Having won the FA Cup (woooooo!) we will now be entered into the 2014 FA Community Shield, where we will kick off the 2014-2015 season with a game against Premier League winners Manchester City to contest the first bit of silverware of the new season. Now I know it is considered mostly to be a glorified friendly, with most people not placing much importance on the result, but I can't help but have a sense of excitement looking forward to that game. Despite it seeming an insignificance it's still a trophy and I feel a win in that game would be a fantastic way to kick off the new season (beating the league winners to give us some belief and lifting some silverware to help build a culture of winning following our FA Cup success). I like the idea of the Community Shield with the domestic league and cup winners starting the season off and think there is a certain magic about it ushering in the new season and the excitement that comes with that, even if it is a more relaxed event than most. Are you all looking forward to that game? Is it just another friendly which your not bothered about? Or another chance to lift some silverware? Let's hear your views on the FA Community Shield!
you gotta be in it to win it . Good way to get the teams arses into gear and ready for the new season. Cant see us beating city though , given the result last time we met .
I'm excited about it, it's been a long time! It would be nice to win it, beating City at Wembley, glorified friendly or not, would help to galvanise our confidence and experience as a team. Would be a good occasion to (hopefully) show off our new signings too. Looking forward to it!
I like that it's a competition for winners and that we are back in that position. So yes you gotta be in it to win it! And we are in it so I hope we do win it! It'll be a difficult game I'm sure but anything can happen in 90 minutes of football!
I remember back in 2005 I went to my first community shield game VS United at Cardiff, really enjoyed that game and wanted to win it too....When it comes to the competition now, not really that excited about it, would be nice to win it, though I'm sure on matchday my feelings will be much more increased in wanting to win the thing, and not to lose.
Glorified friendly for me. Decent day out for the fans I guess but the game, how it's played and the result are fairly meaningless
Totally agree with you.If I want to see Arsenal play in a pre-season friendly I'll go to the Emirates cup,It'll be a lot cheaper
It's a good statement to make should we beat the league winners, but I can't see much of an intense match after the World Cup is over. Both teams will have a lot of pretty tired players coming back from that tournament.
Withot checking does anyone actually know how the last dozen Charity Shields have gone ? That'll probably give you an idea of how meaningless it is. As for players coming back from the WC, I'm sure that any player participating right through to the end of the tournament will not be back in club training until after the Charity Shield and they're guaranteed to miss the first week or two of the league season. When you look at how we struggled with injuries in the second half of last season imagine how the closing stages of next season will be if players have played continuous football from July 2013 to Spring 2015 (BFG springs to mind here), something will give and it's most likely going to be an ACL, hammy or groin....
After the hammerings we took at the top 4 teams last season a victory in a competitive (to some degree) match would be a good way to start the new season.
Good for us that Gibbs wasn't selected for country (sad for him) and our main player Ramsey will obviously miss the WC. Both Wilshere and OXO will need extended breaks, considering their poor injury records. I'm not convinced Wilshere is 100% and probably needs the whole summer for rehabilitation. We are fortunate that we have Ramsey who is on imperious form and moving to another level. Also I can't see Cazorla factor much for Spain so will be fresh too. Ozil factor the most of all our players so will be rested the most. The French have a good chance of progression from their group and we have 3 (2 if Sagna goes), will feature heavily.
