It might not be the most coveted trophy on the planet but there is one rather beautiful thing about the Community Shield – it marks the birth of a brand new football season.

Arsenal and Manchester City meet at Wembley today in a game that everyone knows has no real bearing on how the following season will unfold.

But while neither side will treat defeat as anything like a disaster, you can rest assured both will want to win the game and send out a message that they are all fired up for when the league starts next week.

If you need proof that the Community Shield is not a barometer for the season ahead then look no further than last year when Manchester United comfortably beat Wigan. That wasn’t the start of something wonderful, it was as good as it got for David Moyes.

As champions, City will be looking to continue where they left off last May. Victory over a team that has title aspirations of its own will undoubtedly make the point that they have no plans to give up their throne easily.

Arsenal, on the other hand, were overjoyed to end their barren spell by winning the FA Cup and walking away with the Community Shield would be further proof that they are once again serious players in English football.

While all that should make for a decent game this afternoon, as I said earlier, the real importance of today’s clash is that it means after a summer of dieting, football is very much back on the menu.

To be fair, thanks to the World Cup, this close season has not been one of those mind-numbingly frustrating summers when the beautiful game entirely vanishes. But despite Brazil 2014 being hugely entertaining, major international tournaments are not quite the same as domestic football: the weekly thrills and spills, ups and downs, joys and heartaches.

And don’t get me started on pre-season friendlies.

Those games may tickle the fancy of Americans, with more than 100,000 of them prepared to pack a stadium to watch a meaningless match. But they don’t really know any better, poor mites, and had to find a way of satisfying their newfound hunger for grown-up football.

The reality is friendlies are little more than glorified training sessions even when you dress them up as an ‘international tournament’, whose only real purpose is to build fitness.

For us supporters of lesser teams, of course, the wait for football’s return is already over as the Football League programme kicked off yesterday. So by the time you read this, there is a reasonable chance my dreams for Sheffield United’s season will already be hanging by a thread.

The Premier League follows a week later, and I have to admit it is not until the first ball is kicked in the top flight that you really get the feeling that football is truly back in town.

Which reminds me, I’ve got some top-flight predictions to work on. Readers of a nervous disposition may want to skip next week’s column…

It’s time for Rooney to captain United

If Luis Van Gaal wants to get the best out of Wayne Rooney – and it’s reasonably safe to assume he does – then he needs to give him the captain’s armband.

There has been a lot of speculation about who the new manager will choose as his on-field leader as he embarks on his mission to resurrect Manchester United’s fortunes.

If reports are to be believed, it would appear to be a straight contest between Rooney and fellow forward Robin van Persie. To be honest, there aren’t any other candidates in the United team, which says a lot about the current squad.

I can see why Van Gaal may be tempted to go for Van Persie. He chose him as captain of the Dutch national team after all, so he knows what he will get from the striker in terms of leadership.

However, for me it simply has to be Rooney.

Van Persie has only been at Old Trafford for a couple of seasons, one of which was a disaster for the club as a whole and not exactly brilliant for the player himself.

On the other hand, Rooney has been an integral part of United for a decade. He has played nearly 450 games for the club, scoring 216 goals in the process. He knows Old Trafford and what makes it tick far better than Van Persie, who spent most of his career at Arsenal.

In personality terms, they are both strong willed and determined. But Rooney has that little bit more spark and aggression to his play. And I believe that passion, if channelled into a captain’s role, can be invaluable.

United have a history of giving the captain’s armband to their more ‘committed’ players – Eric Cantona and Roy Keane spring instantly to mind. Rooney, who shares many of their attributes, would make a great addition to that little list.

Ultimately, Van Gaal may disagree. He may prefer to go with the man he knows better or, extremely unlikely, pick someone completely different entirely.

But I believe when he has weighed up all the options it is Rooney who will be awarded the armband. The added responsibility it brings may just get another five per cent of performance from him. And that could make him devastating.

Jack the lad

Jack Rodwell last week drew the line under his Manchester City mistake by moving to Sunderland in a £10 million deal. And that could be just what the doctor ordered.

At the Etihad, Rodwell was always struggling to make an impact. Injuries held him back, and then, on those occasions when he was actually fit, he found a wall of international superstars standing in the way of his first team prospects.

But at Sunderland that won’t be the case. He will not only be an important player at the club but quite possibly one around which Gus Poyet will build his entire team.

At 23, Rodwell can no longer be classified as a ‘young prospect’. Considering his talent he should have achieved a lot more by this stage of his career and he probably would if he hadn’t been distracted by the bling of City.

The real importance of today’s clash is that it means after a summer of dieting, football is very much back on the menu

Hopefully his time at the Stadium of Light will get him back on track.

Money talks for Bernie Ecclestone

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone may have last week redefined the entire concept of irony.

The 83-year-old, reported to be worth £4 billion, was being tried in Germany on bribery charges relating to the sale of part of his stake in the sport eight years ago.

The trial started in April and was scheduled to carry on until October.

But Ecclestone got frustrated at the whole process and de­cided to cut it short by paying the prosecutors £60 million to drop the charges.

So essentially he ‘bribed’ his way out of bribery charges.

With cunning like that, no wonder he is worth so much money.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade

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