John Terry said that Chelsea's Community Shield defeat by Arsenal was a “wake-up call” to the Premier League champions about the challenges that lay ahead, and that regardless of the friendly status of the game the loss had been a painful experience.
The Chelsea captain is accustomed to winning games at Wembley and he described the experience of watching the Arsenal squad collect the trophy as “horrible”. “It hurts,” Terry said. “When you see them walk up, no matter if it's a friendly or a Community Shield, it's a trophy at the end of the day. It's horrible, it's not nice.
“At the same time, it could be a blessing in disguise for us, a wake-up call. We have experience in the squad, we have the character. It's going to be even tougher this year. We go again and prepare ourselves for Swansea.”
He added: “That [an aversion to losing] is the mentality I was brought up in, that's the same as the manager on a daily basis. That's what he wants and demands from his players as well. It was a different atmosphere in the dressing room afterwards. We haven't lost many at Wembley. With that in mind, it's maybe the boost we needed and we go again for the season.”
There is uncertainty about whether the Spanish striker Diego Costa will be fit for the opening game of the season against Swansea having been a late withdrawal from the team to play Arsenal. The forward was due to play in the game and trained on Friday but Mourinho said that the player made a late call on his fitness. Terry said Costa had previously “looked good in training”.
Terry said that he thought Chelsea had been the fitter of the two sides. “I thought we were on top if anything. I think these games are always a bit slow anyway, the players are still finding their feet and fitness. It's served a good purpose for that, but obviously we are disappointed we didn't win - forget the record, there was a trophy on the line. It hurt when you saw them walk up the stairs to lift it. It means a lot because you work all season to be here.” – The Independent