morning papers community shield

Telegraph:
Clinical Chelsea offer hint of things to comeBy Henry Winter at the Millennium Stadium (Filed: 08/08/2005)
Match details

Chelsea (1) 2 Arsenal (0) 1
Victory in the Community Shield is usually a forerunner to failure in the Premiership, as the eight most recent winners before yesterday promptly discovered, yet there was something ominous about the sight of John Terry lifting another trophy. Arsenal played the prettier football, but Chelsea produced the more effective and duly won.
Double trouble: Didier Drogba celebrates his Millennium brace The footballing purist in Arsenal's manager, Arsene Wenger, was offended by the sight of Hernan Crespo seeking to protect Chelsea's lead by shielding the ball near the corner to run the clock down. Five minutes remained and Wenger considered the time-wasting unethical, a point he made to the champions' manager, Jose Mourinho.
Yet the man celebrated on the front of hundreds of 'Jose's The Portugeezer' T-shirts merely shrugged his shoulders and mused about having won every English trophy bar the FA Cup in 13 months on these shores. He also knows that Wenger's perception of Chelsea as footballing roundheads compared to Highbury's cavaliers is distorted.
Wenger was dismissive of Chelsea style, labelling an approach that yielded two breakaway goals for Didier Drogba as merely "long-ball", yet the truth is the champions mixed it up, with even Claude Makelele resembling a latter-day Charlie Cooke with some lively dribbles.
Chelsea will be easier on the eye when Frank Lampard refinds his distinguished rhythm, the England international being subdued by his high standards in the heat of Cardiff. When Asier Del Horno gets used to the pace of English football, the Spanish full-back will also contribute more offensively down the left while his name should provide hours of fun for the librettists among Chelsea fans.
When Michael Essien finally arrives from Lyons, Chelsea's engine room will be purring with Rolls-Royce ease.
What must really have hurt Wenger was the blurred image of Shaun Wright-Phillips speeding on to lend more menace down the right; an England flier coveted by Arsenal chose the Bank of Roman Abramovich and should swiftly become a darling at the Bridge.
Wenger did introduce a stylish summing signing of his own, the deft Alexander Hleb, the Belarus international who looks full of promise, showing touch and versatility across midfield. The feeling persists that Arsenal urgently require additional reinforcements, particularly as yesterday when Thierry Henry is as well policed by the outstanding William Gallas.
Wenger's attack, for all Dennis Bergkamp's early invention, could have done with the sort of power and panache that Julio Baptista eventually took from Sevilla to Real Madrid. Sometimes Arsenal need to take the direct road to goal, rather than the scenic route.
Chelsea certainly did. Within seven minutes, the champions were ahead, springing a quick move that caught Arsenal's defence out. When Del Horno drilled the ball forward, Drogba was too strong and determined for Philippe Senderos. Making a mockery of the memory of his disappointing first season at Chelsea, the Ivory Coast international brought the ball down on his chest, kept the ponderous Senderos at bay, and then hammered the ball past Jens Lehmann with his left.
Senderos endured an awkward afternoon. Fifteen minutes later, he was fortunate to escape after tripping Arjen Robben on the edge of the box. Yet Chelsea were also riding their luck, such as when Terry took out Robert Pires on the cusp of Petr Cech's area. Howard Webb waved play on.
By then, Wenger's tie was off and the gloves were soon off as well. Cesc Fabregas and Makelele squared up like fourth-formers in the playground. Encouragingly for Arsenal, the teenage Fabregas was refusing to be in awe of the illustrious opponents. He will never replace Patrick Vieira, lacking the departed Frenchman's physical presence, yet the Spaniard still brings considerable invention as well as industry to Arsenal's central midfield, and may blossom alongside the anchoring Gilberto Silva.
With Fabregas busy in the middle, Arsenal still threatened. Kolo Toure even glided forward, exchanged passes with Henry and unleashed a left-footed strike that would have beaten most keepers. Cech is not most keepers, and the formidable Czech Republic international calmly clawed the ball to safety.
Arsenal then displayed their darker side, Lauren angering Drogba by catching the Chelsea man on the calf. Drogba rolled around, upsetting Lehmann, who immediately rushed in to remonstrate and suddenly the game dissolved into the type of amateur dramatics re-opening in Edinburgh yesterday.
Drogba had the last laugh on Arsenal's defence, exploiting good work by Lampard and Eidur Gudjohnsen before beating Lehmann at the second attempt. Drogba was promptly withdrawn and Crespo dashed on to remind English football of the depth of quality that Mourinho is stockpiling.
Arsenal commendably refused to yield and pulled a goal back when Fabregas timed his run into the box superbly to meet Freddie Ljungberg's cross. Cech had no chance. But Chelsea's defence will not be breached many times this season. No wonder they have produced their own version of the Monopoly game.
Match details
Arsenal (4-4-2): Lehmann; Lauren (Hoyte 77), Toure, Senderos (Cygan 71), Cole; Ljungberg (Reyes, 71), Flamini (Gilberto, h-t), Fabregas, Pires (Hleb h-t); Bergkamp (Van Persie h-t), Henry. Sub: Howard (g). Goal: Fabregas (65). Booked: Fabregas.Chelsea (4-1-2-2-1): Cech; Ferreira, Gallas, Terry, Del Horno; Makelele; Gudjohnsen (Tiago 59), Lampard (Geremi 90); Duff (J Cole 73), Robben (Wright-Phillips 68); Drogba (Crespo 59). Subs: Cudicini (g), Carvalho. Goals: Drogba (8, 56). Booked: Makelele, Lampard.Referee: H Webb (Rotherham).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sun:
DIDIER DROGBA shrugged off Arsenal's defence and growing pressure for his place as Chelsea won the Community Shield with more comfort than style.
Hitman Drogba at last added precision to his muscular menace, snatching two classy goals to put the game beyond a Gunners side short of physical presence.
And, even though Cesc Fabregas slid home a consolation, Arsenal rarely troubled a Blues’ rearguard that already looks near its stingy best of last season.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has been linked with Andrei Shevchenko and Samuel Eto'o as he seeks the one thing his squad seems to lack – a free-scoring striker of consistent world class.
But Drogba outshone the best there is – Gunners’ skipper Thierry Henry.
And the Ivory Coast ace put unexpected question marks over Philippe Senderos, whose rapid emergence at centre-back last term put Sol Campbell’s long-term future in doubt.
This time, though, the Swiss star appeared uncertain and at times timid against Drogba’s raw power and pace – especially for his double strike.
In fact, Arsenal’s physical edge was often spiky and temperamental, rather than the brand of hard-tackling and quick closing down epitomised by the now-departed Patrick Vieira.
Ashley Cole was certainly relentless in his tackling as he battles to prove his loyalty after secret talks with champions Chelsea.
The England left-back left Arjen Robben sprawling with one challenge and was lucky not to be booked for another foul on Drogba.
And ironically it was Asier del Horno - the Spanish international signed by Chelsea instead of Cole - who teed up their eighth-minute opener as serious doubts over the Gunners' back-line set in.
Senderos was left flat-footed as Drogba stormed onto del Horno's through-pass, and then floundered as the frontman cut across him and clipped a smart finish inside the far corner.
Del Horno continued to fit in smoothly to Chelsea's slick defence.

And, with Henry closely marked, it needed Kolo Toure to not only win back possession but also stride onto a mishit pass by his new captain - forcing Petr Cech into a diving stop just before the break.
Generally, though, Arsenal lacked inspiration, although boss Arsene Wenger was always planning to make his three half-time changes.
On came newcomer Alexander Hleb, plus Gilberto Silva and Robin van Persie - both still short of match-sharpness.
Hleb's first touches were bright and promising.
But, when Drogba charged onto a long ball forward on 57 minutes, the match was all but over.
GREIGHT START ... Drogba floors Senderos andLehmann with eighth-minute opener
The 27-year-old easily evaded Senderos' attempted challenge, before skipping wide of Jens Lehmann's challenge.
He regained his footing to win the ball back and turn in one movement, scooping home a 12-yarder inside the near post.
But, in a perfect example of Chelsea's supreme playing resources, Drogba was instantly replaced by Argentine striker Hernan Crespo, back after his loan at AC Milan last season.
Fabregas raised the interest midway through the half when he slotted home Freddie Ljungberg's deflected cross.
That sparked several substitutions, despite which Arsenal began to find some neat one-touch rhythm.
Robin van Persie fired wide at full stretch after Hleb won the ball from del Horno.
Cech denied Henry and Lehmann thwarted Frank Lampard, before Toure's last-ditch interception stopped Crespo.
Nonetheless, Chelsea's efficient display was more than ample to defeat an Arsenal side who held them twice last term.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Independent:
Drogba at the double as Chelsea take early pickings ARSENAL 1 Fabregas 65 CHELSEA 2 Drogba 8, 57 By Sam Wallace at the Millennium Stadium Published: 08 August 2005
At the club where fortunes are spent in a day, where new international centre-forwards can be rustled up at a whim, even a £24m striker can find himself expendable. Didier Drogba has had to endure a summer parade of potential replacements at the head of English football's most ruthless attacking unit but yesterday he looked, at long last, like the kind of goalscorer Chelsea have craved.
Chelsea did not quite summon up an awesome dismissal of their nearest Premiership challengers that so many feared would blunt the season's competitive edge before it had even begun, but for Jose Mourinho it was a template for his continued success. Drogba's two goals nudged the match out of Arsenal's reach before they ever threatened to inflict any damage on Chelsea, and Drogba went some way to reassuring Mourinho that his awkward, unpredictable Ivory Coast striker might yet be worthy of leading the most expensive forward line in Europe.
Twice Drogba burst through Arsenal's back four to finish with confidence and, in direct comparison with the vastly more talented Thierry Henry, he could claim a far more valuable day's work. Drogba has displayed a looseness of touch, a carelessness in front of goal, that has, at times, left English football unconvinced but by the time he was replaced by Hernan Crespo before the hour there was little doubt that he had done enough to assure himself of a place in the starting line-up against Wigan on Sunday.
It was not an occasion that crackled with the tension that has been generated, for the most part, between the boards of these two clubs. Mourinho made reference to a hand in the face that Henry dealt Damien Duff and Wenger complained of Crespo running the ball into the corner as time slipped away. But the Arsenal manager did so with a grin on his face as he made light of the occasion and what he perceived as a lack of "charity" from Chelsea. "We've won this four times and no one counts it as a trophy," he said, "so now I just prefer to see it as a friendly game."
Available on the bench for Wenger was Mark Howard, an 18-year-old goalkeeper, and Justin Hoyte from the academy, while in the blue corner was £79.5m-worth of Roman Abramovich's money including Shaun Wright-Phillips, who played for 20 minutes. He was greeted by the Arsenal supporters with the song they once sang for his stepfather, Ian Wright, and was expertly managed down the right flank by Ashley Cole, who received only a murmur of disapproval from the Chelsea support.
The ball that unlocked Arsenal's defence came on eight minutes and was an unremarkable angled pass into the area from Asier del Horno that found Philippe Senderos stranded hopelessly behind Drogba and unable to intervene as the striker chested the ball into his stride. It was a bleak moment for the young Swiss defender, who replaced Sol Campbell in the side at the end of last season, as he forlornly tried to close down the striker. Drogba clipped a confident volley past Jens Lehmann.
This was far from the finest 90 minutes in Senderos' young career. He was uncomfortable against Arjen Robben, who set the tone for another season of deception when he threw himself to the ground as the Arsenal defender offered the meekest of challenges on 22 minutes. Watching Senderos' performance from home, the unfit Campbell will have concluded that this was a good day for his first-team prospects.
Campbell would have surely have had a better chance than Senderos to tussle Drogba away from the ball as he thundered on to an Eidur Gudjohnsen flick-on on 57 minutes. Having disposed of the Swiss defender he took the ball wide of Lehmann, to the extent that he had to break through a tackle from Lauren, who had caught him up, before swivelling to beat Kolo Touré on the line.
Not a sleek, clinical, predatory finish but one that illustrated the robust, adversarial brand of attacking that Drogba offers, especially when the Chelsea manager picks a team that is unabashed about hitting long balls to their lone forward, an uncomplicated style that will need refinement against the very best teams in Europe. In defence, John Terry was outstanding while Del Horno's debut promised much.
Chelsea's concentration deserted them just once when Freddie Ljungberg threaded a cross from the right that found its way across the area and was turned in by Cesc Fabregas on 65 minutes. The 18-year-old more than held his own in the centre of midfield but an Arsenal team without Patrick Vieira at its heart still looks unfamiliar. They will have to arrive at some solution to that before the real Premiership business commences at Stamford Bridge 14 days from now.
Goals: Drogba (8); Drogba (57); Fabregas (65)
Arsenal (4-4-2): Lehmann; Lauren (Hoyte, 77), Senderos (Cygan, 71), Touré, Cole; Ljungberg (Reyes, 71), Fabregas, Flamini (Gilberto Silva, h-t), Pires (Van Persie, h-t); Bergkamp (Hleb, h-t), Henry. Substitutes not used: Howard (gk).
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Ferreira, Terry, Gallas, Del Horno; Makelele; Robben (Wright-Phillips, 69), Lampard (Geremi, 90), Gudjohnsen (Tiago, 58), Duff (Cole, 73); Drogba (Crespo, 58). Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Carvalho.
Referee: H Webb (South Yorkshire).
Booked: Arsenal Fabregas; Chelsea Makelele, Lampard.
Man of the match: Drogba. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guardian:
Drogba power delivers the early prize
Chelsea waste no time picking up where they left off as their Ivory Coast centre-forward finds his feet to provide a match-winning double
Kevin McCarra at Millennium StadiumMonday August 8, 2005The Guardian
The lure of fresh signings tempted Londoners to Cardiff, but the true satisfaction for Chelsea fans came as they viewed a familiar face in a new light. Though Didier Drogba has never been persecuted by the Stamford Bridge crowd, he was a man for whom allowances had to be made last season. He came to the club after only 12 days' holiday, he later needed surgery, he seemed spooked by the transformation to his life and bank balance.
As he scored the goals that won the Community Shield, all of that hesitation had evaporated. The Ivory Coast striker had overwhelming strength in his body and absolute clarity of mind. Ask Philippe Senderos. If the Chelsea centre-forward had been absent the defender would have reaped more praise on his return to the Millennium Stadium, where he had been dogged in May as Arsenal won the FA Cup final against Manchester United. The strapping 20-year-old could, for example, have boasted of a couple of tackles on the nimble Arjen Robben.In reality, however, Senderos will only look back on this game to analyse the areas in which he is yet to improve. Drogba, in the eighth minute, swept past him to take a ball from the new left-back Asier Del Horno on his chest and then crack a shot across Jens Lehmann to the far corner of the net. Senderos had not got close enough to ruffle the scorer's technique.
The match was decided after 57 minutes. When the ball ricocheted off the back of Eidur Gudjohnsen, Drogba was ready to storm inside Senderos and hold him off. The attacker then strode across Lehmann and showed yet more power by resisting Lauren and lifting a shot into the net even as he was losing his balance.
While flaunting this sort of speed, vigour, touch, composure and eye for an opening, Drogba's single failing is one for which he bears no responsibility. The £24m fee that Jose Mourinho agreed to pay would be a stigma for virtually any forward, but it might not look quite so incongruous if the player continues to show this decisiveness.
While a game of 11 substitutions must be an unreliable witness, it at least raises the possibility that Chelsea will no longer go on cursing a failure to detach Andriy Shevchenko or Adriano from the Milan clubs.
If Hernan Crespo is in earnest about succeeding at Stamford Bridge, the fierce struggle for the centre-forward position will continue to have dreadful consequences for defences everywhere. "Why not say that Hernan was responsible for Drogba's performance?" crowed Mourinho, who also argued that the scorer was bound to be better in his second season, having adapted to England.
Arsenal will not have sobbed their way home. Out of necessity after the opener, they attacked more than Chelsea and while they were not so tight-knit a side their worries were relatively slight.
Mathieu Flamini performed gamely enough, but there was more fluency when Gilberto Silva took over from him. In the second half, the Brazilian steadied the midfield and, with him around, a fellow substitute Alexander Hleb, who has been bought from Stuttgart, could show just how he will undermine defenders in the year ahead. With the Belarus international and several other substitutes introduced there was more zip to Arsenal's attacks and Francesc Fábregas scored from Freddie Ljungberg's deflected, low cross after 65 minutes.
The Community Shield may just be a friendly with airs and graces, but the tone was still fairly competitive. To give it the authentic ring there was even a bit of malevolence, with tempers raised when Drogba, charging through after he had been ruled offside, was caught on the back of his leg by Lauren.
Arsène Wenger also obliged with some post-match waspishness as he observed that Chelsea had depended on the long ball. The obvious riposte was that Mourinho, as ever, had stuck to whatever approach worked.
There were only a few signs that the Community Shield contest is a flawed guide to the season ahead. Frank Lampard, serial scooper of awards, barely caught the eye at all for Chelsea. In the Arsenal ranks Thierry Henry was just as unobtrusive.
The previous owner of the captain's armband, Patrick Vieira, has left for Juventus. While Arsenal were probably sensible to sanction the sale of a man whose valuation was declining with age, Wenger will surely use some of the £13.75m in the transfer market since Gilberto would otherwise be the only experienced contender for the central midfield role.
That is much too telling an area for the Arsenal manager to trust that his existing candidates will muddle through a whole campaign.
While Mourinho's protracted bid for Lyon's Michael Essien proceeds, there is no stress about his search for additions to the squad. His actual worry will lie in maintaining harmony among such a gathering of outstanding footballers who will all understandably feel that they should start matches.
The 18 names on Mourinho's team sheet yesterday bristled with ability and, for one reason or another, internationals such as Wayne Bridge and Jiri Jarosik did not even feature among them. Del Horno gave a sound account of himself before wearying in the closing half-hour and there was, too, a debut from the bench for Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Mourinho will have been pleased with this warning that there is to be no change in his club's command of English football. Opponents are fools if they believe that the famed jinx on Community Shield winners will be enough to stop Chelsea.
Didier Drogba
The striker brought all his muscle and ability to bear on Arsenal.
Best moment
The second goal was fashioned out of atheleticism, persistence and calm.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Times:
Drogba's double spells troubleBy Matt DickinsonChelsea 2 Arsenal 1
AT HIGHBURY AND OLD TRAFFORD, some already talk about trying to keep pace with Chelsea as the best they can hope for. As a tactic for winning the Barclays Premiership title, it is likely to prove as effective as waiting for Tiger Woods to choke on the last day of a major or hoping that Lance Armstrong will fall off his bike when leading the Tour de France.
Arsène Wenger distanced himself from such defeatist talk yesterday when asked if he feared an era of domination by the champions — “do I look worried?” he asked — but Arsenal or Manchester United (or both) will have to do something dramatic to make the rest of the country believe in Chelsea’s vulnerability. Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge in 13 days, which would be a good time to start.
No seeds of doubt were sown yesterday in the minds of John Terry, Frank Lampard or José Mourinho, even if this was far from a vintage performance from Chelsea who, uncharacteristically, eased off once they had gone ahead with two goals from Didier Drogba. Arsenal responded with a goal from the excellent Francesc Fàbregas and a spell of late pressure but Chelsea could rely on the enduring solidity of Petr Cech, Terry and Claude Makelele. The soft goal that Cech conceded, after Tiago’s mistake, may be the last for some time.
We await to see if injuries, suspensions, floods or plagues can knock Chelsea out of their stride but, with the start of the Premiership campaign looming on Saturday, there is no reason to believe that the team who won the title with a record points margin will be any worse than last season. Asier Del Horno looked a sturdy addition at left back before tiring late on. There was little time to judge Shaun Wright-Phillips or Hernán Crespo but Mourinho believed that the latter made an impact even before replacing Drogba midway through the second half.
“You can say that Hernán is responsible for Didier’s performance,” Mourinho said, citing the competition for places as a force for good in his squad and not, as some hope, a cause of resentment. “When he has a big player on the sidelines fighting for his place, I think that pressure is good for players,” the Portuguese added.
Drogba’s contribution was certainly impressive and a huge contrast to his shambling performance at Anfield in the European Cup semi-final second-leg defeat by Liverpool. The wise money then would have been on the £24 million signing departing for around half that sum — particularly with Lyons asking whether he could be included in a swap deal for Michael Essien — but Mourinho appears willing to give him a second chance.
The forward responded with two fine goals, collecting Del Horno’s long ball in the eighth minute as he ran across the penalty area. Philippe Senderos had looked superb in this stadium in the FA Cup final a few months earlier, justifying his inclusion at Sol Campbell’s expense, but his failure to challenge Drogba was very costly. The Chelsea man hooked a left-foot shot past Jens Lehmann with Senderos inexplicably standing off.
Drogba’s pace and power were crucial qualities for his second goal 12 minutes into the second half, when he was also rewarded for perseverance. Lampard’s ball forward caught Arsenal with too few men at the back and, after an aerial challenge between Eidur Gudjohnsen and Kolo Touré, Drogba bore down on Lehmann.
Holding off a challenge from behind by Senderos, Drogba muscled past Lehmann and also beat Lauren in the tackle. It had been a long and tiring run but he still had the energy to hook the ball into the net from close range.
“I think it’s normal [for Drogba] that the second season will be better,” Mourinho said. “He knows the club, he knows the players, the style of football and the opponents. He came very, very late in pre-season last year and he had an injury in the middle. Now he has the conditions to do better. He showed great power for the first goal and, for the second, another player would dive for a penalty. He kept fighting for the ball. Then Crespo came on and his movement was fantastic.
“Since Didier arrived, Chelsea have been champions and won the Carling Cup and he gave a contribution in all of this. You can measure goals, assists and all these statistics but I prefer to go for titles. He wants to score more goals, we want him to score more goals but we trust him independent of this.”
To judge from the manner of both goals, Mourinho had not wasted a minute of his summer holidays dreaming up different tactics. Wenger rather sniffily talked of long balls and counter-attacks compared to Arsenal’s passing combinations but the same criticism was hurled at Chelsea in the early months of last season before Damien Duff and Arjen Robben burst into life.
Neither winger was too effective in the Millennium Stadium, but with Joe Cole and Wright-Phillips to come off the bench as they did yesterday, Drogba is not the only player who knows that a less than effective performance will result in a beckoning signal from the sidelines. For Wenger, defeat had not marred a good work-out. He had consoling words for Senderos who made some good interceptions on the ground but looked very uncomfortable throughout the battering from Drogba.
“Maybe that wasn’t his best performance,” the Arsenal manager said. “But he’s not scared to play even if he makes a mistake and that’s the most important thing.”
The effect of Patrick Vieira’s departure to Juventus cannot yet be quantified but, in central midfield, Fabregas was outstanding. Alexandr Hleb stepped busily off the bench and, after the win-at-all-costs approach to the FA Cup Final in May, at least Arsenal put together a few of the moves that make them so pleasing on the eye.
Wenger believes that his team can challenge Chelsea for the title but he did not win the prize for most optimistic statement yesterday. That went to Geoff Thompson, the FA chairman, who predicted in the match programme that “we can look forward to playing the next Community Shield at the new Wembley Stadium”. Wherever it is staged — and yet more delays at Wembley means that the Millennium Stadium cannot be ruled out — Chelsea will expect to be involved, probably as champions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------