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Pep Guardiola has emulated Sir Alex Ferguson in several ways. Usually, however, that tends to be something to savour. As Manchester City’s most decorated manager became the first coach to lose three consecutive Community Shields since his Manchester United counterpart, he could have taken solace in the bigger picture. Call it the curse of the Community Shield, perhaps, but then, as now, its winners rarely went on to taste Premier League glory. Only one of the previous 12 victors – albeit City themselves in 2018 – have been able to call themselves champions of England 10 months later. Arsenal won the Community Shield in 2020 and only finished eighth that season. Three years on, they were happy to ignore history. The celebrations suggested it was more than just a pre-season trinket to them. “This is what I visioned when I joined,” said Declan Rice and although Arsenal hope their £105m recruit actually imagined something more glorious, the previous time they made a midfielder the most expensive Englishman of all time, Alan Ball won nothing in their colours. Rice had no trophies to show for the first 244 games of his club career: he has two in two now, even if the Europa Conference League and the Community Shield are not the most prestigious prizes in football. The broader question – and a perennial one at this stage – is whether the Community Shield is a marker for the campaign. Arsenal got a first glimpse of what £200m bought them. Rice was disciplined and diligent in midfield but an unspectacular outing may be a deceptive debut: for the majority of matches, he is likely to be a lone defensive midfielder, rather than dovetailing with Thomas Partey, in a team who seem primed to exchange attacking ambition for more mettle. Meanwhile, Kai Havertz was bought to operate in midfield and instead deputised for the injured Gabriel Jesus in attack. Arteta branded the £65m man “superb” but it felt a microcosm of the Chelsea Havertz: intelligent movement, eager pressing, ineffectual finishing. There is a case for saying that Havertz performed too accurate an impression of Jesus: Arsenal prospered last season by sharing the goals around, with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard all getting either 14 or 15 in the Premier League. Leandro Trossard provided their Community Shield equaliser, even if it required a huge deflection. Whether Arsenal can afford profligacy in attack, or from Havertz, remains to be seen but the reinvention of the German in midfield may yet be the gamble that shapes Arsenal’s season, one way or another. Jurrien Timber’s bow may have been the most auspicious: quietly assured, the versatile Dutchman slotted in at left-back, though it is perhaps only his third-best position; Kieran Tierney, seemingly on his way out, fared less well when he replaced the Dutchman and Cole Palmer scored. That Arteta bought Timber and is bidding for David Raya is a sign he is willing to create a threat to those who had seemed entrenched in his team. Ben White could be dislodged by Timber, Aaron Ramsdale by Raya. The goalkeeper’s match-winning display showed he had produced the right response and suggested competition could be healthy. Ramsdale’s rhetoric was instructive, too. He argued a mental block against City, forged in three years of defeats, was lifted. That City had returned to training two weeks later than Arsenal and removed Erling Haaland at 0-0 offered the impression that victory meant less to them; the result will nevertheless assume an added importance if it helps shift the balance of power in the Arteta-Guardiola rivalry. A clearer indication may arrive when they meet in October. Perhaps then Arsenal will borrow from their Wembley gameplan, reuniting two defensive midfielders, fielding a back four who – unlike when Oleksandr Zinchenko twice faced City last season – are all specialist defenders, playing deeper to limit space both behind and in front of their rearguard. If last season’s Arsenal was about idealism and excitement, the surprise surge of a youthful team, perhaps this season’s side are charged with showing more physicality, solidity and nous against City, borrowing from a greater strength in depth to alter their style of play. Such wins can feel signs of progress, staging posts on the route to something greater. Arsenal beat Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea last season, taking 19 points from a possible 24 against them, but not City. But such occasions can also be a false dawn. After their triumph in the 2020 Community Shield, they won their first two league games, but only two of the next 12. They sank as low as 15th. A repeat feels implausible. But more than most, Arsenal know it is hard to judge precisely what winning the Community Shield signifies. Read More Kevin De Bruyne ‘way ahead’ of schedule on return from hamstring injury Kevin De Bruyne says new approach to added time ‘doesn’t make any sense’ Cole Palmer shows he can replace Riyad Mahrez — and become Man City’s missing piece Aaron Ramsdale makes his case to remain first choice – as Arsenal make their own one for major trophies

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Gareth Southgate says there can be no let-up for already-qualified England if they are to win next summer’s Euros and become the top-ranked team in the world. The Euro 2020 runners-up last month sealed their place at the 2024 edition in Germany with two matches to spare and were below par in Friday’s qualifier against Malta. England disappointed in the 2-0 victory at a packed Wembley and will look to end 2023 on a high as they round off Euro 2024 qualification in North Macedonia. Southgate’s side arrived in Skopje all but assured of being among the top seeds in December’s draw in Hamburg, but every moment counts as they seek to be best on the planet. “Qualification’s done,” the England boss said ahead of the Group C finale. “With the games at the weekend, we might be ranked third in the world at the minute, but we’re two places off where we need to be so we can’t waste games. “Some of the players have got three games to get into a squad, some have got maybe three to get into a team, maybe a couple more if we’re talking about the team. “There’s some things we’d like to see. But if we’re going to be a top team, then the level of performance has got to be spot on every time.” Asked if being number one drives him on, Southgate said: “Yeah, because ultimately you achieve that through consistency and you’ve got to play well in the tournaments as well because the ranking points are higher in the tournaments. “Also, it sets behaviours every day on the training pitch, off the training pitch. “If you are going to be the top-ranked team, there’s no room for sloppiness or casualness. That’s got to be our drive.” England currently sit fourth in FIFA’s world rankings, making it five straight years of being in the top five. Their previous best since its launch was six months in the top five across 1997 and 1998, yet there remains plenty of criticism for Southgate and speculation about his future. Monday will be England’s final qualifier before the manager’s contract expires next year and he smiled when it was mentioned that former Football Association executive David Dein had said he should get a new deal. Asked if he anticipated this being his final qualifier in the hotseat, Southgate said: “I haven’t thought about it, really. “I’ve thought about the game tomorrow and the need for a better performance than Friday so that’s what I’ve been focusing on. “I feel almost as if we’ve almost talked too much about the Euros already and I didn’t see our focus in the right place at the weekend. “So, it’s tomorrow, then it’s March, then it’s the summer. And we go from there.” Southgate downplayed suggestions of his future being a distraction but suggested his comments about their Euros ambitions may have been. “Well, I think talk of the summer was a distraction on Friday in its own way,” he added. “Look, in football management, frankly I think you should look no further than three or four games ahead anyway. “But I think when you’ve got a tournament coming up, inevitably, as an international manager, you’re going to be judged on tournaments so everybody before that is pretty futile, really.” England’s final camp of the year has been disrupted by absentees. Five players withdrew from the original squad through injury and two more departed the squad before they flew out to the Balkans. The FA announced Kieran Trippier had gone home due to a personal issue, while injury meant Jarrod Bowen left the camp on Sunday. A soldout Tose Proeski Arena awaits England’s absentee-hit 21-man squad as the Macedonians look to make up for June’s 7-0 hiding at Old Trafford. “We play a team who, although they can’t qualify, have tremendous pride and they’ll be wounded by what happened in Manchester,” Southgate added. “We have to be ready for a really good atmosphere. Full crowd, full stadium. “We’ve had a calendar year where we’ve been very good, so we want to finish well.” Read More Rico Lewis hopes his versatility helps him make late push for Euro 2024 squad Declan Rice putting pressure of price tag behind him to pursue biggest prizes Trevor Lawrence leads Jacksonville Jaguars to victory against Tennessee Titans Scotland sign off on successful Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with six-goal thriller Ludvig Aberg keen to ‘love golf for long time’ after clinching RSM Classic title Luke Humphries continues stunning rise with Grand Slam of Darts success