Заслуженный тренер РФ Александр Аверьянов, который стал гостем студии портала Sportbox.ru, разобрал центральный матч 19-го тура английской премьер-лиги "Арсенал" — "Челси" (3:1).

О матче в целом

Такие игры украшают футбол, их хочется смотреть, не отрываясь, потому что там можно увидеть интеллектуальные и одновременно мощные действия. В чемпионате России редко когда можно получить такое удовольствие от матча. Может, только когда играют ЦСКА, "Зенит", "Спартак", "Динамо" или "Рубин". Но таких скоростей, как в Англии, у нас все равно нет. Матч "Арсенал" — "Челси" показал, насколько функционально мощно подготовлены футболисты, как они мотивированы на победу.

О расстановке "Арсенала"

Особой новизны в расстановке "Арсенала" не было, но состав претерпел изменения. Вылечился Фабрегас, добавился ван Перси. В итоге получилась атакующая расстановка, "наконечником вперед". Место на флангах заняли скоростные игроки, центрального нападающего очень умно сыграл ван Перси. Это и предопределило исход матча.

О расстановке "Челси"

Еще до игры Анчелотти заявил, что главное — не сделать грубых ошибок. Поэтому заранее было понятно, что "Челси" будет больше думать об обороне, но стремиться быстро переходить в атаку. Это они и продемонстрировали уже на первых минутах. Даже Дрогба отходил назад, стремился помешать центральным защитникам. Но в целом игра у "Челси" была менее творческая. Если "Арсенал" играл разнообразно, то "Челси" — прямолинейно. Видимо, Анчелотти понадеялся на Дрогба и Калу. Они пытались навязать соперникам свою игру, но у них не очень получилось. Коул — быстрый и жесткий игрок, он тоже пытался "убивать", но не справлялся. В итоге "Арсенал" чаще действовал на половине "Челси".

О ван Перси

Я давно следил за ван Перси, он всегда действовал довольно прямолинейно. А тут сыграл очень тонко, с фантазией.

О начале второго тайма

Обычно первые минуты второго тайма играют ключевую роль. Наша, тренерская, задача — сделать так, чтобы команда смогла быстро отыграться. Тогда настроение будет совсем другим — и можно забить еще. А в этом матче уже на 51-й минуте удачным ударом по воротам отличился "Арсенал", причем тот гол "Челси", как говорится, привез себе сам. Не заставил себя долго ждать и третий гол, который стал результатом быстрой контратаки. Фабрегас отдал пас Уолкотту, который и пробил по воротам. Сработала тактика Венгера, который предложил мощно, активно накрывать "Челси", не давать свободы атакующим игрокам.

Об атаках "Челси"

В первом тайме у Дрогба был момент, он пробил рядом со штангой. После того, как счет стал 3:0, "Челси" все-таки удалось забить гол: они хорошо исполнили стандарт. После этого игра немного поменялась. Футболисты "Челси" стали действовать более активно.

О взаимозаменяемости

Сильнейшие команды мира сейчас стараются на поле демонстрировать взаимозаменяемость. Это такая фишка — мешать сопернику приспособиться к твоей игре. Не нужно путать взаимозаменяемость с хаосом: каждый игрок, перемещаясь по полю, точно знает, что он делает. В этом матче мы увидели, как это делает "Арсенал". Посмотрите, как тонко играл ван Перси! Он не стоял столбом, а хитро отходил назад, оголяя зону у ворот, в которую выдвигался Фабрегас или смещались с фланга полузащитники. Иногда вперед рвался Уилшер. "Челси" было очень сложно распознать, от кого ждать угрозу. Пока ван Перси уводил соперников на фланг, его партнеры выбегали из глубины поля на больших скоростях. За такими перемещениями центральным защитникам уследить очень сложно. Так "Арсенал" и забил первый гол — ван Перси и Фабрегас просто развезли защитников.

О замене Микела на Рамиреса

Эта замена определенно ослабила "Челси". Когда Микел прикрывал середину поля, пройти через эту зону было непросто. Рамирес — игрок атакующего плана, к тому же более мягкий. В результате Лэмпарду пришлось смещаться назад и делать черновую работу.

Об игре в защите

"Арсенал" показал гармоничный футбол. Команда не только отлично отработала в нападении, но и внимательно сыграла в защите. Учитывая, что Дрогба за семь игр забил чуть ли не десять голов, было подвигом не позволить ему прорваться к воротам. Защитники работали слаженно, не допускали появления свободных зон.

О полузащитниках

Несмотря на свою молодость, Уилшер отлично отработал, не потерял ни одного мяча. Действовал быстро, хорошо играл в обороне. Сонг — тоже ключевой игрок, может работать не только в защите, но и подключаться к атакам. Фабрегас — креативный игрок с нестандартным мышлением, который легко ставит соперников в тупик. Он всегда своевременно отдает передачи, что позволяет подключаться к атаке фланговым нападающим. "Челси" просто не успевал за соперниками.

Об обороне "Челси"

У этой команды мощные защитники, но в матче против "Арсенала" они выглядели грузноватыми. Команда Венгера просто растаскивала их по углам, заставляла ошибаться.

Об Аршавине

Я патриот, поэтому люблю смотреть английский футбол с участием наших футболистов. Поэтому, конечно, мне обидно, что Аршавин не появился на поле. Но, думаю, Венгер правильно оценил ситуацию. Он понимал, что игра будет очень мобильной, с борьбой, поэтому всей команде придется и защищаться, и нападать. Под его задумку Насри подходил куда лучше Аршавина. Андрей отдает много интересных, острых пасов, сам идет в атаку, но обороняется не так активно. К тому же у него не хватает скоростной выносливости — это мы видим и в сборной. Он не может быть таким лидером, как Фабрегас, который ведет всю игру. Аршавин и сам это понимает и признает.

О Жиркове

Жалко, что у Юры травма. Если бы он вышел, он бы наверняка участвовал во всех скоростных действиях. Он наконец нашел общий язык с тренером, гармонично вписался в команду. Он уже не играет флангового челнока, а действует на месте Малуда.

О начале атак "Челси"

Быстро вводить мяч в игру от вратаря на половину поля соперников — это один из тактических приемов, которые применяют тренеры. Фланговые полузащитники уже готовы к такому повороту событий, это позволяет им быстро подключаться к атакам. Поэтому как только Чех избавлялся от мяча — следовала хорошая атака "Челси".

О Лэмпарде

Видно, что он еще не набрал форму, физическое состояние не позволяет ему двигаться активнее. Но в этом матче он показал нормальный уровень, беда в том, что у всей команды в целом игра была разбалансирована. Не было видно мощи, которой "Челси" раньше подавлял противников. Если бы Лэмпарду подыграли партнеры по команде, он бы смотрелся куда лучше.

Об Анчелотти

Анчелотти пытался спасти матч — делал ранние замены, старался переломить ход игры. Хотя я видел какую-то обреченность в его взгляде. Ему было сложно что-то поменять: уж больно хорош был "Арсенал". Если бы "Челси" удалось забить второй гол, когда у Дрогба был момент, все могло перемениться. В Англии принято бороться до последних минут.

Theo Walcott has called on Arsenal to make their victory over Barclays Premier League title rivals Chelsea count - by taking another three points from relegation battlers Wigan tomorrow night.

The Gunners finally ended their hoodoo against the Blues with a 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium which boosted their championship challenge and left Carlo Ancelotti's out-of-form side down in fourth place.

There has been, though, little time for Arsenal to revel in a first win over Chelsea in six attempts as they head up to the north-west for tomorrow night's clash at the DW Stadium, where they will be without captain Cesc Fabregas after he collected a fifth booking.

'We can't dwell on this result. We could be disappointed if we win against Chelsea and then lose at Wigan,' said Walcott, who helped create Arsenal's second goal just after the break and then netted a quick-fire third to put the hosts in command.

'All the fans, you could sense the atmosphere, the fans were right up for it, just like the players were and we just didn't let Chelsea play.

'We were ready and wanted to do it for our fans because in recent years we let them down in these big matches and we just need to build on that now.'

While Chelsea may not have presented the same challenge as in previous meetings, Arsenal nevertheless were good value for what could prove to be a big three points.

Alex Song swept them ahead just before half-time, before Walcott and Fabregas capitalised on some poor Chelsea defending to put the game beyond the visitors.
England international Walcott was glad to finally see Arsenal come good when it mattered.


'It was nice to see an Arsenal team actually do everything right and hopefully we will just continue to do that,' he said.

'All 11 players defensively were pressing at the right moments and we made Chelsea look quite average at times, but they are such a strong team and will be right at the top come the end of the season.'

In the aftermath of Chelsea's defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates, several Blues players have come under heavy criticism.

Former Tottenham and England star Jamie Redknapp has pointed to Chelsea's midfield as the problematic area in the team, particularly singling John Obi Mikel as an under-performer.

In his column for the Daily Mail, Redknapp blames Obi Mikel for allowing Arsenal to dominate the middle of the park during last night's league match, and suggests Carlo Ancelotti should reinforce his squad with a player in the mold of former Chelsea stalwart Claude Makelele.

"John Mikel Obi was taken off at halftime. His deep midfield role should be a dream position. You should boss the game, touch the ball 100 times and put out fires whenever there's danger. Mikel rarely passes the ball forward and is a weak link.

"Chelsea have liked a player there since the master, Claude Makelele, had the position named after him. Michael Essien could go there, but it would curb his instincts. They may have to buy in January.", commented Redknapp.

The pundit also went on to praise the selection and performance of Swiss international Johan Djourou, who made a surprising start for Arsenal yesterday and proved successful in negating the threat of Chelsea ace Didier Drogba.

“You have to praise Arsene Wenger's gamble with his team sheet. No Andrey Arshavin, who doesn't do enough of the hard stuff and switches off without the ball, and Johan Djourou was terrific against Didier Drogba.”

“Eyebrows would have been raised with the selection of the Swiss defender against Arsenal's nemesis, but he matched the Chelsea forward for power and strength. Drogba wants to bully opponents; Djourou won all the big duels. A top display.”, he wrote.

Tomas Rosicky believes the Premier League is the most exciting and most competitive league in the world.

Barcelona are widely regarded as the best team in the world at the moment, despite playing in a relatively easy league, where only the top two challenge for the title.

In England, however, the recent dominance of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool has changed, with Liverpool dropping out of the top four, and Tottenham and Manchester City posing a threat in the title race.

Rosicky also knows you're in for a fight against any of the teams in the bottom half of the table.

He said: "It is not about four teams as it used to be. Others have joined the race - Manchester City and Tottenham.

"The quality of Premier League teams is so high that if you step off the gas you are immediately punished.

"If you go to Wolves, for instance, it is a war from the kick-off to the final whistle. Still, this is why the Premier League is so thrilling."

So, does the Czech Republic midfielder believe this current Arsenal squad is good enough to conquer the best league in the world?

An optimistic Rosicky believes so, as this is the strongest squad he feels he has played in since joining the club.

He explained: "There is no reason why we can't win the title.

"I don't know why we should be considered as a team which cannot win it, especially knowing we were top of the table two weeks ago.

"We will know more after the Christmas spell but I'm optimistic."

"I think this is the strongest squad we have had over the years I have been with Arsenal."

Great performance last night, much more like what we should be seeing every week.

Desire, commitment and quality, but why is it we can beat the Chavs but lose to the likes of WBA, Wigan etc?

Last night we pressed them high. Good defending generally, Djourou was outstanding, Koscielny played well apart from the goal.

RvP looks a bit sharper and Walcott’s pace on the wing push Cole back.

And last night tactically Wenger got it 100% right (makes a nice change)

Lets not get carried away, some tough games coming up thick and fast and we need to show the same fight and give the likes of Wigan, Birmingham & West Ham the same respect.

But lets enjoy this win, its been a long time coming.

Arsenal Ratings

Fabianski : 7/10 (Didnt really have much to do until the last 20mins. Came for crosses and punched well)
Sagna : 7.5/10 (One of his better games, showed great work rate and won all his 50/50 battles)
Koscielny : 8/10 ( Apart from the goal, GREAT game. Powerful and showed great pace.Lets hope we see that again)
Djourou : 9/10 (What a great game he had. Played Drogba well. Big strong, powerful, quick,and good with the ball)
Clichy :7/5 (Played well, very good link up with Nasri and his pace going forward was fantastic on the break)
Fabregas : 8/10 ( 2 assists and a goal. Not a bad night on his return)
Nasri : 7/10 ( Great pace and workrate but didnt have that cutting edge to his game last night. Missed a big chance)
Walcott : 8/5 ( Very good game by Theo, pushed Ashley back all night. Took his goal well and a nice assist for the 2nd. Needs to start more games ahead of Rosicky and Arshavin now)
Song : 9.5/10 ( A beast in the middle of the park. Won everything and gave it simple. Popped up with a vitial goal just before H/T and his run in the 90mins was just work class.
Wilshere : 7/10 ( linked the play well and keep the ball. Won his share of tackles, glad to see him start ahead of Denilson)
Van Persie : 7.5/10 ( Didnt score but its great to have him back and playing uptop. We look so much better and have a touch of class with RVP in the side, lets hope he can stay fit for the rest of the season)

Subs
Diaby : 6/10 ( Came on for Theo? I couldn’t understand that move? Should have scored but didnt fancy his left foot. But its good to see him back)
Chamakh : 6/10 (Held the ball well, but never looked like scoring with him on the pitch)
Rosicky : 6/10 ( Came on to keep the ball and he did that)

Man Of The Match : Alex Song

For the third time we had Clattenburg this year and the last one hardly a month ago. A very bad situation for the ref. In fact it is shameful for the FA to always have to send the same refs over and over again to the same teams in the same season.

But let us just see how he did.

OTHER: Kalou makes a tackle in the first minute. The ref gives the foul but not a card. I can understand him not giving a card but he could have spoken to the player. In fact as a ref you should accept such an incident to stamp your authority on the game.  I thought he was a bit mild on not lecturing him to be honest.  But he gave the foul so:  1/1.

OTHER/CARD: Terry pulls back Van Persie when there was a chance of Arsenal attack. Clattenburg has a word with Terry. As this was the first lecture he gave it is understandable he didn’t give a card. 1/1 and 1/1

PENALTY: After a free kick Djourou goes down but the ref gives nothing. And I think he was right on this. Both players (Djourou and Terry) were pushing a bit but nothing to give really.

OTHER/OTHER: Cole goes in hard on Walcott but the ref gives no foul. It was a case of Cole hitting Walcott’ leg so it should have been a foul. As he gave nothing Song made a foul on Malouda which the ref gave. One wrong, one good. 0/1 and 1/1

PENALTY: Malouda hits Van Persie on his leg when Robin is on the line of the penalty area. Malouda also is on the line of the penalty area with the leg that he uses to touch Van Persie. It was  a foul, it was on the line and the line is part of the penalty area: this was a penalty. 0/1



Let’s tick the boxes in the big circle from left to right: Is there contact? Yes. Is the defender in the penalty area? Yes he is. Is the attacker in the penalty area? Yes he is. The line from the penalty area is part of the penalty area. So 3 times yes = penalty.

OTHER: A quick word of praise for the linesman. They got all their offside decisions spot on and also are doing a good job in helping the ref when they signal fouls. And I even include in this when they give fouls against us. When I can give praise, I will do it. 1/1

OTHER/CARD: Sagna plays the ball to Walcott and Cole has a go at Walcott. The player that tried to stop the pass from Sagna came in late and I think this was going through the refs mind when he gave the card to Cole. In a way Cole got the card for the fact that there were 2 consecutive fouls. A good act from the ref. 1/1 and 1/1

OTHER/OTHER: Theo is blocked and no foul given. Van Persie blocks a player and a fouls is given. A little bit inconsistent ref. 0/1 and 1/1

OTHER/CARD: Van Persie comes in from behind and picks up a deserved yellow card. 1/1 and 1/1

OTHER/CARD: Kalou comes in with an outstretched leg flying high in the air and catches Clichy. The ref gives the foul (did you take notice Mr. Webb?) and the ref gives a yellow card. 1/1 and 1/1

PENALTY/OTHER/GOAL: Cesc tries to run on to the ball from Wilshere and is brought down. The ball comes to the feet of Song who was running the same line as Cesc and Song scores. The ref could have given a penalty and in the replay it was clear to see that he gave the advantage signal when Song got to the ball. So at the end of the day by Song scoring he got the advantage right. But we will never know if he would have given the penalty if Song had not scored.  It would be my first question if I would have met him after the game. 1/1, 1/1 and 1/1

And in we go at half time. Bring on the hot coffee, tea or whatever hot drink they have in the Emirates.

OTHER/CARD: A late challenge from Ramires on Wilshere. Foul is given but deserved a yellow card. 1/1 and 0/1.

OTHER/GOAL: Walcott looks to be in an offside position but he was not thanks to the right back who played him on. And even then the pass was given by Essien so it never could have been offside. So another great decision from the linesman and also Cesc was onside when Theo played the ball to him. So a very good goal. 1/1 and 1/1

GOAL: Another great goal this time and well taken. 1/1

And then things suddenly changed.

OTHER/OTHER: Wilshere blocked: no foul/Cesc blocked someone: foul given??? Strange ref. What happened? 0/1 and 1/1

OTHER/GOAL: For the slightest of touches the ref gives a free kick to Chelsea. Okay one can blow a foul but if for the rest of the game you have let some things go then this looked rather strange. But Chelsea score from the resulting free kick. Nothing wrong with the goal itself but what a soft free kick. Certainly if you look at other situations in the game e.g. the not given penalty on Van Persie. 0/1 and 1/1.

OTHER/CARD: Late tackle from Lampard on Song and Lampard gets what he deserves : a yellow card. 1/1 and 1/1

OTHER/CARD: Cesc gets a yellow card for a little pull a Chelsea player. He put a hand on his shoulder.  A foul but what a very soft yellow card if you ask me.  1/1 and 0/1

OTHER: Chelsea players don’t foul. Well so it looks in the eyes of the ref for the moment. Only when they make 3 fouls in the same move the ref gives a foul to Arsenal.  0/1

OTHER: Every time a Chelsea player goes down in the same area from where the first goal came the ref gives a free kick to Chelsea. Is this some kind of coincidence???? It sure doesn’t feel that way to me.  Every dangerous attack from Chelsea comes from a not given foul from the ref. 0/1

OTHER/OTHER : Ramires catches Cesc on his ankle and the ref let play continue. This was a foul ref. Oh and seconds later he gives Chelsea another free kick and guess what… yes on the same spot from where Drogba scored last year and gave the assist to the Chelsea goal. 0/1 but it was a foul for Chelsea I have to admit so 1/1

GOAL: A Chelsea goal is being disallowed for offside. Another correct decision from the linesman. I didn’t get to see any replay from the linesman position but if I can trust them for the rest of their game this was correct and it looked that way. 1/1

And so the games comes to an end. A lot of things and a lot to count if you ask me. So now let us see how many points he got.

CARDS: 5/7

PENALTY: 1/2

GOAL:  5/5

OTHER: 16/22

Total score: 27/36 (75%)

We all have seen games of two halves in which a team has an excellent game in the first half and then mess up in the second half. I had this feeling from Clattenburg in this game. I think he did rather good in the first half apart from the missed penalty on Van Persie but this can happen. But in the second half when it got to 3-0 he suddenly changed drastically. I had the impression we could do nothing good any more and Chelsea could do nothing wrong. I think it would be interesting to see a statistic on to see how many fouls he gave to us up to then and then how the fouls were given when after we had made it  3-0.

But despite this he still got a good 75% and this still is a good number. He certainly was helped a lot by his excellent assistants who did everything right I felt. So a good team work and this is important also for the ref.

I still think he is one of the better refs in the EPL but I didn’t feel completely satisfied with his game today. Certainly the difference in punishing some pushes was a bit strange. But as we have won we are in a good mood and we can forgive him. But I sure would like to see this changing a bit in the future. He lost a lot of points in the last half hour.

And a total score of 78 % in 3 games doesn’t look bad at all. This shows he can be an excellent ref if he keeps himself focused during the whole 90 minutes.