ARSENAL VS MAN.UNITED: INSIDE A FOOTBALLING MOMENT As someone who grew up watching football, I loved the sport. In the early 90’s, at a time when the country seemed to have its act together, (as far as providing the barest minimum of social awareness and infrastructure) the television was a genuine source of knowledge. The local stations had content (real content in education and entertainment) that beamed information from all over the world right to our living rooms. Football made up a big part of what I saw. Programmes like The Rothmans European Football Show and Futbol Americas kept us in the loop about league and international football from far and wide. The Barclays Premier League was also constant on television back then and by the mid 90s, I knew quite a lot about Manchester United; they were the big boys on the block and if you wanted to be somebody in the BPL, then you had to take them down to get respect. Players like Eric Cantona, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar, Roy Keane, Nicky Butt and David Beckham were just some of a long list of men who conferred on United an invincibility of almost mythical proportions. With Alex Ferguson at the helm, United were dominant for years and what they were selling, everybody was buying. Teams just found it hard to resist them (Personally I idolized Cantona for a long time and still now enjoy watching his highlight reels) and on the field, they swept away everything that stood in their path like a tsunami. But even though I watched a lot of their football, it never crossed my mind to be a Red Devil; there seemed to be no competition to their control of the English game (and truly, what is football without competition?) All that changed in a thrilling game which I saw Untied lose; 3-2. Their opponents I learned for the first time were called The Arsenal. They played out a thrilling match that I very much enjoyed. The year was 1997 and here was a team that had outplayed United without fear and with certainty, showing the ambition and surety that for them to be champions, they would have to dethrone Manchester United, a team I had watched long enough to know their status as the kings of England was uncontested. Never the less Arsenal went blow for blow that day against them and didn’t back down. They were ready for the challenge. The Gunners went on to win the league that year by a single point. Their coach was a Frenchman named Arsene Wenger and he’d won the league in his second season in charge. Since 1997 both teams have enjoyed success. Certainly United much more than the Arsenal. My then boyhood dreams of upstaging them have not died (occasionally sated and other times frustrated) but they, like me have gotten older and matured some as well but have not dimmed and the fixture will always hold significance. So the meeting at the Emirates this Wednesday was no different. But in all honesty, I felt very tense. Because, like a lot of people, I was blown away by Arsenal’s capitulation at Anfield just a few days previously and despite all the assurances from the team and Arsene Wenger that the result was an accident (bollocks) there honestly was no way of knowing just what kind of display or performance to expect from Arsenal against our long time nemesis. So really, I had zero expectations and was there simply by virtue of my faith as a fan. I use the word faith because; over time I have accepted that United will always raise their game to play the Arsenal. No matter the form they are in, they produce an extra gear for the fixture against Arsenal. In the years that have served as the foundation of the Premier League, the fixture has always had an edge (possibly a reflection from the Ferguson/Wenger rivalry and the Scot’s reaction to the arrival of the Frenchman who came to England to challenge his reign and the battle for dominance that followed for more than a decade.) So basically, for me, Manchester United would be the last team that I would want to face days after a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool. In the aftermath of the game; a lot of adjectives have been attached to the goalless draw, ranging from words like; a bore, disappointing, sad, lackluster and an attack of nerves. These classifications as used by the media, I understand. The press is driven by a hype-frenzy mania and for them, it’s the simplest response to thrash everybody and everything connected with the game because they have to find a way to sell a football match without goals, to their viewers (which is never easy or interesting.) But I honestly don’t get the views of Arsenal “fans”. Any team that gets taken to the cleaners the way Arsenal were, and concedes 5, with 4 goals in 20 minutes, be they a Bayern or a Madrid, is not going to come flying out of the blocks in their next game. It’s just not humanly possible. Heavy defeats like that leave scars on the mind and morale of the players. So in being very cautious in their football, the Gunners were correct in their approach. The arguments against Oliver Giroud ultimately not having enough talent /quality for the striker role and the sloppy midfield football of Jack Wilshere are arguments that have existed well before both the United and even the Liverpool game. But in the positives; Arteta had a much better game on the night, the centre backs were back in their solidity, even Gibbs was excellent and of course Scz pulled of a world class save to deny Van Persie. Carzola and Ozil had better input and generally Arsenal rebuilt their confidence and can move on. Manchester United can go back to their transitional woes while we go back to challenging for the title. A point behind the leaders in February is not to be sneezed at. Compared to the last 5-6 seasons that’s real progress. And you would have thought the Emirates crowd would understand by now the importance of not losing a game if you cant win it.( Borussia Dortmund for example) so the booing at the final whistle was not called for. In my opinion the adjective we should use to describe a point taken from a game against Manchester United (Ferguson era over or not) in the aftermath of our horrible 5-1 implosion at Anfield is creditable. A creditable draw. Cheers.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 16:42:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015