Eva had grown up in a theatrical family.
Her mother was a well-known British actress, while her father worked as a theatre director.
That meant Eva had been surrounded by acting from a very young age.
She initially appeared in stage productions, but her talent eventually attracted the attention of a British filmmaker who helped her move into cinema.
From there, her career took off.
Even at university, however, Eva had not studied acting.
She studied directing.
At one point, she had seriously considered making a film of her own.
Christmas brought the family back together.
Eva's parents had both been away working, but they returned to London for the holidays.
Her grandfather was the oldest member of the family still living at home, and no matter how busy everyone became, Christmas was one occasion when they always tried to gather under the same roof.
When Ethan first met the old man, his immediate impression was warmth.
It was difficult to explain.
The feeling was almost like meeting someone familiar after spending years surrounded by strangers.
There was an instant sense of ease between them.
Eva's grandfather had moved to England as a young man and built his life there.
He later married a British woman, raised a family, and eventually became the grandfather of one of Britain's most recognisable actresses.
Age had begun catching up with him physically.
His health was no longer what it had been.
But his enthusiasm for sport remained undiminished.
Especially football.
Having spent most of his life in London, he was a devoted Arsenal supporter.
That had initially worried Eva's parents.
Their daughter's partner owned the club currently sitting above Arsenal in the Premier League.
An argument over football seemed almost inevitable.
Instead, Ethan and the old man got along immediately.
They started with family stories, memories of earlier years, and the strange experience of building a life far from where you began.
Before long, both were laughing as though they had known each other for years.
Eva sat nearby, occasionally explaining some of the older man's stories to her parents whenever the conversation became too animated.
Inevitably, football took over.
"Arsenal have been excellent this season," the old man said with the absolute confidence of a lifelong supporter.
"We've done well against the stronger sides too."
He shook his head.
"Too many draws against teams we should be beating. That's the problem. Otherwise we'd be top."
Ethan smiled.
"Our season hasn't exactly been bad."
The old man immediately waved that away.
"You haven't convinced me against the best teams."
He began counting them off.
"Liverpool nearly turned you over."
"Manchester United had you in serious trouble."
"Chelsea was comfortable, yes, but you had them at Old Trafford."
The confidence in his tone made it obvious he had been following every result.
Ethan laughed.
"Arsenal aren't flawless either."
The old man raised an eyebrow.
"In midfield, Vieira and Gilberto Silva give you strength, discipline, and enormous defensive coverage," Ethan said.
"But neither is the kind of player who naturally controls every attacking transition."
"Wenger still prefers his 4-4-2. I think football is moving towards systems that dominate central midfield more aggressively."
"Something like 4-2-3-1 gives you an extra layer between midfield and attack."
He smiled.
"Control the centre and you control a lot of the match."
Then came the more immediate weakness.
"Ashley Cole is suspended."
"And that's a problem."
"Campbell is excellent, but Cygan and Keown aren't exactly impossible to get at."
The old man frowned but did not interrupt.
"And there are issues inside the club too."
Ethan continued.
"Campbell is already one of Arsenal's highest-paid players. Now you're talking about another contract."
"How do Henry, Vieira, and Pires react if his wages rise again?"
That was a far more sensitive subject.
From the outside, Arsenal looked like a united team marching towards a potentially historic season.
The reality was more complicated.
Injuries.
Suspensions.
Red cards.
Contract negotiations.
Arguments over salaries.
All of them had followed Arsenal throughout the campaign.
If anything, overcoming those problems would only make an unbeaten title more impressive.
Campbell's contract was particularly important.
One of the major reasons he had crossed north London from Tottenham to Arsenal was the financial package available to him.
His weekly salary was already around £100,000.
That placed him above Beckham's reported basic salary at New Manchester United.
Two and a half years had passed.
Campbell was playing extremely well.
Arsenal wanted to keep him.
But extending the contract of one of the club's highest-paid players naturally raised another question.
How much more would they have to offer?
Campbell was only twenty-nine.
At the same time, Henry and Vieira were reportedly earning around £80,000 and £90,000 per week.
Campbell's existing salary already complicated Arsenal's internal wage structure.
Vieira had previously attracted serious interest from Real Madrid.
Pires was another important player who believed his contribution deserved stronger recognition.
If Campbell received another substantial rise, Arsenal risked triggering a chain reaction.
Pires had already publicly questioned the club's salary structure, arguing that the wages of players such as himself and Henry did not fully reflect their performances.
Ethan remembered how complicated Campbell's Arsenal years would become.
He had arrived on a free transfer.
Eventually, he would leave on one as well.
There were always more factors behind those stories than supporters saw from the outside.
Running a football club was complicated.
Building a stable wage structure alone could consume enormous amounts of time.
Every contract affected the next one.
Every rise created another comparison.
That was one reason Ethan had worked so hard to keep New Manchester United's structure under control.
Beckham was clearly the club's highest earner.
That made sense.
He was a crucial player.
He had enormous global recognition.
His commercial value generated sponsorship and merchandising income far beyond his basic salary.
But Drogba mattered.
Essien mattered.
Terry mattered.
So did De Rossi, Villa, Vidić, and the rest.
The solution was not simply wages.
New Manchester United's bonus structure was extremely generous.
The previous season's UEFA Cup and FA Cup prize money had largely been distributed among the players.
The FA Cup alone had brought roughly £2 million in prize money.
The club passed that amount on rather than treating it as operating income.
New Manchester United retained its shares of television and sponsorship revenue, which were worth roughly another £2 million.
Promotion to the Premier League then brought an additional bonus from Ethan.
Once everything was combined, many senior players received several hundred thousand pounds in bonuses.
That helped keep the squad together.
Without those incentives, the predictions that New Manchester United would be stripped for parts after promotion might have become reality.
...
Eva's grandfather refused to concede the argument.
Like most Arsenal supporters, he could accept weaknesses in theory without accepting the possibility of defeat.
Yes, New Manchester United had beaten Arsenal the previous season.
But that had been the FA Cup final.
This was different.
This was Highbury.
Arsenal's home record was formidable.
Seven wins and one draw.
They had the best home record in the Premier League.
New Manchester United, however, possessed the league's strongest away form.
Nine wins and one draw.
At Old Trafford, Mourinho's side had dropped slightly more points, with five wins and two draws.
The media quickly found an easy narrative.
The Premier League's strongest home side against its strongest away side.
Highbury fortress against the league's best travellers.
The attention surrounding the fixture rivalled even the Red Devil Derby.
Sky Sports selected it as the headline match of the round.
Andy Gray and Martin Tyler were once again given commentary duties.
"This is probably the biggest test New Manchester United have faced in the league so far," Tyler said before kick-off.
"Both sides are still unbeaten."
"That creates enormous pressure, mentally as much as physically."
"New Manchester United's first half of the season has been extraordinary for a promoted club."
"But if they really want to establish themselves as title contenders, this is the kind of match that tells us how far they've come."
Andy Gray nodded.
"They've had difficult moments against the strongest sides."
"Manchester United caused them huge problems."
"Liverpool came back from 3-0 down and nearly turned that match completely."
"But New Manchester United survived both."
"This is different, though."
"Arsenal are arguably the strongest team they've faced domestically."
"And there's history here after last season's FA Cup final."
Wenger had made that perfectly clear in his pre-match press conference.
He had not forgotten losing the final.
New Manchester United's victory had denied Arsenal a trophy at the end of the previous campaign.
Now he wanted revenge.
Preferably emphatic revenge.
Gray smiled.
"Wenger certainly hasn't tried to calm things down."
Tyler looked at the team sheet.
"Arsenal are going with their usual 4-4-2."
"Lehmann in goal."
"Lauren at right-back, Campbell and Cygan in central defence, Clichy replacing the suspended Ashley Cole on the left."
"Vieira and Gilberto Silva in central midfield."
"Pires and Ljungberg wide."
"Henry and Bergkamp up front."
Tyler's expression became serious.
"Other than Ashley Cole, that's very close to Arsenal's strongest side."
Gray nodded.
"And it's a team nobody in the Premier League enjoys facing."
"The interesting question is what Mourinho does."
"New Manchester United are close to full strength."
"Essien has recovered from injury."
"But John Terry remains suspended domestically, so Vidić will partner Curtis in central defence."
Tyler immediately identified the concern.
"That's one area Arsenal will target."
"Vidić is excellent in the air and very aggressive in the challenge, but he can sometimes commit himself too early."
"Curtis has been remarkably composed, but he's still eighteen."
"Against Henry and Bergkamp, every mistake will be punished."
Gray smiled.
"Do you think Mourinho changes something because of that?"
"He should consider it," Tyler replied.
Then he looked down the rest of the squad list.
"And the extraordinary thing is how many options he has."
"For a newly promoted team, this squad is ridiculous."
"Beckham is already one of the best midfielders in the league this season."
"Then you've got Kaká, Palacio, Drogba, Essien, Terry, Kolo Touré, Evra."
"Most Premier League clubs would happily build around any one of them."
"And behind those players are Cristiano Ronaldo, Robben, Ribéry, Messi, Curtis."
"There's an extraordinary amount of young talent."
"If New Manchester United can keep this group together and continue developing it, they could become one of the defining teams in English football over the next decade."
Gray agreed.
The comparison with Leeds United was difficult to avoid.
Leeds had once been celebrated as the future.
Now they were bottom of the Premier League.
Financial problems had torn apart a talented young squad.
Defeat followed defeat.
A project that once looked capable of challenging England's elite had collapsed under the weight of its own finances.
New Manchester United were attempting to build something similar in sporting terms, but with far greater financial discipline and an even younger core.
Many football people had been watching the project closely for years.
"Promoted clubs often make the same mistake," Gray said.
"They arrive in the Premier League and panic."
"Ten new signings."
"Sometimes fifteen."
"Then everyone wonders why the team has no chemistry."
"Manchester City are an obvious example from a few years ago."
"They changed too much and went straight back down."
"New Manchester United did almost the opposite."
"They sold Hleb."
"They sold Juninho."
"They brought in Beckham."
"They added Fàbregas to the wider squad."
"But the core stayed intact."
"The players already knew one another."
"So instead of spending half a season learning how to play together, they arrived in the Premier League ready."
Tyler nodded.
"And now we've reached the point where that first half-season has to be judged properly."
"They're top of the league."
"That's no longer a novelty."
"This is the stage where we find out whether they're simply having a magnificent run or whether they're genuinely strong enough to stay there."
At that moment, the confirmed New Manchester United starting eleven was passed across the commentary desk.
Andy Gray looked down.
His eyebrows rose immediately.
"Oh."
Tyler turned towards him.
"What?"
Gray looked at the sheet again.
Then he smiled.
"Well, Mourinho certainly hasn't come here to hide."
(To be continued.)