This year's Community Shield in English football saw heroic Edwin van den Sar gave Manchester United the shield and also 'saved' the game. When 2 big teams like Manchester United and Chelsea shared the same pitch, I always expect a big football match. I always expect those 2 sides to play a high tempo football with a lot of action on the pitch. I always expect a beautiful attacking style of football and a display of highly talented players showing why people call them world class footballers.
Did those things happen in the 2007 Community Shield? I believe the answer is no. Both team displayed an almost boring game. The tempo wasn't that high without a lot of real chances in front of the goal. Both manager, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson, didn't field their best team. We didn't see Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves while they are good players with high reputaion. I expected Scholes to play behind Wayne Rooney and Hargreaves controls midfield alonside Michael Carrick. We also saw that Joe Cole played as a striker (yes, a bloody striker!!) which is weird because Cole is pure winger. I know that he has an attacking syle of play but seeing Cole playing as a striker is beyond my wildest imagination about football. Claudio Pizzaro then was introduced in the second half which brought me to a simple question : Why didn't Mourinho field him from the first minute?
It's a good thing that the game went on to penalties. The shootout was much more entertaining than the 2 halves before. Van der Sar really showed what he's got when he blocked 3 consecutive penalties. This really proved that Chelsea are not good when it comes to penalty shootout. Everybody still remembers their defeat from Liverpool in the last UEFA Champions League semi final.
But I'm really happy to see Florent Malouda. He showed a perfect physical condition last night at New Wembley. He's fast, didn't lose the ball easily and scored a goal beautifully. I guess he can fit well in the English style of football.
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Did those things happen in the 2007 Community Shield? I believe the answer is no. Both team displayed an almost boring game. The tempo wasn't that high without a lot of real chances in front of the goal. Both manager, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson, didn't field their best team. We didn't see Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves while they are good players with high reputaion. I expected Scholes to play behind Wayne Rooney and Hargreaves controls midfield alonside Michael Carrick. We also saw that Joe Cole played as a striker (yes, a bloody striker!!) which is weird because Cole is pure winger. I know that he has an attacking syle of play but seeing Cole playing as a striker is beyond my wildest imagination about football. Claudio Pizzaro then was introduced in the second half which brought me to a simple question : Why didn't Mourinho field him from the first minute?
It's a good thing that the game went on to penalties. The shootout was much more entertaining than the 2 halves before. Van der Sar really showed what he's got when he blocked 3 consecutive penalties. This really proved that Chelsea are not good when it comes to penalty shootout. Everybody still remembers their defeat from Liverpool in the last UEFA Champions League semi final.
But I'm really happy to see Florent Malouda. He showed a perfect physical condition last night at New Wembley. He's fast, didn't lose the ball easily and scored a goal beautifully. I guess he can fit well in the English style of football.
