How lovely to finally break the 'Mourinho hoodoo', even if in an ultimately meaningless game. No points awarded; well, maybe some Brownie Points - and of course a nice trophy (the third of the pre-season). Job done.
Here are a few talking points from the match and its aftermath:
There is no love whatsoever lost between Messrs Wenger and Mourinho, and having had the opportunity to listen to some of the stuff that the shell-suited Chelsea manager has said to the media over the years about his classy counterpart in the natty suit and tie, I can understand why. Whilst I can understand Wenger's brilliant snubbing of Mourinho on Sunday, part of me asks why he had to stoop to his level and thereby fall victim to possible criticism.
For those who haven't seen it, this is the incident:
and this explains why they're not on each others' Christmas card lists:
We all know precisely why Mourinho stood at the bottom of the steps afterwards. Because if he makes it all about him, it distracts the media from looking at his players' performances; some of which were rather disappointing. And then of course there was his criticism of Arsenal in his post-match interviews; claiming that 'they left their philosophy in the dressing room'. Frankly, I think that Arsenal can take that as some sort of compliment - they 'out-Chelsead' Chelsea. And, frankly, why not?
So what of the match itself? There is little doubt that Arsenal are a little further down the preparation line than Chelsea, and that certainly showed early on. As the match wore on, it became clear that there is currently little between the sides; but there is still a month to go until the Transfer Window closes, and it's a long season. Some may accuse me of bias (heaven forbid!), but I believe that Arsenal looked a match for Chelsea, and pretty devastating on the break. Plenty of improvement to come from both sides, I would say. Costa and Alexis to return, for starters.
For Chelsea, the left-back looks a relatively weak link, Ramires remains a thoroughly unpleasant character, and Fabregas and Hazard were both disappointing. Up front, they looked pretty toothless in the absence of Costa; Remy clearly doesn't understand the offside rule and Falcao (as I mentioned in my last post) appears a shadow of his former self - although to give him credit he was making some good runs in the second half). For me, their stand-out player on Sunday was Willian.
As for Arsenal, it was interesting to note the shape and make-up of the side, and I think that it's likely that with so much attacking talent at his disposal Wenger may finally start to pick his teams with the opposition in mind. On Sunday, for example, he asked Ramsey to start in central midfield instead of Cazorla, as it gave a better match-up with Matic and Ramires. He selected Bellerin over Debuchy; perhaps for his pace up against Hazard. He chose Walcott over Giroud in order to exploit a perceived lack of pace in the heart of Chelsea's defence (although ultimately Giroud's hold-up and link-up play will generally prove more beneficial). And he put The Ox in the side; something we may see a lot more of this season. I've got high hopes for The Ox.
Defensively, things looked pretty solid; continuing on from the second half of last season. The shield from Le Coq was pretty solid, all 4 defenders had solid games, and the goalkeeper made one tremendous save from an Oscar free kick at a crucial time. I think that what he does do is give the players in front of him - and us supporters - real confidence. And as a reward for that performance, I am delighted to paste this lovely photo of him :-)
On the whole, it didn't feel too much like a Friendly, and that is as it should be between the two sides that I expect to be battling it out for the title this season. That's hardly an original thought, I grant you. The bookies slashed half a point off of Arsenal's price - 4/1 from 9/2 - and that's probably a reasonable thing to do. Although I reckon 6/1 would be a fairer price; Chelsea have 'been there and done that', after all.
So on we go to the big kick-off next weekend. Arsenal can ill-afford to start slowly, as they did last season. I'm looking forward to a titanic battle for the Premier League; hopefully with the man in the suit coming out smiling in May.
Until next week...
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