After many years living in the shadow of their city rivals, Arsenal is facing the opportunity to regain its former position, and today's confrontation in round 9 of the Premier League is an example.
With just three words uttered in July, Reece James cemented his place in the hearts of Chelsea fans, and could even be considered the first step towards becoming the new captain this season. That was when a user asked on the social network Twitter (now X) "Do you agree to join Arsenal?", the English right-back replied simply: "I say no".
The story takes place on June 30, 2023 - the day Chelsea reached an agreement to sell Mason Mount to Man Utd, and just over a week after Kai Havertz joined Arsenal. It was a sensitive time because the Blues were constantly selling players to rivals. Above all, it was a transaction with city rivals Arsenal.
James (right) disputes with Bakayo Saka in the Premier League in 2021. Photo: AP
The red-and-white team has now revived since the crisis at the end of the Arsene Wenger era. They have become the team closest to Man City in the Premier League title race. They present a dynamic style of play, full of vitality from young players, and a coach who fiercely pursues the philosophy of beautiful football.
Last season, Arsenal finished second, while Chelsea finished 10 places below them with 40 points less in a radical change under new chairman Todd Boehly. Last season, Arsenal were considered the best team since the "Invincibles" of the 2003-2004 season, while Chelsea were the most dismal since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003. In the past 20 years, they have only finished below Arsenal in the Premier League three times. During that beautiful time for the Russian billionaire, London was blue. They won two Champions Leagues, won the Premier League five times. During those years, Arsenal, nicknamed "Wenger's children", were constantly bullied by Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.
The Chelsea players who moved to Arsenal at that time mostly shone in blue, but after a successful period they wanted to switch to red. That was the case with William Gallas, Lassana Diarra, Yossi Benayoun, Petr Cech, David Luiz and Willian.
During Chelsea's peak, they often made Arsenal suffer with tall strikers like Drogba (blue) or Costa.
But that trend is set to reverse in 2023. Boss Boehly is happy to get rid of Jorginho and Havertz - the club's two highest earners and remnants of the Abramovich dynasty. But both cases fit Mikel Arteta's philosophy at Arsenal, with Havertz - at 24 - still having a bright future ahead of him.
When not transferring players to each other, the arch-rivals compete to buy players. Having failed in the Moses Caicedo deal, Arsenal focused all their efforts on Declan Rice. Rice is a product of the Chelsea academy, admired by coaches Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel. Arteta then used Rice to partner Jorginho in a 1-0 win over Man City - causing a stir among Chelsea fans on the forums.
Mykhailo Mudryk is a similar case but in reverse. Boehly was happy to snatch the Ukrainian from Arsenal for $107 million. But he never quite lived up to that price tag.
Other examples of this include Eddie Nketiah, who started at Cobham at the age of 16 before moving to Arsenal, and Gabriel Jesus, a target for Chelsea in the summer of 2022. Raheem Sterling is also a notable name as he worked with Arteta at Man City, and greatly admired the coach. Or David Raya, Arsenal's new goalkeeper, who was on the list of replacements for Kepa Arrizabalaga last summer, before Chelsea's goalkeeping coach advised on recruiting Robert Sanchez.
Despite constantly shaking up European football in recent transfer windows with a series of blockbuster deals and sky-high fees for new players, Chelsea's new owner is ambitious to build a young team like Arsenal currently has. Rice, William Saliba, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli - the current pillars of Arsenal - are Chelsea's dream, when he brought in Cole Palmer, Caicedo, Mudryk, Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi over the past year. During the same period, in terms of achievements and form, Arsenal's red gradually rose to become the main color in football stories about London, and that is also the goal that Chelsea is aiming for.
Graham Potter was chosen as the architect of Boehly’s new Chelsea project, but was quickly replaced by Mauricio Pochettino. The appointment of someone with experience in building a philosophy of controlling football suggested the American did not want to go through the same six years without Champions League football that Arsenal did. And under Pochettino, after a shaky start to the season, Chelsea appear to be on the right track, with three recent wins in all competitions.
Saka (left) dribbles past Raahem Sterling during a Premier League match on May 2, 2023. Photo: Reuters
But for now, in today's derby, Arsenal have the upper hand. They are nine places above Chelsea, nine points ahead of their city rivals in the rankings. Since the 2019 Europa League final, Arsenal have lost to Chelsea only twice, winning six of their nine matches in all competitions.
Everything is tilted and Arteta's army in this match. It is not easy for Chelsea to change the wind. Especially when Arsenal is rushing like a storm.
Do Hieu (according to The Athletic )
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