Gunners make ominous statement

[Getty Images] It's the same lament every year, usually from the losers, that "you don't learn anything from the Community Shield season opener". Sometimes this tie sees the worthy league champions play against a side that has had a good cup run but aren't really the other 'best' team in England. This time however, it was Arsenal and Man City, clearly the two favourites for this season's Premier League title. If, as it is often proposed, the Community Shield is little more than a glorified friendly, why did both Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca field just about the strongest sides they could muster? They were both intent on putting down a marker for the coming season and in the end it was Arsenal who came away with all the positives. Not only was there a 3-0 win, a nice shiny shield to stuff in the boot of the team bus back to north London but other more important, if less tangible things were brought back from Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. There was a new swagger about Arsenal that couldn't be mistaken. Winning the league can feel like scaling the highest, hardest mountain; when it is completed after six hard years of work, the idea of making another assault right away can be too much. Clearly it isn't for this Arsenal group, they have the whiff of dynasty builders about them. The recent arrival Bruno Guimaraes, though peripheral here in Wales, will make them better in terms of squad depth at the very least. Kai Havertz is starting the season fit this time, which will help, and, with a season at the club under his belt, Eberechi Eze will improve further. Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.