Giants prepare for Wembley meeting

Tradition and history are two of English football's greatest pillars and when The FA Cup holders and Premier League champions meet at Wembley in The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's on Sunday it would be easy to think nothing has changed for season 2009-10.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be there as normal, it is still Red against Blue and the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard will be renewing a rivalry that stretches as far back as their days as youngsters at West Ham United.

But not everything in football is set in stone.

United, for instance, will arrive at Wembley without Cristiano Ronaldo, who has signed for Real Madrid for a world record £80million. Carlos Tevez is no longer part of the Premier League champions either, he has crossed the divide into the blue half of Manchester.

And Chelsea make the short journey from Stamford Bridge under the guidance of a new manager in the shape of former AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti.

So the big question football fans across the world are asking is: What difference will it all make?

Ferdinand, for one, is certain the intensity of United's challenge will be unaffected by a summer of transfer speculation and perhaps even enhanced by the arrival of striker Michael Owen from Newcastle to partner Wayne Rooney.

Owen's match-up with England captain John Terry is likely to be one of the highlights of the Community Shield and Ferdinand is certain United are ready for the challenge. "We're on the right road," he said after a successful pre-season that has seen United visit the Far East and Munich, Germany.

"We've lost two very good players in Cristiano and Carlos but Manchester United is a club that moves on and fingers crossed we'll remain a successful side.

"We've done that in recent years. We've let players of the ilk of Beckham, Roy Keane, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Juan Sebastian Veron go but we've kept on going. People expected us to fall by the wayside but it didn't happen.

"We've brought in new players like Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen and they both look good. With Owen it's like he's been here a few years already. He knows a lot of the lads from England anyway and he's fitted in really well and scored a good few goals on tour. Antonio also looks a good signing for us - I think he's going to do very well this season. We'll be strong, I'm sure of that."

That's a warning that Chelsea need to heed but one they must surely be aware of given United's level of consistency over the last 25 years.

The challenge for the Blues is to build on their FA Cup Final victory over Everton last season and ensure they are contenders in all trophies this time.

"That's the aim," said Lampard. "That's what we want. For the last few years we've been very close to a lot of things but not quite winning them. This time we need to be challenging again for the League and Champions League as well.

"Give credit to Man United - they kicked on and ground out results last season and showed championship-winning form, whereas we dropped too many silly points. We realise that and want to improve this time.

"Winning The FA Cup was an indication to others that we are serious about winning trophies and it was a good confidences boost, recognition of where we are and our status.

"But I think the way we played at the end of the season was a bit of a marker in itself. We were playing very well pretty much week in and week out against big teams and that's the level we have to hit in the new season."

Whether Chelsea can manage to continue their improvement, started under Guus Hiddink, will be interesting to see but the indications under Ancelotti so far are good.

The Italian has settled well at Stamford Bridge and seems to have built excellent relationships with his players on tour in America.

He has impressed fans and journalists too with his impressive grasp of English, especially as he began lessons only a few months ago. And Lampard is hopeful the Italian can also have an impact on his own game.

"Each manager I've had has pushed me on to a different level," he added. "And the signs are good that Ancelotti will be the same. It's a very big season for the club and I can't wait for it to start."

Now there's one thing in football that definitely never changes.