Arsenal’s never say die attitude gets reward at Wembley

 

Arsenal 1 Manchester City 1 (4-1 on penalties)   
Community Shield, Wembley Stadium    
Sunday 6th August 2023  4pm     

Arsenal went toe to toe with the team that won the treble last season and were worthy of the draw they achieved at the end of 90 plus minutes. Then they took better penalties in the shoot-out to win the Community Shield – a pre-season trophy they have made a bit of a habit of winning when presented with the opportunity to take part. Since its move back to Wembley in 2007, they’ve taken part in five such matches and lifted the shield on every occasion, albeit courtesy of a penalty shoot-out on the last three occasions. 

 

The big interest before the game was the idea that Mikel Arteta would pick the players he was likely to start in next weekend’s opening Premier League game against Nottingham Forest. Jurien Timber has been fielded at left back before during the pre-season, and was selected ahead of Kieran Tierney, meaning Ben White in his now accustomed right back slot. Both Partey and Declan Rice were selected, which gave the side a little more beef in midfield. Rice – defensively – is more of an obstacle than Granit Xhaka. Up front, Havertz was chosen in the centre forward position ahead of Eddie Nketiah. The former had two chances to score in the opening 45 minutes, which against this quality of opposition was fairly good going. He was unable to convert, which became an issue at Chelsea, but it’s early days.

 

When all is said and done, although there is a trophy presented at the end of the game and it’s fun to celebrate at Wembley, the Community Shield is ultimately a friendly. Having said that, given it is the final match before the real thing gets under way, it has a certain intensity over and above the earlier matches both sides would have played. One imagines, looking at City’s starting eleven, that this could be the team that Guardiola begins the campaign with, although he certainly has options if he feels the need to tweak things. With Rodri and Kovacic, we didn’t see as much of a defender joining the midfield in the way that John Stones was doing last season. And looking at the tactical and cynical fouling carried out by the City players, they were evidently up for this game and had no intention of taking it easy. So there were two sides that were giving it pretty much 100%, even if the City fans evidently weren’t. It made a lovely change to hear the Arsenal end in such good voice, as that hasn’t always happened at Wembley. How much of an influence the massed ranks of the Ashburton Army had on this I was too far away to tell, but I imagine they might have started a fair number of the chants. It’s a shame their allocation at home matches behind the Clock End goal has been reduced by 50% for the coming season. Yes, they have some murky waters in their back story, but seem to be on message these days.

 

Manchester City dominated the opening 20 minutes, as Arsenal struggled to win the ball and maintain possession, but Arteta’s team found their feet and by half time if felt like a very even contest. Erling Halaand was well martialled by the two centre backs and had far less influence than he did in the previous encounter between the two sides at the Etihad. Saliba especially looked imperious. Maybe it didn’t help him that Kevin de Bruyne was on the bench rather than the field, but in the end, the giant Norwegian was subbed and Cole Palmer given a runout. Another sub – Phil Foden, got the better of Partey in midfield and the resulting break saw Palmer score a peach of a goal after 77 minutes. It did feel a bit like game over, but Arsenal didn’t give up, and near the end of an extended period of injury time got their just desserts when a Trossard effort took a deflection into the City goal. After that, the Gunners took the better spot kicks, including Bukayo Saka, who missed against Barcelona in Los Angeles, raising doubts on whether he should continue as the first-choice penalty taker. 

 

Going round the team, the performances of the defenders was generally good, as was that of Aaron Ramsdale. In midfield, Odegaard took a while to get into the game, but came good. Rice and Partey looked very capable, although Partey was still getting caught in possession more than once – a bit of a weakness in his game. Up front, it felt a little below par, but the forwards certainly worked hard in the high press and can’t be accused of not putting a shift in. Add to this they were up against some quality defenders and it was never going to be an easy afternoon. Standout player was Timber who showed how adaptable he is. I’ve read that he can also play centre back or in midfield, so he is beginning to look like a very astute purchase. Rice is looking better with every game, and although it will take him a few weeks to completely gel with his new colleagues, he was an important influence on the game. Subs-wise, it was good to see Smith-Rowe get on, and Fabio Vieira looked better than last season, although that isn’t saying much. Trossard proved the key man and there is an argument to start him ahead of Havertz next week, but I suspect Arteta will stick with the same eleven as yesterday. Chasing the game, Arteta sacrificed Gabriel for an extra attacker for what turned out to be the last 14 minutes (including injury time) – a gamble that worked. Tierney and Nketiah were the other subs. 

 

It was a feelgood afternoon in the sunshine. As for the bigger picture, more than anything the psychological side of the result – specifically the comeback to level the scores – is the real benefit from this game. Arsenal will believe they can match Manchester City on the pitch. Certain games they have played have been quite close, but they’ve always lost in recent seasons, with the exception of the 2020 FA Cup semi-final. In some matches they’ve been well beaten. This season, they will feel more confident of at least denying City all the points in their league encounters, on the back of this game. And Mikel Arteta continued a wonderful winning run at Wembley for Arsenal as a player and manager – 12 visits, 12 wins. That’s remarkable. 

 

Looking forward, to be in the mix this season, when one imagines the big sides that finished behind them last season will be stronger, Arsenal must cut out the habit of giving away cheap goals, which saw them denied the title last season. They only finished five points behind City in the end, although City’s final three matches were played in the knowledge they were already champions, so that might not be a true reflection of the gap. Arteta has stated that you need between 96 and 100 points to finish first these days – so a maximum of 18 points dropped in 38 matches. We’ll get a much better idea of how Arsenal will shape up to the challenge – in a season where Champions League football returns to the Emirates – in the next two matches against Forest and Palace.

 

One final thing with regard to Arteta’s remarkable Wembley record. Take a look where the Champions League final is taking place next June…

 

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