Chelsea vs Arsenal: Three lessons learnt in another pathetic outing

This is a very weird feeling that I have not had in a long time. I am used to praising our players ever since Thomas Tuchel has arrived, but Wednesday against Arsenal, they let us all down. The gift that keeps on giving should be slogan for a match between Chelsea and Arsenal because, for how bad the Gunners are, they have found a way too beat the Blues twice this season. They also robbed Frank Lampard and his squad of an FA Cup last season.

These are the type of games when the worst team wins and despite all of that, the only “person” to blame is the team on the pitch that didn’t do enough to get a win. I would rather Chelsea lose to a side that deserves it as opposed a side that doesn’t. They both hurt, but closure is at least there from the former. As for the result, the game ended 1-0 in favor of Arsenal after Jorginho sent a horrendous back pass to Kepa Arrizabalaga that he narrowly pushed off line, but into the path Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who laid it on a platter for Emile Smith Rowe to hit it into a open net. Three points dropped and a performance that this team may look back on at the end of season with no big deal, or may rue it if a bounce back doesn’t happen.

Here are three lessons learnt from the match:

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1. Finishing must improve

Picture this: it’s the 11′ and Kai Havertz is on his own against the goalkeeper. What do you think the outcome would be? If you guess he scored, you would be wrong. Those situations have happened not only in this game, but for the entire season, and has cost the team points. It’s getting beyond ridiculous that 19 shots were taken for Chelsea this game and Arsenal had two on target, yet it won and the Blues lost. Several penalty shouts, goals being ruled offside and hitting the crossbar multiple times, yet for 96+ minutes, Chelsea—who had close to 70 percent possession—couldn’t score a goal. These issues get brushed over when you are winning, but when you lose and don’t score a goal, they become very apparent.

The Blues’ defense has allowed this team to win games when not scoring many goals, but what happens when you go behind, we saw two completely different games this past week. Against Man City, the team fought back in the last minute. However, on Wednesday, the fight wasn’t enough to get over the line.

2. This could be a defining game in the season

I may be overreacting because of how infuriated I am after this result, but these games really show the character of a side. We saw a bounce-back after the debacle against West Brom, but Wednesday was different because Chelsea wasn’t the worst team on the pitch. When you lose a game you don’t deserve to, it can be as demoralizing as any and when a cup final awaits only three days later. You need a quick bounce-back to assure it doesn’t happen again when trophies are at stake both on Saturday and on May 29.

I have full confidence that Thomas Tuchel will be pushing that message to his players and with two Premier League games left that are must wins, hopefully the players get the message.

3. Charity FC strikes again 

This may not be a lesson, but just a statement that I have to get off my chest. First, Jorginho clearly hasn’t got the memo that Arrizabalaga is prone to being off his line on many occasions. Further, the midfielder finds it necessary to pass it back to the keeper without realizing that. I’ve been talking about Jorghino being a liability when under pressure for a while and that performance today from him today was schoolboy, unacceptable and would have been subbed off if there was actually a replacement on the bench. Now onto Arsenal, who showed up and received its annual donation by yours truly, Chelsea. It’s becoming an annoying occurrence as of late that Arsenal will show up in its most down moment, yet the Blues don’t capitalize on that. Rather, Chelsea makes this team look better than it is. The Blues give the Gunners’ fraudulent manager reprieve, offer their fans hope and give them bragging rights that they will hold over Chelsea, regardless of how bad Arsenal actually is.

If there is one team that you don’t want to be your bogey team, it’s the team they you are directly competing with to be the known as the best team in London. Hopefully this is just the case for this season because I don’t think I can handle another loss to Arsenal. To sum it up, putting this firmly behind us and winning both FA Cup and Champions League will a be great remedy for such a disastrous result. Hopefully it becomes a reality.

What lessons did you learn from this game? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!