Sunderland is a game Arsene’s boys usually win.
Their record is very, very good against Sunderland. They have won the last seven league games.
But today’s opponents are improving slowly as a club and as a team.
Back in 2006, Niall Quinn and his lawyer friend Michael Kennedy arranged a “social occasion” at the house of an Irish businessmen in Kildare, so everyone could meet Roy Keane, who had retired as a player. It wasn’t an interview as such, just a party to talk about whether they could all work together. Everybody wondered what might be possible at a club with Sunderland’s potential.
While Niall remained as caretaker manager, Roy completed his Uefa “A” badge in Portugal, and then, at 35, had to decide whether he was up for such a big challenge. A realistic and demanding character, he knew hard it is to manage a club, and he knew that many footballers only manage once. He spoke to his wife Theresa and she said, “Go for it.”
Keane got Sunderland promotion immediately and two small airlines started up to fly between Ireland and Sunderland, so Irish supporters could see their games.
As a character, Keane is a complete one-off. Nobody I’ve seen in football did what he did at Nottingham Forest, and then, for 12 years, at Manchester United. There is nobody like him anywhere. But, of course, that didn’t mean he would be a good manager. So when he took the Sunderland job, I wrote one or two lines on the subject here, wishing him well, saying it was interesting. Predictably, I got abusive emails from people who slagged him off.
At the moment, Roy Keane is just beginning. It’s a tough job and he has only been a manager since August 29, 2006, so he is learning all the time. Good managers never stop learning. My guess is that he will want to play as Fulham and Hull did : pressing, high line, stifle Arsenal’s passing from the back, deny them possession of the ball, which is the source of their rhythm and their success.
Porto did the opposite of that. They said : Let’s sit back and hit them on the break. That was suicidal and Porto were hammered 4-0.
With Arsenal, we all know how they play, what they can do, and what their flaws are.
After the Porto game, Arsene said : They’ve given me what I wanted, but they’ve only given me half of what I want this week. We know exactly what he means by that. And so do the Arsenal players, who should be far too quick and skilful for Sunderland. I don’t see how tubby midfielder Andy Reid can get a kick today and I reckon Arsenal will win and go top for one night.
On the one hand, it’s one game out of 38. On the other hand, I’d say this : If Arsenal under-perform and lose at Sunderland, it’s because they know they can’t win the league. If they know that, fans should just accept it here and now, and save themselves a lot of grief in November, December and next year.
Personally, I’m not gonna pontificate about the title until every team has played ten games.