In what some dubbed as a must win game, Unai Emery's men started strong with a blistering pace to the press, penning Chelsea back from the off. Excellently applied pressure, starting with Lacazette and Aubameyang, followed by Aaron Ramsey and the midfield trio in behind, eventually led to a run of play where the Gunners were camped deep in Chelsea's half. Having seen Aubameyang miss the ball from six yards inside three minutes, the chances continued to come. Skipper Koscielny should have also scored fairly early on with a close range header forcing a instinctive save from Arrizabalaga. But not being deterred, Arsenal continued to push and continued to create space and put balls in dangerous areas, and not to be out done by the others being involved, Lacazette brought down a ball close to his feet in a crowded box around three defenders before a quick touch and another near post rocket into the roof of the net. Nothing the keeper could do and Arsenal had a deserved one nil lead. The first half continued in Arsenal's favour but as good as the North Londoners were, Chelsea's first forty-five was woeful. A silly foul lead to one ball in the box, followed by some good possession upon Chelsea's clearance, and eventually Sokratis shin volleyed a hopeful looking cross back into the mixer and Laurent Koscielny made amends by shouldering home our second of the day. An awful connection meant the ball looped into the far post and the Emirates was on its feet again.
A performance reminiscent of the 4-2 home win against Spurs a while back, Arsenal's organisation, fighting spirit, desire and application thoroughly outperformed that of the opposition, and then some. Two nil and cruising really, Arsenal managed the game expertly well throughout the second half, and knowing what a vital three points it would be certainly helped. Guendouzi alongside Xhaka and Torreira in midfield all had good games, at times the front two of Laca and Auba with Ramsey in behind were unplayable. Lacazette's link up play and unselfish running definitely deserves a mention and Emery did well again with his substitutions as he looked to tighten it up. An awful looking knee injury to Hector Bellerin certainly tainted the evening's celebrations and even then Maitland-Niles moved from midfield to RB to cover. Having entered the fray alongside Iwobi, the two academy boys did exactly what was required, as did Mo Elneny who replaced the stricken Bellerin. Chelsea left it far too late to introduce former Gunner Olivier Giroud who deservedly got a great reception from the home ground. The change did free up the dangerman Hazard a little more, who had a pretty bad day at the office in the false nine role up until then. With an aerial target to now aim at, Chelsea created and sustained some good pressure later on in the half but Man of the Match Koscielny and his defense with the support of Leno behind, keep a clean sheet, finally. A great game to watch and clearly another great atmosphere inside the Emirates cheered the Arsenal on.
Ratings and Talking Points
Unai Emery: 9
Many would have questioned the starting XI, myself included, but the clear pre-game planning, in game organisation and management, and actual application showed through as Arsenal were fantastic. Backed by Emery's decisions on the XI itself plus the second half changes, it was pretty spot on. The change back to four in defence was the right decision and on the day, with a week's worth of work on the training ground, a diamond in midfield was exactly what was required. The press triggered by Ramsey in the ten began to fail so miserably earlier on in the season but with a few tweaks and two out-and-out strikers starting the press and in fine form, things couldn't have been better. Emery changed things mid-second half and replaced the tired looking Ramsey and the excellent Lacazette in an attempt to tighten up the midfield, with Iwobi and Maintland-Niles. This also worked well. A bit more energy and certainly more pace in these two, they both settled well and gave their Head Coach exactly what he wanted; again, application was spot on. The Elneny change later on for the injured Bellerin was also the right call, albeit pretty obvious in moving Maitland-Niles to right full back.
Another area that maybe surprised some was Kolasinac at left back in a four. He's showing more and more each game how great he can be going forward but in defensive areas and tough situations, he can be found wanting. Many would have thought Emery would have reintroduced the reliable Nacho Monreal to combat Chelsea's dominant left side. However, the faith he showed in Kolasinac was rewarded with a fine performance from the Bosnian who looked relatively comfortable throughout the game. Willian was eventually replaced after being bang average and young Hudson-Odoi made little impact either, highlighting Kolasinac's good performance even more so.
Bernd Leno: 7
Hector Bellerin: 7.5
Sokratis: 8.5
Laurent Koscielny: 9.5
Sead Kolasinac: 8
Granit Xhaka: 8
Lucas Torreira: 8.5
Matteo Guendouzi: 8
Aaron Ramsey: 8
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 7
Alex Lacazette: 9
Subs
Alex Iwobi: 6
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 6.5
Mohamed Elneny: 5
Back Four The Way To Go?
Although a back three has its benefits, Arsenal (especially at home) look much more assured with a defensive unit of four. The midfield is a key part of the pitch so its better to populate this area with more bodies, rather than in defence. Three does allow for a different shape going forward, and potentially more attack minded players involved from the off but our big wins now under Emery have all been with a back four. Torreira brings everything you need to shield two centre backs and in yesterday's diamond, one of Xhaka or Guendouzi was often as deep as the little Uruguayan anyway. The two up top may have came as a surprise but boy did they both deliver, and with the press that was deployed yesterday, a back four was the perfect remedy and it was far easier for four defenders to sit higher up the pitch. Full backs are often skeptical in the four especially Kolasinac but everything was just right against Chelsea. The lack of a real centre forward in their ranks really played into Koscielny and Sokratis' hands which lead to a pretty comfortable day out really.
Two Upfront is a Definite Option
The diamond in midfield meant that an orthodox two up top was the order of the day and both Lacazette and Aubameyang executed their different roles expertly. Lacazette, a true number nine is so good at dropping off, being a target and bringing others into play. Whilst his finishing is also up there with the best, as is his unselfish running, the speed at which he executes movement isn't quite as good as the lightning quick Aubameyang. Also a great finishers, Auba uses his speed so well which also enables him to start the press for his team mates behind. Their combination should be feared throughout the league...there is no other duo like it. Liverpool and City have trios but their make up is very different. Emery and Arsenal need to utilise both as a partnership in order to score more goals and pick up more points. A clean sheet is very welcome and a run of them would be even better but to win games, you need goals. Having both in from the start means that if one's off, the other is there to pick up the slack. But when they are both on, they're almost unplayable as yesterday proved.
@craigbennett10
Comments
Post a Comment