Live

LIVE: OTB Breakfast

07:30 AM-10:00 AM

LIVE: OTB Breakfast
Advertisement
Soccer

Pat Nevin on "scary" tactical gap between Arsenal and Chelsea

Pat Nevin says the tactical gap between Arsenal and Chelsea at the weekend was downright "scary"....



Pat Nevin on "scary" t...
Soccer

Pat Nevin on "scary" tactical gap between Arsenal and Chelsea

Pat Nevin says the tactical gap between Arsenal and Chelsea at the weekend was downright "scary".

Premier League leaders Chelsea came out on top in the London derby to all but end Arsenal's title aspirations with a 3-1 result at Stamford Bridge.

The Gunners often slip up tactically in big games and Saturday's match was no different against a team well drilled by Antonio Conte.  

"[Arsene Wenger] was so far tactically out-thought by Antonio Conte at the week that it was scary," said Nevin on Off The Ball.

"In the first half, Chelsea did this thing -  quite often they hit the ball quite long up to Diego Costa - from the start of the game, they kept on playing these balls along their byline and they almost got caught a couple of times.

"But they were playing it out from the back. He absolutely refused, Thibaut Courtois, to play it long. You realised, they're trying to drag Arsenal on and with Arsenal's desperation they just kept on going on.

"And as the game wore on, I just  thought, 'you're leaving your entire own half of the pitch for Chelsea to run into. Don't do that against Chelsea for goodness sake!'

"Chelsea had, I'd say, eight nearly chances where the final ball is played correctly and they went in one on one." 

Nevin also felt the 3-1 scoreline was "very, very light on Arsenal". He also feels Wenger gets found out tactically against the very best tactical minds in football.

"There's a reason why they don't often get by the final stages of the Champions League, there's a reason why they stop short at fourth and that might be it," he said.

Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!

Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.


Read more about

Soccer