No Surprises As Arsenal Fail To Contain Lukaku

 

Arsenal 0 Chelsea 2  
Premier League  
Sunday 22nd August 4.30pm   

Was anyone really that surprised about this result? It was not so much a wake-up call as a confirmation of reality. Arsenal have gradually drifted into the second tier of clubs in the Premier League over the course of a few seasons, as a new ‘top four’ has been established – sides that tend to take the Champions League spots, with the odd aberration. Spurs and Leicester knock on the door. Arsenal are trying to get through the garden gate at present. 

In terms of yesterday – injuries, COVID and ineligibility certainly affected Arsenal more than Chelsea, added to the fact that the visitors’ squad is much deeper in terms of quality. Everyone has high hopes for Martinelli, but they are hopes for a reason – we don’t know yet. Thomas Tuchel was able to play Romelu Lukaku as his centre forward. A symbol of the gap – in this game at least. Normally, Lacazette or Aubameyang would make things slightly less uneven. So Mikel Arteta had to make do with a below par eleven and hope for the best. 

Tactically, they were too narrow in the first half – with their left flank ripe for exploitation. As Tierney got pulled towards the ball, so his side was left exposed and both goals came from that flank. Not certain if Bukayo Saka was nominally the marker for Reece James, but his England colleague was free to put the cross in for Lukaku’s opening tap-in and score the second himself.

Thomas Tuchel’s side developed a reputation for defensive stinginess after he took over from Frank Lampard, so it was never going to be an easy ask, especially given the below-strength side. This was symbolised the home team being caught offside five times, and Chelsea none - often due to Cedric not being in line. When the fixtures came out, pretty much everyone expected Arsenal to lose two of their first three matches, with the hope that Brentford could at least give them three points to build upon after the international break. As it is, the fixture after the players return – at home to Norwich, initially has the look of a relegation six pointer, with the Gunners almost certain to go into the match with no points. 

The fixture list was certainly not kind to Arsenal, but Arteta isn’t going to be sacked after three games. Ideally, there will be more players available for selection. What the manager really needs to do is get a settled eleven who can develop a greater understanding than we have seen so far this season. 

In matches against teams that are defensively organised, you have to take your chances. Rob Holding had Arsenal’s one gilt edged opportunity, putting a free header wide of the post. That was at 2-0 down, as was a challenge on Saka that, last season, might well have been given as a penalty by VAR. Arteta’s team showed spirit in flashes, more so in the second half, and enough to stop them getting too much of the bird from a nowhere near full Emirates. But Chelsea were simply better and well worth the three points.

That Arsenal were unable to sell out a Grade A fixture was down to a combination of factors
1 – Furloughing season ticket holders (there are a lot)
2 – Fears of attending such events due to the possibility of contracting the virus
3 – People on holiday
4 – The expense of the tickets
5 – The sheer hassle of getting into the stadium with all the cordons and checks
6 – The quality of the team in recent seasons
7 – People have simply got out of the habit of attending football matches
8 – The lack of football tourists, who can make up 10,000 of the crowd according to people who know about these things

Nevertheless, the worry is that the inability to sell out matches may become the norm, and should be of huge concern to the club. Members were allowed to buy up to four tickets for family and friends for this game, but the more expensive upper tier seats were notable for the many empty ones. You didn’t see too much of this on TV, which by nature focused on the cheaper lower tier seats, but it was all too evident in the stadium.

So whereas Arsenal might have had three points of their own going into the Norwich match, now they will have none. Their season starts with that September 11th fixture now. Things can only get better. However, only so much. Long term, the club need a competent organiser in the dugout and a leader on the field. In my view neither of these figures seems to be at the club right now, although I could be persuaded that giving Kieran Tierney the armband might be a step in the right direction. However, your captain needs to play in most of your matches. That seems unlikely with the number 3.

More of the same next weekend, although the possibility of some light relief in the 2nd Round of the League Cup on Wednesday evening.

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