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Though rumours abound that, somewhere in the USA USA USA, the Copa Gianni continues in perpetuity, Donald Trump cavorting with Infantino in front of a rapt crowd of -67, back in England, the new season is well under way. Somehow, the Community Shield – or, to give it its proper name, The Annual Curtain-Raiser – has negotiated the logistical nightmare that is a transfer window yet to slam shut, revealing a game that, in a shocking turn of events, did not encourage one to pretend that football does not and has never existed.
Liverpool took just four minutes to go in front with a gift significantly more charitable than the Shield itself: the opportunity to hear “Ekitike” said in a scouse accent, a joy perhaps even more intense than Ross Barkley saying “Lukaku”. And what a finish it was, the champions’ new striker showing exactly why a team which scored 86 league goals last season – 14 more than the next best – invested so much money in him and the also-impressive Florian Wirtz (if only they’d not conceded 41, the most of any title winner in 12 years). Arne Slot does, though, hope to address the imbalance by spending considerably more than £100m on Alexander Isak.
