Even though it was only a pre-season friendly game between Arsenal and Chelsea the other day, the 3-0 defeat and the manner of it had a lot of us worried. But maybe we can all feel a little bit better about life and the Gunners after Chelsea lost today in their very next game against the German champions Bayern Munich.
Going into the game against our London rivals there was quite a lot of confidence because we had managed to beat our regular tormentors Bayern in the previous game thanks to a dogged display and an excellent late equaliser from Alex Iwobi before Emiliano Martinez helped us to win the penalty shootout.
We also expected Arsenal to be fitter as our pre-season preparations were further along but it was clear from the off that Chelsea were sharper and the scoreline could have been worse. However, there was that sickness but to consider and Arsene Wenger played some young Gunners and had players in odd positions.
So with the squad clearly weakened and looking fatigued from training in high temperatures and humidity perhaps we were a bit too harsh on them, especially after Chelsea succumbed to Bayern and were 3-0 behind before halftime before rallying a bit.
This is pre-season don’t forget and so we should not read too much into results, as the two games against the Germans suggests. Do you guys feel a bit better now?
Sam P.