A few instant reactions to Arsenal's generous donation...
* Now that Wayne Rooney has assumed penalty-taking responsibilities, put your money on him finishing the season as top scorer. And make sure he is in your Fantasy League team.
* A spectator at Goodison and Parkhead, a culprit against Portsmouth, and a conceder to Celtic's only shot on goal on Tuesday night, Manuel Almunia's start to the season was already wretched even before he gifted United a route back into a game they were deservedly losing. Decision-making is a critical component of goalkeeping and the Spaniard's completely unnecessary, completely stupid foray off his line is a substantial black mark against his reputation. In such a closely-fought league, an unreliable goalkeeper is a complete no-no for any side with title aspirations.
* It was simply unfathomable how the Sky pundits could attribute United's comeback to "character". Character, whatever it actually is, had nothing to do with it. Having failed to turn up in the first half, they had barely made it out of their own half in the second before Almunia and Abou Diaby contrived to self-destruct. Unfathomableness, to make up a new word, was endemic at Old Trafford on Saturday night: Wayne Rooney was described as "quiet" after 45 minutes of play by the very same pundits who then gave him the man-of-the-match award when, by a considerable margin, the stand-out player on United's side was Darren Fletcher.
* That's why we call him Diabolical. In fairness, he showed - for practically the first time - a few reasons at Old Trafford (and last weekend against Portsmouth) why Arsene Wenger rates him but his brain fade amounts to a three-point swing at the top of the table. As feared, injuries are already harming Arsenal: Diaby wouldn't have played if Cesc Fabregas was available.
* Being sent off for the heinous crime of kicking an empty water bottle wasn't even the final insult. No, the final metaphorical kick was Wenger's pointless expulsion to the stands from which, typically, he had been subjected to the ultimate accusation against any man's character on several audible occasions during the previous 95 minutes. Officialdom will always be officious; it's what they are supposed to be. But there are no excuses to be made for Manchester United's failure to take action against those supporters who persist in taking 'terrace banter' far, far beyond what can be deemed acceptable.
* The disappointments in the United side were Antonio Valencia and, in particular, Michael Carrick. Reports on Saturday morning suggested that the midfielder has been told to up his game but he was at his best on Saturday night when he was anonymous. Martin Tyler's observation that "Carrick's radar isn't working today," was the polite way of saying that he was dreadful. With Owen Hargreaves' actual first-team return still likely to be months away, Ferguson must be sorely tempted to try out Darron Gibson.
* Denilson, who is currently doing for Arsenal what Carrick should be doing for ManYoo, has been a different player since he excelled in the draw at Old Trafford in May. He was the best player on the pitch against Celtic in midweek and continued in a similar vein at Old Trafford.
* Curious that Sir Alex changed formation to go like-for-like against Arsenal's newly-introduced 4-3-3. Was it caution? Was it a compliment to his opponents? Was it the belief that, head-to-head, man-to-man, his side were superior and would prevail if their formations were evenly matched? Whatever the reason, it was, though, an error because United's performance was a distant second-best to United's result. Ryan Giggs will gain lazy, soundbite-friendly plaudits for his assists to the two goals but, those two moments aside, he was horrendous.
* Match reports, along with history, are written for the victors (or at least written for the fans of the victors and who are thus more likely to buy a newspaper the day after). According to The Guardian's Richard Williams, United's winner was 'a reward for persistence'. Oh really? Two facts at this juncture: United went 2-1 ahead with just one shot on target and from a free-kick won when their crossbar was still reverberating from Robin van Persie's shot-cross.
* Arsenal desperately need a 'big' win. They can, and will, take solace in their performance but performances are nothing without results, especially so when the opposition are direct rivals. Since April, Arsenal have played seven matches against fellow members of the Big Four and have failed to win any. If that run continues into double figures, their season is doomed.
* To state the obvious: United are devoid of a spark without Ronaldo and the undressing their midfield endured against Barcelona in Rome does not look to be a one-off. These are the concerns that Sir Alex has two weeks to ponder before the league's resumption. There are no easy answers, just as this will not be an easy season for United. Yes, they are a less interesting side without Ronaldo but, for the neutrals, and maybe even for a few of their own success-feasted supporters, watching United try to cope without him this season will be fascinating.
Pete Gill
(Yes, it's not 16, but it's my day off).
Your Comments
goonermichael
"The mancs won one of six against the big four last year. The scousers beat chelsea and utd home and away and didn't win the league. So if we go into double figures without wins against the big four how is our season "doomed"? Beating stoke, Hull, Fulham etc is more important as the mancs always prove."
iyibaba
"Mike Dean is till a ref because the standard has sadly plumeted in the last few years, better some scientist invent robots to ref football matches, with the likes of Dean around football is quickly becoming a farce!"
OnlyArsenal
"Rooney always dives was saying this 2 Weeks ago and nothing has CHANGED ITS TYPICAL THE MANKS CAN ONLY WIN BY CHEATING, First a blatant penalty to us not given, then a dive by Rooney the master wife beater again.
Typical man sum cheating ass, only place they can win fairly is when they beating there wifes up"
magri
"Rooney DID dive as did Eboue. Anyone who has seen the TV replays can see that. Unless Rooneys legs turned to jelly as Mooney came rushing out. It still a pen but its still a dive."
footballbetting
"rooney did NOT dive, and it WAS a penalty
There was contact rooney had moved until the keeper had commited and then braced for impact
where as eduardo/eboue was anticipating commitment and go down, this is a DIVE. If arsenal are even going to try and moan at people divuing against them then they should dive or learn to do it properly
Rooney played for the foul and timed it well
with fletchers incident it was a penalty as well however from the refs angle it appeared that he took ball before man, but the ref could not see the contact with the ball was with fletchers arm,
either could have been given or not "
mwarr777
"OMG,you Arsenal fans are very bitter,yes you deserved a point at least and probably deserved to win but this is football and it rarely goes as planned but i really am tired of you lot going on and on about rooneys dive coz lets be honest he played dopey Almunia like a fiddle,and to be fair if he hadnt started to go over he would of got clattered n probably inkured and then the whole country would be pissed off with arsynal,as if rooney was injured for the world cup qualifier in a week coz he let himself get whacked by your thick goalie,there would of been trouble ..and lets not forget ur teams shameful dives,you really dont have a leg to stand on and to be honest dont know how you lot can keep a straight face when talking about diving..
Now for the bad bit,united were terrible on saturday,and i really do think our midfield is poor right now we really need something special there,we need a brilliant midfielder with vision awareness and a bit of cheek and a lot of skill,as i think man u looked so flat,no spark from midfield at all!!!! i am worried for us this season and think fergie will be proven wrong come the end of the season when we dont win the league as we are clearly missing someone special in midfiled,on the positive side though i think berba is getting better he is actually trying now lol and i think owen will prove an absolute gem,just watch this space he will hit his best form for us,as lets face it he will get some great service and plenty of goalscoring possibilities,also he will want to slap the face of all his doubters that have written him off,and will undoubtably be chomping at the bit to get back in the England squad and become a united great.this is the chance he was praying for,and lets face it with Rooney as our new full time point man we have the best striker in the world...just think would any of u swap rooney for anyone else in the world.."
mike_christie
"tjms002, the pics of Wenger showing the officials how farcical they were being are hilarious, and totally unrelated to the sickening abuse Wenger gets at Old Trafford. I don't see how one invalidates the other."
tjms002
"moralising about the disgraceful abuse Wenger got from the crowd would probably be more effective if you weren't running a gallery of images of the game titled 'Hilarious pics of Wenger in the OT crowd', no?"
ajsr1982
"Very true Rev_Gooner. But he was replaced due to the fact that many people pointed out that he is from Merseyside, and it wasn't proper that he should referee a FA cup final with Liverpool competing. The FA changed it. Not really his fault where he was born, is it?"
Morgski
"Alright you devils, for the record I wasn't happy with Eduardo for the dive against Celtic, even less happy with Eboue for his acrobatics after the "challenge" from Evra, but I just want a level playing field. Rooney earned himself a penalty, a penalty it was but there was more than a bit of simulation involved. Every team does it, but some of us seem to be more punished for it than others. This isn't whinging, it is a feeling of being scapegoated. Nor is it the first time our little friend Shrek has taken a tumble in the box at the expense of us, I distinctly remember him being very pleased with himself to earn a (dubious) penalty to end our invincible run. Fletcher's lunge into Arshavin was so much of a penalty it was laughable, only humourous because Arshavin picked himself up and spanked the ball into the back of the net. But, that is football. Take the rough with the smooth and all that. Well done Man U, you won a game. Based on the evidence of form at Old Trafford though, I hope for your sake you get your act together soon, as I fancy our chances of finishing above you in the league."
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