Chelsea vs Manchester City promised much, but while it failed to deliver a thrilling encounter, it made for arresting viewing nonetheless as the 2018 Community Shield ended with the Sky Blues running out 2-0 winners on the night.
Sunday’s clash in the English capital was dominated by the Sky Blues as Sergio Aguero etched his name into the history books with his 200th and 201st strikes for the Manchester outfit.
The talismanic Argentine could have had two more, such was City’s dominance but there were plenty of other noteworthy takeaways from the fixture at Wembley Stadium:
Phil Foden vs Callum Hudson-Odoi: Sky Blues teen wins clash of English starlets
While all the fuss on Callum Hudson-Odoi had been borderline silly in the past few days, the 17-year-old was almost bound to ‘fail’ in a high-profile clash such as this.
And Phil Foden, seemingly not on the radar, came to the fore as he comfortably outperformed his compatriot, with whom he won the U-17 FIFA World Cup, as he laid a claim to a starting berth in City’s squad ahead of the 2018/19 season.
Of course, Foden had senior stars like Bernardo Silva, Sergio Aguero and Riyad Mahrez–who looked in great shape–whereas Hudson-Odoi had to play with the relatively clueless duo of Pedro and Alvaro Morata.
Regardless though, you have to make your chance count and the lad from Stockport certainly did that.
The future is indeed bright for Foden as, despite not having the built for a Premier League footballer, he seems to be getting better and looks like he’s ready to stake a claim for a starting berth.
For Hudson-Odoi, after his midweek display against Arsenal, this tie will be a sobering reminder of how tough breaking into the Chelsea starting XI is.
And to make matters worse for him, Brazilian winger Willian has arrived in London while star Man Eden Hazard is on his way as well.
Good luck trying get minutes this season, especially if the aforementioned duo stays put at Stamford Bridge.
The teenaged winger was actually Chelsea’s best player after Willy Caballero, but will it have been enough to have secured a starting spot ahead of Saturday’s trip to Huddersfield Town?
Tough start to life in England for Jorginho, but no need to hit panic button yet
After all the hullabaloo about Jorginho’s statistics against Perth Glory, Inter Milan and Arsenal, most of the Blues faithful were forced to eat humble pie as the club’s latest outfield recruit struggled to make an impact in his first game on English soil in a Chelsea shirt.
The 26-year-old may yet be the real deal, but it will take time and fans shouldn’t get ahead of themselves as it can just unnecessarily pressure a megabucks signing.
Just ask Alvaro Morata.
Either way, with N’Golo Kante rejoining the squad this week, Chelsea will only get stronger in midfield and fans can realistically expect Jorginho to become the player he’s touted to be only after the first international break.
The real stinker in the team, however, was veteran David Luiz and on the basis of his display against City, Chelsea desperately need a solid central defender. He’s not got the legs to play in a two-man central defence and truth be told, Gary Cahill isn’t an improvement either.
A young defender like Daniele Rugani would fit the bill and the Blues should consider adding reinforcements at the back.
Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy primed to take Premier League by storm
Aguero may grab all the plaudits for his brace and while Foden had a promising outing as well, the real MVP on the night was Bernardo Silva.
The Portuguese was everywhere in the first-half and his guile let many a Chelsea player for dead.
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The tempo dropped in the second, but he did manage to get himself an assist and the Portuguese maestro is ready to take the Premier League by storm in his second season after his display against the FA Cup champions. He’s been in impressive form all summer and looks like he’s set to take over David Silva’s mantle.
Benjamin Mendy deserves a mention too, for the marauding left-back was back to his best and Chelsea simply didn’t have any answer for his powerful runs down the flank.
And he’s not just about brawn for each time he forayed forward, he found a teammate with an immaculate pass.
After his dreadful knee injury last season, the road to recovery hasn’t been the easiest, but the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner is 100 per cent fit and that doesn’t bode well for City’s opponents this season.
Sarrismo vs Tiki-Taka in England: Guardiola draws 1st blood
Yes, it is unfair to give this round to Guardiola as in the grand scheme of things, the Community Shield is insignificant, but expectations were almost through the roof for Chelsea’s new head coach.
After winning many admirers (but no trophies) during his three seasons with Napoli, Sarri’s vaunted ‘Sarrismo’ philosophy was supposed to be the answer to Pep’s ‘Tiki-Taka’, but it’s going to take much more than this to beat the Catlaan.
Of course, he’s been here for two years now and has spent 100s of millions of pounds in the transfer market to get a tailor-made team, but will Sarri get that much time in West London?
Most definitely not, if one considers Roman Abramovich’s trigger-happy nature.
He’s got time till the second international break, at best, to work his magic or else join the growing list of managers to have been discarded by the Russian oligarch.
Citizens once again team to beat
Liverpool have made great strides this summer and their run to the UEFA Champions League final, notably at the expense of City, had pegged them as the favourites to end the Manchester side’s dominance ahead of the new season.
However, Pep Guardiola’s men remain head and shoulders above the rest for while Chelsea were missing several key players, so were City.
And let’s not forget, many bookmakers had the Blues as third favourites for the title, ahead of Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.
So while Mr Jurgen Klopp will beg to differ, but it looks like City are very much the team to beat ahead of the 2018/19 Premier League campaign.
In a one-off game, the Sky Blues may well be beaten by United or Liverpool, but over the course of 38 Matchdays, it doesn’t like like the Premier League title won’t remain in the Blue half of Manchester.