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Chelsea FC At The Emirates: 4 Post-Match Musings

By Ejoh Celestine

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 24: Captains Theo Walcott of Arsenal and John Terry of Chelsea with the match officials before the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on January 24, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 24: Captains Theo Walcott of Arsenal and John Terry of Chelsea with the match officials before the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on January 24, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 24: Cesc Fabregas of Chelsea talks to Nemanja Matic of Chelsea during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on January 24, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 24: Cesc Fabregas of Chelsea talks to Nemanja Matic of Chelsea during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on January 24, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images) /

1. Sluggish Central Midfield

For the second consecutive league game, Guus Hiddink chose the central midfield combination of John Mikel, Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas. And again all three failed to dominate Arsenal’s midfield trio of Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini. They should have posed less threat than Everton’s equivalent, especially after Mertesacker’s dismissal, but the Gunners always looked more likely to score.

Mikel, Matic and Fabregas are not known for their energetic pressing of the ball and Hiddink has shown a preference for Mikel as he has the positional discipline and ability to keep possession under pressure. But only Fabregas has the flair and creativity to unlock defences, while none of the trio has the stamina to bomb up and down the pitch on a regular basis.

Which begs the question…what exactly was Matic’s role in the game? Apart fom the initial cross that led to the first goal, he offered next to nothing either defensively or going forward. The Serbian was by-passed time and again by the agile Joel Campbell, and even lost possession in Chelsea’s half on two occasions.

Costa and Loic Remy were caught offside four times apiece and while many may claim that they failed to time their runs accurately, the actual fact was that neither of the central midfield trio were proactive enough to spot the runs of both strikers on time. This situation forced Costa to publicly display his frustration. In fact, only Willian was able to take advantage of the Spaniard’s well-timed run off the shoulder of Mertesacker which led to the sending off.

While Oscar’s anonymous showing did not help matters, Hiddink’s decision to field three almost similar players in central midfield was a really poor decision, especially when the more agile Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ramires were both languishing on the bench. To put it into perspective, Mathieu Flamini had three of Arsenal’s best chances in the game but failed to find the net with any of them.

Next: 2. Responsibility

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