The fallout of the tempestuous match between Chelsea and
Arsenal at the weekend continued on Tuesday when the English FA revised the ban
handed down to Arsenal’s Gabriel following the red card he got from Mike Dean.
Instead, Diego Costa who was charged for violent conduct will now serve a three
match ban. The former still has an improper conduct charge hanging over his
head for which he has up still Thursday 6pm to response. Chelsea released a statement on its official
site yesterday criticising the verdict of the English FA. But in hindsight,
Diego Costa brought it all upon himself by his behaviour. However, the decision
by the FA misses the point in respect of the abject performance of Mike Dean on
Saturday. The referee admitted in his report that he did not see the incidence
between Diego Costa and Laurent Koscielny for which Costa has now been
censored. Instead, Mike Dean’s
performance has been rewarded as he would be in charge of the match between West
Ham and Norwich
this weekend. Since his decision was reversed, shouldn’t he have been censored
for his performance?
While Mike Dean took centre stage at Stamford
Bridge on Saturday, his refereeing
distracted from the main theme on the day which was the performance of both Chelsea and Arsenal. the
later play Warsall on Wednesday as they start the defence of the Capital One
Cup they won last season, while Arsenal face a stern test in the North London
derby against Tottenham Hotspur.
However, few column inches have been given to the
performance of Arsenal on Saturday; instead the other sideshow took centre
stage. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have not been convincing this season as the team
as struggled for form especially in front of goal. Although many would claim
that with the red card, a clear appraisal of what would have happened on
Saturday after ninety minutes cannot be arrived at, yet Chelsea’s first goal
came from a set piece which could have been defended better, the number of
players on the pitch should not have stop the players from preventing Kurt
Zouma from having a free header to give his side the lead. Defending set piece
used to be Arsenal’s Achilles Heel in time past, and the goal on Saturday was
the second time in three days that they had let in a goal from a set piece.
Dinamo Zagreb’s second goal in the Champions League came from a corner kick.
With the injuries racking up for Arsenal, Arsene Wenger’s
reticence to sign an outfield player is beginning to hurt his side, Francis
Coquelin could be missing for a month. And the debacle that is the striker’s
situation at the club is becoming more apparent, with Oliver Giroud and Theo
Walcott still finding their feet as far as this season is concerned. The former
has been particularly disappointing in front of goal with his knack for missing
sitters, while Theo Walcott has not fared any better. It leaves Arsenal terribly
short in the early months of the season. With Danny Welbeck, Tomas Rosicky and
Jack Wilshere are long term injury absentees, the chance to change the dynamics
of the team through the existing personnel is not there, while any long term
absence for the tigerish Francis Coquelin would leave Arsenal in deep trouble
in midfield as Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini cannot offer what Coquelin brings
to the side in the middle of the park.
The performance of Mike Dean at Stamford Bridge
was one thing, but the performance of Arsenal was another, the shocking display
of the referee should not hide the fact that Arsenal were equally as poor as
him on the day.
The team would have to find a way to reinvent itself in the
coming matches starting with the North London
derby on Wednesday, because Arsene Wenger and his team will not have a second
chance of hiding under the performance of a referee. The players have to starting
doing the talking on the pitch with their performance.
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