This can’t go on, Arsene
ANTONIO CONTE, still euphoric from the manner as much as the size of Chelsea’s victory, recounted again the story of how he had rallied his own troops after suffering pretty much the reverse at Arsenal earlier this season.
“We must show we are a great team on the pitch, not only because you stay at Chelsea and Chelsea is a great team,” he had told his battered players.
“You must show every game that you are a great team. Not only because your name is Chelsea.”
If Arsenal’s players were told to live up to the badge, what would that mean? For the second match in a row, they were told not to speak to the outside media. This time, too, Wenger’s usual briefing for Monday morning newspapers was prefaced with the instruction, “Just three questions, please”.
We snuck in four, but Wenger was not in the mood to offer much by way of illumination on why, once again, his side are failing to challenge for the title. “I’m not seemed more out of pity for his former club than loyalty. Olivier Giroud’s 90th-minute reply was no consolation.
At the moment, Arsenal are looking good for a top-four finish but no more and, with a clash soon against Bayern Munich, exit in the first knockout round of the Champions League is not beyond the realms of imagination.
Isn’t that what the Arsenal name has become in recent years? Arsenal are failing to live up to their reputation, but resting on it. A two-year extension sits unsigned on Wenger’s metaphorical desk and it is seemingly entirely up to him if the relationship continues.
Perhaps at a time when six teams all feel they have a near-entitlement to participation in the Champions League, a man who has delivered that so relentlessly should be prized now more than ever by the Arsenal board.
But sometimes a kick somewhere painful can be useful. Booting Wenger into touch may seem a bit two-footed when there is no obvious replacement but sometimes the results of such brutishness can be surprising. Just ask Hazard, who on Saturday became the most fouled player in the Premier League this season. “I’m not saying I like to be kicked, but it’s good for me to be in the game, definitely,” Hazard said.
“When people don’t touch me, that means I’m not doing well. I’m no good. Sometimes in the past, for 20 or 30 minutes, I’ve not touched the ball.
“These days I try and get on the ball, try and have lots of touches, play my football for 90 minutes.”
In the first half, Shkodran Mustafi was booked for a bad foul on Hazard. Early in the second, Hazard skipped through the spine of the team from the halfway line to score. That is the sort of response Wenger should be demanding from his players if they are to come out of their comfort zone and aspire to be winners again.
CHELSEA (3-4-3): ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Goal: Referee: Booked: Goals: NEXT UP: