Chelsea’s Sarri problem, Kotoko, PSG, more.

Arsenal surge past toothless Chelsea

Unai Emery went into the game against Chelsea with two things in mind. First, a repeat of the debacle at West Ham and week ago would only add more numbers to the camp that aren’t so convinced by the gaffer’s qualities. Also, a loss meant the gunners will fall behind by 9 points to Chelsea, realistically ending Arsenal’s top 4 hopes. To say the team understood the magnitude of the game is an understatement.

Emery mixed things up once again, setting up this time in a 4-4-2 diamond with Xhaka at the base, Ramsey at the top and Torreira and Guendouzi at the laterals of the midfield diamond. This formation not only allowed Emery to realise his weird obsession of playing 3 Central Defensive midfielders effectively, but also for the first time, play Aubameyang and Lacazette much closer to each other in CF positions.

For the game itself, the effective press, particularly Ramsey on Jorginho and Guendouzi on Kante forced Chelsea into uncomfortable positions and limited their attacking play to the wings. Arsenal were happy to allow Chelsea cross the ball, with the knowledge that Eden Hazard vs Sokratis /Koscielny aerially was a total mismatch.

Arsenal’s goals however, were well taken after some exquisite close control from Lacazette preceded an accurate near post finish and a Koscielny header-cum-shoulder gave Arsenal the 2-0 lead which they held on to the end.

For Chelsea, the aftermath of the game, inevitably brought about more questions of the tactics of Maurizio Sarri ,particularly Eden Hazard aa a false 9 and the unavoidable Kante-Jorginho positional debate. On one side, you have the best defensive midfielder in the league, possibly the best in the world, playing out of position. On the other hand, you have a system that is simply not going to work without Jorginho in that role. So it’s either you support the manager through this and trust that he gets it right or you might as well get another manager in.

Hector Bellerin

The only negative in Arsenal’s win on Saturday was a devastating injury to Hector Bellerin. On his return to the Arsenal starting line up after being away for about a month, Hector Bellerin put up a brilliant performance but had to be stretched off with what looked like a season-ending injury. With all that is going on behind the scenes at Arsenal regarding transfers, it is to be seen if this forces their hand in the transfer market as the options available are just not good enough.

Kotoko seal Africa return

Kotoko beat Cotton Sport Garouha of Cameroon 2-1 at the Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi on Sunday to seal their return to the group stage of the CAF confederations cup. Amos Frimpong and Maxwell Baako scored on the day for Kotoko in a comfortable victory as the porcupine warriors made it a lot easier for themselves after that important victory a week ago in Yaounde. What struck me the most is the massive support and euphoria in Kumasi in the build up to the game. Reports of a reported 30,000+ attendance at the stadium- which could have beenore had there been more tickets- only go to show that indeed our local game isn’t dead and with the right measures in place, Ghana football will get back to the top.

PSG rout Guingamp

Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani both got hattricks while Neymar got a brace as PSG defeated bottom of the table Guingamp 9-0 to stay top of league one. The hattrick took Mbappe to 17 goals in Ligue 1,only behind Lionel Messi (18) in Europe’s top 5 league’s. It is undeniably obvious how poor Guingamp were and this was a major factor in the result. However, it’s no ignoring how much Mbappe excelled partnering Edinson Cavani in his much preferred CF role, a role he excelled in during his breakthrough season in Monaco 2 years ago. With ligue 1 pretty comfortably in their hands, the next target will be to defeat their demons in Europe and make it past a revitalised Manchester United in the Round 16 tie.

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Kotoko take giant step, United, more.

Kotoko all but qualify

You will have to go back 17 years to the last time Asante Kotoko scored three goals in an away game of an African club competition. A 3-2 win in Brazzaville against AS Police saw Kotoko on their way to a 7-2 aggregate scoreline to win the tie. Kotoko reached the final of the then CAF Cup winners’ cup that year, losing to Wydad Casablanca. Those were the good old days. A different era.

17 years on, the porcupine warriors continued the trend of Ghanaian teams having good fortune on Cameroonian soil by putting up a very impressive display to beat Cotton Sport of Yaounde 3-2. The porcupine warriors were two goals up in the first 30 minutes through Emmanuel Gyamfi-for the first- and a superbly worked Maxwell Baako second. It was a very comfortable half for the porcupine warriors with the only stain in their performance being a soft penalty they gave away to let the hosts back into the game. That didn’t seem to dampen their spirit as they came back from the break and began the second half the way the did the first. They were later rewarded as Abdul Fatawu capitalised on some sloppy defending to help restore Kotoko’s two-goal advantage. Cotton Sport got a second later in the game but there was only to be one winner in this game. The porcupine warriors now carry a very good advantage back to Kumasi ahead of their return leg in a week’s time.

CK Akunnor

In a week where a rather weird minority of Kotoko fans have expressed their displeasure in the Kotoko boss and questioned his managerial nous, CK Akunnor and his team produced an outstanding display to take a massive step into qualification for the group stage of the CAF Confederations cup. The Ex- Black Stars Captain ignored the many threats and utterances(some unproffesional) and dealt with the pressure calmly to get a very brilliant result away. Surely it cannot go bad from here. Maybe now they will leave him to work.

United beat Spurs at Wembley

Life after Jose Mourinho couldn’t have been any better for Manchester United. It’s been 6 wins in as many games for the most in-form team in the last month. Their latest victim, Tottenham Hotspurs. Marcus Rashford’s brilliant strike, from a tight angle, made it into the back of the net via a fingertip from Hugo Lloris. The Frenchman at stretch couldn’t stop him from scoring. Spurs asked many questions of United in the first half, with Harry Kane and Heung-Min-Son at the centre of their attacking play. However, United stuck to their plan of catching Spurs on the break and exploiting the spaces left behind by their maurauding full backs. They looked the more threatening in the first half and were rewarded when a sublime baller over the top by Paul Pogba set Marcus Rashford on his way. The 21-year old’s strike was accurate enough to beat Hugo Lloris to hand United the lead going into the break.

If Rashford gave United the lead, then David De Gea certainly kept them in the league. In the second half, Spurs clearly showed their intent and pinned United back for almost all of the half. They did get past the defence, but there was no way past David De Gea. The Spaniard made save after save with his feet and his hands to deny Spurs. Harry Kane and Dele Alli will look back at the game not so proud of themselves for their finishing but all credit goes to David De Gea who made 11 saves in total in that second half to deny Spurs anything from this game. This is his second best tally in the league behind the 14 saves he made away to another North London team, Arsenal at the Emirates 15 months ago. In the end, the day belonged to David De Gea and Manchester United. Spurs were further left with more misery as a late injury to Kane adds to the worries of them losing Son, who joins South Korea for the Asia games for the next three weeks.

A new face at the helm

The impact of new managers in turning the fortunes of a team in poor form cannot be over emphasized. Since coming in, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer has won his first 6 games, the first ever Manchester United manager to do so and also along with Sir Matt Busby, the only ones to win their first 5 league games. This was the toughest test thus far, with a high flying spurs who had won 7 out of their last 8 games. He showed good tactical flexibility employing a false 9 system with Jesse Lingard, instead of the Marcus Rashford, who had been starting on that position since he took over. The latter’s pace was going to be influential in getting in behind the Spurs backline. United play with a sense of freedom now, as though the shackles have been broken. Paul Pogba has been at his best under the new regime with brilliant performances game after game. One reason for sacking Jose Mourinho was his failure to get the best out of the squad he had. It is fair to say the new man at the helm of affairs is certainly getting the most out of them.

Unai Emery’s Arsenal

It feels like a long time ago when Arsenal went in an amazing 22 game unbeaten streak. A streak that extended for 4 months, from August to December. A feel good factor had been restored at the Emirates and chants of ‘We’ve got our Arsenal back’ resonated throughout the stands. Have they really ‘got their Arsenal back?’ A 1-0 loss away at West Ham means after 22 games, Arsenal are on 41 points. The same tally as at this stage a season ago. A poor festive period, with 1 point from their last 4 away games and only 3 wins in the last 8 has threatened to undo and put some stain in all the good work Emery did earlier in the season. Saturday’s loss at West Ham was a perfect summary of the frustration at Arsenal. The ‘no money’ declaration at Arsenal was as shocking and disappointing as Emery’s decisions on the day. The coach set up in a rather shocking defensive shape and had no creativity whatsriver from the midfield. The 2 players to solve that, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil, who are also 2 of his assistant captains, didn’t make the starting 11. Ramsey was only good enough for the bench while Ozil couldn’t even make the Matchday squad. It was no surprise that Arsenal only looked a real threat when Ramsey came on in the 67th minute. The midfielder, who has all but agreed a move to Juventus in the summer was the only bright spark in the second half of a very drab Arsenal attacking display. Up next for Arsenal are home ties against Chelsea and United in the league and FA Cup respectively. The jury’s still out on Unai Emery’s performance at Arsenal so far. However,as much as the promises from the board has had their ears filled as though with an ear full of melted caramel, the performances of the team, Saturday for one, was an eyesore and the fans will demand better.

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