So the blink-and-you-miss-it summer break is over and football is back with an all-consuming vengeance. Despite the new season hardly having had time to clear its throat, it is already spewing headlines like a TV newsbar gone postal. And that is just in England.
If anything can induce a breakdown among the north London chatterers, it is Arsenal being on the wrong end of an 8-2 scoreline at Old Trafford, and Manchester United’s wasn’t even the best performance of the day. That was the preserve of Manchester City, who popped down to the capital and put five past Tottenham. Fortunately that rout didn’t produce a riot, though Arsène Wenger will hope that something will divert attention from the unravelling of his vision. Suddenly he appears to be only a vote of confidence away from clearing his desk.
If you thought football life was grim in north London, try Scotland. They started their season early so teams could get some games in their legs to perform better in Europe. Unfortunately, Scottish interest in football outside Scotland ended in the time it takes to deep-fry a Mars bar. All that remains of consequence are the four meetings between Rangers and Celtic that will decide who has sectarian bragging rights in Glasgow.
On the bright side, four ‘massive’ games to settle the title are better than two, which is the situation in Spain. Such is the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid, La Liga is about as competitive as the SPL. It can be argued that it was forever thus, but in a world of Champions League riches and mega TV deals — the vast majority of domestic TV money in Spain goes to the Big Two — the chance of anyone else getting a look-in is minute.
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