So here go … sort of. The Community Shield between us and Chelsea takes place this afternoon with a 3pm kick-off.
As a game or a trophy to be won, it’s not one I’m terribly invested in, but given the opposition and the way pre-season has gone thus far, you want to maintain the momentum. And even if a win would be written off with claims that we have to do it when it counts, there’d still be some small benefit to beating last season’s champions.
We’ll be looking at the performance and how we match up against a team that pretty much cruised to the title last year, but I think what will be most interesting about this fixture are the decisions the manager makes about his team. All summer we’ve spoken about the depth of the squad, the amount of players we have for each position from front to back, and how that’s a healthy situation to be in.
The reality of that though is that you can’t fit all of them in at the same time, not to mention there are certain positions with no clear number 1 choice. For example, while I expect Nacho Monreal to get the nod over Kieran Gibbs at left-back, it’s hard to know if it will be Mathieu Debuchy or Hector Bellerin on the right. The young Spaniard was one of the finds of last season, but at the same time there’s a lot to be said for experience – especially when you’re playing against a team as good as Chelsea.
In midfield he’s got Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Wilshere and Ozil at his disposal. The gap on the left could be filled in the short-term by Theo Walcott or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Will Walcott get a run on the right or will a Coqzorla combo in the middle mean one of Ramsey or Wilshere starting out there?
And Walcott again is an option as the main striker if Wenger thinks that his movement and running might cause their centre-halves more problems than the traditional qualities of Olivier Giroud in that position. What we might see today is an indication of the kind of team he’ll choose against the best opposition, because there’s more scope to change things around against sides who might not be as good or who play a more open game.
So, from that point of view it’s interesting to see how we’ll start and how effective those decisions are. As for the game itself, it’s essentially the last game of pre-season and should be viewed in that context. It’d be nice to win, but it won’t mean anything for our Premier League campaign. Let’s remember we spanked Man City 3-0 this time last year, then had a dismal, stuttering start to the season which saw us out of the title race far too early.
Perhaps there’ll be some dismantling of that psychological barrier if we do win today, but it won’t matter a bit unless we can repeat that in the league games against them. If we can continue our momentum and take the benefits from a victory today, then great, but once we come through it unscathed fitness-wise and get ourselves well prepared for next weekend, then that’s the main thing.
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In other news, Arsene Wenger has backed Mesut Ozil to shine this season, and suggested he has the talent to become player of the year. It’s a big statement, but I like it. I think he’s right, and I do wonder if being so public about it is a deliberate strategy. Not simply to back his player to boost his confidence, but also to put it up to him a bit:
He is physically stronger, that is for sure, and he is more equipped to deal with the Premier League. In the second part of last season we saw the intelligence of his passing, the fact that he added some steel to his game that was needed certainly in the Premier League. I’m confident that he can be one of the great players of 2015-16. He can become player of the year.
He also outlined why he thinks it’s on the cards this time around:
He joined very late in 2013 without any preparation with the team. In 2014 he came back exhausted by the World Cup and was then injured for four months. In the second part of last season he started to really adapt and, of course, this is the test. It’s a very important season for him.
And I think this is the key point. The lack of a full pre-season and the right physical preparation has been an issue. This time around he’s had his holiday and his rest, he’s happy and settled in London and in the team, and it’s all there for him to make a really big impact. It’ll be especially interesting when Alexis gets back (he returns to training tomorrow, btw), because we saw signs of the two of them dovetailing beautifully in the second half of last season.
His on-pitch relationships with other players like Ramsey and Cazorla also look to have developed nicely, and you wonder if Theo Walcott is going to be a striker more than a winger this season if that might open up another dimension for his laser-guided passing. I’m excited to see what he can do this season. I’m already a huge fan, and hopefully come May we’re talking about him being up there with the best in England and Europe.
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Right, that’s just about that. I’m unsure at this moment in time if we’ll have a live blog, but keep an eye on @arseblog on Twitter, and I’ll announce it there if we do. If not, we’ll have a match report, and all the post-match stuff over on Arseblog News.
As well as that, James and I will be recording the Arsecast Extra this evening (available for you at the usual time tomorrow).
Until then, have a good one, and enjoy Petr Cech saving John Terry’s penalty to win us the game later.
