Kurt Zouma ignoring Chelsea’s loss to Arsenal

They had to travel to Wembley without Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck and David Ospina but Chelsea had injury woes of their own.

Arsene Wenger proved that he still has what it takes to be an elite manager, after constructing his team nearly perfectly in a strategical plan.

Although both sides had chances, Arsenal‘s performance just edged that of their opponents on a sunny afternoon in London. Arsenal came out looking completely different from the team he had been demolishing in the past.

Chelsea have the same issue with Costa after losing Didier Drogba over the summer.

“We are happy to play a game in the Premier League”.

There has been a lot of debate among Arsenal fans and talk in the football media about the striker situation at Arsenal.

Yes, Manuel Pellegrini will want to get the Premier League crown back, but if the club’s Abu Dhabi bosses are disappointed about any aspect of their investment in the club, it has to be the lack of success in Europe.

This time around it is Mourinho identifying players, including Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic, and Abramovich delivering them.

After winning last season’s FA Cup final against Aston Villa in swaggering style and finishing strongly in the league, Ramsey sees no reason why Arsenal can’t win the title for the first time since 2004 – provided they avoid the kind of sluggish start that proved so costly past year.

Chelsea launch the defence of their title against Swansea on Saturday, and Mourinho, speaking the Premier League launch on Wednesday, says that will be the start of a tough campaign.

“Pre-season is false in many ways because you’re changing the team, everyone’s getting minutes, everyone is trying to get fit and you’re training hard”, he said.

These were sentiments echoed by Chelsea defender Gary Cahill, who spoke out after the club’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal in the match on Sunday. “My first period, the personal relationship was very good”. We scored the first goal and after that you could see two teams playing with full concentration, full commitment.

Arsenal, third last season, appear better-equipped for a title tilt, while Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool have spent big in the hope of closing the gap on Chelsea, who finished eight points clear of outgoing champions City in May.