Phew! Water under the Bridge

The game was a celebration of relief for most of us! It has really been a while since we scored five against any side (No Arsene, Blackburn game won’t count!). But scoring five goals in an away game at Stamford Bridge really showed off the roller coaster we have been through! I dare say each Arsenal fan must have celebrated in a way he/ she had not in a long time, when the fifth goal went in. How long have we waited for this! Finally, it arrived and it was sweet!

The omens before the game were bright to say the least! Having Drogba suspended for the game was as good a turn of fortune we have had this season. I don’t care what people say about Drogba. Too much of a bogeyman for us! He can be 40 and limping on one leg but if I do not see his name in the starting line-up, the odds in my mind tilt in Arsenal’s favour.  Briefly, I was also hoping that both Cashley and Bosingwa were suspended for our game as well. How wrong I was! Not because I forgot that the Mickey Mouse cup would take care of their suspension! But because I underestimated the stellar role both of them would play in our victory.

 The one thing that is extremely positive about this team this year is the efficiency in putting away chances. I do not have the stats, but I am pretty sure our goals to shots ratio is higher this year. It has been greatly due to the lethal form of Van Persie, but also due to the impact of Gervinho. He has made our game much more direct by running at defenders. He can be frustrating at times, but I don’t think he can be ever faulted for not trying. Walcott had a great game against Chelsea, yet again. Ramsey was controlled in possession and grew as the game went on. Might be knit-picking, might be great expectations, but Arteta has not yet lit up the match with his game. Yet he is playing like an experienced professional with good defensive positioning (copyright- David Moyes) and doing a 6.5/10 performance game after game. I worry that he does not look like he is going to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and coast us to victory.

Our defending in the game, barring the goals was quite good. Per was at fault at both the first half goals. The defending in the second corner was as bad as I have ever seen Arsenal. Nobody marking Terry? And the latter did not even have to head the ball to score. I hope the prize of victory does not paper over our cracks of defending in set pieces. Koscielny was immense yet again and made Torres look like a Chamakh with pace. Torres hardly had a shot on goal through the game and his AWOL meant Chelsea did not create enough after the first 15 minutes. Our full backs look extremely scary to say the least. Santos might have scored a goal, but his defending was putting the fear of devil in me. Firstly, he jumps into a challenge whenever he is one-on-one with a player. Also, he does not have the recovery pace of Clichy to bail him out. He clearly needs time to adapt to the EPL and Arsenal’s high defensive line. With the injury record of Gibbs, it might not be stupidest thing to play Vermaelen at left back. Through the entire game, Djourou could not be accused of anything akin to defending. Thankfully, the oldies ran out of steam and did not expose him enough. I shudder to think what would happen if we have David Silva making runs behind him. That he was replaced in a like-for-like switch with a 19 year old who has only played in the conference tells all there is to know about his performance. Djourou might be the only reason Vermaelen may not play left back. Since we may have to ship poor old Koscielny to do a jobat right back. Personally, though, it seems unfair to move our in-form centre back to a new position.

I thought I would round it off with Petr Cech. There was a time we spoke of him in the same breath as Buffon and Casillas. After the head injury, he seemed atleast like a Friedel or a Shay Given. But, his performance on Saturday was right out of the class of Almunia. Three goals at his near post. Barring Walcott’s goal, the other two should have been saved by a world class goalkeeper. I would have been disappointed if Szescesny did not save those. The Chelsea team looked really ordinary barring Mata and Cashley. Torres might have had an off day, so I can count three world class players in the Chelsea line up. They have been stringing results on the basis of sheer experience and nothing else. It might be too bold a statement at this time of the season, but I think Chelsea might be the team to slip out of the top 4 this season.