Manager Mauricio Pochettino’s tactical choice was good, but Robert Sánchez finished the game.
Chelsea drew 2-2 with Arsenal in the 9th round of the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) season held at Stamford Bridge in London, England at 1:30 a.m. on the 22nd (Korean time). With the draw on this day, Chelsea continued their undefeated record (3 wins, 1 draw) in 4 official matches.
Coach Pochettino made detailed changes against Arsenal. He first nominated Cole Palmer as Zero Top. When looking at the starting lineup, it was expected that Raheem Sterling would be at the front, Michail Mudrik would be on the left, and Palmer would be on the right, but Palmer was positioned in the center. Palmer moved a lot in the center, harassing the midfield line of Jorginho and Declan Rice, competing and keeping the ball well, adding vitality.
Palmer even scored a penalty kick (PK) goal to give Chelsea the lead. While the Palmer Zero Top was successful, the Conor Gallagher forward deployment was also effective. Coach Pochettino placed Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in front of the defense and raised Gallagher high. With Gallagher pressing like Palmer, Arsenal had a hard time building up from the back. The midfield line was holding up well in front of the defense, so it was not easy to enter the center.
Bukayo Saka also blocked well. Mark Cucurella controlled Saka well and even blocked Mudrik together. When Saka was blocked, Martin Odegaard struggled. Even Gabriel Jesus was isolated as the side penetration and central linkage were not achieved at the same time. Just when coach Pochettino’s tactical approach was showing results, Mudrik scored a lucky goal to give the team a 2-0 lead.
With the victory in favor of Chelsea, coach Pochettino added strength to the front line by adding Nicola Jackson. Manager Mikel Arteta added mobility by bringing in Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe. Despite Arsenal’s changes, Chelsea maintained the flow well, but Sanchez made fatal mistakes one after another. In the 32nd minute of the second half, Rice scored a make-up goal in a missed pass by Sanchez, and Sanchez’s mistake was also decisive in Leandro Trosar’s goal in the 39th minute of the second half.
In the end, the game ended 2-2. If they had won, they would have received positive reviews and it could have been the starting point of a true rebound, but they failed to do so. In an interview after the game, Cucurella expressed his anger by saying, “Even though we drew, I feel like I lost.”
The arrow was aimed at Sanchez. Various media outlets poured criticism towards Sanchez. Coach Pochettino said, “Situations like this can happen and we have to accept them. This is soccer. In soccer, mistakes are made a lot. When you’re on the pitch, it’s acceptable to make mistakes and it’s quite possible. Still, we went from leading 2-0 to tying the score.” “It was disappointing that we gave up. We could have played stably enough, but we didn’t,” he expressed his regret.토스카지노
Although Sánchez showed good form at Brighton, doubt marks were raised from the time he was recruited as to whether he had the skills to take over as Chelsea’s starting goalkeeper after Kepa Arrizabala and Edouard Mendy were let go. While his saving ability is not impressive, his passing ability, which was considered an advantage, is also not good, leading to criticism. Chelsea’s problem is that there is no alternative to Sanchez.