NICK FEINBERG: I CAN’T WAIT FOR UTD V ARSENAL

HELLO my good football people, I trust you’re doing well! From a football perspective I can’t lie, I’m starting to get that feeling of anticipation again as the new season is just around the corner!

Hard to believe we’re just 12 days from the Community Shield with the following Friday seeing the first Premier League fixture (Liverpool v Bournemouth) at 9pm!

I’m really looking forward to the Sunday when Arsenal travel to Old Trafford... it’s a fixture that has served up some of the very best top-flight English football has had to offer.

Going back to the Roy Keane/ Patrick Vieira days, there was nothing that matched the (on-field) rivalry like these two giants! Sadly, the modern-day version is nothing like that, but in a very different way, this fixture has massive significance.

Of course Manchester United are also nowhere near the formidable club they once were, but the tinkering of coaches and huge money spent on the squad has to realise a return on investment at some stage. Or does it?

The nightmare for everyone concerned with United is how long can the name and history of this once great club carry it through the gigantic debt it’s been saddled with, coupled with a lack of success? Are the legions of fans around the globe still as interested? Is the club recruiting millions of new fans? I’d say no to both.

The modern-day fan wants to be online spurting off a bit of plastic banter about how good they are. Do kids in Ghana, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and the rest of the world want to be parading in a “losers” shirt? And that’s before mentioning the dreadful brand of football Ruben Amorim has been producing.

On the plus side, Amorim has made a couple of recruitments to help bed in his system, but no one that really sets expectation alight... Matheus Cunha from Wolves and Bryan Mbeumo  from Brentford are the two big-money signings.

Good players, but will they be enough to help the failing coach turn it around? I won’t be surprised if there is more movement from United before the transfer window shuts.

Across to north London and despite what their moany fans on social media have to say, for the rest of us, Arsenal are back. They are back playing good football and challenging at the highest level.

I think Mikel Arteta has done a great job. But because today’s game at the top level judges success purely on silverware, he has spent £750 million (R18 billion) and got a single FA Cup to show for it. This is one of the many narratives that is pushed online, while another “reason” that Arteta should be sacked is that he hasn’t bought an out-and-out No. 9. So what now after they’ve secured Viktor Gyokeres?

A player that Gooners were saying “if we don’t get him we’re finished as a club”. I guess that means that Arsenal should win everything now?

Or at least the Premier League title? Because the reason they keep coming second is “no f****g No. 9”. I love these global Twitter-driven narratives by millions who just say what everyone else is saying without really understanding the game.

I mean, I’m not saying I have all the answers, but I (like most normal fans) ask questions, like;  Arsenal have played a system which doesn’t rely on an out-and-out striker for a few years.

Will they be adapting their style to accommodate Gyokeres and how will that affect the strong system/style in this well-drilled outfit?

Gyokeres has zero Premier League experience, he couldn’t even make it off the bench when he was at Brighton, but scored well in a Portuguese league that only really has three half-decent teams.

For me this feels like an uncomfortable gamble for Arteta. Okay we get it, looking so positive and choking to finish as runners-up in the league is disappointing. But it doesn’t feel clear that the difference would be a striker. I’d say depth and discipline would be the two areas that would make definite improvement.

Think of Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Kieran Tierney and Martin Odegaard… They were all out for key periods through injury last season. There was also quite a few unnecessary cards over the season which saw suspensions. Why a gamble? Because it’s all or nothing now.

If they don’t win anything, it does feel like Arsenal might move on and part ways with Arteta.

Anyway, it’s for those reason’s this opening fixture has so much riding on it. Both teams are under immense pressure to kick off with a great start. I can’t wait!

Before I go... Big up to England's Lionesses. The only real chance of "football coming home" has come home again after they won the 2025 Euros (for the second time) on Sunday!

Chat next week, bye bye.