Three Things We Learned from Arsenal's Community Shield victory over Manchester City 

The Gunners managed to get a last-minute equalizer from Leandro Trossard, whose shot got deflected and passed Ortega in the Man City goal. This took the game into a penalty shootout, where Arsenal came out on top, marking a great way to start the season for The Gunners. 

The one thing more important than the trophy:

Without neglecting the obvious importance of winning a trophy, the more crucial thing to me is defeating Man City. The last time Arsenal emerged victorious against Man City in the Premier League was in 2015. After the recent win, Aaron Ramsdale was interviewed, where he acknowledged the mental block Arsenal must overcome in the Premier League to beat Man City. He also emphasized that this victory was a significant step towards lifting this mental block, and the players will carry this confidence into the new season.

Personally, I believe that we must defeat Man City at least once out of the two times we face them in the Premier League next season if we want to contend for the title. As we witnessed towards the end of the last season, they can go on massive unbeaten runs, making the head-to-head games even more crucial.

Our support is the best it’s ever been in my lifetime:

We are without a doubt closing the gap to Manchester City on the field. Off the field, however, is a completely different story. Today showed just how much the Arsenal fans have grown into one of the best fanbases throughout the country in terms of atmosphere during the games.

Throughout the game, I didn’t hear anything but the Arsenal fans. This isn't me trying to bash the Man City fans; it just shows how loud Arsenal fans were. They were superb and are a massive part of why the club is in such a good place at the moment. There have been many seasons in the past 15 years where the fanbase has been full of toxicity and divide. I can without batting an eyelid say this is the most unity I have seen within the Arsenal fanbase in my lifetime.

New season, new rules:

In the Community Shield, we got a taste of how the new rules that PGMOL will be implementing in the Premier League will work. They aim to have more ball in play in the next season and will, therefore, issue yellow cards every time a player does anything to waste time when the ball is out of play.

The first player to experience the new way of tackling 'time wasting' was Thomas Partey. He committed a foul in the 8th minute and kicked the ball slightly further than he should have, resulting in an instant yellow card from Stuart Atwell. Julian Alvarez also received a yellow card for the same reason in the 31st minute. Trossard ended up scoring 11 minutes into extra time, something fans will have to get used to - a lot of extra time. We saw this at the World Cup, and now we'll see it in the Premier League.

The next one to encounter the 'new rules' was Mikel Arteta. The Arsenal manager was visibly unhappy about Rodri not getting a yellow card early on in the game. I don't think Atwell got Arteta's message, as he ended up booking Arteta himself. This is because the PGMOL wants more authority with the referees, which is understandable. They will be strict with players and managers questioning decisions and being confrontational with the referees.

It will take some time for players and managers to get used to these changes. Arteta was asked about this after the game and stated: “I'm sorry I can't change my attitude in 3 days.”

Personally, I love it when managers get animated on the touchline, and I hope we continue to see Arteta like this, despite the enforcement of these 'new rules’.