Arsenal, who have lost four of the previous five rounds of the Premier League and originally finished fourth in the Premier League with 99%, stepped into next season's Champions League with one foot, and seem to be once again going to drop the chain at a critical moment. The biggest problem is that in these 5 games, the team has only scored 2 goals in total, and the lack of front is the biggest problem.
Chelsea did not want to arrange Christensen and Sal to partner in the defensive line, a cure for Arsenal's problems. From averaging 0.4 goals per game to 4 goals a night, Arsenal, which has improved efficiency by 10 times, once again sees hope of entering the Champions League.
01. Christensen: Unable to play the role of center three centre-backs
Christensen: The bench is not his advantage
Chelsea used a 3412 formation, essentially to increase the fluidity of both the offensive and defensive ends. But Lukaku replaced Havertz as the starter, while giving Christensen the centre-back, were all failures of this formation.
First, Lukaku's lack of movement frequency affects the efficiency of the interspersed substitution of the front line, and Christensen is not suitable for the center, his style is more conservative, the ability to make up for the lateral movement is weak, and once the Chelsea midfield is pressed forward, the problem of the back line will be somewhat similar to that of Manchester United.
Under this wave of defensive positions, Christensen should actually move closer to James. Because there are too many people in the back point of the party, there is no need for him to stand in the middle.
Worse still, Christensen's traverse speed is slow, so the ability to remedy is not strong. Fortunately, this time, after Tavarez received Gabriel's ball over the top, the cross sent by him was of low quality and was directly destroyed by Mendy.
Looking at Chelsea's defensive position this time, James is still relatively well protected, and can jam the space at the back point.
Therefore, Christensen in the middle of the road, as a defender who coordinates the overall situation, the coverage and complement ability he provides are the key to determining the success or failure of this wave of defense.
Saka's passing of the slow Alonso is not surprising, and Sal's replacement is also timely. The fundamental problem is that when James can protect the back point, Christensen gives up the defense of Nketiah and chooses a conservative position to be a bit "shrinking".
It can't be said that Christensen's first step back is a problem, under normal circumstances, defenders will have such an option.
The problem was that his athleticism was so poor that when he saw that his opponent actually only had an inverted triangle and a passing line, the Dane couldn't stand up, and eventually could only watch his opponent shoot, but fortunately Nketiah actually shot at goal.
Christensen's biggest problem: the confrontation is too inefficient
Christensen has height and skill, and in the absence of confrontation, he will look very good on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. The key problem is that at high speed, he is not good at confrontation, and he cannot even find the opportunity to fight.
As can be seen from the statistics, Christensen, who played 45 minutes and was replaced, only tried 3 confrontations in total and completed 2 effective defenses in the case of Arsenal's many attacking opportunities. But more often than not, he doesn't even point to it.
This time the return pass error caused Nketiya to score, but it was also caused by the problem at high speed. Christensen is hard to come up with pressure, so it's troublesome to drop a single at a critical moment.
02. Arsenal are easy to get into the box: Chelsea defenders can't keep up
As can be seen from the statistics of the first half, Arsenal, despite not having the right to control the ball, scored 8 shots on goal, 6 of which were in the box.
If arsenal's main back is injured, the center back is obviously inferior to the strength, allowing Chelsea to get a chance. On the other side of the pitch, chelsea's defenders also have big problems.
It can be clearly seen from the GIF that Nketiah took the ball with his back this time, and Christensen's upturned robbery had no power, allowing the opponent to easily turn around and handle the ball.
When Saka then crossed from the flank, Christensen was exposed to bouncing problems and could not effectively interfere with the cross in the middle, almost giving Nketija behind him a chance.
If there was one player in the first half who could compare with Christensen, it was his defensive teammate Sal.
The Arsenal side's attack is mainly launched through Saka on the right, and he is very relaxed whether it is against Alonso or Sal.
The biggest problem was that Smithroe took the ball in the big penalty area line, and then Christensen and Sal's consecutive feet failed to form any interference, and finally Smithroe hit a very threatening shot.
From the GIF, you can better feel the most disappointing wave of Chelsea's defense in this game. With such ease that Smithroot completed the shot, Chelsea's centre-back not only lost his proper position, but also the difference in his ability to play on his feet made people cry.
In fact, Arsenal's second goal is a similar reason, Sal and Kante are very poor in this game.
At the same time, Christensen as the center of the defender, his position choice is very conservative, and the lack of athleticism to remedy, so that Arsenal get enough passing and shooting space.
03. Replace Christensen: Chelsea have not been able to make things better
Christensen's performance was indeed poor, and he was replaced after half-time for the second time in his last three games. However, Chelsea conceded two more goals in the second half as the team's other defence, Undercover Sal, was still on the pitch.
As a centre-back, 12 of the 21 one-on-one matches, 6 steals and 1 last-man clearance are good statistics. But he conceded 22 possessions and was passed over three times, making him the most unstable dark thunder in defense.
After Thiago Silva came out, the 37-year-old veteran, although he could not keep up with the "slippery" Nketiah, was able to complete some key remedies with experience, this time the tackle was broken, as long as Sal stood in a normal position.
Unfortunately, Sal was always making mistakes like headless flies on the defensive end, and he bounced the ball back to Nketiah, making the opponent's second goal and giving Arsenal another lead.
In the last moment, the impetuous Chelsea once again made unnecessary mistakes, and Azpilicueta pulled down Saka in a panic to send a penalty to allow the away team to seal a 4-2 victory.
After winning the match, Arsenal returned to no. 5 on the table, equalling Tottenham hotspur on points and trailing their opponents by eight goal differences.
Considering that Arsenal and Tottenham have a head-on match on May 13, this may also be the final of the Champions League ticket battle. The winning side will enter the Champions League, which is making a lot of money.
Conclusion:
Arsenal's biggest problem before was that the scoring efficiency was too low, and the outbreak of Nketija in this game was a huge gain for the team? Or is it a "gift" from their rivals in the same city, Chelsea?
Maybe in the next game against Manchester United's defence, we can continue to test how the Arsenal striker is doing.