What must Wenger do to beat Mourinho? 12 games and still counting by Adelani Ogunrinade
After the recent heated encounter between two North London giants that ended in defeat for Arsenal- Arsene Wenger must be wondering what on earth he has to do to outsmart the “special one.”
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Mourinho’s superiority over Wenger now stretches to 12 games unbeaten and the man he branded a “specialist in failure” is growing increasingly frustrated. This was imminent in the boiling touchline scuffle between the legendary bosses during the match.
The closest Arsenal has ever come to defeating Mourinho’s Chelsea has been a draw. One question comes to mind when one analyses this fact-is Mourinho simply a better tactician than Wenger?
Over the years, Mourinho’s Chelsea teams have always boasted an awesome blend of power and skill. The current Chelsea squad is reminiscent of the Premiership winning side of the 2004/05 season. This mix of physicality and skill destroyed last season’s F.A.cup winners.
Didier Drogba who has tortured Arsenal fans for so many years was injured and could not play yesterday to the relief of Arsenal fans.
In the last eleven attempts, Wenger has fielded an inexperienced and physically inferior team to Mourinho’s blue army. Mourinho on the other hand plays Wenger’s team with established talents who seem to have a more solid plan on how to win the game.
Last night’s game at Stamford Bridge was no different, Mourinho’s line-up appeared more solid than Wenger’s.Arsenal went with a 4-1-4-1 formation compacting into a 4-5-1 when out of possession. However, Mathieu Flamini did not look comfortable as the designated pivot around which this defensive plan hinged upon. Chelsea easily stopped attacks from the Gunners with an incredible defensive team display. Almost everybody defended except Costa and Hazard.Cesc Fabregas’s job was to spread the long balls to Costa from a deep role.
When Jon Obi Mikel joined Nemanja Matic just before the 70 minute mark, Chelsea effectively eliminated the Gunner’s attacking threat and access to the defence. Hazard’s trickery was too much for the Arsenal defence to handle. By the time Costa scored the second, Wenger was officially dumped into the pits of defeat for the 12th time by Mourinho.
Some Arsenal fans sight Wenger playing Mesut Ozil on the left instead of the number ten position he thrives in as one of Wenger’s mistakes yesterday. Some point to Wenger’s overconfidence in his young talent as his Achilles heel against Mourinho. It is clear to see that for Wenger to break the “Mourinho Jinx” he would have to think of extra-special tactics and pray Didier Drogba finally retires!