According to Rio Ferdinand’s autobiography, which was released last week, Alex Ferguson’s favourite word in pre-match team talks was: “CONCENTRATE!”
Ferguson understood that the outcome of the biggest matches was frequently decided by one minor lapse of concentration, and so it proved at Stamford Bridge yesterday.
The goal through which Chelsea took the lead obviously owed everything to a brilliant dribble by Eden Hazard past three Arsenal players, but Hazard would not have had the chance to make that run if, seconds earlier, Kieran Gibbs had not momentarily appeared to forget which match he was playing in.
Eager to atone for the 6-0 defeat they suffered at the same ground last season, Arsenal had given a good account of themselves in the first half hour, which was competitive enough that Arsène Wenger and JoséMourinho at one point started shoving each other on the sideline, to the obvious delight of the fans sitting behind them.
Like Chelsea’s recent game at Manchester City, this was a frenetic, pacey, physical, full-throttle contest, so Gibbs’ little lapse, when it came, was jarringly obvious.
Andre Schürrle was called offside and Gibbs bent down to place the ball for the free kick. He saw Alexis Sanchez up the line ahead of him, and opted to restart play with a quick ball forward towards his team-mate.
Unfortunately, in this instant Gibbs also seemed to momentarily forget the tempo of the game. He should have fizzed the ball towards Sanchez, who would have been well capable of controlling it, but instead rolled the ball up the line so casually that by the time the Chilean took a touch, Branislav Ivanovic was already almost upon him.
Only mistake
Although Chelsea still had a lot to do, there was an eerie sense of inevitability about how the move unfolded. Ivanovic crushed Sanchez in the challenge and played it infield to Nemanja Matic, who played a quick pass forward to Cesc Fabregas, who laid it off to Hazard, who did what Hazard does.
Just for a second Arsenal’s competitive intensity had slackened, and that was all Chelsea needed to finish them off. That slack pass was probably the only mistake Gibbs made in the game, but it signalled weakness at a crucial moment. Chelsea don’t make that kind of mistake, which is Mourinho’s great quality as a manager. His teams don’t always give the impression of joy, but their focus never falters.
Too tired
Arsenal had more of the ball in the second half but that was because Chelsea were standing off and waiting for their chance to score the second. That arrived around 80 minutes, when once again Chelsea won the ball and immediately worked it to Fabregas in midfield.
Mathieu Flamini was too tired at that stage to close down Fabregas and the player Wenger decided he didn't need during the summer had ample time and space to pick out Diego Costa with a brilliantly-flighted 40-yarder.
Just as he did in his Arsenal days, Fabregas looks a better player in the Premier League than he ever did in Spain. Mourinho would probably argue this is because his role in the Chelsea team is so clearly defined.
Before the match he had explained how he had persuaded Fabregas to join him at Chelsea. “I told him this is the way we want to play, this is the way we are going to develop the team. No way with me are you going to play ‘fake No 9’, outside-left, outside-right. What I need is this, this and this’. Everything was so clean.”
It sounded as though Mourinho’s comments had been coloured by the urge to get in a couple of veiled digs at Pep Guardiola, but you can’t dispute that he understands how to get the best out of the player.
Frustratingly ineffective
There is a long list of creative players who have found it difficult to thrive in Mourinho’s teams – Arjen Robben, Kaka,
Juan Mata
– but it’s notable that he was also Mesut Özil’s coach during the most productive phase of the Arsenal playmaker’s career – the three years at
Real Madrid
when he averaged better than an assist every two games in league and
Champions League
. Mourinho seemed to have genuine regard for Özil, once describing him as the world’s best number 10.
Yesterday Özil was again frustratingly ineffective, and for all Wenger’s principled devotion to attacking football, he doesn’t seem to press the German’s psychological buttons as effectively as his previous manager did.
Every time Mourinho has won a title he has done it leading from the front; building an early lead and keeping it until the end. His teams excel at getting to the pitch of the competition right from the beginning. Chelsea had more players at the World Cup than any English club except Manchester United, but they started the season like a side that had had months to play its way into form.
Mourinho's players know he is contemptuous of weakness and losers: they saw what he did to Fernando Torres. He gave a glimpse of his own attitude in the 92nd minute, when he thought Costa had wasted a simple chance to make it 3-0 (in fact, he had been offside). The Chelsea manager slumped to his chair after staging a great pantomime of disgust. The third goal would have meant nothing but Mourinho still wanted it badly. That's one reason why this Chelsea team will take a lot of catching.
