+34
Despite spending €2bn on new players in the past four years, Chelsea coach Xabi Alonso still has few midfield options. Chelsea pursued deals for Vinícius Júnior and Julián Alvarez which ultimately failed, then swooped to sign Rogers from Arsenal. Rogers, a 6ft 2in powerhouse capable of scoring and creating, represents a typical Arteta-style player and would have been valuable as an out-ball for Emiliano Martínez's long clearances. Arsenal's failure to add attackers this window caused supporter angst, and Rogers making an impact against them added to the tension. The last Arsenal-Chelsea meeting at the Emirates saw Jurriën Timber score a winner after the team struggled with crowd anxiety.
Despite €2bn spent on new players in the past four years, Chelsea coach Xabi Alonso still has few midfield optionsEmí Martinez during the warm-up before the Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in London, England.
Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images, pursuing deals for Vinícius Júnior and Julián Alvarez which didn’t work out and ultimately allowing Chelsea to sneak in and take Rogers from under their noses. It’s not that Rogers is a lethal forward on the level of Vini Jr or Alvarez – not yet, maybe never. But he is such a typical Arteta player – a 6ft 2in powerhouse who can score and create.
Arteta would have envied how Chelsea could use Rogers as an out-ball for Emiliano Martínez’s long clearances. It’s embarrassing that the Irish Open is being held at a Trump-owned property Zut Alors!
- Ken Early in Boston, Gavin Cooney and Malachy Clerkin on the business end of the World Cup, At home with Malcolm Podcast: Ken Early in New York, Kevin Kilbane in Canada, explaining the snickometer, and the delirium of Paul Howard Rogers is also at a stage of his career where he’s still happy to do what his coach tells him. Vini Jr, an already-established superstar whose rebellion against Xabi Alonso’s tactics did so much to get the coach fired at Real Madrid, would have been more challenging to work with.
Arsenal’s failure to add any attackers beyond Christos Tzolis had caused angst among their supporters, and for Rogers to rub their noses in it right at the beginning of the game was a classic cortisol-spiker. The last time Arsenal played Chelsea at the Emirates, Jurriën Timber scored a second-half winner then talked about how the team had struggled to cope with “the energy in this place, the anxiety” – a common theme when Arsenal have struggled at home in recent seasons.
Chelsea's Morgan Rogers is tackled by Ezri Konsa of Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images This time they came immediately back at Chelsea, stuffed them straight into the washing machine and turned it up to max. Not only did they not shrink from the challenge Chelsea had thrown down – it was clear that they were enjoying it.
The next 20 minutes saw Arsenal hit the target six times and score a goal through Riccardo Calafiori that was ruled out for offside. Chelsea were already punch drunk by the time Kai Havertz scored the equaliser with a shot from the edge of the box. The goal suggested Martínez might have arrived at Chelsea a couple of seasons too late.
Chelsea’s army of sporting directors finally lost patience with Robert Sánchez after his poor performance in the opening game at Fulham, catching up with the Chelsea crowd who had lost faith in him long ago. Martinez is respected as a “big personality”, but here was evidence that his reflexes no longer quite match up to his alpha-dog stylings.
In Martínez’s defence, maybe he was still feeling the effects of getting kicked in the head by Gabriel during one of the goalmouth scrambles a little earlier. That the officials took such a lenient view of Gabriel’s action, which could easily have been a straight red card, was the only fortunate element of Arsenal’s win. Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez is injured during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea.
Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images At half-time Xabi Alonso would have contemplated his options and realised he had hardly any good ones. His midfield was being overwhelmed but it was not easy to see a way to change that. Chelsea’s starting pair in midfield, Roméo Lavia and Reece James, are both good players, but Lavia is always going to tire while James is a perpetual injury risk.
In the absence of the injured Moisés Caicedo, the full cost of the deadline-day deal that took Enzo Fernández to Manchester City was sinking in. Plainly that was not a deal Alonso would have sanctioned, if it had been up to him.
The club has spent more than €2 billion on new players in the last four years, and somehow the coach’s options in central midfield had already dwindled to the leprechaun-sized Argentinian Valentín Barco, and the right wing-back Malo Gusto. Alonso decided against feeding Barco to Declan Rice. Gusto it was who eventually replaced Lavia and he proceeded to give a performance that will surely be his last in central midfield for Alonso.
By that time Arsenal were already leading 2-1, after Havertz’s clever dummy played Martin Ødegaard through to hammer it high past the exposed Martínez. Martin Odegaard of Arsenal scores his team’s second goal against Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Photograph: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images Arsenal’s central midfield bench options included two Spanish World Cup winners and the £75 million signing Bruno Guimarães.
A key advantage Arsenal have over Chelsea: their squad has been designed as a football team rather than a trading portfolio. In fact, the only uncomfortable part of the game for Arsenal came very late, after Arteta had taken off Ødegaard and Havertz, probably their two best players on the day. Taking the opportunity to rest key players in a game against one of Arsenal’s very few potential Premier League challengers was a risky move, but also a confident one.
Sometimes winning a first major title transforms the mentality of a team. You think of Liverpool’s 2019 Champions League win being the springboard to winning 26 of the first 27 games on the way to the 2020 title. Or how Manchester United’s first title win under Alex Ferguson in 1993 forged an indomitable confidence that carried the team through the next decade.
They had lost the 1992 title to Leeds after seizing up on the run-in amid national ridicule but, after the first title, winning became normal. It feels as though Arsenal are in just such a moment. Fully convinced they are the best, and determined to show it.
Scent of goal: Spurs work themselves up into a lather on and off the pitchAbbie Larkin helps Palace get off to a winning start on slow weekend for Irish players in WSLTaoiseach ‘can’t see the capacity’ for return of energy credits in next month’s budgetHigh Court hearing to sanction Bawag takeover of PTSB set for October 27th Latest news from the world of sport, along with the best in opinion from our outstanding team of sports writers
Chelsea Arsenal Morgan Rogers Xabi Alonso Transfer News
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Chelsea Held to Disappointing Draw by Aston Villa in WSL OpenerKatie McCabe's Chelsea debut ended in frustration as an 80th-minute own goal by Veerle Buurman canceled out Lauren James' early strike, earning Aston Villa their first-ever point against the Blues. Despite dominating possession and shots, Chelsea failed to convert their superiority into goals, while Villa's resilience and a key save by Akane Okuma secured a memorable draw.
Read more »
Morgan Rogers' €136m Chelsea move sets British record and highlights transfer divideMorgan Rogers moved from Aston Villa to Chelsea for a British record €136m after Arsenal stalled near €75m. The transfer exposes the Premier League's new trading model as Chelsea prepare to visit Arsenal.
Read more »
Arsenal recover from early Morgan Rogers goal to beat Chelsea 2-1Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium, with Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard scoring either side of half-time. The result ended Chelsea's unbeaten start and kept Arsenal perfect in their Premier League title defence.
Read more »
Arsenal recover from Rogers early goal to beat Chelsea 2-1 and keep perfect startArsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates, with Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard scoring after Morgan Rogers' opener. The win ended Chelsea's unbeaten start under Xabi Alonso and kept Arsenal perfect after three Premier League games.
Read more »