert a goal, started by Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi’s playmaking skills, showing a delightfully complex string of pressing and passing that gave Pulisic maybe his 5th hockey assist of the year. I’m honestly shocked that hockey assists aren’t a thing in soccer. The pass before the pass is literally more important in soccer and relevant to player skill than in hockey for which the statistic is named for. The three of them looked natural together and likely will start the next game based on the second half alone, though Pulisic might need load management. I do believe Frank is testing this part of his game, staying healthy, a skill in itself so I wouldn’t be surprised if Pulisic plays 90 again, unless Frank wants to trot out Timo again. I think it’s more likely Timo gets brought in at center forward late, to not only give him rest, but also as a confidence boost. After the goal, with life, Mason Mount earned a penalty in the 91st minute. Jorginho, who lost his penalty taking duties after missing twice earlier this season, stepped up to the plate with new penalty taker Werner out. He promptly kicked the ball with little force right to Bernd Leno chosen side of goal, making that three penalties he’s missed this year. I couldn’t help lash out at the fact that a competent striker with clout at the club was on the field, Christian Pulisic who I’m sure would happily take over those duties. He’s earned that artificial goal boost that penalties provide and as the number 10 should at least be considered even though he’s yet to attempt a penalty in his career. With that save, the game was over despite five stoppage time minutes; Chelsea likely wouldn’t have made a difference even with a successful conversion, but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt. Chelsea play a tough Aston Villa team, less than 48 hours after this game ended so I’m not exactly optimistic about their chances, especially given Villa’s form this season. It’s just a tough stretch and despite Frank Lampard’s pleas for five subs like the other major leagues, they’re just going to have to stick this out, find some meddle, take their lumps and grow as a team with the scars of this season.
Bo's Gamut 