We all know that this time of year is full of phoney wars. Friendly games which entertain but from which almost nothing should be drawn. Time and again, season after season, clubs have magnificent pre-season results only to fall flat on their face when the real action starts, and vice versa.
I seem to recall that in their league-winning 1973-74 season, Middlesbrough lost a pre-season friendly to Port Talbot reserves; not even the Port Talbot first team! The disgrace of it. We went on to lose just four games that season and rack up a record total of points.
So a Manchester United team have beaten a Barcelona team and an Arsenal side have drawn with New York Red Bulls. It means very little. We all know that don't we? Yes. Err no. not everyone.
Clearly to some Arsenal fans - those who booed off their side - it apparently means an awful lot. They took the surrender of their lead very seriously indeed. Perhaps they were complaining about the quality of the Chardonnay or maybe they just don't understand what pre-season games are all about but this early-season act of discontent has already piled some more pressure on the tiny, girlish shoulders of their squad.
This is the last thing needed by a squad who has been shown time and again to handle pressure badly, surely. Could rsene Wenger look any more physically tense; just looking at him makes you feel worried. He looks like a man waiting for a proctologist to enter the room. Every muscle seems gripped with fear and worry. He must have heard those boos and thought 'Christ almighty, I might as well quit now because this season isn't likely to be easy'. Indeed, it's likely to be one of the hardest of his tenure. There's more competition from Manchester City, Spurs and Liverpool and his methods and players of the last few years have, to say the least, been found wanting when push came to shove.
If a meaningless pre-season drawn game receives the opprobrium of the paying public then what will happen if they get beaten when the league begins? He must know that almost all his capital is exhausted at the club - rightly or wrongly - many fans want him gone and already fear that these pre-season games have shown the fragility of last season is still endemic.
The team has to hit the ground running this season - partly because they play Liverpool and Manchester United in August - but also because there is so much impatience and frustration with the side that has clearly not been expunged since last season. It bubbles away just below the surface. The promised significant squad additions have not yet happened, their best player will eventually, we assume, be sold. None of these things are bringing the Arsenal massive pleasure. There is dissent and rebellion in the ranks. They have to win early and win well and keep on winning. If they don't, personally, I can't see Wenger surviving the season. I think he'll walk away and walk away quite early in proceedings. A defeat at Spurs on October 2 might be a significant moment.
No-one has patience for excuses, for injuries, for anything other than great performances and victories this year and that seems an unlikely scenario.
Pre-season games mean very little - except when your own fans decide to boo you for not winning them. When that happens, as a manager, it's pretty much time to start the car.
