With Petr Cech and Chuba Akpom, Arsenal show there are different ways of winning

Arsenal prepared for their meeting with Chelsea by defeating the second-best sides from France and Germany in contrasting fashion. Lyon were eviscerated 6-0 on Saturday, Wolfsburg overcome 1-0 on Sunday, writes Richard Jolly.

Petr Cech of Arsenal throws the ball during the Emirates Cup match between Arsenal and Wolfsburg at the Emirates Stadium on July 26, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

There was a time when Arsenal had to stage their own tournament to win silverware. Not any more.

The invitational Emirates Cup may soon rank a distant third in terms of the trophies they have lifted in 2015. Should the Community Shield join the FA Cup among their more meaningful honours, this will pale in comparison.

But Arsenal prepared for their meeting with Premier League champions Chelsea by defeating the second-best sides from France and Germany in contrasting fashion. Lyon were eviscerated 6-0 on Saturday, Wolfsburg overcome 1-0 on Sunday.

The Bundesliga runners-up provided a truer test than their Ligue 1 counterparts, but Arsenal showed there are different ways of winning. If their decisive goal suggested that purists prospered because of their principles, they also had to endure spells in the first half when Kevin de Bruyne ran the game.

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They also received a snapshot of the benefits of buying Petr Cech.

The defector from Chelsea was making his bow in an Arsenal shirt at the Emirates Stadium. A sprawling save to keep out Josuha Guilavogui’s skimming, well-struck half-volley illustrated the difference the best goalkeepers can make. At this level, they can be spectators for long periods, yet have to be spectacular when called upon.

His other saves were made with professional competence. Cech represents a reassuring presence and, if loud cheers greeted his first contribution, when he cut out De Bruyne’s cross with a minimum of fuss, there never seemed a chance he would spill it.

It is that certainty that Arsenal have craved since Jens Lehmann stopped being a bastion of solidity.

Cech represents by some distance Arsenal’s biggest buy of the summer.

The Czech international is not the only one, however, and another arrival signified that he has settled in smoothly. Arsenal have an endearing capacity to make the difficult look easy and the newcomers look like naturals.

Their goal was a case in point. Jeff Reine-Adelaide, the 17-year-old Frenchman they recruited from Lens, played the most inviting of through balls. Almost casually, Theo Walcott rolled his shot past Diego Benaglio. The longest-serving player and the summer signing were in harmony.

Reine-Adelaide’s contribution may be a pointer to the future. Walcott’s could have more immediate consequences.

Many believe Arsenal require a world-class striker if they are to become champions.

That can ignore the difficulties in signing them, and Real Madrid have insisted that Karim Benzema, whom Arsene Wenger admires, is going nowhere.

Walcott displaced Olivier Giroud as Arsenal’s spearhead for the FA Cup final, when he scored, and he illustrated his capacity to slip past the offside trap.

The Englishman is not consistently clinical, but he does carry the threat of incision. So does Chuba Akpom, whose second-half cameo, when Walcott moved to the left, showed the raw running power and sense of adventure that can frighten defenders.

Akpom, 19, has the potential to make a breakthrough. Wenger’s preference is to give such players their chance.

When he is vindicated, he deserves particular credit. When he is not, it leads to frustration.

The Wolfsburg attack included a past beneficiary of the Frenchman’s benevolent approach. Nicklas Bendtner turned in a typically erratic display and, at 27, his potential remains unrealised. Perhaps it always will.

If the Dane provided a warning from Arsenal’s past, the modern-day squad boasts greater strength in depth.

Wenger was again without Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck, made 10 changes and now faces difficult decisions about whom to bench for the Community Shield: Walcott or Giroud? Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain? Whoever misses out, one selection should be simple.

Cech’s next Arsenal game will come against the club he served with such distinction.

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