By Rob Hughes
LONDON, Nov 29 — The fight for supremacy, for style, and for wealth in the English Premier League could hardly be more on view than Arsenal versus Chelsea this evening.
Arsenal play the ball, Chelsea sometimes play the man.
One team are delicate and intricate in their approach, the other are forceful and direct.
Arsenal are on the brink of becoming predominantly owned by the American Stan Kroenke while Chelski have been exclusively Roman Abramovich's for six years.
The players are from anywhere and everywhere money can buy them. In the hands of Arsene Wenger, Arsenal will not compromise on aesthetic principles, and bless the Frenchman for that.
Under Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea will take a win any way it comes.
“Arsenal don't use strength to win,” says the Italian. “They use their own fantastic, technical qualities.
“We can use strength to win a game. We have another solution. We can accept winning without playing well.”
How refreshing to hear Ancelotti tell the truth, how honest he seems after the rank hyperbole of Chelsea's former coach Jose Mourinho, who dressed up pragmatism in self-serving nonsense.
The players are more important than the coach, and they make it a truly global game. But somebody has to pay for it all, and Arsenal must be fearful today whether their long-term funding is secure.
Tonight's venue is in the Emirates Stadium, so called because the Emirates airline owner is the government of Dubai.
Its deal with Arsenal is £100 million (RM580 million) over 15 years in exchange for which the Emirates have naming rights over the stadium and the shirt.
This weekend's news that even Dubai, the oil rich Gulf, has cash flow problems must have an effect in London.
Yet, if we are sports lovers not accountants, we put off the day of reckoning and thrill to the contest.
Arsene Wenger, absolutely wedded to the concept that football is not only about winning, but also about fantasy too, has reacted to his team's first defeat of the season by publicly addressing his players.
“We are not any more a team to be considered to be young,” he tells them.
“We do not focus on any special individual on the other side because you win these kind of games by dominating the game.
“If we focus too much on Chelsea, it won't help us.”
If any man can talk a team into top performance, Wenger can.
But the facts are against him. The last team to visit the Emirates and beat Arsenal was, of course, Chelsea.
The score, last May was 4-1 to the Blues, and the margin of defeat the biggest Arsenal has suffered on home soil for more than 30 years.
In that match, and in most matches between Arsenal and Chelsea, the main man has been Didier Drogba. Arsenal must wait until the doctor gives William Gallas the all clear to face up to Drogba after his head injury last Wednesday.
Even if Gallas plays, neither he nor the impressive Thomas Vermaelen has the physical power to stand up to Drogba at his menacing best.
Better Gallas and Vermaelen than Philippe Senderos, who has been traumatised whenever he came up against Drogba, or Mikael Silvestre who would be dwarfed by the Ivory Coast striker.
Drogba has scored eight times in his last eight matches against Arsenal, and Chelsea has never lost to the Gunners when he has been on the pitch.
Just supposing Chelsea don't get the ball to the big man, Arsenal's other weakness is left-back, where Gael Clichy and Kieran Gibbs are ruled out through injury.
So who stops Nicolas Anelka, the former Gunner, cutting in from the wing with his pace and perception?
Then, if as expected Frank Lampard returns to run from midfield, who apart from Alex Song is going to prevent Chelsea overpowering the home defence?
As Wenger says, it will not help Arsenal to think too much of Chelsea's strengths.
Arsenal, the top scorers in the league, have as ever the wonderful technique and generalship of Cesc Fabregas.
They have the emerging talent of Aaron Ramsey, the intelligence of Andrey Arshavin, the returning talents of Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo, maybe even the pace of Theo Walcott.
But the game would have to be won in the mind, in the imagination, because man for man Arsenal simply do not possess the athletic power of Chelsea.
That is by choice, and I applaud Wenger for his courage, his stubbornness, in refusing to concede that he joined a physical fight when he arrived in England 13 years ago.
Tonight's two great contests on planet football have similar core values: Arsenal's stealth versus Chelski strength, and Barcelona's quickness of mind and movement against Real Madrid's accumulation of world talents.
Indeed, they are linked by the fact that Real tried to raid the banks even further to buy Franck Ribery from Bayern Munich — and now Chelsea are willing to pay £45 million for Ribery, and to make him the richest player in the Premier League at £200,000 a week.
It's an incredible, obscene offer, especially for a winger who seems barely able to string two games together for Bayern.
If they get him, Chelsea would have a player to give their team what they have lacked since Arjen Robben departed — a man of tricks and fantasy football to please one very important person in the crowd, Roman Abramovich.
The delicious irony is that Abramovich seeks to win at all costs, but secretly desires to be entertained as if his side were... Arsenal. — Straits Times
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