Arsenal vs. Chelsea: Arsene Wenger Must Move on from Wigan with Blues Upcoming

Here's a shock for you: Arsenal lose a match in which they were done in by costly mistakes, and Arsene Wenger's response is to point fingers elsewhere.

Of course, it wasn't the pitch at the San Siro that he was upset about, if only because his squad was nowhere near the Milanese monument.

Rather, it was Wigan's time-wasting tactics that had Le Professeur up in arms after his Gunners were upended on Monday at the Emirates Stadium, 2-1.

Never mind the poor defending that led to a pair of Latics goals within the span of a minute early on, or the loss of Mikel Arteta to an ankle injury shortly thereafter.

Not that Wenger was entirely off-base with his assertions. Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi was booked for doddling in extra time after Arsene spent plenty of his own time and energy in the referee's ear about it.

Still, there's nothing the long-time Arsenal boss can do to change the result, and every attempt to do so now can only imperil his side's chances against Chelsea in the London derby on Saturday.

Forget about going AWOL on a handshake with Roberto Martinez. Forget about Robin van Persie getting in Gary Caldwell's face.

Now is the time for the Gunners to prove that they deserve to finish third in the English Premier League and avoid having to play their way into the UEFA Champions League, as they did this season. Now is the time for them to pad their five-point cushion ahead of Tottenham and Newcastle (seven ahead of Chelsea) with another resounding result against the Blues.

When these two foes met in late October, Arsenal transformed the game into an occasion for resurgence, with RVP scoring a hat trick in a back-and-forth, 5-3 affair.

Chelsea have regained their form since then, to say the least. They've not lost a match in nearly a month, all the while playing their way into the FA Cup final and to the lead in their Champions League semifinal under caretaker manager Roberto di Matteo.

Long gone are the intricate machinations and awkward attempts at roster revolution by Andre Villas-Boas, who was sacked back in March. Replacing them is a return to the old guard, with Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole taking center stage at Stamford Bridge.

One slip against this reborn bunch, and Arsenal may find themselves uncomfortably close to the razor's edge of the Champions League.

Not that dropping points against the Blues is necessarily a European death sentence for the Gunners, per se—not with a stretch run that'll have them closing the season against Stoke City, Norwich City and West Brom.

Still, the last thing anyone in North London (Arsene in particular) needs right now is a poor performance against Chelsea and the panic that would inevitably follow.

There's no more time for Wenger to waste on time-wasting. A sprint to the finish line will require nothing less than Arsene's undivided attention.

And better play on the pitch.

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