Scout Notes – Pre-Season Round Up – Sunday

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain fires Arsenal to victory over Chelsea in the Community Shield. Diego Costa is a doubt for Chelsea’s opener at home to Swansea. Christian Benteke announces his arrival at Liverpool in style. Jay Rodriguez earns Southampton a draw with Espanyol, whilst Diafra Sakho scores as West Ham lose to Werder Bremen.

Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain extended the Gunners’ pre-season winning streak to five matches with a searing strike into the top corner. The jet-heeled wide man cut in from the right flank and glided past Cesar Azpilicueta, before unleashing a rising strike beyond the reach of Thibaut Courtois.

Arsenal lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Petr Cech in goal and a rearguard comprised of Hector Bellerin, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal. Francis Coquelin shielded the defence, allowing Santi Cazorla and Oxlade-Chamberlain to patrol the flanks, with Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil providing support to lone striker Theo Walcott in the centre of the park. Jack Wilshere missed out with an ankle injury, which Wenger said he’ll recover from in a “matter of days”.

In addition to leading the line, Walcott also provided the assist for the Gunners’ only goal before making way for Olivier Giroud on 66 minutes – somewhat disconcerting for those Fantasy managers who are considering handing him the armband for the Gameweek 1 home clash with West Ham.

Discussing the situation up front following his maiden triumph over Jose Mourinho, Wenger admitted his selection will be determined by the set-up of Arsenal’s opponents:

“It depends on the games. I tried to see the options I have through the season. I felt today that I wanted to use Theo’s pace to go in behind. In the first half he worked very hard, didn’t get too much service, but he worked very hard. In the second half when Giroud came on I think he gave us a physical presence that was needed at that time as well.”

Despite enjoying the lion’s share of the possession, the Blues were unable to breach Arsenal’s resilient back line. Ramires spurned a golden opportunity to equalise, directing an unmarked header wide of the upright from six yards out.

Mourinho deployed his troops in a 4-2-3-1 set-up, with Courtois in between the sticks and a back four of Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill, John Terry and Azpilicueta. Ramires and Nemanja Matic partnered up in central midfield, while Eden Hazard (left wing), Cesc Fabregas (number ten) and Willian (right wing) supplied the ammunition for lone frontman Loic Remy.

A reshuffle occurred midway through the first 45, with Fabregas dropping back to the double pivot, Willian shifting across to operate in “the hole” and Ramires pushing up to the right flank. Radamel Falcao made his debut in the second half but didn’t offer much of a goal threat.

Diego Costa failed to recover from the hamstring knock he picked up against Barcelona earlier in the week. Mourinho conceded he is unsure if the Spain international will be available for Chelsea’s opener against Swansea:

“Will Costa be fit for Swansea? I don’t know. You think I’m lying, but I’m not. Two days ago he was ready to play. He trained normally on Friday, and yesterday at the end of the training session he said he was not feeling good. Falcao will have had a bit more football, he will play against Fiorentina (on Wednesday) from the start. We have Remy too, so if we don’t have Diego I am happy with the strikers I have.”

Swindon Town 1 Liverpool 2

Christian Benteke opened his account for the Reds in style by lashing home a long-range volley on his debut yesterday. Substitute Sheyi Ojo – on for another debutant, Roberto Firmino – grabbed the winner late on.

Brendan Rodgers named a number of his first-team squad in the starting XI. The likes of Kolo Toure, Mamadou Sakho, Alberto Moreno, Lucas, Emre Can, Lazar Markovic, and Joe Allen joined Firmino and Benteke in the starting line-up, with the latter two both earning 67 minutes before being replaced.

Despite the fact that yesterday was his first appearance of the summer, Benteke could yet start the Reds’ Gameweek 1 trip to Stoke next Sunday, according to his manager. Rodgers was a little more cautious with Firmino, however:

“I’ll know by the end of the week (if Benteke will start). Considering he has only been back in training for just over a week, I thought he looked really good. He looked fairly sharp and he was a real presence for us at the top of the field. I was really impressed by him…Benteke is further down the line than Firmino is. That was clear to see. Playing in the role Firmino is in, down the middle and round the sides, you need a lot of fitness in that position. You need to gauge the players and that’s the first time we have seen them in a game situation. But they are obviously a number of weeks behind the other players. You can still see their quality and when they get that fitness, they are going to be a creative force.”

Rodgers played down any suggestions that Firmino picked up a knock during yesterday’s outing. The Reds boss – who trialled the Brazilian in all of the attacking midfield positions behind Benteke in a 4-2-3-1 – conceded he’s looking to build up the player’s fitness:

“Firmino is fine. I just think he overstretched a little bit and took a knock. We are just managing his minutes and I thought he did very well. I was impressed with his positivity. You can see he wants to create when he’s on the ball and he works hard. What was pleasing for me is that when we were in and around the box, we looked a threat.”

Everton 1 Villareal 2

Second-half substitute Tyias Browning netted a late consolation goal for the Toffees in Duncan Ferguson’s testimonial send-off. Notwithstanding the sentimentality of the fixture, Roberto Martinez named a strong line-up, with Tim Howard keeping guard behind a defence of Seamus Coleman, Phil Jagielka, John Stones and Leighton Baines. James McCarthy and Gareth Barry occupied the double pivot in a 4-2-3-1, while Kevin Mirallas, Leon Osman and Tom Cleverley (number ten) formed the trio behind striker Arouna Kone.

Romelu Lukaku was rested following his injury scare against Dundee United, while Ross Barkley and Steven Naismith entered the fray as substitutes. Both Mirallas and John Stones picked up knocks against the La Liga outfit, yet Martinez was quick to allay any fears after the final whistle:

“We’ll assess them in the next 48 hours. But I don’t expect it to be anything too serious.”

Martinez also revealed he’s determined to strengthen in three positions before the end of the transfer window, with the Toffees boss particularly keen on acquiring a new playmaker:

“We know we need two to three new players and we are going to make sure we get the right ones. We are looking for that area [up front], the number 10 position, and I think we need a centre-half; the three areas are quite clear…They (number tens) aren’t players that are easy to find. You want players with great vision and technical ability but who can also cope with the physicality of the league. I do feel we need to use the full window and try to bring the right people. We have got a clear idea of what we want to do.”

Southampton 1 Espanyol 1

Gracing the St Mary’s pitch for the first time since March 2014, Jay Rodriquez scored a 25-yard belter five minutes from time. Steven Caulker made his Southampton bow alongside Jose Fonte in central defence, with Cuco Martina and Matt Targett deployed in the full-back berths. Victor Wanyama and James Ward-Prowse patrolled the midfield, while Shane Long, Juanmi and Rodriquez provided the firepower behind lone marksman Graziano Pelle. Sadio Mane, Dusan Tadic and Maya Yoshida were handed run-outs in the second period.

Koeman was complimentary about Rodriquez’s display but admitted that the forward won’t be in his first XI for the Gameweek 1 trip to Newcastle as he continues to build up his match sharpness:

“To start yes (the season has come too soon). Already the Premier League is too fast, yes. It was his first time back in St Mary’s, a long time ago for Jay. He scored a great goal, he was playing 90 minutes and in moments of the game you see he still needs more minutes, more rhythm of play, and it’s normal because he was a long time out and he gets that time and that opportunity to come back what we expect from Jay.”

The Dutchman also revealed that Jordy Clasie could be available for Saints’ trip to Newcastle United in Gameweek 1 after scans came up negative for hamstring damage:

“It’s positive. It looks positive. He’s not really out for a long time and maybe he will be available next week but we have to wait for that.”

Stoke City 0 Porto 3

Mark Hughes named an entirely different XI from that which fell to defeat against Cologne on Saturday, with Bojan Krkic handed further minutes after returning from injury last week. On the flip side, Marko Arnautovic and Marc Wilson exited the field with fresh knocks.

Hughes gave an update on club captain Ryan Shawcross, who’s struggling with an ongoing back complaint ahead of next weekend’s curtain raiser at home to Liverpool:

“As we all know, Ryan has got an issue with his back which he is going to get checked out this week. Obviously it isn’t resolving itself, so he will see a specialist early this week and hopefully we can gain more information following that meeting. He hasn’t had too much game time and he has been struggling in training also, so we need to get it sorted once and for all.”

West Ham United 1 Werder Bremen 2

Diafra Sakho scored the Hammers’ solitary goal, with Dimitri Payet serving up the low cross for the Senegal international to volley home. Slaven Bilic afforded minutes to 20 players as West Ham gear up for the second leg of their Europa League qualifying match against Astra Giurgiu on Thursday. James Tomkins assumed right-back duty in the second half, which suggests Bilic could deploy him there against Arsenal in the absence of the injured Joey O’Brien and ineligible Carl Jenkinson.

After the match, goal scorer Sakho heaped praise on the Hammers new playmaker Payet and is optimistic the pair can strike up a deadly partnership over the course of the upcoming campaign:

“He always creates goals, whether that’s for me on Sunday or Valencia last time. He’s always there to give those assists. I think he’d prefer to give the passes than even score his own goals and we’re there to take advantage of it. If you have a player like him, you’ve got to make the most of it and try to score as many goals as possible. I hope that’s the first assist and he’s going to have plenty more.”