Chelsea and Arsenal faced off on Sunday afternoon for the Community Shield in one of final tune-up matches before the kick-off of the 2015-16 Premier League campaign, and in a match that featured mid-level intensity (at best), Arsène Wenger finally got a win against José Mourinho to put on his résumé in a 1-0 Gunners triumph.
While losing to Arsenal is always maddening for Chelsea and their supporters, it was still a friendly match that featured many of the mistakes that generally occur in such fixtures. A moment of brilliance from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 24th minute proved to be the difference, as the Englishman beat César Azpilicueta easily to the inside and uncorked a great left-footed finish across the face of goal and into the upper left corner to ultimately clinch the win for Arsenal.
While it was a friendly and it’s important to avoid overreacting in either direction, we did see 90-minute shifts for regulars such as Eden Hazard, Cesc Fàbregas, Nemanja Matić, Willian, Branislav Ivanović and Gary Cahill, and Mourinho rolled out a pretty strong first XI. Let’s get to the four findings from the Community Shield
Chelsea Not in Regular Season Form Just Yet
For all of the build-up and excitement that comes pre-match for a game played at Wembley Stadium, this match had the distinct feel of a friendly in the early goings. Arsenal were the sharper side out of the gate, but neither team looked in mid-season form by any stretch.
Chelsea in particular were a bit off, as the Blues missed opportunities that we would expect to see them capitalise on in league play. Loïc Rémy was set up for an easy one-two by Eden Hazard that would have put Chelsea’s left winger in on goal had Rémy played a simple one-time pass back to the Belgian, but he failed to make the pass eventually lost possession. Later, in minute 36, Rémy was the man setting up what should have been an easy goal for Ramires after lofting in a nice chip from the left side of the box that set up the Brazilian with a header directly in front of goal around the edge of the six-yard box. Ramires blasted the header over the bar, failing not only to score but to even trouble Petr Cech into making a save.
César Azpilicueta, arguably the best one-v-one defender in England, was beaten uncharacteristically easily to the inside by Oxlade-Chamberlain on Arsenal’s lone goal. Rémy was called offside four or five times in the first 45 minutes alone, further illustrating a lack of sharpness from the Blues.
While this match was different from an ordinary friendly given that the Shield was on the line, we still saw many of the same lapses that one would expect to see in a preseason tune-up match as Chelsea are clearly still ironing out the kinks.
Chelsea’s Wizard on the Wing Largely Invisible
Chelsea’s magic man on the left wing, Eden Hazard, was anonymous for much of the afternoon in the defeat, a rare poor outing for last season’s Premier League Player of the Year.
While Willian flashed with some good runs and superb ball retention at pace and Cesc Fàbregas looked good at times, Hazard failed to make much of an impact throughout and his presence was highlighted mainly by a gaffe around the hour-mark of the competition. Hazard did well to stay on-side and time up his run as Fàbregas played him into the right side of the box with a pretty ball, but the Belgian star whiffed on the finish after finding himself one-on-one with former team-mate Petr Cech. From about eight yards out, Hazard – who scored a brilliant goal against Barcelona just last week – blasted his shot well over the bar, failing to even put it on target much like Ramires had done in the first half.
Hazard is the least of Chelsea’s worries heading into the season that begins next weekend (looking at you and your hamstring, Diego Costa), but his performance at Wembley on Sunday was nowhere near the level we’ve come to expect from one of the top players in the world.
Versatile Zouma Continues to Move Around
Kurt Zouma, the freakishly athletic young central defender, featured several times last season for José Mourinho in the defensive midfield. In Chelsea’s recent run of pre-season friendlies, the Frenchman has seen some shifts on the outside at left-back, which is where he spent the final 20 minutes of the match today following the substitution of Azpilicueta.
While Zouma’s combination of size, power and athleticism – which is highlighted by his incredible vertical leap – means his future is at centre back, it is good to see the youngster continue to develop his versatility in other areas of the pitch. Zouma hasn’t been a world beater in his time on the left against Barca or Arsenal, but he has performed pretty well for a player operating out of his natural position. His crossing in from the left flank predictably leaves much to be desired, but he actually played a decent ball onto the head of Oscar late on in the Arsenal match, although nothing came of it after it deflected off the Brazilian’s dome and into Falcao.
While the negotiations with potential Filipe Luís replacement Baba Rahman are reportedly ongoing, this period of cross-training – however brief it may end up being – could be a good way for Zouma to continue to round out his game moving forward.
Arsenal Have Themselves a Goalkeeper
The not-so-subtle elephant in the room, of course, was the presence of a Chelsea legend between the posts in an Arsenal shirt.
While Arsenal’s net-minding combination of Wojciech Szczęsny and David Ospina was a relative weakness last season, the Gunners now have a bona fide keeper in their squad, and Cech made sure to remind Chelsea supporters with his superb stop of an Oscar free kick in the 69th minute. The former Chelsea keeper did well to react and punch away the effort from the Brazilian, who had directed his free kick to the upper-90 to Cech’s right for what would have been the equalising goal.
The addition of Cech is certainly a big one for Arsenal and a painful one for Chelsea, and today was our introduction to life after Petr. Thibaut Courtois reminded Blues fans that they’ve still got a young, top class keeper of their own with big saves in one-on-one situations against Santi Cazorla and Kieran Gibbs late in the match, but the sight of Cech in an Arsenal shirt remains an unpleasant one.
Whether Cech could really be the difference maker in a title charge for Arsenal remains to be seen (they still lack a top class player in central midfield and at striker), the Gunners certainly have more stability in goal this season than they have had in a long, long time thanks to Cech’s move from west to North London.
