Football’s weird isn’t it? I mean, who’d have thought RVP would be scoring for US in this fixture this season? Weird and wonderful.
My silly non-prediction of a repeat of the 8-2 scoreline form last year, as it turns out, wasn’t too far from the reality. I thought Arsenal were guilty of approaching the game with a similar ‘psychosis’ as in that game – they just weren’t really all there. We could have beaten them by much more, and perhaps we will come to regret that we didn’t. The gap between the two clubs was huge and although you can point to form and luck and all the other things that make football great, Arsenal are still in need of that something more than they have right now if they are going to seriously compete for the title again.
The news before the game that Vidic is going to be out till at least Christmas wasn’t the best, but I’m a big fan of Jonny Evans and think that it can only boost his development in a roundabout way. Also it means the yoof will get more of a chance too. (As a slight aside: Vidic always carries the more real risk of being sent off – which is nice to not have). In the game I thought our defensive shape was strong (not as if I’m an expert on these things) and Jonny and Rio coped very well with their threat. Rafael’s strong start to the season and Evra’s Man of the Match’ performance made for a more solid all round defensive display (than we’ve become accustomed to).
Of all the players, T-ClevZ really impressed me yesterday. Fergie is starting to trust him in the ‘big games’ and you can see why. He’s really maturing into a good all round midfielder. It was the right decision to sub him off as the game was starting to develop an edge and there’s no point getting needlessly sent off with the game being won in second gear. Anderson his replacement looked pretty good too and helped us see out the game with intelligent passing. It’s always going to be about fitness with him – he undoubtedly has the talent. Carrick was Carrick (a very good thing).
It wasn’t a great day for the wingers: TV had a rare off day (although his off days are still not bad. I also enjoyed his the stare he threw Rafael after a misplaced pass). Ashley Young was ineffective and wasteful, and still can’t shake off the terrible habit of “fishing for fouls”. I like him, but he makes it really hard sometimes.
Wayne is creeping closer and closer and there’s not much more you can say about RVP – he’s just outstanding in almost everything he does (Swinger watch update: Another awkwardly “stiff” finish from the right peg making it three in a week).
Arsenal have some excellent players, many of whom I’d like at United, but so many points in the game I forgot who their players were. *Oh yeah, Podolski* *Oh, I forgot about Arteta* They just went missing. Wilshere (and perhaps Cazorla) was the only one who appeared to want to make something of the game and when he tried to inject some much needed urgency he unfortunately got sent off.
It wasn’t by any stretch a great performance, which reflects even worse on Arsenal. We dominated without really shifting through the gears with just the right level of intensity (whatever that means). With results going our way elsewhere, a very pleasing day.
Man of the Match: Evra – I love him and he’s started the season relatively well. He’s not perfect, but a decent full back is hard to define.
