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- Aug 10, 2014 17:04
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- Opinion
As Arsenal hammered Man City in the season's traditional curtain-raiser, we take a look at what we can conclude from our afternoon at Wembley
Santi Cazorla netted the opener before Aaron Ramsey doubled their lead before half-time.
Substitute Olivier Giroud scored a stunner from distance to put the game beyond a weakened Manchester City side, who were missing the likes of Vincent Kompany, Bacary Sagna, Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta.
And here are five things we learned from the Community Shield.
You can also read our match report here.
We can't take too much from this
Nobody expects Dedryck Boyata to start when Manchester City open their Premier League title defence next week, and similarly the likes of Bruno Zuculini are incredibly unlikely to feature.
But Manuel Pellegrini will still be bothered by his side's lack of cohesion and urgency.
The Chilean, usually quite reserved, was seen jabbing and prodding feverishly on the touchline during the first half as his side lacked urgency. It's not just the names that need to return to this City side, it's last season's fluency and desire.
Meanwhile for Arsenal, second string or not, it was a great way to finish pre-season with the three Germans yet to return and at least one new signing to come.
Four-four-f*****g-two
Michael Steele - The FA
It is undoubtedly a useful shape, and one that will continue to see a revival this season with the parallel rise of the 3-5-2, but up against Arsenal's classic 4-2-3-1 there was simply too much for Fernando and Yaya Toure to deal with in that central area.
Wenger's men simply overran the game in midfield early on and the champions never got a foothold. Stevan Jovetic didn't particularly drop in and help out his floundering teammates while Edin Dzeko strolled around aimlessly in attack, and it was all too easy for the Gunners.
Ram raid
Getty
This coincided with Ramsey's injury and it led to the unravelling of Arsenal's Premier League title chase, but with a fully-fit Rambo they can once more aspire to fight it out for the championship.
This new version of Ramsey can't possibly be compared to the kid that we saw two or three seasons ago.
Physically he's a different beast, and his game has evolved both defensively - where he is far better - and in terms of adding goals to his game. The Welshman could be one of the league's biggest stars if he can stay fit, but as ever with Wenger's men that seems to be a big 'if'.
New fitness supremo Shad Forsythe has got his work cut out.
Cal on me
Getty
The Englishman featured at centre-back once again for this game, mainly due to a lack of cover, but acquitted himself well against two players you'd have to consider as top-level strikers.
Wenger has hinted that Chambers may, long-term, be a defensive midfielder for his Arsenal team and that could well be the case. But the Frenchman also now knows that despite the defender's tender years, he can rely on him at centre-back against quality opposition.
(Note to Arsene: You still need to buy a centre-back though)
Attacking riches
David Price
And with Yaya Sanogo emerging from joke territory into something approaching a useful footballer, the Gunners are looking phenomenally well-stocked.
Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played 45 minutes apiece, both dynamic players that bring something different to the party. We also saw Aaron Ramsey impress, Jack Wilshere looking energetic and Santi Cazorla opening the scoring in style.
Then there was Olivier Giroud coming on and netting an absolute ripsnorter, Tomas Rosicky being introduced to conrtol the game in the late stages and Theo Walcott watching on from the stands.
Oh, and Joel Campbell got five minutes to run about and cause trouble.
If Wenger buys a defensive midfielder and/or a centre-back then you can be pretty sure that everything in front of them will take care of itself this season.