Claudio needs a masterplan

13 April 2012

So, Claudio, how do you beat Arsenal? He thought he'd come up with the answer last season when Chelsea tried to end half a century of failure. They hadn't beaten Arsenal in the FA Cup since 1947 and, after a 2-2 draw at Highbury in the sixth round, Claudio Ranieri naturally had a spring in his step as he prepared for the replay at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal had just been knocked out of the Champions League in Valencia and the Chelsea manager suspected that, for once, they might be vulnerable. He devised a ploy intended to discourage Arsenal's counter-attacking tendencies.

A three-man back line and denselypopulated midfield looked interesting in theory but it soon became obvious that it wasn't going to work. By the time the Italian coach changed his tactics after 35 minutes Arsenal were already two goals ahead and en route to their third consecutive FA Cup Final.

Ranieri is a bold, innovative coach with an impressive international cast list from which to select, but he has yet to emerge from the shadow of the Premiership's master strategist - Arsene Wenger.

The Arsenal coach has devised a system that works for his players. Built around a central block of two centre-backs and two midfield players, his team now plays with precision, freedom, spirit and confidence. Pace and good passing are at the heart of everything they do. Like Liverpool of the Eighties or the great West German teams of the past, they are solid and unchanging in their 4-4-2 style, yet capable of powerful attacking football.

Ranieri will know exactly what to expect from Arsenal in Sunday's fifth-round tie at Highbury. Wenger will be less sure of what to expect from Chelsea. But will it matter?

'We don't speculate much about our opponents,' Wenger said. 'We focus more on how we play.'

Which is just as well because no one can ever be sure how Chelsea will play. In charge since September 2000, Ranieri has various systems up his sleeve and enough players to mix and match depending on the opposition. This season he's used 30 players in first-team matches.

But the fact that they've lost to teams like Besiktas, Bolton and Charlton - never mind Arsenal and Liverpool - suggests that even after a £121million investment in players, flaws remain and Ranieri's best-laid plans can blow up in his face. Unlike his cool French rival, Ranieri is a man under pressure. A trophy, any trophy, is required this season. Yet even that may not save him.

Practically everyone in football, from club chairmen to tea ladies, claims to know that the amiable Italian will be replaced next season by Sven-Goran Eriksson.

True or not, Ranieri has handled this supposed threat to his livelihood with dignity, charm and a sense of irony that suggests that he'll enjoy public sympathy if he's ousted by the England manager. Eriksson could, of course, end the speculation by simply stating publicly that he won't be leaving the Football Association to join Chelsea.

Perhaps that's too much to expect. Meantime, Ranieri must soldier on and hope that he can come up with a gameplan that at least provides him with the satisfaction of a first win against Arsenal.

It's a long shot because Arsenal don't lose many FA Cup matches, especially at home. Leeds were the last team to win an FA Cup tie at Highbury - and that was just a few months after Wenger arrived in September 1996. In the six seasons since, Arsenal have won the trophy three times and finished runners-up once.

Today they head the Premiership by five points, enjoy the best defensive record and have the most lethal goalscorer in Thierry Henry, who graduated from the French academy at Clairefontaine with William Gallas.

So, Claudio, one of the first things you must do to beat Arsenal is convince Gallas that he can stop his pal Henry scoring any more goals.

But that's only the first thing.

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