Arsène Wenger
senses now is the
time to defeat José
Mourinho's
Chelsea
•
Arsenal have never beaten
Chelsea under Mourinho
•
'For a while, Chelsea were
stronger' Wenger admits
Sunday 22 December
2013 23.00 GMT
Arsenal could return to the top of the
table with a win against Chelsea on
Monday but defeat would see to fourth.
Arsène Wenger was keeping his
cards close to his chest. He had
just been asked whether this
Chelsea side is the most vulnerable
in the Roman Abramovich era,
giving him the perfect opportunity
to indulge in a spot of mind games,
but he refused to bite, choosing to
put the poker face on instead. "I
will answer that question on
Tuesday," he said, by which time
Arsenal hope to have secured the
victory they need over Chelsea to
return to the top of the league.
Yet that will be no mean feat
given Chelsea's psychological hold
over Arsenal in recent years, not to
mention the fact that Wenger is yet
to find a way of getting the better
of José Mourinho, losing five and
drawing four of their nine matches.
Wenger says this match is not
about him versus Mourinho, and
believes there is no need for him to
try to outwit the master schemer
by altering his strategy in order to
succeed at the 10th time of asking,
at the Emirates on Monday night,
but it is a statistic that is impossible
to ignore.
"Sometimes they have
equalised in the last minute at
Chelsea and that's not down to a
gameplan," Wenger said. "That just
reflects the strengths of the teams.
I must say for a while Chelsea
were stronger than us. You do not
have to accept it but it was the
reality."
Reality did bite for Arsenal.
Since Mourinho arrived at
Stamford Bridge for his first spell in
2004, they have won three of their
22 matches in all competitions
against Chelsea. Their rivalry has
been based on a clash of
philosophies, Arsenal's brilliant but
doomed fragility at odds with
Chelsea's win-at-all-costs attitude.
More often than not, it has been a
case of men against boys, Chelsea's
giants towering over Arsenal and
ruthlessly taking advantage of their
lapses in concentration. Arsenal
won plaudits, Chelsea won
trophies.
Arsenal, though, sense that this
is their time, not least because
Didier Drogba, so often their
tormentor in the past, is no longer
around to batter a defence that is
likely to be missing the injured
Laurent Koscielny. Although they
come into this match having lost
6-3 at Manchester City, they have
felt like a different side this season,
more mature and less likely to
crumble at the first sign of trouble.
Arsenal work harder as a unit and
have developed a resilience that
allows them to win without playing
well.
In the past, Arsenal have been
viewed as a soft touch but the
addition of Mathieu Flamini has
added steel to their midfield,
providing the platform for Aaron
Ramsey, Santi Cazorla, Jack
Wilshere and Mesut Özil to shine.
Where once they were easy to
bully into submission, now Arsenal
will be confident of imposing their
passing game on a Chelsea midfield
which appears ill-equipped to stop
them from bending the game to
their will.
This is not a classic Mourinho
team. His options in midfield –
Michael Essien, Frank Lampard,
Mikel John Obi and Ramires – are
underwhelming, lacking the power
to dominate teams and the
creativity to control matches, and
failing to protect a creaking
defence. Chelsea, knocked out of
the League Cup by Sunderland last
week, seem to have lost the ability
to grind. When Mourinho first won
the title with Chelsea in 2005 they
conceded 15 goals and recorded 11
victories of 1-0. They have already
conceded 18 this season, including
10 in their past five matches.
The game has changed,
though. The top sides are less
defensive than they were eight
years ago and there is a greater
emphasis on attacking. "The
offensive potential is very big and
the structure of the teams is more
offensive," Wenger said.
Perhaps Mourinho is still
adapting, seemingly caught
halfway between constructing a
defensively responsible team and
delivering the attractive style that
Abramovich craves. The
Portuguese has the players to pull
off the latter but has rarely
appeared comfortable with the idea
of letting the likes of Eden Hazard
and Juan Mata off the leash.
Yet it would be ridiculous to
write off Chelsea. For all the noises
they have made about this being a
season of transition– and it is
doubtful whether Mourinho knows
the meaning of the word – they
have won their past three matches
against Arsenal and on each of
their past two trips to the Emirates.
Victory on Monday night will
lift them up to second, behind
Liverpool on goal difference, and
leave Arsenal in fourth place.
While Wenger might have kept
his thoughts to himself, he will
know his team cannot be so
reluctant to express themselves.

www.theguardian.com

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Letz wait till 8:45