Community Shield Defeat Outlines the Frailties Ahead of Chelsea's Title Defence
LONDON — Jose Mourinho was right.
The Chelsea boss was as close to being gracious in defeat to Arsenal as he's ever going to be after watching his team lose in the Community Shield on Sunday.
He praised his players for dominating proceedings at Wembley Stadium, for their desire to get at their opponents and attempt to win the game.
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But behind his disappointment, there was a grudging respect for the way Arsene Wenger's team had won.
"The best team lost," he began. "The defensive team won. ... It was very good tactical organisation and in that perspective, [Arsenal] deserve to win. Congratulations to them."
Among Mourinho's observations was the fact that Arsenal had left their usual "philosophy in the dressing room"—that, for once, they had adapted to the game they had to play, not the one they wanted to play.
The Gunners were flashy when they needed to be yet, above all, were resilient enough to keep Chelsea at bay.
Does it mean they can win the Premier League for the first time in over a decade? No.
What the past 15 years or more have shown us is that success in the Community Shield is hardly a banker for a victorious campaign.
Since the turn of the century, the winner of English football's traditional curtain-raiser has gone on to win the title on just five occasions.
Chelsea did it in 2005/06 and 2009/10, while Manchester United did a Shield-league double in 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2010/11.
Perhaps it's being starved of football all summer that adds to the hype of this occasion. For whatever reason, though, it's folly to suggest Arsenal will go on to succeed in 2015/16.
The Community Shield doesn't predict Premier League success—but it can predict failure.
Rather than giving an indication for how strong a team is, the frailties are laid bare for all to see.
In defeat in the same competition this time last year—also to Arsenal—we saw that much with Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City. The reigning Premier League champions looked off the pace, with much of their team seemingly tired after the World Cup.
Pellegrini hadn't added significant additions to his squad, either. City were attempting to defend their title with the team that had won it, and as hindsight told us, it was their biggest error in judgment.
Sound familiar? It should.
Chelsea's business this summer has consisted of selling Petr Cech and Filipe Luis and bringing in Asmir Begovic and Radamel Falcao.
With the departure of Didier Drogba at the end of last season, Mourinho has replaced like for like. He hasn't added anything different to this Chelsea team; there's nothing new.
On Sunday, we saw how dangerous that is going to be over the coming season.
Does defeat to Arsenal mean Chelsea will not win the league? Does it mean Wenger's side has bridged the 12-point gap? Are Chelsea weak?
The answer to all those questions is no.
Look at it from a different perspective, though, and the situation is more clear. Have Chelsea regressed since 2014/15? Pre-season seems to suggest they have simply by choosing to not strengthen.
We can look too much into friendlies, and in isolation, they're worth little to a team other than an exercise in refining tactics and improving fitness.
Collectively, however, a dangerous pattern can emerge, as it has for the Premier League champions.
Chelsea have one game remaining ahead of the Premier League's kick-off this weekend. They face Fiorentina at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to conclude their preparations, and they're still awaiting that elusive first win.
It all started with defeat to New York Red Bulls, before back-to-back draws with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona were followed up by the Community Shield loss to Arsenal.
Rather than outline the Gunners' genius, defeat at Wembley was confirmation of everything many had silently feared: Chelsea haven't moved forward.
The problems from 2014/15 are still haunting them.
Outside of his first XI, Mourinho doesn't have enough talent to pick from when things go wrong—something his bench Sunday confirmed. And for a manager famed for his impact on games with his use of substitutes, that has to be a concern.
Right now, he can't react; his hands are tied.
Things went wrong Sunday when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain struck a peach of a goal midway through the first half, and Chelsea didn't have an answer.
Had it not been for midfielders Ramires and Eden Hazard both proving wasteful in front of goal, we'd be talking about a different game altogether.
The fact remains, though, that Chelsea lacked the same cutting edge that made them champions last season. They couldn't make a difference when it mattered most against Arsenal, paying the ultimate price.
"Games like these are decided on individual moments of brilliance and credit to Arsenal. They had that today," Gary Cahill told Bleacher Report at the final whistle.
"In terms of possession, we had the majority of the game. But the scoreline is all that matters, and we're disappointed with that.
"I think we were on top and they sat back. Certainly, from the back, it seemed like we had a lot of the ball in their half. We were on the front foot and in the second half did everything but score."
Cahill's observations are almost Arsenal-esque: Chelsea doing everything but putting the ball in the back of the net.
And as Wenger will attest after a barren spell for almost a decade, dominating the stats doesn't translate to titles.
Chelsea needed to add an extra defender to their squad this summer. They haven't, losing one instead.
Above all else, Mourinho needed another dynamic, creative midfielder to add more in attack to ease the burden on Hazard. Right now, it seems Victor Moses' return from his loan at Stoke City is the club's answer.
From Chelsea being so dominant in 2014/15, teams will be looking at them and sniffing blood.
Indeed, as they're champions, the cliche tells us they will be the scalp every team wants, and in many ways, Arsenal's start to this game was an indication of what we can expect in the early stages of the season, if not the whole campaign.
Within seconds of kick-off, Theo Walcott was up and at Chelsea. He dispossessed Nemanja Matic on the halfway line, and before Chelsea knew it, they were clearing the ball out of their own penalty box.
All within 10 seconds.
It was a sign of what we can expect, although Kurt Zouma remains of the belief that pre-season and the Community Shield mean little.
"There's no impact [from this result] for the rest of the season. They won, and I think we were unlucky. We are a good team, a quality team," he explained.
Manchester City are a quality team, although that wasn't enough last season. The harmony wasn't there, and from the outset, there was a chink in their armour.
By standing still in the transfer market, not addressing their problems, Chelsea are now in that situation.
"[Pre-season is a] time when everyone talks and talks, but the bottom line is when the season kicks off and you see what happens," Cahill concluded.
That comes in five days for Chelsea, and they need to be better against Swansea City than they have been these past few weeks.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.
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