We had the personnel, the skill and tactics to cope with Chelsea, we did it for most of the game, the only time we didn’t, made the difference. The other commonalities were present, important players missing, dodgy refereeing decisions

I want to look at the positives first, despite the massive disappointment, of losing to Chelsea. The football pundits on the ESPN panel claimed it was “boys” against “men”. Jack Wilshere, all of 18 years, gave a lion hearted performance in midfield. If this sort of performance could be extracted week in, week out, our rivals should shudder at the prospect of such “boys” turning into “men” eventually. He has made the most of first team opportunities available to him, grabbing them with both hands.

Diaby playing behind the lone striker was a revelation. This was a novelty in the sense that it gave the Chelsea midfield/defence something to think out. This almost paid dividends, almost. However that meant Nasri was shifted to out right, away from the centre of the pitch, the position he should be playing when Fab4 is out of action. Lukasz Fabianski was tremendous in goal. Almost all crosses from the corners were collected, except for once when Michael Essien had a free header, which went wide. The defending on the corners also was magnificient. He can hardly be blamed for the two goals, the first a freakish freakish effort with oodles of good luck and the second, a swerving missile, as I would call it.

Had the chances that came Arsenal’s way been taken, the scoreline would have been different, same with the chances that came Chelsea’s way. We have the benefit of hindsight, as opposed to that of the manager and hence can comment to death. Notwithstanding the same, a flexible approach in terms of our playing might have at least ensured we got something at the bridge.

With our full backs pushing forward to fire crosses into the box, it was clear that Chelsea would try to catch us on the counter, especially on the flanks. A clear pattern had emerged with Ramires and Cole, doubling up on Bacary Sagna. One cannot help wonder what has suddenly become of Song. Either he considers himself an auxiliary striker or is being asked to push forward. Come on for God’s sake, he is a defensive midfielder. We cannot expect Song to adapt, to this threat, however, our Manager could have, by sending a clear message to Song, just to sit in front of the back four, or back two, I should say. Speed is not his forte and if the ball gets robbed in the midfield or final third, Song is horribly out of position and our defence is left exposed.

Passing play, trying to find the eye of the needle, is not effective against teams that do not afford time and space on the ball, the likes of Chelsea, ManU, Liverpool etc. It allows the opposition to regroup, get numbers behind the ball. One pass too many and the chance to even test the keeper is gone. I have stated earlier and state again, three points off your direct rivals is magnificient, a draw against them is equally great.

We had the personnel, the skill and tactics to cope with Chelsea, we did it for most of the game, the only time we didn’t, made the difference. The other commonalities were present, important players missing, dodgy refereeing decisions, lack of finishing ability and rotten luck.

I will not dwell any more on “coulda, woulda, shoulda”…….on the part of Arsenal manager and their players. They get paid well enough money to lose sleep on what needs to and should be done, all in the Arsenal way…….

My folks, who don’t follow football, as much as I do, could sense my disappointment and were in a consolatory mood. At the end, I couldn’t but help think, its got to turn around sometime for us ardent Arsenal fans, for better…….. That’s the least we can expect, till such time,

Cheers.