Chelsea FC captain John Terry has said that their defeat to Arsenal in Sundaya s Community Shield could serve as a a wake-up calla for the champions as they prepare to defend their Premier League title.
Following a 13 game unbeaten run, Jose Mourinho finally succumbed to his first lost to Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger as his side were defeated 1-0 at Wembley with Wenger lifting the Community Shield.
An Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain stunner helped Arsenal beat Chelsea, with Petr Cech making his competitive debut against his former side after having switched allegiances from Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal took the lead in the 24th minute when Chamberlain beat Azpilicueta with his foot-work before unleashing a left-footed strike into the top corner with Courtois well and truly beaten.
After the match, Arsene Wenger snubbed a possible hand-shake from Jose Mourinho, who was standing near the stairs and was congratulating the Arsenal FC players over their well-fought victory.
‘Defeat a blessing in disguise for Chelsea’
Captain John Terry was not too downbeat about the defeat, and was quoted saying by . the Guardian that, if anything, it would act as a wake up call for the Premier League champions as they look to defend the title they won quite comfortably in 2014-15.
a It was a different atmosphere in the dressing room afterwards. We havena t lost many at Wembley. With that in mind, ita s maybe the boost we needed and we go again for the season.”
a It could be a blessing in disguise for us a a wake-up call. We have experience in the squad, we have the character. Ita s going to be even tougher this year.a
‘Chelsea FC were on top of Arsenal’
Far from being downbeat, Terry went onto say, as quoted by the Guardian, that the Blues were the better of the two teams.
“I thought we were on top if anything. We got another 90 minutes under our belts a the players are still finding their feet and fitness. Ita s served a good purpose for that, but obviously wea re disappointed we didna t win.a
4 game winless streak not worrying Cahill
Chelsea FC have not won any of their last four pre-season games, but, defender Gary Cahill reckons the pre-season is all about fitness and the results are not an indicator of anything.
“Ita s purely about fitness. When the points are there to be played for from next weekend, thata s when we are at the business end. Pre-season is false in many ways because youa re changing the team, everyonea s getting minutes, everyone is trying to get fit and youa re training hard. Youa re doing double training sessions before you play a game. We still have another week of that before we get down to business.”
Don’t conclude anything on the basis of pre-season
Pre-season is a time to build fitness and for the squad to come in sync with the manager’s tactics. It is, as Cahill said, not something where the teams go all out for victories.
Chelsea FC may not be having the best of times in terms of results in their last four pre-season games, but, as Terry had said earlier about the Community Shield game, their performances have been pretty good even in the defeats.