Betalogue

Unfortunately, this game was not televised here in Canada, so all we got were the highlights shown last night on Fox Sports World Canada. Contrary to the impression I got from reading Wenger’s comments after the game, it looks like it was actually a fairly decent game, and that Southampton had to rely on an excellent Niemi to keep them in the game and, indeed, in the unlikely position of winning it with a few minutes to go. Van Persie saved the day for Arsenal, and not with any kind of goal either.

Elsewhere, Manchester managed to do exactly what Rio Ferdinand said that they couldn’t afford to do, i.e. follow their controversial win at Old Trafford with a defeat at Portsmouth that effectively cancels out any progress that they might have made. They also got a pretty harsh penalty given against them, but here again, as Ferdinand said, these kinds of things tend to even themselves out over the course of the season, don’t they? Which is exactly why Manchester United fans should grow up and stop complaining about that alleged dived by Robert Pires against Portsmouth last season.

It also looks like the fury over last week’s game at Old Trafford is finally abating, with both clubs having reached some kind of understanding and Ferguson giving up on his fantasy of having Henry and Bergkamp investigated. As The Guardian puts it, the whole thing has been rather embarrassing for both clubs, including the players and the managers. There is little doubt in my mind that it all stems from Alex Ferguson’s idiotic “mind games” and from the attitude he instills into his players, but ultimately the Gunners and their manager need to rise above that and let their skill and the quality of their football do the talking.

What this really means that encounters between Man U and Arsenal are no longer “massive” games. They are meaningless, and what counts is the team that’s on top at the end of the season. The Gunners and their fans need to stop worrying about having to prove their worth against Man U. They already did so in February 2003 with a superb 0-2 victory at Old Trafford in the FA Cup. Manchester United has not managed to beat Arsenal convincingly in the past couple of years. That’s good enough for me.

Of course, I’d love a 5-1 victory for the Gunners at Highbury next year, but ultimately what I want to see is nice, elegant, stirring football, and these days, Arsenal provide this on a much more consistent basis than Manchester.

This entry was posted by Pierre Igot on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2004 at 2:51 am and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.