It was only a draw – but was the comeback against Chelsea the sign of a new Arsenal?

When Arsenal lost to Chelsea before the turn of the year, in Mikel Arteta’s second game in charge, the result belied an encouraging performance betrayed by individual mistakes. The tone had been determined, but a lot of the positives which should have been drawn - in retrospect - were scared away by the nature of the collapse. 

The goalkeeping error, the midfield being caught hopelessly out of position, the defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Unfortunately, those were the tenets of an old era, so it was difficult to celebrate a new Arsenal while the old one seemed so alive and well. 

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Seb Stafford-Bloor is a football writer at Tifo Football and member of the Football Writers' Association. He was formerly a regularly columnist for the FourFourTwo website, covering all aspects of the game, including tactical analysis, reaction pieces, longer-term trends and critiquing the increasingly shady business of football's financial side and authorities' decision-making.