Joao Palhinha's goal at the Emirates last Saturday took the edge off what should have been a celebratory week, which included a return to Europe's elite and the Champions League draw on the final day of the month.

The draw was reasonably kind to us with a group that looked more Europa than Champions League, nicely easing us back in after a six season absence.

With every bit of those six years felt during the always tedious build-up to such an event.

When will it dawn on UEFA that people only want to know about the draw and who is playing who? None of the fluff is ever needed, and that includes jazz interpretations of the tournament theme.

We're strong odds-on favourites to win Group B, while we occupy a place in the top five in the betting to lift the trophy at Wembley in June.

That certainly feels a little too complimentary from the bookmakers and it will be very interesting to see how Mikel Arteta adapts to midweek continental matches that will not allow much rotation in his squad.

Certainly not as much as the Europa League games - which he had a rather disappointing record in. Winning just four matches from 12 when that tournament was at the knock-out stages.

Rotation of the squad has been a huge topic throughout August, despite starting the month with a fairly settled side at Wembley as we overcame Manchester City to win the Community Shield via a penalty shoot out.

The main topic of discussion seems to be the removal of Gabriel from the starting line-up, which has been attributed to the knock-on effect of accommodating Kai Havertz further up the pitch.

With Thomas Partey moving to right back and Ben White moving to a more central position. In my view (and I said it at the time), the Partey right back experiment should have ended after the Nottingham Forest away game last season. I do understand the need for Arteta to ensure our formation is fluid and players get used to other positions in case of injuries, but this particular change feels like it comes with such an high tariff.

Gabriel seems to have a fantastic attitude and has been very supportive of the boys on social media, but inside he must feel slightly aggrieved at missing out.

We can't afford to impact on the great team spirit Arteta has fostered. The White-Saka right-side partnership from last season has been thrown in the bin after bearing so much fruit across last season - 32 direct goal involvements from that area in league matches.

What is it that Mikel wants to find out? I get the funny feeling he looked at the relatively easy nature of our first three Premier League matches and thought he could experiment and still get away with scooping full points. He was so close too…He has plenty of credit in the bank, but, for me, the Jorginho for Odegaard change just after Fulham went down to 10-men was a shocker. One that must have caused him a few sleepless nights since last weekend.

There’s plenty to be positive about though, as we approach a pivotal weekend match at home to Manchester United.

Defeat would be a rather depressing way to bookmark the first international break of the season so it’s absolutely vital that we put a poor United side to the sword.

That means a full strength balanced team and no messing about.

Fringe players will have to step up this season, and it’s already wholly positive that Eddie Nketiah is able to be relied upon for short bursts of first-team action.

I just have my reservations that he can do it week-in, week-out once teams scout him. He rather dropped off last season once he’d had an exciting first few games replacing Gabriel Jesus. He deserves his England call up and it will be a big boost for him going into Sunday’s game where he deserves to start.

I can also appreciate (to a point) the fanfare surrounding Fabio Vieira who played well in his brief time on the pitch against Fulham, although – as always – so many people went fully overboard with the praise.

That reached its pinnacle with someone saying he can become our Kevin De Bruyne, on social media yesterday. I know fans are prone to overreactions, but this is the worst I’ve seen. It will take far more than a 43-minute spell, 16 of which against 10-man opposition, to prove he has a glittering future at the club.

Talking of overreactions, I rarely like to refer to our neighbours in N17 unless they’re playing us, but I can’t let the last week of nonsense pass without comment.

From Saturday afternoon until Tuesday evening, their new manager was going to be their new saviour and they had their “Tottenham back”. Only for Ange to guide them out of the 61st – YES SIXTY-FIRST – chance of a trophy they’ve failed to win since that Carling Cup triumph many years ago.

Just to clarify, Tottenham have entered 61 league and cup competitions (including Europe) since winning the Carling Cup – and have failed at every single one.

If they depart the FA Cup at the first hurdle they will play just 40 games this season.

The shadow remains fully cast.