It really has been a wonderful week. United win five nil, England claim the ashes and fortress Anfield is ransacked by men in purple shirts. There has been a bit of glow to bask in – but just as we start to relax the Arsenal team bus comes into view.
Are we playing well enough to beat Arsenal at the moment? A solid victory last week would suggest so, but appearances can be deceptive.
Wigan actually murdered us in the first half at the acronym stadium. Yes, we did score five goals, although I suspect we will not be playing teams who’ve sold us their best player and just changed manager every week. Because we won’t be.
In truth, during the first half we showed less fluency than I showed in my last Swahili speaking test. Nobody was making runs and we were making Wigan look a classy side.
It is good that they show class on the pitch because off it they do not. Stitching people up for £45+ a ticket when United come to town is not on. The swathes of empty seats should work as a lesson for them. What have we learnt from this Mr. Whelan?
Foster looked a million times more assured in goal than at Burnley and even if Wigan were smelling blood in the first hour, he kept them at bay. The more I see of Valencia the more I like him. In the Ecuadorian and Nani I can see genuine wing play from United for the first time in years. That is probably not the last headed Wayne Rooney goal of the season.
This is all good news if you ignore the fact that Arsenal are playing like gods at the moment. I hope the Wigan result acts as a confidence booster because we will need to up our game considerably.
After the Gunners we are playing league leaders Tottenham and the evil empire from across town. The time for tentative introductions is over and the season proper starts now. But not for most of our first choice defence. That basking light is looking a little dimmer right now, back to crossing fingers it is then.
Follow Mark at thedevilinme.co.uk or on Twitter@markjpayne
Photography from Bootload at FlickrComs
Some Ashes jokes for you: Most of them pretty average
Q: What is the main function of the Australia coach?
A:To transport the team from the hotel to the ground.
Q: What do you call an Australian with a champagne bottle in his hand?
A:A waiter.
Q: Who spends the most time on the crease of anyone in the Australian team?
A:The woman who ironed the cricket whites.
Q: Why don’t Aussie fielders need pre-tour travel injections?
A: Because they never catch anything.
Q: What’s the Aussie version of a hat trick?
A: Three runs in three balls.
Q: What do Aussie batsmen and drug addicts have in common?
A:Both spend most of their time wondering where their next score will come from.
Q: What is the most proficient form of footwork displayed by Australian batsmen?
A:The walk back to the pavilion.
Q: What is the most proficient form of footwork displayed by Australian batsmen?
A:The walk back to the pavilion.
I think I love what I have read from you because you have made a genuine comment about our team. You analyse from the head and not from the heart. These are the exact comments we need if we are to play good football and continue winning trophies
Well we got our answer yesterday – we were, at times, played off the park but still got the all-important 3 points. How?? The Aarse basically threw the game away and we were extremely lucky to get what we did out of the game. A different ref and Fletch would have conceded a pen and a thinner crossbar and van P would have scored. We were also fortunate that the ‘equaliser’ was – correctly – flagged for offside.
But if that had not been flagged we would not only have been deprived of 2 points, we would also have been deprived of the sight of Arsene Wenger being ’sent off’ for kicking a water bottle. I actually felt a bit sorry for him in the end and I hope the fans didn’t give him too much abuse (fat chance!) I hear the ’sending off’ has now been rescinded.
We will have to improve dramatically if we are to keep up with Chelski.
this is completely off topic, but mark, I think you need to add sharing options to your blog posts. I would love to share these via email, facebook, or twitter. keep em coming mate. =]