Community Shield – Chelsea v Arsenal by JMT
On the 2nd of August Arsenal will play what I consider to be one of the most important matches of the new season. Of course, this is not a Premier League game but rather the Community Shield that I am referring to. There is a myriad of reasons why I would be incredibly disheartened if we were to lose this match, and there are a great number of positives gained if we won.
Firstly, after years of selling our top players to rival clubs and seeing our ex captains play for our close competitors in the league we managed to make a signing of intent from the biggest financial doping team in the league. Petr Cech will be facing his previous employers of 11 years and it will certainly be interesting to see whether the pressure of the occasion will get to him. If the mentality of the keeper is not in check, (yes… poor pun intended) that is going to prove a major obstacle in finishing the game on the winning score line. A nervous goalkeeper translates through to the defence and we cannot afford to make any blunders down our end of the pitch as Chelsea generally do not need many chances to kill a game.
Another major reason why this game is a must win is Wenger’s record against Mourinho. He has not beaten him in all competitions across thirteen matches to date. To add fuel to this already great fire, Mourinho has taken every chance possible to disrespect one of the longest standing managers in the English game with throwaway comments such as Wenger being a “voyeur” and “specialist in failure”. Wenger more than anyone needs to silently show that though he might be an old dog, he still has new tricks, and walking past Mourinho and the Chelsea team to pick up the trophy could not be a better way to do so.
Finally, this game being held at a neutral venue should be the perfect occasion for our team to produce their best football. I personally feel that the Emirates is not vocal enough when Chelsea arrive. Whilst we can generate a great atmosphere when Tottenham come to play we don’t offer the same support against Chelsea, a greater competitor in the modern game. Stamford Bridge is Mourinho’s stomping ground so it is always going to be a difficult feat there regardless of which team you are. Wembley will provide us with the optimum conditions to spur the team on and in a match which where the outcome can only be one winner we need to prove over 90 minutes that we can beat a Jose Mourinho side.
I believe football has a lot to do with psychology and winning this match will go a long way to making our team believe we have what it takes to dethrone the current champions.
COYG!
Jean-Michel
i hate mourinho with passion
We must win cuz Chelsea want to win it badly.when mourinho wins the Carling cup with joy he would surely want this one badly.he wants it badly cuz he wants to beat us. So we have to win and boost our moral for the start of the season.we have to beat mourinho and let him know we mean business. Most importantly Wenger needs to get one over moron.we need all our players ready for that match.we must win this one.its a special cup this time around
We need to watch out for something that fergie once mentioned in public. He said that you dont need to tackle Arsenal as all you have to do is intercept their passes, that was an Achilles and downfall to many a losses versus che and manu. I cant count the number of goals we conceded from those two teams looking to do exactly what fergie mentioned.
Last season, we did look to take extra care with our passes when playing the big sides and were more careful in how many and whom was to venture forward and when. I can only assume that this is what Wenger expects of his players and will demand it of them from here on out. I think he (wenger) is wise to their (foes) ploys and am now really looking forward to seeing how we handle our upcoming titan clashes.
Not as much as me. If a dog was in the middle of the road and maureen was on the sidewalk, I’d swerve to miss the dog
A CB/DM/ST will make us a formidable opponent in the community shield.
If Wenger doesn’t beat Mourinho but wins the EPL does it matter that he never beat Mourinho?
If Arsenal lose the community shield but win the EPL then does it matter that Arsenal never won the community shield?
Arsenal won the community shield last season. Did it matter?
Let’s keep a grip on reality. No one will give a shit about Mourinho the day Wenger wins the EPL. So let’s just focus on what Wenger can do rather than creating pantomime villains.
after we beat bayern away we went on a great run in the league when we were seemingly out of the top four, I think winning something like 9 and drawing one or two before the seasons end. After beating city last season in the shield we were unlucky to get a draw at home but beat them away. Whilst tactics are an ever present factor for certain results, I believe this team takes great confidence from winning big games.
You only have to look at how we capitulated to chelsea liverpool and city a couple seasons back to know that it wasn’t necessarily down to personnel but the belief in the team as well. I’m not saying we can’t win the epl if we lose the shield but if the team know they can beat chelsea then the mentality going into the league match will be different, and I believe they’re our closest competitor this season so any points taken from them will be a massive bonus
The same way we got belief from beating season before lasts champions in last seasons community shield?
It doesn’t matter who Arsenals beats. It is always 3 points on offer. If you think k it takes for Arsenal to beat big teams to lift the EPL then you need to land back on planet earth and start counting up points Arsenal lost to teams below them rather than above them and see where they would have been in the table.
Let me remind you this – your Bayern example is a red herring. They did the same form in pt 2 of the season this year. And guess what – they were thrashed by Monaco just before that happened.
of course the games against stoke, leicester etc would have gone a long way to seeing us challenge for the title last season but for a long time now we’ve been labelled flat track bullies i.e we are generally very good at beating opponents outside the top six but our record against man utd and chelsea maybe even city quite recently has not reflected a team on the same level as those going for the premier league title. One could argue that lack of a centre forward and change in formation not least the emergence of an actual defensive minded midfielder till halfway through the season were influential in our poor start last year. I don’t believe that moyes’ man utd were anywhere near better than us, but they believed they were and we certainly did as well as we showed nowhere near the quality that our players possessed
Won’t win community shield or epl with giroud upfront
3seasons gone nothings changed it’s not good enough
Well we did win the community shield last season with Giroud up front and he scored a fantastic goal. Just saying!
Need extra DMs and top top strikers FIRST!!!!!
New striker to score with an assist from poldi’s replacement.
Sounds like our new striker is fast, whipping the ball into the box before himself runs onto it volleying past che’s rearguard and inside post. Cant wait to meet him.
Got to be the most pointless game of the season. Couldn’t give a monkeys about it. I’d stick out a B-team just to annoy the FA. Completely meaningless.
Sanchez scores the winning spot kick and its soooooooo cooooooooool
I would happily see us lose 6-0 again if it meant we went and took 4 points off them in the league. We want proper trophies, not wooden spoons.
IMO, at best this match serves as an early semi-competitive game to help gel any possible new signings into the team.
IMO blablabla.
novice.
We need to beat them simple as that!
The main thing is to not lose the game, would like to win but would hate to lose. I think it will be good competitive practice for before the league kicks off. I think a good result will put us in good stead and confident mood although i thought the same last time round. I have a feeling mour would also be happy with a draw, especially a goaless one.
Both teams will come out to play to win, both managers will want to win…but don’t read too much into a win or loss. It’s the perfect competitive last pre-season game to get the team clicking over and give any players who need a decent run out that opportunity.
But both teams will play with a little more freedom than they would an EPL game so it’s not going to reflect what will happen through season.
I would just say “Watch and Enjoy!”…