London is red this weekend and Arsenal are in red-hot form. The Gunners absolutely battered Chelsea from the word go and did not let them anywhere close to their goal.
A sold-out crowd at the Emirates was expecting an exciting match, little did they know that it would well turn out to be one of their team's best matches in recent times. From defending to attacking, Arsenal were dominating everywhere and Chelsea, well, let's just say there is no proper word that can describe their performance.
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It's almost 9 years since Arsenal defeated Chelsea in the Premier League and kept a clean sheet in the same match. The last time it happened, William Gallas scored in a 1-0 win for Arsenal at the Emirates on December 16th, 2007!
Here are 5 talking points from the game:
#1 - (About) Time to drop Matic and Ivanovic
Many of you might point your finger straight at Gary Cahill and say he's the one who has to be dropped first but the problem is that both Terry and Zouma are currently injured. Once those two are back, then Cahill might get the axe but dropping Matic and Ivanovic is the 'top priority' now!
The Serbians' have been terrible for Chelsea for more than a year now and it's time they got benched sent to the reserves. When Matic came back and started alongside Fabregas, Chelsea fans might have thought that they have got the partnership they were looking for! But after ONE good season, Matic has been making more mistakes in a match than passes. The same applies to the right-back, Ivanovic as well. It's quite shocking that the full-back has been constantly playing despite being in a very very poor run of form since the start of last season. What's more shocking is that Chelsea offered him a new contract extension before handing one to their club captain, leader, legend, John Terry!
With Marcos Alonso and Pedro in the team, it would ideal to replace the Serbian duo with this enthusiastic pair. They showed more passion and urgency to score than the Serbians did in the entire match!
#2 - Arsenal finally have solid defense
One thing that Arsenal missed ever since the invincibles season is a rock solid defense. We have seen many defenders come and go at the Emirates but the back four now seem to be the best group they have had.
Not going to compare Mustafi and Koscielny's partnership to any legendary paid nor am I going to say that this pair will be legendary soon but Wenger seems to have found one of the best defensive partnership in England right now.
And with Bellerin and Monreal on flanks, there is absolutely no way an opposition winger is going to find it easy to cut in from the wings. Bellerin's speed alone is enough to help Arsenal from conceding a few goals. We saw that clearly today when Pedro and Diego Costa were on a break and the young Spaniard ran from behind at full speed to clear the ball.
#3 - Antonio Conte needs time
Time. That's something managers never get at Chelsea. the maximum a manager has stayed at Chelsea in the Roman era is 2.5 years - not a single manager has stayed more than that!
This side is clearly not the side Conte wants to manage. Cahill, Ivanovic, Matic and even Willian aren't the type of players that suit the formation or the style of play Conte likes to play. He needs to be backed in the transfer window and needs to be given at least 2 years to build his own team.
Conte is highly likely to sign a striker and a midfielder in the next transfer window and we might just see a squad reshuffle next summer. Ivanovic and Terry have their contracts expiring at the end of this season along with John Obi Mikel. All three are expected to depart the club and Conte would surely want to sign their replacements.
Conte is not someone who would push out the old guard like Andre Villas-Boas nor is he someone who would stick around with them like Roberto di Matteo. Conte might end up keeping John Terry at the club beyond this season but I surely can't see the other 2 staying.
#4 - Give Sanchez what he wants!
Alexis Sanchez and Arsenal are in talks about a contra to renewal but rumours suggest that the player is demanding a lot more money that want the club are willing to offer him.
The Chilean alone was enough to dismantle the Chelsea defense on Saturday as he kept running circles around David Luiz and Gary Cahill who had no clue what to do with him. He was also ways right on their toes rather than them being with him all the time. The first and the third goal is the best example of this.
Ozil and Sanchez have been working very well together ever since they started playing together for the Gunners and have bene reviving that partnership again this season. Any club in the world right now would be willing to sign Sanchez and if Arsenal doesn't give him what he wants, they might just lose yet another prized asset of theirs. Manchester City are already said to be readying a bid to sign Alexis Sanchez in Janaury!
#5 - The new look Chelsea
One thing that many might have missed in this match is the new formation played out by Conte in the 2nd half. When he brought on Marcos Alonso for Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea started playing with a 3-5-2 formation rather than the 4-1-4-1 they have been playing with so far.
David Luiz, Gary Cahill, and Branislav Ivanovic were the center backs while Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso played as the wing backs. The Spanish defender moved to the right wing from the left back position and Marcos Alonso took charge of the left flank from Eden Hazard who moved to the top to play along side, Diego Costa. Willian, Matic, and Kante occupied the middle.
With 3-5-2 being Conte's favourite formation since his Juventus days, it's very likely that we will be seeing the same at Chelsea from now on. Ivanovic, who played on te right side of the 3 man defense might be replaced by Kurt Zouma while Eden Hazard might occupy the position played by Willian with Batshuayi, who comes in for Matic, playing up front with Costa.
