Sunday, August 10, 2014 COMMUNITY SHIELD 2014 Manchester City vs Arsenal The Community Shield – a preamble to the English Premier League – gets underway this afternoon at Wembly Stadium. Two English giants, Arsenal (FA winners) and Manchester City (current EPL Champions) will face off in what promises to be a mouth-watering duel. From the onset, it must be appreciated that The Community Shield outcome, (whichever team wins) will NOT be a reflection of the EPL season. It is neither a litmus test on either team superiority nor a probability of winning the EPL championship. Experience in the recent past indicates that the Community Shield seldom reflects the proceedings of the competitive and erratic EPL. Last season, Manchester United claimed the silverware but ended up in unfamiliar waters (7th on the EPL ranking). The curtain raiser is merely a yardstick to gauge the team which did prudent business during the summer break! The Gunners have won the Community Shield 12 times while Man City have emerged winners 4 times. The urge to claim the first silverware and cast a good omen for the club is enough motivation to raise stakes in this game. However, I believe today’s encounter will be an opportunity to experiment on the new signings. Arsenal will hope that matador; Alexis Sanchez, will be in the form of his life. If that be the case, Man City, without its linchpin (Vincent Company) at the back will face baptism with fire! I can only compare his (Sanchez) penchant for harassing defenders to Suarez’. (The only difference is that Megastar Sanchez has never manifested cannibal instincts!). His (Suarez) former team (Liverpool) is also on the move (down the spiral) because its clarion call is “You will Never Walk alone!” What do the Bookies reckon? On paper, Manchester City mean machine is considered favorite. The charges from Etihad still have deadly salvos in the mid-field including turncoat Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, David Silver and right wing speed jet, Jesus Navas. I am not certain that The Gunners have the right Chemistry to ward off the onslaught. The Gunners cause is aggravated by the absence of World Cup winners, Per Mertesacker, Mesut Özil and Lukas Podolski (All a doubt due to injuries). The absence of the mid-field genius, Özil will, no doubt, be missed. Manchester City will also miss the services of a significant number of staple players such as Álvaro Negredo, Frank Lampard, Vincent Kompany and Sergio Agüero. The absence of defender captain Vincent Company is a great blow. The Gunners could exploit the shaky Manchester City defense to stage a major upset. A triumph in today’s warm-up match will be a morale booster to the Gunners. Success in this encounter will help The Emirates outfit to overcome a ‘Sisyphus Complex’ which has dogged its title credentials over the years.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 12:42:56 +0000
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