Chelsea vs Manchester City: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis, Community Shield

Man City 2-0 Chelsea highlights Community Shield 2018
Manchester City beat Chelsea 2-0 to win the Community Shield

Manchester City defeated Chelsea 2-0 in the Community Shield in what was quite a one-sided game at Wembley on Sunday. A brace from Sergio Aguero saw Pep Guardiola welcome new Blues manager Maurizio Sarri to England with a defeat.

City were clearly the fitter and sharper side as Chelsea look to get things going under a new manager with a new philosophy. For City, it was their first win in the season's curtain-raiser since 2012 and their fifth title overall.

Here are the major talking points from the game.


#1 Manchester City's plan to put pressure on Jorginho worked

Manchester City v Chelsea - FA Community Shield
Jorginho struggled in midfield under pressure

Jorginho was the man that slipped away for Pep Guardiola. The Brazil-born Italian was the subject of a bid from the Premier League champions but he eventually followed Maurizio Sarri to Chelsea.

The deep-lying playmaker had Cesc Fabregas and Ross Barkley on either side of him in the Blues midfield but, more often than not, he found himself face-to-face with either Phil Foden or Bernardo Silva.

The two City midfielders had clearly been instructed to disrupt his rhythm as he looked to take his first steps in England while even Sergio Aguero dropped deep to stick close to him when Chelsea had the ball.

The 26-year-old was clearly overwhelmed on a couple of occasions in the first half as City's players did not give him room to breathe. With the sluggish Fabregas also not at 100% fitness, City stifled Chelsea when they had possession in midfield and Jorginho's errors resulted in City counter-attacks.

With City not playing a very high line, even his long ball attempts were ineffective. However, he did make himself useful when a tackle had to be made. Without N'Golo Kante, he was tasked with recovering the ball and he did do a decent job.

By the end of the game, Jorginho had made the most tackles in the game (5) but it was his performance on the ball that saw Chelsea struggle to dominate proceedings.

#2 Sergio Aguero reaches landmark with a well-worked team goal

Manchester City v Chelsea - FA Community Shield
Sergio Aguero scored his 200th goal for Manchester City

All City needed were 13 minutes to open up the game. With both teams playing a 4-3-3 and possession pretty much 50-50 for the opening stages of the game, it seemed like it was going to take some doing to open the scoring.

That is when City suddenly decided to spice things up on an already hot day at Wembley (they had a drinks break!). When City's defence had the ball deep in their own half, they initially opted to pass among themselves until they searched for an opening.

Sensing the chance to press, Chelsea did and fell into Guardiola's trap. As the Blues pushed up, they created space for a midfield outlet and Foden was soon scampering away with the ball at his feet between the lines.

Chelsea were guilty of not putting enough pressure on him as he entered the final third and the only defender to eventually consider him a serious threat was Antonio Rudiger who (sensing a one-two) attempted to follow his run after he had squared the ball to Aguero.

That was all the invitation Aguero needed to take a shot on goal from the edge of the box to beat Caballero to make it 1-0 - his 200th goal for Manchester City.

#3 David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger is not an ideal partnership

Manchester City v Chelsea - FA Community Shield
David Luiz was poor in defence alongside Antonio Rudiger

For an ideal centre-back partnership to work, both defenders need to be on the same page with respect to committing or staying put. In Rudiger and Luiz, Chelsea have two defenders who are not.

A proactive and reactive defender has often been the best formula in central defence but both Luiz and Rudiger were reactive defenders in the game. Neither had the ability to read the game and identify danger until it was too late.

Manchester City should have been 2-0 up as soon as the second half kicked off. With Chelsea playing a high line, Aguero slipped through the offside trap to receive the ball in acres of space. It was only Caballero's desperate attempt to thwart his shot on goal that resulted in his Argentine compatriot shooting wide.

Commentators had a go at Luiz for allowing Aguero through but it was Rudiger who played him onside. With such a high line, the defender closest to the striker cannot be blamed.

But there was no question that Luiz was at fault when Aguero did make it 2-0. The angle of his body itself invited the pass for Aguero. The Brazilian defender could neither see Aguero stealing in behind him nor was he in a position to intercept the ball.

Desperate defending became the name of the game in the second half and City really should have scored more by full-time.

#4 Riyad Mahrez disappoints but Phil Foden shines

Manchester City v Chelsea - FA Community Shield
Riyad Mahrez was effectively dealt with by Alonso and the Chelsea defence

With a few senior players missing after their World Cup campaigns, this game gave Guardiola an opportunity to test his bench strength and his new club record signing.

Riyad Mahrez started the game out on the right but he was not as effective as Leroy Sane out on the left. The Algerian winger was a bit too predictable in his movements.

Marcos Alonso managed to keep him at bay for most of the first half and, when Mahrez did cut in on to his favoured left foot, Luiz was on hand to block any attempt on goal. As a result, he saw two of his shots blocked and had none on target, with Guardiola taking him off with a little over 20 minutes to go.

Manchester City v Chelsea - FA Community Shield
Phil Foden created the first goal with his run through midfield

On the other hand, it was a good run out for 18-year-old Phil Foden. The youngster shot to fame when he won the Best Player award after leading England to the U-17 World Cup title and did get a few minutes in the latter stages of last season as a substitute in a few games.

Starting this game did see some nerves from the youngster when he lost the ball a couple of times against more physical players but he soon imposed himself and found spaces in midfield to work with.

It was his movement that helped create the first goal for Aguero and Guardiola will be happy with his chance creation, with three key passes in the 76 minutes that he played.

#5 Is Alvaro Morata the right forward for Sarriball?

Manchester City v Chelsea - FA Community Shield
Alvaro Morata failed to muster a single shot on target

Chelsea are famous for building effective teams that know how to win games but they have never been known to be a team that plays beautiful attacking football. A revolving door for managers is the main cause for that.

Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri are polar opposites on how they play their football and the new Blues manager will need time to establish his own philosophy at the club.

But the question remains; does Sarri have the players to play Sarriball? The style of play that took Serie A by storm was an upgrade on Guardiola's tiki-taka with a lot of focus on vertical movement rather than sideways passing.

At Napoli, he had Dries Mertens leading the line - a dynamic forward with both an eye for goal and an eye for the final pass. He could even hold the ball and lay it off for teammates. In contrast, Morata likes to receive the final pass but his finishing has been poor since he moved to Stamford Bridge.

Sarri will be hoping that Morata will be back to his best once Eden Hazard returns to the squad. But to get Morata to play in a system that requires a good reading of the offside trap will take some doing.

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