It's been a mixed week so far for Arsenal fans. but with the potential to become a bad one. I can't envisage that any Arsenal fan is truly looking forward to this afternoon, with all its potential for embarrassment and disaster. But back to that shortly.
Let's start with Tottenham; a shabby performance and a disappointing result. They're really not very good; one can see what their new manager is trying to do with them, but their forward players have neither the work-rate to do the job he requires, nor the speed to hit on the break. In essence, they were gifted a goal due to a combination of some undue faffing about at the back (which we have seen before) and lack of ball-control and awareness from Flamini. From then on, one always suspected that pressure would lead to an equaliser - or more - but there was something distinctly uncoordinated about the way they set about things and a victory would have come about more by luck than judgement; disappointing, as they were there for the taking.
On to Galatasary; well, they weren't very good, were they? And deploying their best player - Wesley Schneider - in a deep-lying role negated much of his effectiveness. So whilst I am not going to knock the Welbeck hat-trick, nor the Sanchez goal which was set up by a pass of exquisite genius by Ozil, we should probably factor the quality of the opposition into any euphoria over the result. A good day at the office, which will hopefully bump up confidence for the task ahead.
Because - mark my words - Chelsea are as good as they come at the moment. Whilst their defensive organisation needs a little bit of work - and their manager will get to the bottom of that - going forward they look devastating. The additions of Fabregas (grrr...) and Costa have made a massive difference to a side that wasn't too shabby in any case. They addressed the issues they had early in the transfer window, and have looked comfortably the best side in the Premier League this season (amusing Lampard equaliser notwithstanding).
And this is a team which 'literally' (thanks, Jamie Redknapp) destroyed Arsenal at Stamford Bridge last season. Forget the case of mistaken identity - it was already 2-0 - because they tore Arsenal to shreds from the start. And if Wenger doesn't alter his tactics this afternoon, they may well - with Cesc pulling the strings and with a devastating centre-forward - do the same again.
So what to do, Arsene? Make things as difficult as possible for them, and use the pace our forward players possess to look to hit them on the break. Sit back, and invite them on. Well, that's what I'd do, because the current 'tactics' - allowing both full backs to go forward at the same time without the requisite cover - will be a recipe for suicide as I can see Mourinho looking to do exactly as he did last year and exploit the space they leave behind. Let's give him a problem, and see if he can sort it out.
So please, Arsene, don't ruin our week. Adapt to the threat you face. There's enough pace in the side to do them damage, so let's give ourselves a chance.
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