It’s back but not as we want to know it – a Community Shield game that arrives less than a week after a Champions League final is a very strange thing
It goes without saying that times have changed since Liverpool last lifted the Community Shield in 2006, the last time the showpiece was held in Cardiff. And it is trite but traditional to observe that the Community Shield is a glorified friendly that has little bearing on the season it introduces, though this year there is no need to say that either. When the new season eventually gets under way we will be in uncharted territory, an unfamiliar world where anything seems possible, and not just because Lionel Messi has served notice on Barcelona or Everton have got Carlo Ancelotti to go through his contact book either.
If it serves a purpose at all, the point of the Community Shield game is to warn cricket fans, holidaymakers abroad and youngsters contemplating a return to school that summer is drawing to a close and football is about to stake its annual claim on the nation’s attention. In normal circumstances, even in international tournament years, football will usually have been away for long enough for people to start to miss it. A Community Shield game that arrives less than a week after a Champions League final and two weeks before the actual start of the domestic season is a very strange thing, but then we are living in strange times. Just ask cricket fans, holidaymakers abroad or youngsters contemplating a return to school.
Continue reading…It’s back but not as we want to know it – a Community Shield game that arrives less than a week after a Champions League final is a very strange thingIt goes without saying that times have changed since Liverpool last lifted the Community Shield in 2006, the last time the showpiece was held in Cardiff. And it is trite but traditional to observe that the Community Shield is a glorified friendly that has little bearing on the season it introduces, though this year there is no need to say that either. When the new season eventually gets under way we will be in uncharted territory, an unfamiliar world where anything seems possible, and not just because Lionel Messi has served notice on Barcelona or Everton have got Carlo Ancelotti to go through his contact book either.If it serves a purpose at all, the point of the Community Shield game is to warn cricket fans, holidaymakers abroad and youngsters contemplating a return to school that summer is drawing to a close and football is about to stake its annual claim on the nation’s attention. In normal circumstances, even in international tournament years, football will usually have been away for long enough for people to start to miss it. A Community Shield game that arrives less than a week after a Champions League final and two weeks before the actual start of the domestic season is a very strange thing, but then we are living in strange times. Just ask cricket fans, holidaymakers abroad or youngsters contemplating a return to school. Continue reading…
