Chelsea's Massive Transfer Blunder Makes Arsenal's Mistake Look Minor

LONDON — Few Premier League managers understand the subtle yet crucial importance of controlling the midfield quite like Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso.

As has been widely noted this week, Arsenal and Chelsea's respective managers both came through the same small youth setup in San Sebastián, spending formative years competing against one another. Those countless hours battling on the beaches of Antiguo were essentially one long, drawn-out midfield contest.

Given that background, Arteta's drive to assemble the deepest roster of technically gifted, physically imposing midfielders makes perfect sense. It was instilled in him by his youth club, Antiguoko, where "everything was about the ball." Those words came from Alonso himself, yet the Chelsea manager—whether intentionally or not—has found himself undermanned in the very area of the pitch that sees the most action.

Alonso ended the match with two natural right backs deployed in midfield, while Arteta introduced two World Cup winners from the bench to reinforce that central zone. Bruno Guimarães, Arsenal's $101 million headline midfield acquisition of the summer, wasn't even called upon in Sunday's 2–1 win. Supporters at the Emirates briefly set aside their frustrations over the club's failure to land a new striker.

Arsenal Punish Chelsea's Soft Center

Still running this town. pic.twitter.com/svX6z11STU

Bad luck, a sense of "honor" and a former Arsenal forward all combined to leave Alonso with this undesirable midfield setup. Moisés Caicedo's injury-plagued start to the campaign has led the former Real Madrid boss to field Reece James and Roméo Lavia alongside each other. Before this season, the pair had never once shared a midfield together.

Monaco's highly-rated Lamine Camara had been lined up as a savvy Deadline Day addition, only for the French club to tear up the agreed terms late on Tuesday night when Folarin Balogun, the Gunners' own academy product, appeared set to join Everton. Chelsea had the option to revive a move for Enzo Fernández to Manchester City once Camara fell through, but the Blues held firm out of "honor." Alonso might well have preferred an extra body in midfield over taking the moral high ground.

Some argue that Chelsea are deliberately challenging the conventional wisdom around possession dominance this season. This was the third consecutive match in which the Blues completed fewer passes than their opponents—something that never occurred more than twice in a row last season. Yet each fixture has been heavily shaped by an early goal: Morgan Rogers's rolling volley in the second minute on Sunday continued a trend of fast starts. With a lead to protect, sitting deep and hitting on the counter is a perfectly logical approach.

Chelsea's Passing Stats Under Xabi Alonso

Stats via FotMob

It marked the first time Arsenal had found themselves chasing a game since their trip to Manchester City back in mid-April. They responded with fierce, relentless intensity, wresting possession from Chelsea at every opportunity. Emiliano Martínez was called upon to make five saves, all from within six yards of his goal line. The one he really ought to have kept out came from Kai Havertz on the edge of the area, which crept into the bottom corner. "We suffered," Alonso conceded.

Chelsea deserve credit for jolting Arsenal into a briefly disjointed spell. The side that typically plays with a cautious hand pressed the accelerator, allowing Declan Rice to surge into the spaces where Chelsea's midfield should have been with alarming ease.

As Manchester United supporters who haven't yet erased the memories of Ruben Amorim's reign can confirm, the two-man midfield in a 3-4-2-1 is highly susceptible to being overrun. Lavia and James were repeatedly pulled in opposite directions by Arsenal's swift switches to the flanks, with Rogers and Cole Palmer far too slow to cover the resulting gaps.

Martin Ødegaard's winner (above) was a textbook case of overloading and exploiting blind spots. Lavia (left blue circle) was drawn toward Christos Tzolis, taking the risk of leaving Martin Lewis-Skelly unchecked. Maxence Lacroix was occupied tracking the advancing Riccardo Calafiori while Wesley Fofana was preoccupied with Havertz (two red circles). James should have had an eye on Ødegaard (in yellow) but allowed him to ghost into the box unmarked before composing himself and firing into the roof of the net.

Alonso bemoaned the defensive lapses that led to that goal, but what can he realistically expect when relying on at least one player operating out of position? Malo Gusto's introduction in the second half meant two fullbacks were moonlighting in midfield as Arsenal closed the game out.

"We want to be protagonists," Alonso lamented. Perhaps he should have recruited some leading men.

Arteta Forced to Tweak After Lack of Transfers

It was far from a flawless transfer window for Arsenal. Arteta may have claimed that every box had been "100% ticked," but the requirement for a top-quality centre forward was conspicuously left unfulfilled. Not only had the Gunners missed out on Julián Alvarez, Vinícius Júnior and Chelsea's own Rogers, but they had actually thinned their attacking depth with the departure of both Brazilian Gabriels.

Faced with no significant new arrivals, Arteta was compelled to implement some tactical adjustments.

Ødegaard drifted into the unfamiliar territory of the left flank on occasion, left back Calafiori roamed across virtually every area of the pitch except his natural position, while Havertz ventured out to the right wing to free up Bukayo Saka to make darting central runs like a traditional striker through the heart of Chelsea's back three. It was this combination play on the right that carved out the opening for Havertz to cut inside and beat Martínez at his near post for Arsenal's equalizer.

When repeatedly pressed on the absence of new attacking reinforcements ahead of Sunday's derby, Arteta pointed to the group of forwards who delivered last season's league title: "What I have to say is that I love the players that we have." That sentiment was only strengthened by this weekend's display, though whether it will hold up over the course of a full season remains to be seen.