Arsenal 4-1 Chelsea: What we learned

Arsenal 4-1 Chelsea: What we learned

chelsea fell to a defeat in the new season’s curtain raiser at Wembley against Arsenal in the Community Shield on Sunday afternoon.

The Blues took the lead just after half time through Victor Moses before Sead Kolasinac equalised late in the second half.

Giroud scores the winner against Chelsea

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 06: Olivier Giroud of Arsenal celebrates scoring his sides fourth penalty in the penalty shoot out during the The FA Community Shield final between Chelsea and Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on August 6, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

The game went to penalties and through the use of the new ‘ABBA’ system, the Gunners stole the march with Olivier Giroud scoring the winning penalty.

Here’s a look at what we learned from the game at Wembley.

CONTE’S MESSAGE TO THE BOARD

Antonio Conte named a strong starting XI for the game at Wembley that included Pedro, who wasn’t expected to return in time for the game.

What was telling though was the youthful substitution bench that included Kyle Scott, Charly Musonda and Jeremie Boga.

Conte has been in a stand off with the Chelsea board with regards to new signings with the Italian desperate to add more additions to this squad.

Despite the Blues spending upwards of £140 million this summer, the squad appears to be thinner and weaker than the end of last season.

The club will need to continue to strengthen if they want to compete on four fronts this season.

OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN LOOKING LIKE A CONTE PLAYER

Reports have linked Chelsea with a move for Arsenal wide man Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and it’s easy to see why.

Arsenal started the game in a 3-4-3 formation and Oxlade-Chamberlain had the better of Victor Moses from the get go.

The England international showed great determination and energy to get up and down the left-hand side for the Gunners.

With Oxlade-Chamberlain yet to put pen to paper on a new deal at the Emirates, he could prove to be a fantastic signing for Conte, who is looking to strengthen his squad.

MASTERS OF 3-4-3 IN ATTACK, BUT CAN THEY DEFEND AGAINST IT?

Arsenal started the game with a 3-4-3 and the Gunners were on top for the opening stages of the match.

The Blues struggled to deal with the movement of Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi, who through the width provided by Oxlade-Chamberlain and Hector Bellerin in the wing-back spots, were allowed to drift in and out of the Chelsea team.

Arsenal were one of many teams to mimic Chelsea’s 3-4-3 system last year after the success the Blues had with it, so they can expect to come up against it on a number of occasions this season.

It was telling that when Arsenal switched to a four-back system, Chelsea began to take control of the game.

STRANGE PENALTY ORDER

2017 Community Shield, Arsenal, Chelsea

Credit: Getty Images

If there’s one thing Chelsea do have, it’s a strong list players capable from a dead ball situation, so it was a surprise to see both Gary Cahill and Thibaut Courtois both line up to take spot kicks in the shoot out.

Was Conte hoping to keep the best until later in the shoot out to try and exploit the new system? Who knows.

It was a strange decision, no matter how good Cahill’s penalty was. With David Luiz and Cesc Fabregas both still on the pitch, fans may have been expecting to see them higher up the pecking order.

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