3 reasons why Arsenal’s Community Shield win is significant

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 6: Martin Odegaard of Arsenal lifts the Community Shield trophy during The FA Community Shield match between Manchester City against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on August 6, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 6: Martin Odegaard of Arsenal lifts the Community Shield trophy during The FA Community Shield match between Manchester City against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on August 6, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

After Arsenal’s victory over Manchester City on Sunday, the Community Shield has been involved in a controversial debate around whether the final should be deemed as a trophy or not.

Often, if your team wins it, it is deemed as respectable but if they walk away empty-handed, it’s perceived as a ‘glorified’ pre-season friendly.

Although the competition may not be seen as one of a high standard materialistically, the edge that it can give a squad before the start of a new campaign often gets overlooked. So here is why Arsenal’s Community Shield victory against Manchester City is more important than it is credited for.

3 reasons why Arsenal’s Community Shield win is significant

Mikel Arteta celebrates Sunday’s win. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta celebrates Sunday’s win. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /

Last season, Arsenal were in a thrilling title challenge with their Community Shield opponents and lost to them in both head-to-head Premier League matchups – a major reason why they came up short.

The last time Arsenal didn’t lose against Manchester City was their 2-0 victory in the FA Cup during the 2019/20 season. Due to Arsenal’s inability to beat Man City for multiple years, they have always felt inferior when going into games and it has been evident from their previous performances that despite looking to compete with the Sky Blues, they haven’t quite believed they can overcome Pep Guardiola’s side.

Now, as the Premier League gets underway and Arsenal aim to compete for the title again, they will have more of a belief that overcoming City is possible. This belief after already having completed the objective is undervalued by fans and it does have a true psychological impact on the players.

Continued on the next slide…