Appropriately enough on an afternoon when Wembley simmered in slightly sickly August heat, there was plenty for both managers to stew on after Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat of Chelsea in the Community Shield. In a way this was a tale of two centre-forwards, or rather a tale of two matching centre-forward-shaped holes. For Arsenal the issue of who should start at the point of the attack was answered in part by Theo Walcott’s lively display in the opening 30 minutes; and then clouded in turn by his almost total disappearance in 30 more minutes on the pitch.

In defeat Chelsea looked like a well-balanced, powerful team hugely diminished by the absence of Diego Costa’s craft and aggression. In the first half Loïc Rémy performed an eager, diligent impersonation of a top-class centre-forward. In the second the outline of Radamel Falcao, the ghost of Old Trafford, scuttled about on the fringes, occasionally visible in daylight, a Victorian garden fairy in blue.

With Olivier Giroud providing 25 minutes of stylish, orthodox, limited centre-forward play it was oddly enough Walcott – who did very little overall and completed just two passes in the first half – who made the most compelling case of the four as a starting Premier League centre-forward.

If this is reflection of the alarming lack of riches in that position in the world’s most cash-flushed league, it is also a function of Walcott’s own familiarly tantalising sense of unspent potential. If it feels as if he has been hinting he would like to play centre-forward for about 10 years now, that is probably because he has. By accident or design it seems he has his chance.

Not that too much should ever be read into this match. Before kick-off there was the usual sense of sleepiness around Wembley. Even the brain-manglingly loud stadium PA had been dialled back to simply very loud and annoying. The Community Shield: a match where even the fake excitement feels fake, the forced jollity a little too forced.

The village fete atmosphere was compounded by the sight of José Mourinho on the touchline dressed like a man on his way out to the all-night garage for a Snickers and some cat food; Arsenal fans dressed in replica Petr Cech skull caps; and Chelsea’s support standing as one to applaud their former goalkeeper as he came sprinting towards Wembley’s blue end before kick-off.

The only significant selection on either side was confirmation that the decision to start with Walcott up front in the Cup final in May was more than just a one-off tactical whim. Afterwards Arsène Wenger again dismissed talk that Karim Benzema might be about to arrive. It really does look like this is the way Arsenal are likely to go more often than not in early season.

And Walcott was bright in the early minutes, using his speed to pull Chelsea’s defenders into awkward positions. He had what would be his only effort on goal with 22 minutes gone, heading powerfully straight at Thibaut Courtois from a free-kick on the left. Moments later he was bustling through the inside-left channel, then dropping into a deep central position to play in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the game’s only goal.

It was a nice moment for both players, Walcott’s well-timed pass allowing Oxlade-Chamberlain to take the ball in his stride, cut inside and ping a fine left-footed shot into the top corner, due reward for the most urgent, composed player on show.

Walcott had made his only meaningful contribution to the afternoon, although he did still make ripples while on the face of it doing very little. When Chelsea were attacking Gary Cahill stood off him a full 20 yards, an opposition defence rejigged a little simply by the threat of speed.

There were some nice diagonal runs too, although clearly Walcott will need to do more to convince his many doubters. Michael Owen, who knows a bit about goalscoring, could be heard on TV commentary suggesting Walcott is some way short of top class, which is, let’s face it, a fairly easy position to take.

And yet, why not? Walcott is a more creative, less linear player than, say, Owen ever was, just as centre-forward is a more mutable, less precisely defined position these days. He remains a lovely mover, can finish and represents one of the less funky positional rejigs of a period that has seen players such as Cesc Fàbregas, Thomas Müller, Raheem Sterling, André Schürrle and many others all get a go as post-modern No9s. Why not a player who scored 21 goals in his last full, injury-free season two years ago?

Perhaps with Walcott at centre-forward Wenger might be hoping for another stroke of well-timed good fortune, just as he managed to fish out Francis Coquelin from down the back of the sofa when he wasn’t really looking for him and discover almost by accident that Héctor Bellerín is already the best attacking right-back in the league. Similarly Walcott may not be Mr Right – or Mr Benzema, or Mr Lewandowski – but he is Mr Right There Already, a player of extreme if uneven attacking strengths who may just be about to get his chance.