Arsenal 3 Chelsea 0 shows Arsene Wenger’s side can win the title… so long as they don’t let themselves down again

Tony Evans26 September 2016

It’s inevitable as Bank Holiday rain and invariably as disappointing. Half-a-dozen times a season there will be an outburst of optimism in north London and, suddenly, briefly, Arsenal feel like title contenders.

After the 3-0 victory over Chelsea the mood at the Emirates is ebullient. Rightly so. Arsene Wenger’s team were superb. They played with the intensity they so often lack. Their superstars — Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil — were spellbinding. The supporting cast, to a man, were excellent. For once the Gunners were more than the sum of their parts.

Yes, Antonio Conte’s team were a shambles. The Chelsea slump that began a year ago under Jose Mourinho might not have bottomed out. There is more pain to come at Stamford Bridge.

Yet that does not take away from how good Arsenal were in pressing and punishing their local rivals.

Wenger’s team looked like a side that can win the Premier League. Sanchez was a bundle of energy. Ozil, at his best, is an arch-manipulator of games and he tormented Chelsea. They both produced the sort of game-changing display that can put Arsenal in the mix when the title is decided. If either of these players can replicate this level of performance 20 times over the course of the season the Premier League trophy is attainable.

At their best, Ozil and Sanchez are up there with the finest in England. The onus is on the German and Chilean to carry Wenger’s challenge. The Frenchman has trusted the final phase of his long Arsenal career to the pair. Are they as committed as their manager? That will be the determining factor at the Emirates this season.

The Chelsea game gave other causes for positivity, though. Petr Cech gives Arsenal a sense of security they lacked for years. Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi are showing the first signs of a developing partnership in the centre of defence. Koscielny even rattled Diego Costa, a forward who believed bullying Arsenal defenders was his birthright. Granit Xhaka produced an impressive display as substitute and Alex Iwobi adds a mobile, intelligent injection of pace in the front line. There was so much to be positive about that it’s easy to forget the lessons of history, which are simple. Arsenal will click in this way a handful of times in a season and then let themselves down against lesser opposition. It seems preordained.

After the 1-1 draw against Paris St Germain in the Champions League, the Arsenal rollercoaster was on the slide. Now it’s up again.

Against Basle on Wednesday and with a winnable League match away to Burnley on Sunday, Wenger must continue the upward momentum. Especially as Tottenham and Manchester City, the early pacesetters, meet at White Hart Lane this weekend.

Arsenal have to find consistency. It needs to be close to the level they displayed against Chelsea and significantly higher than the lacklustre performances against PSG and Southampton this month. Otherwise they will continue to dangle their fans on an emotional pendulum and frustrate those of us who think that this squad has more to offer than merely booking an annual spot in the Champions League.

Now is the time for this team to prove they can put a run of results together. The next four League matches are winnable. After Burnley they host Swansea and Middlesbrough and then go to Sunderland. After that it gets more difficult. There is a home derby against Spurs and Manchester United at Old Trafford.

You can almost bet Arsenal will beat their more famous rivals and slip up against the ‘lesser’ sides. The boom and unlikely bust mentality of Wenger’s men has frustrated for too long.

The only thing Arsenal have done consistently in recent years is disappoint. It’s hard to believe this season will be different.

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