The Benchmark

Carlos Tevez and Frank Lampard. Between them 650 Premier League appearances and 209 goals, 5 league winners medals, 4 FA Cups, numerous awards and countless accolades. And zero minutes played over the weekend. Interesting, to say the least, how two players who have, even as recently as six months ago, been the central to the success of their own clubs.

They were joined on the sidelines - at least for a time - by Mario Balotelli, James Milner, Didier Drogba, and Florent Malouda respectively, while the likes of Ryan Giggs, Steven Gerrard, Andrei Arshavin, and Marouane Chamakh sat our varying periods of Manchester United's, Liverpool's and Arsenal's own Premier League commitments. Stellar, and in some cases legendary, names. But then some of those, established as they may be, were returning from injury, or have already been consigned (resigned?) to the part of a squad player for months or even years.

There are very few players who can and who have single-handedly galvanised a team or won a game. Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard famously did it for Manchester United and Liverpool on many occasions, most notably perhaps against Juventus and AC Milan in the Champions League. It is no stretch, perhaps, to say that without Carlos Tevez, Manchester City would not have enjoyed all the success they have in the past few years. His arrival and presence at Eastlands/the Etihad was a welcome, necessary and and for most of his stay he seemed altogether indispensable. But then he completed his traditional two-year stint at a club (the longest he has stayed at any one side since originally leaving Boca Juniors) and wanted out. Crisis, headlines, spanner.

I have previously written about Chelsea, and when I saw the team sheets for their match against Swansea, I was actually excited. No Lampard? Again? AVB stamping his authority on a Chelsea side and dressing room that has for so long appear to have dictated the squad selections of Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink, and Carlo Ancelotti? Potentially huge news, the exclusion of the midfielder with the most goals in Premier League history. While it was evident that Lampard fit poorly into AVB's preferred 4-3-3 formation (which differs from Mourinho's in many aspects), many curious minds wondered if the young manager would yield to perceived player and perhaps supporter pressure to select the England man. But even Capello has started to lose faith in the former Swansea player who once made over 150 consecutive league appearances for the Blues.

And yet, even with a skipper that wants to leave and a key midfielder performing markedly below his previous standards, Manchester City and Chelsea continue to perform excellently. Second and third in the league, only because of the brilliance of Manchester United (and possibly the inconsistency of Arsenal and Liverpool), the futures for blue sides of Manchester and London seem bright.

Kick in the Arsenal

"Bloody hell, French? I've got to play for a Frenchman? You must be joking."

The quote has long been attributed to legendary Arsenal hardman Tony Adams, upon hearing that Arsene Wenger would be the new manager of the side. I feel it's quite poignant right now.

I've come to realize that I tend to write a lot about Arsenal, even though I am far from a fan. Again, as mentioned before, I don't mean to demean or put down a club that is clearly going through a horrendous period of time, but these events are exactly what needs to be looked at.

The last time I took a long, hard, look at the Gunners, they had just been shot down at Old Trafford, and were still winless this season, with the worst defensive record in the league. Since then, they've managed a win, draw and loss in three games and truth be told, I'm still far from convinced that they will exit this slump anytime soon.

Their solitary win came at home against a side that at the time had not scored in the BPL (and looked like they should have against Arsenal) and they drew with the reigning Bundesliga champions in Germany. The latter result seems like a good one, but considering Dortmund were fourth seeds, it speaks volumes for the European credentials that Monsieur Wenger has gone on for so long about. And to be frank, his London side were battered throughout the game, and the lead they took was unlikely, at best. The Black & Yellows were surely disappointed to have only gone away with a point. I won't even start on the win against Swansea, which only came about due to an uncharacteristic blunder from unsung hero Michel Vorm.

I watched and examined the Blackburn-Arsenal game in great detail, as did many others, I'm sure. It goes without saying that once again, the Arsenal defence was in shambles. The terms "diabolical", "disastrous", "calamitous", and "amateur" have been used, and are thoroughly deserved. And this is an Arsenal defensive unit that welcomed back Alex Song and Bacary Sagna.

Now, Song and Sagna aren't exactly Vieira and Dixon. Nor are they Campbell or Cole. Heck, they aren't even Johnson and Agger, Bosingwa and Alex or even Rafael and Carrick. And I deplore Michael Carrick.

But those were two of the names missing, two of the reasons that many Arsenal fans (and staff) pointed to when they conceded 8 against United. They were back, and conceded four against Blackburn. Blackburn Rovers, who were until that point winless in the league, led by the only man that might have been under even more pressure that Arsene Wenger. And Song and Sagna were helped by the presence of new recruit Per Mertesacker, German international and who has played at two World Cups.

Or were they?

Mertesacker looks twice the player of Koscielny and Squillaci (put together), but that might be his biggest problem. He's huge. For so long, Arsenal's defensive frailties when dealing with set pieces and crosses have been picked apart - 51 of the last 100 goals they've let in before the win at Shrewsbury have been from such situations - and the big man's arrival was seen as Wenger's answer to that. We remember, of course, that Mertesacker's (panic?) purchase was only because the pursuits of Gary Cahill and Christopher Samba were in vain.

But even with Mertesacker, two of the four Arsenal conceded came from crosses and set pieces. His presence has failed to offer a solid base for the Arsenal back line, which was also evident in the (two) failed offside traps that led to Yakubu's opener. And Yakubu isn't even the sprightly sort of forward that is known for breaking the move. Andre Santos, another new defensive purchase, was most at fault for the goal, being yards behind his team-mates (who weren't in line anyway). But back to Mertesacker, there were times during the game where his addition to the side failed to help Arsenal against Rovers' set-pieces, especially in the first half.

With the transfer window shut, there isn't really much that Arsenal can do to address these concerns, other than wait for the return of Thomas Vermaelen. The way a side with such a history and (supposed) pedigree is banking so much on one defender speaks volumes for the aspirations and ambitions for the club that went a season unbeaten not so long ago. Their rivals have managed to get through even more injuries (United & Tottenham), player bans (City), loss of form (Chelsea) and even fewer options (Liverpool).

I have long accused Arsene Wenger for poor or even a lack of long-term planning, most recently after the 8-2 debacle at Old Trafford. If that was just a blip, albeit an astounding one, conceding four against Blackburn - when it could have been more - suggests that their defensive weakness is a problem that will only get worse as the season progresses and more and more teams start looking to exploit it as their primary game-plan. Purchases and player returns have not helped at all, and what lies in store for the Gunners?

Arsene Wenger has apparently survived a "vote of confidence" from the Arsenal board, which suggests, ironically, his position is more tenuous than it has ever been in all his years in charge, despite the Arsenal ship veering so dangerously and dramatically off-course in the past year (or more). Tony Adams is the kind of player most Arsenal fans have deemed missing from their side, and perhaps like he said so long ago, such defensive solidarity might elude Arsenal for as long as Wenger steers this domed vessel.

A Tactical Analysis: Chelsea

I've been looking forward to writing this for a long time, and not because I'm keen to critique Chelsea or their players. In fact, this is the first time Chelsea has interested me in a long time, and I find myself looking forward to Chelsea games every weekend, though not necessarily due to any support for the club.

Much was made of the London club's acquisition of young manager Andre Villas-Boas. His heritage and meteoric rise to fame - spectacular league and European success - drew quick comparisons to former mentor Jose Mourinho, and in many ways both can be said to be cut from the same cloth. It remains to be seen if "AVB" is tailor-made for Chelsea as Roman Abramovich continues his barren quest for European glory.

AVB's Porto finished the league season unbeaten, winning 27 out of 30 games, with the most potent attack and the best defensive record in the league (conceding only 13 goals). Admittedly, it would have been difficult not to stroll to success in one of the "lesser" leagues with a squad boasting the likes of Hulk, Falcao and Joao Moutinho, but their domination continued in Europe as well. Starting with a 7-2 aggregate victory of eventual Belgian champions Genk, they finished the group stage unbeaten and claimed the scalps of CSKA Moscow, Sevilla, Spartak Moscow, Villarreal and league rivals Benfica on the way to lift the trophy. That they did so with some style (scoring 5 goals three times in the knockout stage) is more than impressive.

For the vast majority of the season, Villas-Boas employed a 4-3-3 formation home and away. While many variations of this formation exist (think about the difference between Mourinho's Chelsea and Guardiola's Barcelona), I personally find AVB's permutation quite interesting. A key component of AVB's 4-3-3 is the way his central midfielder (Fernando) drops deep to allow the defence (particularly the wing-backs) to push up to provide width for an otherwise narrow line-up. The fact that the "wingers" of Varela and Hulk cut inside and scored hatfuls of goals suggests that they aren't the typical wide men that many would expect (more on Hulk later). Additionally, his left-sided central midfielder, Joao Moutinho (a Football Manager favorite) acted as his chief playmaker.

As far as the forward line goes, the central striker (Falcao) was the speedy finisher, while his right-sided wingman (Hulk) wasn't really a winger at all but an intelligent and dangerous striker with pace, power and panache that would and could drive inside and either take or make a chance (Henry at Arsenal, Ronaldo at Man Utd, etc). The left-sided forward was a more traditional winger, though the number of goals Silvetre Varela scored would suggest he is more than that as well.

Looking at the Chelsea team, recent purchases and the last four games, one can see how AVB has attempted to drape this winning formula over a side that is expected to do well.

Attacking wingbacks? Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa. Ashley Cole, in fact, has been found to be the farthest man forward for Chelsea in most of their attacks. Deep-lying central midfielder? Jon Obi Mikel for three games, though his lack of creativity meant that a reunion for Raul Meireles was on the cards. The former Liverpool man played this role excellently against Sunderland, linking up with his team-mates and initiating several moves (including a goal). Left-sided playmaker? Frank Lampard has featured in this slot in every game so far this season for Chelsea, and stats have shown that he has actually created more chances for his team-mates than anyone else in the BPL. He might be more effective driving forward (a few years ago?) but this is the way he plays - or more poignantly, is asked to play - now. Chelsea's dogged pursuit of a certain Luka Modric also hints at AVB's preference for a player that fits this framework. Finally, the forward three have rotated almost non-stop since January 2011, when Fernando Torres joined from Liverpool. The sacked Carlo Ancelotti was faced with the problem of how to play Drogba and Torres together. AVB simply didn't (save one game). Instead, he opted for the Spaniard despite his dismal form. Why? As mentioned earlier, AVB's 4-3-3 needs a speey central striker, a Falcao-sort. And for so many years there were few better than El Nino at that role. Left winger? Frank Malouda, and now Juan Mata. Strong right-sided forward? Surprisingly not Drogba most of the time, but he originally played Salomon Kalou there, and Belgian prodigy Romelu Lukaku (the mini-Drog) and athletic Daniel Sturridge featured on the right wing prominently when they have played this season.

In my opinion, the purchases of Mata and Lukaku, and the failed one of Modric, point to AVB trying to fit his Chelsea players into the formation that has brought him such huge and quick success in the short managerial career. It remains to be seen how effective this would be, but judging from their most recent game (Sunderland away), the pieces are fitting rather well. Meireles, Mata, and Sturridge/Lukaku may hold the key to this formation's (and Villas-Boas') success or failure, and perhaps the only flaw in this venture is that Villas-Boas lacks that central playmaker and a consistent central striker (Anelka might be his best short-term solution).

I'm intrigued as to how Chelsea line up against Manchester United this weekend, as the Red Devils aim to continue their simply breathtaking form. Between AVB's 4-3-3 and United's swarming red tide, it promises to be either a wonderful spectacle, or a tactical chess-match. Or both.