Written by Zee Ko on Tuesday, February 9, 2010

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
07 Feb	4:00 PM	P	Chelsea (A)	0	2	Lost

I made a decision yesterday, barely an hour after the match at Stamford Bridge, to forgo analysing the proceedings and instead try to reason with those of you who have seemingly become a bloodthirsty mob intent on savaging everything that represents the club these days. Everything except the Arsenal label that is. I may have underestimated the extent of the bloodlust or overestimated my ability to make some sense of it all.

But here's the bare bones of what really was wrong with the Arsenal team yesterday. What Arsène Wenger said was true to a certain extent, the Arsenal team on the pitch certainly weren't as bad as the one that faced Manchester United, but the end result - a loss - was still the same. Didier Drogba once again showed why he loves playing against Arsenal with his twelfth goal in twelve games against our team. The defence's inability to adequately deal with the brutish Ivorian is but a piece of the conundrum that Arsenal are faced with when going up against the Blues.

The scenario is all too familiar. A line of red and white shirts play the ball diagonally across the pitch and back again, biding time before a rapier quick thrust through the centre, a quick ball to the feet of the unlikeliest of target men at the fulcrum of the Arsenal attack, be it Samir Nasri or Andrei Arshavin or Abou Diaby. Theo Walcott is of course nowhere to be seen for he has placed himself out of the action once again. All this does not bode well for his chances of turning up in South Africa come June, but of more pressing concern is the situation unfolding in the Chelsea penalty area as the Chelsea defenders track back to shut down all angles and stifle any attacking threat.

Two scenarios ensue. Against Bolton or Fulham or Wigan, a lucky deflection from a panicked defender might result in the ball squeezing through kindly for the Arsenal instigator to latch on and fire home but Lady Luck has been AWOL of late and the Chelsea defence clear their lines easily enough most of the time. One or two passes invariably get through but Petr Cech is quickly there, covering the little space the Chelsea defence have left for him and getting to the ball. The Chelsea defence don't play fancy football, but every clearance is purposeful, every man behind the ball aware of his responsibilities.

As the ball is pumped upfield invariably to Drogba or Nicholas Anelka, the Arsenal defence retreats. But the similarities end there. While the Chelsea defence does not have more men than Arsenal's, the gaps in the Arsenal half are all so apparent. It's bad enough that Drogba has the pace to go with his sheer power, but four on two in the box means nothing when he has all the time in the world to cut back inside and drive a cannonball past Manuel Almunia at his near post.

Whether Almunia has the class to actually make a save is a moot point. When you concede height to the opposition attack, you hope that you can make up for it with your speed. But with Drogba, that's not an issue. The Ivorian can match your central defender for pace when the ball is pumped overhead. And with Nicholas Anelka galloping forward to provide support, Arsenal's high backline is almost suicidal. Manuel Almunia has so much space to cover that Drogba can pick his spot and shoot. At the other end, when a through pass gets in, Arshavin has a split second or two to gather himself and although his shot is true, Petr Cech has narrowed the angles and saves brilliantly. The Chelsea defence plays deep and men get in behind the ball when Arsenal saunter forward. Therein lies the difference.

Lampard was quiet, and Ballack not as influential as he would have been years ago. The Arsenal midfield bossed the contest but that was as good as it got. Could we have won the contest with Robin van Persie leading the charge? Perhaps. But then again, Drogba would still have scored two sweet goals and conceding that many against class opposition is literally boxing with one hand behind your back.

Maybe it's not so much a case of whether Arsène Wenger needs to buy a new central defender, or a goalkeeper, or two new fullbacks, or a decent target man. Maybe all he needs to do, is revamp the team's tactics again. 4-3-3 might serve a purpose against lesser sides, but against Chelsea and Drogba, it's just not good enough.

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