I’m up for it this August.
More so than I’ve been for several years.
Why is that?
Partly because I switched off completely during my 12 days away with Mrs Palmer, larking about in Prague and Berlin, without football or Sky Sports News or English newspapers.
Partly because this Premier League season will be very different because Luis Suarez has been sold by Liverpool and Louis Van Gaal has taken charge at Manchester United.
Five clubs competing for four Champions League places.
Liverpool, now playing in Europe, will find weekends more difficult, while Manchester United will find weekends easier than last term.
Raheem Sterling has really caught my eye in pre-season but Suarez helped him & Sturridge a helluva lot with his runs and passes and flicks and irrepressibly fierce competitive energy.
Suarez was 50% of the team. He was the best player in the world in 2013-14.
The third factor is that I’m almost galvanised by changes at the club instigated by Ivan Gazidis.
These changes are long overdue.
From what I’m hearing, the Colney Creche has been dismantled and is being replaced by a football training ground.
HALLELUJAH!
New youth coaches, new conditioning expert, new head of medical department from West Ham.
The new academy boss has sacked one of Liam Brady’s assistants, and re-hired Arsenal’s best youth scout, who had joined Brentford after falling out with Brady.
At the Emirates Cup, Arsenal’s pre-match warm-up featured more stretching and better stretching.
One of my most unforgettable Highbury memories was watching Manchester United warm up with energy, speed, and professional aggression. United were a serious club and theirs was a serious warm-up. Arsenal’s warm-up, led by poor old Pat Rice, was a tame pantomime, an amateurish joke.
The contrast between those two warm-up routines was scary and I immediately knew which team would win. Wrote about it on ANR at the time but can’t remember what season that was – or what stage of the season.
Centreback Calum Chambers looked good at against Monaco.
Other players didn’t impress hugely.
Monaco were better than I expected & very athletic.
5th August 2014