The Mourniho Arsenal Voodoo That Will Never Come To Pass

On the heels of the international break, one of the most anticipated managerial match-ups happened. At least this time around, no hands were thrown.

Arsenal-United has always been a historic match-up with two established teams consistently vying for relevancy in the EPL. What made this week entirely more exciting was that it was also the ground of yet another Mourinho vs. Wenger show-downs, which by comparison to previous encounters was rather tame. No hands were thrown. No one assaulted anyone on and off the pitch, and barring some very horrendous management decisions from the Frenchman, Mourinho pretty much got his tactics spot on.

Cameron Climie: Now to be fair, I said that this was the game that Arsenal would lose. So they at least exceeded my expectations.

Serge: To be fair, I knew something was off, because the lead-up to this game was tamer than usual.

I love these matches, but, for once Mourinho got his tactics right. And it’s not just that he got it right, it’s that Wenger got it so wrong.

Cam: I was just about to ask how much of it was Wenger getting it wrong.

Serge: First of all, the starting midfield of Elneny and Coquelin is where possessions go to perish. Considering the amount of midfield talent, sticking Ramsey on the winning. There were flashes of Arsenal past with Ramsey on the wing and not enough pace to break down defenders. Especially on the same wing as Valencia. It was difficult to watch.

I don’t understand why Iwobi wasn’t starting. We haven’t had a shot on goal until we scored at the 89th minute.

Cam: From what I saw it was very uncharacteristically Arsenal.

Serge: It was very “last year.” We got positions wrong, especially peculiar because of what’s been working so well this year: Iwobi on the left, Walcott on the right, Sanchez down the middle. Utilize that speed. Especially against a backfield that was missing Smalling and Bailly — a depleted back four.

It was a very weird tactical approach and I don’t know how much the international break had to do with this either. Sanchez played with a knock, which I will absolutely never forgive the Chile manager for. Mostly because you know he’s going to run and exert himself. It doesn’t matter how hurt he is… Take him out on like the 60th minute. Don’t make him do all 90.

Cam: And that Chile team plays in the style where their forwards just get ran into the ground.

Serge: And you can see that. You can see that in him. Ozil was bad as well. We’re notoriously bad coming off international breaks, but I think the biggest disservice to the match was not having another midfield facilitator. Coquelin and Elneny are not sufficient against a team that’s sporting Pogba and Mata in the middle.

Cam: Especially when Mourinho teams aren’t noted for heavy possession, so it’s a little bit odd to me. As much as I said a couple weeks ago that a good strategy is just to sit back and let Mourinho teams attack you, it’s a little bit weird to me that a team as possession happy as Arsenal would do that.

Serge: There were many little things that I could pick on. Obviously absence of Bellerin was huge. His pace on the right has been a revelation for the past two years for us. It seemed like one manager got it so right and one got it so wrong, and I’m not sure why. I think to me that just proves how much Mourinho is in Wenger’s head. To change your style so drastically against what has been working and to almost play into the expectations.

Cam: I think possibly it’s that Mourinho teams have always sort of been this boogeyman for Arsenal. It doesn’t matter what everyone’s form is going in, Jose will manage to win. It might have just been a “hedge your bets, just don’t lose, just don’t drop points in the race for fourth.”

Serge: To be fair, last year? This is a game that we most certainly lose.

Cam: Well, in that sense, this is a plus.