5 things we learned from the London Derby

The London Derby yesterday between Arsenal and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was an exciting contest to say the least. The contest was a typical example of how the game is divided over two halves, with Chelsea dominating the first 45 minutes and Arsenal bouncing back, although ineptly, over the following 45. The weather, however, was a complete antithesis of the game, with snow and sleet falling fast and heavy. Here are five things we learned from Chelsea’s double over their North London rivals.

1. Arsenal start slow

Anyone who saw the match right from the start could not have missed seeing a laborious Arsenal who were slow in their movement around the pitch. Of course, Chelsea outplayed them in most departments, but Arsenal were finding it extremely hard to come out of the gates and play their natural passing game. Instead, the Gunners were chasing shadows or getting trampled for the first half. A couple of those occasions saw goals slip through, which lead to a furious Wenger mouthing off. Post the break, and probably after a smacking hair dryer treatment, Arsenal finally woke up to the occasion, before eventually folding up with no points from the Bridge.

2. The Creative Department

Post Mikael Arteta’s injury break, Couqelin was certainly not the ideal replacement, even though he did step up to the occasion fairly. The creative department was seriously lacking with only Santi Cazorla holding up the other loose end. Chelsea, on the other hand, were loaded with Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar pumping ball after ball through the Arsenal defense. Even the wings were overpowered after Ashley Cole decided to stroll past the Arsenal wingers. Arsenal also saw Giroud miss a half-chance early, which may have woken them up a wee bit earlier. Either way, Arsenal were mostly on the receiving end, and Chelsea overpowered the midfield with their slick passes which were once the Gunners’ forte.

3. Final Third

Starting with a lone striker probably made sense for both Wenger and Interim manager Benitez, and on came Olivier Giroud and Fernando Torres respectively. Giroud was guilty of wasting a few early on and wasn’t quick enough to ensure the ball stayed at his feet. Torres was exactly the lump of coal he has seemed to be of late, maybe getting one decent touch in either half. Moreover, wingers like Ramires and Walcott were doing most of the work, if you do not count Thomas Vermaelen that is. The Arsenal back line was getting pummelled continuously before they could turn the table later on. Walcott’s beautiful finish allowed for a little more fluency and audacity, which afforded them the space to move forward. A save by Cech from a Mertesacker jab looked like the highlight for quite some time.

4. New Signings

A thorn in Wenger’s side, the lack of signings has hurt him badly. Additionally, resources like Chamakh and Djourou have been allowed to wander off, without decent replacements. Now that Arteta has been sidelined, signings are nothing short of imperative, urgent even.

Benitez, on the other hand, has let go of Daniel Sturridge, who has already found his feet at Liverpool and scored a couple. He has also added Demba Ba, the sensation for Newcastle who made sure that everyone knew that ‘Chelsea was Chelsea.’ His attempt on goal notwithstanding, Ba adds teeth to an attack which Arsenal struggled with for most of the game.

5. Hairstyles

Absolutely no one missed Fernando Torres’ new haircut which made him shed his almost golden locks. Now drawing parallels with Samson is a stretch, given Torres has been ineffective either way. Another spectacle was Andrei Arshavin, who reminded us that he has been away for so long. His flowing pixie hair did nothing to help his game, when he shamelessly passed to Chelsea defenders right in the middle of a promising move.

In a nutshell, not a game of legends, and certainly not one the red side of London would want to remember. There is no doubt there is only one Arsenal, but the boys in Blue probably didn’t even break in to a sweat for the first hour at least, with no credit to the weather.