We got exactly what we hoped for in that game with Arsenal coming out of the traps with all guns blazing and Chelsea struggling to cope. A few chances came and went before Alexandre Lacazette put us ahead and then Laurent Koscielny doubled the lead before half time. It was a very strong and disciplined performance, but of course Chelsea had their moments and some chances too like almost any opponent will have.
Overall we were far superior to them and in that first half in particular we showed the desire which had been so obviously missing against West Ham. Our home results have actually held up very well with the only defeat coming in our opening home game against City and we have deservedly won at home to both Spurs and Chelsea now. It’s very hard to reconcile those home results with our inability to win in our last five away games though and we won’t challenge for a top four place unless that away form changes.
There are too many similarities between this season and last season and none more so than in our away form. We started well away from home last season before an awful run saw us fall completely away in the chase for a top four finish. We fell back on the Europa League and hoping to quality for the Champions League by winning it, but we came up short and had to settle for a second season in a row in European football’s second tier competition.
We need to change our away form right away or this season will end up like last season and hopefully that win against Chelsea can restore some confidence on our travels even if it was a home game. We didn’t push on after the win and performance against Spurs or the impressive home draw with Liverpool, but we quite simply have to do it now. It’s not going to be easy in our next away game against City, but a win against Cardiff in our next home game is an absolute must.
The formation we used against Chelsea worked well, but the loss of Hector Bellerin to a long term injury is a real blow. We lost Rob Holding a couple of months ago just when he looked to have become the most important central defender at the club. Bellerin and Holding were the youthful pair in our defence and we will certainly lose some momentum and attacking flair on the right side with Bellerin’s absence.
Thankfully the return of Koscielny has at least helped to strengthen the centre of our defence again, but it has taken him time to come up with a performance like the one he gave on Saturday. We need more of the same from Koscielny if we’re going to improve defensively and the signs are he could be developing a good partnership with Sokratis Papastathopoulos. The problem could be replacing Bellerin with Stephan Lichsteiner the most likely candidate, but maybe Ainsley Maitland-Niles might be the best one.
Before that mideeek game against Cardiff next week we have the small matter of an FA Cup fourth round game at home to United on Friday night. They’re on a great run since they disposed of Jose Mourinho, but their defence is their weak point and a performance like the one against Chelsea will give us every chance of progressing. I can’t imagine Unai Emery will even consider playing anything other than his strongest team against United with a win surely adding to the confidence boost of the win against Chelsea.
As bad as we have been away from home recently we’re only three points off the top four with enough time to catch Chelsea and finish ahead of United too. It’s amazing what a good win and performance can do for the confidence and a week ago I could never have imagined we had a chance of finishing in the top four. Hopefully it has done just as much for the confidence of the players too and we can look forward to a strong finish to the season. I can dream can’t I.
That’s it for today.
See you tomorrow.
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