Arsenal vaulted back into second place after their 3-1 in over Chelsea, but ignoring implications on the current table, the Gunners' victory leaves questions about both sides' long term title prospects. Tonight, Arsenal looked the part, stepping forward as one of Manchester United's challengers. Chelsea, on the other hand, are six points back, having playing one more match (than United), and are without a league win since early November. When Mark Clattenburg blew full time at the Emirates, were were left with more Chelsea questions than Arsenal answers.
Arsenal Vs. Chelsea: The Divergent Paths Of The Gunners, Blues
Goals by Alexander Song, Cesc Fàbregas and Theo Walcott stakes Arsenal to a 3-0 lead after 53 minutes, and although the Gunners gave one back four minutes later, it was a comfortable win for the home side, one which should give supporters hope for a title challenge. However, just three hours ago the dominant feeling was the inability to compete with Manchester United, so while today's win will lift spirits, its long term impact may be unclear, particularly given the nature of their last two goals. Fàbregas and Walcott's tallies allowed Arsenal to end a five match losing streak to Chelsea, showing the Gunners' ability to take advantage of opportunities presented to them, but the goals spoke loudly to Chelsea's role in the result.
The Blues were down at the time of Micheal Essien's ill-fated pass, down even more when Walcott took the ball off Florent Malouda's foot, but the errors took away any chance Chelsea had for what would have been a characteristic comeback. But before Chelsea could test Arsenal, they'd given up the match, so much so that when Branislav Ivanovic pulled a goal back in the 57th minute, Arsenal had more cause for calm than panic. Ivanovic's goal was a wake-up call, not a reason for doubt. Consequently, Arsenal successfully bled out the match, looking for likely to score the match's fifth goal.
If there's a place between shock and panic, that's where Chelsea should lie. During the November downturn, there was always a sense that they would be fine once Frank Lampard and Michael Essien returned. The bad stretch exposed their squad as thin, not bad. The 1-1 against Tottenham saw the Blues get a point at the top five team, and while in other seasons the Spurs draw would have been a let-down, this year it was actually progress, even if Chelsea still didn't look themselves in the process. But today, in their return trip to North London, Chelsea was both bad and thin. They gave away the game shortly after intermission, with the likes of Ramires and Gaël Kakuta their only hopes for recourse.
While some thought them beyond the league at season’ onset, Chelsea now doesn’t look like a title contender, but it’s not only the over-eager who need to reassess. For those of us who were sure Chelsea would come around, today’s result forces reconsideration. Clearly, they need to turn things around, but who knows what Chelsea will look like when they do. Is this team capable of the same heights we saw eight months ago?
After today’s result, Chelsea’s season is all uncertainties, forcing us to break out the recovery clichés. One day at a time should be their mantra. Tomorrow, they should try to be better than they are today, and after they string a series of improvements together, then they’ll know whether the can go back to their former lives.
For now, they need to put that standard out of mind. Manchester United? Arsenal? Manchester City and Tottenham? No. Right now, it's all about Chelsea. Independent of opposition, Chelsea just needs to improve. They need to be good in the absolute sense. Only after finding some upward momentum should Chelsea worry about how good they are in a relative sense.
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