Bad day at Stamford Bridge

Today was a difficult day to be an Arsenal supporter. The 2-1 loss to Chelsea was as difficult a loss as I've experienced as an Arsenal supporter in a long time. It hurt for a lot of reasons beyond simply losing. It knocked us out of 2nd place in the table and basically put the cap on our chances for the EPL title. It also came after taking the lead in the 63rd minute and essentially controlling the game until some very bad fortune swung the game in Chelsea's favour. The reality is, on the run of play this should have been at worst a draw between the two teams. Arsenal weren't great but neither were Chelsea. Furthermore, Liverpool once again lying down like a dead dog to Man United didn't help our cause.

Lets start with Arsenal's current form. Outside of a couple of decent games against AC Milan in the champions league they have been quite bad for about 2 months now. I fear that the lack of depth that Wenger has failed to address is catching up with this team. In addition to 4 straight draws against very inferior EPL opponents (Birmingham, Middlesborough, Wigan, Aston Villa) we took a 4-0 thumping from Man United in the FA Cup and a 5-1 loss to Spurs in the league Cup. A club that has serious aspirations about winning the league does not go on a run like that. What's clear is this; Arsenal's offense looks tired and much like they did the previous two seasons when they just couldn't finish. Defensively, we've been average at best and just continue to get dominated in the air, as you seen on the two goals today. I do think fatigue is a factor and because nothing was done in the transfer season to add depth, the team is reeling right now. With the revenue windfall that the Emirates Stadium brings in, Wenger really has no excuse for this (as he might have had in years past). I hope we can spend on some depth players for next season.

Today at the Bridge, Arsenal had pretty good control of the game for about 70 minutes. Then, Sagna turns his ankle, Eboue and Toure run into each other and all of the delay with all this totally takes the flow out of the game and momentum swings to Chelsea. This combined with a lucky bounce on Drogba's first goal (when our defender slipped and the ball bounced our of a crown and right to him) allowed them to get on the board. Then more sloppy heading from Arsenal allow Drogba to push another one past. Up to that point, Drogba actually looked old and slow but after two goals, the commentator is calling him the best striker in England. I will give him his props, as he did what Arsenal has trouble doing and finished on his only two real chances of the game. Also disappointing today was Arsenal's inability to really create much against a Chelsea defense that was very porous against Spurs on Wednesday. I haven't read all the reports on this game but I'm sure some will suggest the title was lost today. I disagree, the title was lost in the collective draws to the four clubs aforementioned above. A neutral will still have the exciting race to the finish as Chelsea went from pretenders to contenders in about 5 minutes today at the Bridge. Arsenal, though, need to focus on finishing strong and hopefully finding some sort of form against Liverpool in the Champions league next month.

There is still much season to be played but for Arsenal it looks like all the hope that existed throughout the first half of this season in all competitions could result in only a slight improvement over the past two seasons. And if so, Wenger needs to reconsider how committed he will be to this collective group of youngsters he's been grooming for the past few years.