In a top of the table clash, Arsenal welcome Jose Mourinho's
Chelsea in a clash that will determine the side heading the league table on
Christmas day.
Liverpool attained top
spot in the Barclays Premier League with a 3-1 home win over Cardiff City, in
the process sending Arsene Wenger's men third in the table. With Manchester
City also gaining three points away at Fulham, both sides will attempt to get back
in the mix with wins for themselves.
Chelsea have been
inconsistent in the league to say the least, with a rather unreliable defense
to be blamed apart from the goal scoring problem. They have tried various
combinations in defense, with Gary Cahill, John Terry the preferred pair at the
heart of their back line. Having been unable to entirely depend on the two
experienced defenders, Mourinho has been unable to build up play from the back
as his teams usually do. Ashley Cole has been out of the side in recent weeks
with injury and then being frozen out by his manager for Spaniard Cesar
Azpilicueta who he now considers the number one left back at the club.
Their midfield looks the
saving grace for games although no best combinations are yet finalized. Andre
Schurrle, Eden Hazard, Willian and Oscar look to be front runners to claim
starting spots tomorrow with Juan Mata, a substantial contributor to their potency
used sparingly.
The intricate passing in
between the lines has continued with insistence on fellow midfielders making
those runs which eventually freezes out the lone striker, forcing them out of
goal scoring positions to participate to make play rather than finish of
chances which should be the case ideally. The situation was nicely put across
by former manager Carlo Ancelotti's statement in which he mentioned that the
London side are more or less plying a "false 9" with no early balls released
to players like Torres who need to use their pace and trickery to bamboozle
defenders.
Although going by
Mourinho's experiments with 4-4-2 when needing goals, playing Oscar or Mata as
creative central midfielder who would try to release strikers early so that
they get the ball facing the net and not their own half hasn't yet been
considered.
| Samuel Eto'o, Fernando Torres and Demba Ba have just managed a combined total of 5 league goals |
Their three recognized
strikers, Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto'o have managed to
bag a combined 5 goals in the league this term with the tactics of pool of
attacking talent in midfield not really helping their cause. Sending out Romelu
Lukaku on loan now doesn't seem like a great decision and Mourinho surely has a
lot to ponder on with the transfer window coming up. His crucial decisions have
not gone in his favor, another major one being freezing out Mata, and probably
going into the hectic Christmas period, being in the title chasing mix is
enough at this given point in time.
It is perhaps obvious
that the team needs a consistent source of goals, either from midfield or from
the forwards, and no solution to resolve this problem will leave their
Portuguese manager not so special any more. A younger player with no
expectations could perhaps do the trick with Islam Feruz an obvious mention in
this category. The U-21 player finished as top scorer of the NextGen Series
with goals against Barcelona, Juventus and Arsenal and could be given a few
minutes to see whether he can be a future first team player at the club.
Arsenal, on the other
hand have been impressive in their bid to land the title for the first time
since 2004. A consistent midfield made up of Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini
has been the backbone of their title charge alongside their central defensive
partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. But with the French
defender now injured, there could be questions about their stability at the
back as his replacement; Belgian Thomas Vermaelen has been an inconsistent
figure at The Emirates this season.
Apart from that though,
the only fears Arsene Wenger should have about his squad are of tiredness since
he has been playing and depending on a small set of players for all
competitions. Add to that their lack of depth in the attacking department where
they only have Oliver Giroud as a striker they can truly depend on. Nicklas
Bendtner has been given opportunities at times, but the Dane is nowhere near a
level he should be.
The Gunners, though will have the expressive Jack Wilshere out due to suspension which the Premier League have handed him for an offensive gesture at Manchester City fans last time out. The Englishman has been a regular on the left of the midfield and although that is not his ideal position, his consistency has been admirable. |
Wenger’s side will
welcome back Lukas Podolski after a long time out due to injury and the German
will be a much needed variation with capabilities of playing both as a striker
and a winger.
They have been reliant
overly on Giroud, and that needs to be changed considering he won’t be able to
play each game over the hectic festive period. Podolski coming into the side at
such timing is ideal, as he could very well form a partner or a back up for
Giroud up front. Theo Walcott, who returned from injury last week against
Manchester City will also inject much needed pace and agility down their wings
with Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil options to play in the hole behind the
striker.
Whoever makes the grade
for the starting XI though, Wenger will surely be hoping for a big performance
from his players at home against a side that has fared consistently better than
them in such fixtures. This time though, the stakes are much higher as going
into end of December, this is probably the first time in many years that
Arsenal are serious contenders for the Premier League trophy.
Written by,
Aman Arora
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