Of course I and every other Arsenal fan would have liked to see our team play brilliantly in this third game of our pre-season and do to Chelsea what we did just less than two months ago at Wembley when we outplayed them and beat them to the FA cup trophy.
That certainly was not what happened in the heat and humidity of Shanghai but just because the Gunners were deservedly beaten by the reigning EPL champions it is not necessarily a reason to panic or write off our title hopes before a ball has been kicked in anger.
As long as Arsene Wenger and the players learn their lessons from this and use it as a wake-up call then it might actually turn into a positive. That is what happened with Chelsea and Antonio Conte last season, as they see the overwhelming defeat to us at the Emirates as the turning point of their title winning campaign.
To be honest I think we needed this because after beating our regular tormentors Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-out on Wednesday there seemed to be too much delight and confidence which did not reflect our performance. Arsenal were also out played by the Germans but we rode our luck and that may have seen us start the new season with false hope and confidence.
As it is the need for hard work and improvement is now crystal clear so could this heavy defeat to Chelsea have been just the kick up the bum that Arsenal needed?
Sam P.