Crystal Palace vs Chelsea: The One with All the Balls

Towards the end of last season, Chelsea had become accustomed to dropping points in matches that they were expected to win. After the defeat at Selhurst Park in March, Jose Mourinho noted on a journalist's pad what Chelsea were missing most were "balls". Seven months on and they headed into Saturday's derby without their striker and his dodgy hamstring -- but did anyone really notice?

Kevin Friend: Public Enemy Number One at the Community Shield

The Missing Link: Sweaty in patches

Football is back! Between the Euros and the Olympics that finished up last night, it was never -actually- gone. But let’s be honest, it’s not quite the same is it? No, it’s really not. Although the standard displayed was often far superior to some of the skills on display at Villa Park in this year’s Community Shield. These were two teams clearly who had enjoyed their pre-season vacations training a tad too much - one a little more than the other.

And the players weren’t the only ones. To say that Kevin Friend had a bit of a shocker, is like saying that maybe John Terry wouldn’t be the best face of this year’s Kick It Out Campaign. Outside of the ridiculous challenge from Ivanovic that definitely warranted his card, the rest of the cards given and missed were inconsistent and at times, defied logic. I know I’m being pretty demanding in needing logic AND consistency from a referee, but there you go.

If you’re a Chelsea supporter, it had to feel good to see Fernando Torres start things off exactly where he left off last season - with a full head of highlights. There’s of course the matter of the goal as well. However everything else about the performance indicated a need for a few more training sessions before next weekend comes. The defence did a fantastic job in the first half keeping City at bay, but once reduced to 10 men, there wasn’t much they could do. City were far more organised from beginning to end.