"THE Premier League in England kicks off on Sunday and I can't wait. I don't mind watching these friendlies ¿ I have just watched Manchester United against Juventus and Barcelona crush the New York Red Bulls ¿ but league action is what it is all about. I know Sunday's match between Premier champions Manchester United and FA winners Portsmouth is for the Community Shield and doesn't really mean much but it gets you right in the mood. And it is played at Wembley. Sunday's game will also be a good time for United's youngsters to step up and show what they can do ¿ especially the forwards. United are without Ronaldo who has had surgery and will be out for a little while and his strike partner Rooney is also out after catching a virus on United's summer tour to Africa. Tevez is there but I believe Saha is injured ¿ again. Also Anderson is at the Olympics playing for Brazil and Nani is suspended.

Against Juventus this week United fielded some of their youngsters and they looked quite good. They should take this opportunity to show manager Sir Alex Ferguson what they can do.

Ferguson is still after Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham but the club has turned down offers.

But I think with Ronaldo back with the team this season they really don't need anyone else ¿ especially if Ronaldo has anything like the season he had last time. All the talk has finished about Ronaldo going to Real Madrid and some say he may go next season. If I was the boss I would make sure he stays with the club for his entire contract!

United may find the going tougher than they expect on Sunday since Portsmouth do tend to play well against them. Harry Redknapp is a smart manager and last season his side beat United 1-0 in the FA Cup at Old Trafford which is not an easy thing to do.

And Portsmouth have been strengthened with the signing of big Peter Crouch from Liverpool. I think that was a very good signing for both the club and the player. Crouch was not happy sitting on the bench at Liverpool and quite rightly so. I think he and fellow England striker Jermain Defoe could form an excellent partnership. They certainly are different with Crouch so tall and Defoe quite short.

But back in my day a number of clubs went with a tall and short striker combination and it seemed to work.

While United are a regular at this season opener which is between the winners of the league and FA Cup, Portsmouth are making a rare appearance. In fact the last time they played in what used to be called the Charity Shield was back in the late 1940s.

***

JERSEY RETIRED

I was happy to hear that West Ham will retire the number 6 jersey as a tribute to former Hammers and England captain Bobby Moore, who played his first game for the club some 50 years ago.

It is very rare for a club in England to retire a jersey but if one person deserves to have his number retired it is Bobby. He played over 500 times for West Ham and was not only a fantastic player but also a great man ¿ a man who I looked up to and who was a joy to play with. He read the game as well as anyone and was a top role model.

As captain, Bobby led the team to the 1964 FA Cup title and victory in Europe's Cup Winners' Cup the following year. He also led England to their only World Cup triumph in 1966.

It is also nice to see West Ham start a pre-season competition named after Bobby ¿ they will take on Villarreal in the inaugural Bobby Moore Cup this weekend and part of the proceeds will go to the Booby Moore Fund for Cancer Research.

I just wish Bobby was around to see them retire the jersey but unfortunately he died in the early 1990s. He was a legend.

***

OLYMPICS

Club versus country. Some people argue about it but I have always felt that it was such an honour to put on your national team jersey. Clubs like Barcelona, Werder Bremen and Schalke have demanded that their players not take part in the Olympics. And it looks like the courts agree with them. But thankfully having won their case, it seems they will let their players take part in the Olympics and quite rightly so. After all the Olympics come around only every four years and are mainly for players under 23.

Barca did not want their star striker Lionel Messi to play for Argentina but now it looks like he will stay in China. He scored one goal and set up another in Argentina's 2-1 victory over the Ivory Coast at the Olympics this week.

Meanwhile Diego, who plays for Werder Bremen and Rafinha who plays for Schalke, helped Brazil to a 1-0 win over Belgium who did well to keep the likes of Ronaldinho, Diego, Pato and the rest of Brazilian stars in check before going down.

***

WALCOTT

Although he went with England to the 2006 World Cup and didn't play, I think it is about time that Arsenal starting playing Theo Walcott regularly. Everyone says he is a young kid but he is nearly 20 years old now and should be starting a lot for the Gunners. I believe that is what Arsene Wenger will do with the speedy English attacker ¿ at least I hope so.

Arsenal will have a young team again this year but at least they have managed to hold on to Emmanuel Adebayor who said he wanted to leave to either AC Milan or Barcelona. He had an excellent season last year scoring 30 goals. Let's see if he can be like Ronaldo and have a repeat performance.