1) Mertesacker doesn't cut the mustard
Not just because of his
reckless challenge on Diego Costa that resulted in his red card, but for
some time, many Arsenal fans have called for Per Mertesacker to be
dropped, and possibly be replaced by Gabriel Paulista.
As a captain, the German should not be making that type of challenge,
he should be setting an example, but attempting such an awful tackle
knowing he was the last man, only minutes into the game, was not the
right decision and he should know better to control himself in such a
potentially dangerous situation.
2) Giroud is carrying an injury
The Emirates Stadium was in
shock and disgust at the decision for Arsene Wenger to bring off Olivier
Giroud to be replaced by Gabriel Paulista after Mertesacker was sent
off, but it seems Arsenal fans were too quick to judge the Frenchman’s
decision, after the Sky Sports commentators announced that Giroud was a doubt to start in the first place after a small injury worry.
To take a striker off in that situation would have seemed bad whoever
the manager was making the decision, however, it’s not always what it
first seems, as there was a reason for that change.
3) The result isn't as bad as it looks
Admittedly, looking at the
result after Sunday afternoon’s encounter with Chelsea, bearing in minds
Chelsea’s form this season, it looks like Arsenal have massively missed
out on a big three points, but not everything’s going to go swimmingly
for any team throughout the entire season, and after what happened
during the game, the Gunners did well to keep it at 1-0.
Mertesacker had a crazy moment which resulted in his sending off,
whether he made contact or not is another matter. Every player goes
through these sorts of things, it happens. To then have your top
goalscorer and arguably your most attacking threat taken off in the
process, is also a huge blow the team had to deal with.
Arsenal sit 3rd whilst Chelsea have managed to climb to 13th in the
table, and after Swansea City beat Everton in the early kick-off, they
really needed the win.
It was certainly a poor performance from the Gunners, but there’s
really not much they could have done about it. There was absolutely no
height up top for anyone to aim at when crossing the ball or floating it
into a dangerous area, and Mesut Özil, who’s been in sparkling form
recently, seemed ghostly, as he literally had no one to feed, because it
wasn’t clear who was playing up top when Giroud departed.
Taking all of that into consideration, it could have been a lot worse.
4) Flamini's first loss at the Emirates
Not only was it bad enough
losing to Chelsea at home, for the second time overall this season, but
it was also the end of Mathieu Flamini’s 53 streak of games without a
loss at the Emirates Stadium, picking up his only negative result in
north London on Saturday afternoon against the Gunners London rivals.
The result matched his performance.
5) Key performer
Hector Bellerin
There isn’t really anyone to praise after the difficult performance
Arsenal had to give, but if anyone deserves a bit of recognition it
would be Hector Bellerin. The young full back seemed like the only
player who cared at points, especially when the team came out for the
second half, it was clear he was ready to put in a solid half to do his
best to contribute to an equaliser.
Not only did he have the right attitude, he also played well. He was
efficient defensively and offensively like he usually is, and stood out
as one of the best by far.