Written by Oliver Lincoln on Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Results

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

Arsenal's run of four make or break games continued to expose the team's deficiencies as they fell to another defeat, this time 2-0 against Chelsea. However the score line doesn't tell the whole story, unlike last weekend against Manchester United, Arsenal actually played well and dominated for long periods of the game, beating Chelsea in most of the stats but the all important goals scored column.

While it does show the mental strength of the team and a certain amount of growth, to dominate for such long periods against such a powerful side as Chelsea, something still went wrong and for me, the difference between the two teams was up front and in goal. For the first time in as long as I can remember, our midfield weren't out-muscled against Chelsea and we kept possession for most of the game, away from home. But we still lost.

In my opinion, the damage was done by one man and not for the first time against Arsenal that man was Didier Drogba. Not one of our defenders can handle him and amazingly he has picked up 12 goals in 12 games against us. It shows just how big an impact a clinical striker can make to a side, put Drogba in our side and we would not only have won that game but probably a trophy or two.

I know I have made a point about this in my past few articles but I really feel we missed a trick in not spending this January window.

We created a few good chances in the Chelsea game, the Arshavin and Nasri chances to name a couple, and we didn't take any. My point would be put a natural finisher in that position and we would have scored two, I dare say, put van Persie in Arshavin's or Nasri's shoes at the weekend and we would have been much happier today.

I realise we look odds-on to sign Chamakh in the summer and this is a good move, especially given its a free transfer but the opportunity for a good run at the title was there this season and with an out and out striker I think we'd be in a better position than we're in now. That's not to say I feel we're out of the title race, nine points is a big gap but given the unpredictable nature of the league this year and our fixture list I don't think it's over.

Of course the Liverpool game is a must win but after that we've played almost all of our nearest rivals, to whom all of our losses have come to, leaving a clear run till the end of the season. While Chelsea and Manchester United still have to play each other as well as Liverpool, not to mention the same night we play the Anfield side, Chelsea and United go away to Everton and Villa, dare I hope for an instant reprieve as we beat Liverpool?

Moving on to our infamous goalkeeper, I wouldn't say he played that bad at the weekend, mainly because with the amount of possession we had, he didn't really have that much to do other than pick the ball out of the net twice and stroll across the goal as Drogba hit the bar. So I may be being overly critical when I say he should have done better with the second goal, he seemed to react so late that a save-able shot was past him before he moved.

Apparently, the commentators said, that Arsène made a move for a goalkeeper on the Monday deadline day. That throws up two questions, has Arsène lost faith in Almunia and why did he move so late in the window? What it should tell us is that the manager is aware of the sides problems and I think (maybe hope) that he will address these problems in the summer, starting with Chamakh. But while Cech made a couple of good saves, our opposite number was showing slow reactions and mis-kicking simple back passes, but maybe Arsène has recognised it's time for a change.

So while we are all a little downbeat after the weekend and I admit I have focused mainly on the negatives in this piece, there are positives to come out of this weekend. We had more possession than Chelsea, the league leaders, at their home stadium. We created chances a more prolific striker would have finished and we were not outmuscled by a Chelsea midfield that pundits claim purely overpowered us in the past. So in essence, give us van Persie back or sign another quality forward and maybe the result would have been different, let's just hope the same problems don't haunt us in the Liverpool game.

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