By Myles Palmer
Sir Alex will stay silent for the rest of the season?
I don’t believe that for a minute.
I never thought there would be a players strike and I’m sure Fergie will NOT keep his pledge not to talk to the media for the rest of the season.I wish he would shut up, but I can’t see it happening
With or without post-match interviews, Arsenal v Manchester United feels different this time around.
For five years it’s been No.1 v No.2 and now it’s fifth against fourth.
United have only won two of their last nine games, including that odd Worthington Cup encounter, where their third team lost 4-0 to Arsenal’s second team.
Arsenal have only won two of their last eight.
Ferguson has lost authority because he is leaving. Wenger has lost authority because he has not signed his contract yet.
Even if Wenger stays, this could be the last time he meets Ferguson in a big match at Highbury.This is their 17th clash.
Arsenal might draw Manchester United in the FA Cup,of course.
But the odds are that these two managers, whose rivalry has defined English football for half a decade, will not meet again until April 13th at Old Trafford.
Most Arsenal-Man United games have been entertaining,fierce and close, apart from the 6-1 last season. Wenger said yesterday he has never watched that video because he is not a masochist.
(I never reported that match on ANR because I was too busy writing The Professor, which covers the 6-1 game in every damning detail.I watched that video twice, so I could be absolutely sure of what I was writing.)
Yes, it’s a horrible cliche to say that this Arsenal-United clash is the end of an era. But it is.
This fixture might never have the same edge, the same resonance, again.
The two teams have a lot in common. And some of the same problems.
Both have new defences with ongoing auditions at centreback, rather than developing parnerships.
Will Ruud van Nistelrooy outshine Thierry Henry?
Yes, unless Bergkamp shows Ruud who is the guv’nor by feeding some good passes to Henry, who was a disgrace in La Coruna.
It’s taken me three days to watch the whole 94-minute video of the Deportivo flop. It was hard work but I’m glad I watched the whole game again.
The first half performance was even worse than I thought it was on Wednesday and the second half, though better, was irrelevant because the match was over when Roy Makaay scored after 9 minutes.
Why were Arsenal so appallingly inept?
Because only one player played well: Lauren.
With six Laurens they could have got a draw. With ten Laurens they could have won.
The good news is that Deportivo are a much better team than Man United. That is why they beat them 2-1 and 3-1.
The bad news is that Frank McLiontock is right about the weaknesses of the current Arsenal team.
Frank was a good centreback, a great skipper, a mediocre manager and is now a reliable Sky pundit.
He said today what I have been saying on ANR, and what everyone else has been saying.
He said that Arsenal don’t score from crosses or free-kicks or corners.
He said that Henry and Wiltord are not a pair.
And he said that the back four do not defend as a unit as they did when he played and when George Graham was the manager.
In today’s Telegraph George Graham says that defending is a lost art and maybe he should work as a specialist defensive coach.
Perhaps Graham was mischievously suggesting that he should spend time rehearsing Lauren, Campbell, Upson and Cole!
That should not be necesssary, since Adams, Dixon and Bould are still at the club and know the routines that won six trophies in eight years.
Seriously, Seaman says in his book that they do not do defensive drills as they did for years under George.
McLintock said that these points should be addressed NOW.
If not,Arsenal might struggle to make fourth place in the table.
Next year England gets FOUR Champions League places.
Leeds and Liverpool know how to defend, so they will be in the Champions League next season for sure.
United will also be there.
So in March-April-May 2002 there will be just ONE place up for grabs.
That will be contested, probably, by Aston Villa, Arsenal, Chelsea and, perhaps,Spurs or Newcastle.
Bottom line?
Arsene Wenger has three games coming up against Manchester United, Ipswich away and Juventus.
He needs two wins and a draw to restore his flagging credibility.
24th November 2001.