Defeat at Chelsea Underlined Arsenal's Need of a Matic, Not a Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas reminded Arsenal of what they lost, and could have had back, on Sunday, when his exceptional, overhead ball in the 78th minute at Stamford Bridge was lobbed over goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny by Diego Costa.

Protecting a one-goal lead to that point in the showdown between the Premier League’s only undefeated sides, the tally sealed the victory for Chelsea and summer signing Fabregas, whose seventh helper of the season put him alone at the summit of the English top flight's assist chart.

But if the Gunners, who failed to place a single shot on target over the 90 minutes, were in any way regretful of their failure to reacquire the Spain international upon his Barcelona exit (they had the first right of purchase following their sale of the midfielder to the Catalan giants in 2011), their remorse was decidedly misplaced.

The player they should have been watching with a covetous eye was Nemanja Matic, who, according to talkSPORT, they might have signed last January when they beat Chelsea to discussions with agent Dejan Mitrovic, only to have the Serbia international snapped up from under their noses by the Blues.

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

It was—even more than passing on Fabregas—a missed opportunity.

Since returning to Stamford Bridge (he joined Benfica in 2011 as part of a swap deal for David Luiz), Matic has established himself as one of English football’s preeminent holding midfielders, and already this term his partnership with Fabregas has helped set Chelsea apart as the odds-on favourite to win the title.

Physically powerful, tenacious, and highly intelligent, the 26-year-old was hailed a “complete player” by John Terry last week, following a 1-0 Champions League win at Sporting Lisbon in which Matic scored the only goal.

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#UCL - Gol Matic vs Sporting http://t.co/vRHK6JtREh

— Bola (@Bolanet) September 30, 2014"

“Gary [Cahill] and I were saying how good he is sitting in front of us, breaking this up,” the skipper told Chelsea TV, as per The Independent. “He’s also got a burst of speed when he gets it and dribbles through.”

“I think Matic was a monster,” added manager Jose Mourinho that same night, according Sky Sports. “He is going on the pitch thinking that he’s going to do a job for the team and fill all the danger areas when the opposition has the ball. He gives the freedom to the other midfield players to do the damage.”

In other words, he’s exactly what Arsenal so desperately require.

Despite spending nearly £100 million on attackers Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski since 2012, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger’s only work on the defensive midfield over the same period included the free signing of Mathieu Flamini from AC Milan and the brief loan acquisition of Kim Kallstrom.

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Ozil, Sanchez, Cazorla and Podolski combined for just five attempts at goal on Sunday—none of which tested either Thibaut Courtois or Petr Cech, the latter replacing the injured Belgian in the first half—and Flamini, whose abilities are limited to begin with, appeared overwhelmed opposite the likes of Andre Schurrle, Oscar and Eden Hazard.

It was Hazard, in the 27th minute, who scored Chelsea’s first goal of the encounter—a penalty following his obstruction by Laurent Koscielny. The twinkle-toed attacker had been allowed to dribble dangerously close to the Arsenal goalmouth, and Koscielny’s outstretched leg was a final, desperate stab at preventing a shot against.

It was the sort of opening Matic never allowed at the opposite end of the pitch, and it begs the question: Had Matic, or a similar player, been patrolling the Arsenal midfield, would Hazard have approached the 18-yard box in the first place?

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