BlueChampions - The backyard of Chelsea FC!

Crucial sunday of the league where each of the top four would be keen to send a message to the rest. Man Utd would face the toughest Liverpool team in many seasons. On our side, what appeared to be a match of two top teams missing their key players, is now favouring Arsenal as their stars of the season seem to start for the match. Draw is a perfectly acceptable result while a win is certainly possible and would signal the beginning of the next phase in this season’s league title chase.

It’s been almost 4 years since Chelsea lost to Arsenal. Two players who have played a major role in this unbeaten run against Arsenal are Drogba and Essien. Those are the two that we would badly miss on Sunday. Essien will be sorely missed especially because Arsenal is stronger in the middle of the pitch than in the front or in the back. Essien would be the kind of player that could break the rhythm and unsettle the Arsenal midfield. Avram could choose Mikel as he is in good form or Makelele for his experience of big matches or may even pick both. Though Avram claims that we will go for a win, his formation and team selection tomorrow would tell us about the hidden agenda.

For Arsenal, they’ve got back Robin van Persie, Hleb, Fabregas and Flamini. It’s the strongest Arsenal team that Wenger would have liked to pick. Without these guys, I’d have gone for a confident Chelsea win, emphatically. Arsenal should face their toughest test tomorrow. It’s not the Man Utd or the Liverpool but it is the tactically brilliant Chelsea that can be their toughest challenge.

I’d say that we should play 4-2-3-1. We need to have a very strong midfield to negate the Arsenal counterparts and with 4-2-3-1, we get a good balance of attack and defence. With Petr Cech back in goal, two holding midfielders would really frustrate the home team. My team is: Cech (GK), Bridge (LB), Terry (CB), Alex (CB), Belletti (RB), Makelele (DM), Mikel (DM), Malouda (LM), Lampard (CAM), Joe Cole (RM), Kalou (ST). While this looks like an overly defensive set up, it is not. We have the wing backs who can participate in the attacks, in the confidence of Maka and Mikel guarding the defence. That’s why I chose Bridge over Ashley Cole. Bridge has been more impressive than Ashely Cole in offence. Remember, we are playing away in a massive stadium. Nothing wrong in ensuring a quiet start.

The midfield contingent of Maka, Mikel, Lampard and Joe Cole have everything thing in them to check their counterparts. Our guys can man the midfield and dictate the pace of the game and ruin Arsenal’s script of how they want to play. We’ve been doing it so consistently and that’s why Arsenal could not beat us for a few seasons now. Arsenal attacks through the centre. That’s where we need to have our pair of superb defensive midfielders to curb any dangerous attacking moves. By doing this, we can force them to attack through the flanks and I believe our defence can cope with the crosses from the sides than through passes from the centre. If Arsenal keeps attacking from the flanks, it would leave gaps in the centre that can be capitalised by our three attacking midfielders.

What you would have noticed by now is that I don’t have Shevchenko on the starting line-up. Yeah, that’s a conscious decision. Considering the magnitude of the match, its impact on the league position, the possible morale boost, also of the form of the players, I’d pick Kalou over Shevchenko. While this could infuriate some, I have my reasons. Firstly, Kalou provides more utility than Shevchenko. Kalou can keep the ball. Kalou has quicker feet that dribbles and tricks. He creates chances for others but sometimes does not take his own chances well. I know Kalou has been pathetic with some of his open goal misses but for some reason, I keep forgiving him. He is a bloody good player with a desire to achieve. I feel Kalou would be more fired up for this match than Sheva. I believe tomorrow could be his day.

If I see SWP starting tomorrow I’d scream. He’s not been good and Malouda could be ready, which means Malouda starts. If Malouda does not pass the fitness test, we should put Kalou as the LAM and stick Pizarro as the lone striker. Carvalho could be ready as well but let him not play in such a big match on his arrival (Malouda is okay, for a defender it’s more difficult) and especially when this Chelsea back four seem to have struck a fine partnership. Ok, I’ll stop my lecture on team selection and formation.

You might have heard about this SWOT analysis in business management. SWOT is nothing but a fancy acronym for Strengths (of our own), Weaknesses (of our own), Opportunities (opponent’s weaknesses) and Threats (Opponent’s strengths). I thought of doing a SWOT for this match which should pretty much cover the tactics part. Here we go.

Strengths:

We are strong in the air and we must use this advantage. There’s no Drogba but overall, Chelsea players are generally stronger in the air. We should use this by playing those occasional long balls and early crosses. Also we should force Arsenal to use the aerial route. By cramping the ground passes, Arsenal would certainly have to resort to something different and that could be long balls. We’ve seen them do that a lot against Middlesbrough. We have one of the strongest defences in Europe. It’s not just about the quality of the defenders and the goalkeepers, it’s also about how players are able to read the game and be tactically aware to thwart any attack. Another important aspect is our world class holding midfielders who can be a thorn in the flesh for any opposition. If it’s Mikel and Maka, Arsenal will have to do their best to break our defence. Our strength is also the free scoring midfielders who can be very effective from long range. When Lampard is in his zone, he should go for the blast. Same holds good for Joe Cole and Malouda too. We have some quality long shooters and they should pull the trigger more often. Bench strength is another strength that we have. Grant should use his bench wisely as we will have drained out players as they want to play their best. Finally, our spirit and determination. We know how to win matches and points. We know how not get bogged down and we know how to rise from the ashes.

Weaknesses:

We miss the fire power upfront. In the absence of Drogba, be it Kalou or Sheva or Pizarro, we are going to be weaker at the tip. This means that we should try to culminate every attack with the striker. Lampard, Joe Cole and Malouda playing with aggression would offset this weakness to some extent. Our other weakness could be the cards. We’ve been gathering yellow and red cards like no one’s business. While half of them could be undeserved, I won’t rule out a red card tomorrow. In high intensity matches like this, there could be temparamental mishaps. Mikel should keep his cool. The people who have to advise Mikel, the captain and vice-captain, should also stay calm. Last thing we want is to be playing with 10 men for 60 minutes. Alan Wiley, the referee for tomorrow’s match averages about 7 yellow cards in every two matches. I won’t be surprised if he dishes out 7 on Sunday alone and about 5 of them to Chelsea players!

Opportunities:

Arsenal’s lack of plan B is their weakness. The moment their midfield one-twos, triangle passes and one-touches are curtailed, frustration sets in and then desperation creeps in. In the last few matches – Sevilla, Aston Villa, NewCastle and Middlesbrough – this was very clearly evident. Also if you block their passes through the centre, they are a different team. I’ve already mentioned about their aerial weakness which can be used to our advantage. Arsenal’s set piece defending is still an scoring avenue for oppoisitions. Particulary, everytime there is a goal mouth scramble, Arsenal seems very vulnerable – poor clearances, bad marking and positioning – results in a corner or even a goal. Almunia has not been in good form. Lehmann is no better. If we can test their goalkeeper with some real menace, their form and quality would be exposed. With Chritmas around the corner, Lehmann can present us the best of gifts.

Threats:

Robin van Persie is back which means no Eduardo. Our bad luck. Eduardo up front would have been so yummy for Terry and co. RvP is a very dangerous player and he is what I want and expect Kalou to be, after a year. The chemistry among their midfield players. If they are allowed to play their game, we are going to be in trouble. The interesting fact is, more than half of their goals this season were scored from outside the penalty box. Now link this fact with their midfield chemistry, you’d see dangerous the threat is. Finally, they are playing at home. There will be massive crowd behind them, charging up their players and influencing the referee.

Finally

What can happen in this match? I don’t think this would be a goalless affair. Realistic result: 1-1. Optimistic result 1-2. Pessimistic result 2-0. Basically, I see Arsenal scoring. They are playing a big match at home. They would be under pressure to take three points and by hook or crook, they would score. Only if the first half is goalless, I’d put my money on 0-1.

We’ve been asking ‘where will our goals come from’. If not from anywhere, remember Gallas’ own goal promise! I leave you with this memory!

[video]http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/28GB4qP6kBCaJ5v8J[/video]

[tags]Chelsea, Arsenal, Emirates Stadium, Premier League, Avram Grant, Arsene Wenger, Drogba, Essien, Lampard, Shevchenko, Mikel, Joe Cole, Malouda, John Terry, Ashley Cole, William Gallas, Fabregas, Flamini, Robin van Persie, Hleb[/tags]