REMEMBER WHEN …
The Battle of the Buffet. Ferguson v Wenger, Keane v Vieira. Martin Keown whoopin’ and hollerin’ right in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s grill. Thierry Henry’s volley, David Platt’s header; Cristiano Ronaldo’s Big Cup double. Title-winning goals from Marc Overmars and Sylvain Wiltord; the 8-2. Ryan Giggs’s remarkable chest hair. The 21-man Highbury brawl. Mark Hughes v Tony Adams; Ian Wright v Peter Schmeichel. Louis van Gaal taking a dive. Arsène in the Old Trafford stands, arms outstretched. “Squeaky bum time,” isn’t it? Forgive your misty-eyed Daily from channelling Ron Manager once again, but at its height, Manchester United v Arsenal was the Premier League’s greatest rivalry. Fuelled by a mutual enmity between Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, the former delaying his retirement to fend off Arsenal’s arriviste – “He’s come from Japan and he’s telling us how to run English football,” Ferg said in 1997 – the bitter rivals traded titles and served up box-office battles until José Mourinho (and Roman Abramovich) pulled up at the Bridge.
Between 1997 and 2005, United and Arsenal both finished in the top three for nine seasons in a row. In the two decades since, these faltering giants have repeated the trick just four times, instead taking turns to slip into stark decline. Wenger’s tenure, much like his famous puffer jacket, simply went on for too long; on the other hand, today’s generationally mediocre United team are still unable to escape Ferguson’s shadow. When the two teams met at an empty Old Trafford in November 2020, both were in the bottom half of the table – something that had not happened since October 1936.
That otherwise forgettable game was notable only for Mikel Arteta’s transitional team achieving a big milestone – winning at United’s ground for the first time since 2006. Since then, Arsenal have firmly re-established themselves in the elite, and head back to Old Trafford on Sunday off the back of a 7-1 shellacking of PSV in Bigger Cup. United are 21 points behind their former title rivals in the table, but did pick up a creditable 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad in Bigger Vase, with nobody more surprised by Joshua Zirkzee’s well-taken opening goal than Joshua Zirkzee.
If he’s not too busy checking the vending machines for loose change, or trying to charge black-clad fans double for entry, perhaps Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe might learn something from Sunday’s game. United’s resident Scrooge is about to be visited by the ghost of seasons yet to come, and a possible blueprint for redemption. Not so long ago, Arsenal’s team were a motley crew of startled kids and grizzled mercenaries, coached by a frustrated Iberian and watched by fans on the brink of revolt. If the Gunners made it back from there, maybe the husk of what was once Manchester United can somehow be rejuvenated. What do you say, Ruben Amorim? “I don’t feel that. I won’t have the time Arteta had. It’s a different club. We just need to survive on Sunday.” It’s hardly “I’ll see you out there”, but it’ll have to do.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Maybe you laugh, but for me it was a good result because the way we performed the [defeat] could have been bigger” – José Mourinho, there, seemingly relieved to have only lost 3-1 at home to, erm, Rangers, who have been turned over by such powerhouses as St Mirren and Queen’s Park in recent weeks.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
When I read Barney Ronay’s description of Alisson’s phenomenal performance in Paris as “cinematic” (yesterday’s Still Want More, full email edition), I suddenly realised something. Witnessing the Liverpool goalkeeper dive, roll, parry, smother, snaffle, jump and fling himself all over the place had indeed felt like watching an action film. In fact, with the yellow suit and hordes of stealthy opponents closing in in wave after wave, the performance felt like an ode to Bruce Lee in Game of Death, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Danny Chan Kwok-kwan in Shaolin Soccer. I’m looking forward to Volume 2 next week! Pass the popcorn!” – Peter Oh.
Following Fenerbahce’s humiliating home defeat by Rangers, it would be fascinating to hear what the Specious One would have called PSV’s 7-1 home capitulation against Arsenal? Presumably ‘a great result’ followed by ‘it’s not over’?” – Adrian Irving.
While agreeing with Gordon MacLeod’s praise of Ally McCoist (yesterday’s Football Daily letters), I feel he is ill-served being part of Darren Fletcher’s and Rio Ferdinand’s attempts to fill every second of games with obscure historical facts and football cliches. While my Liverpool proclivities are probably a factor, exposure to this trio for both the Bigger Cup Madrid derby and cunning plan against PSG left me trying to manipulate the volume control to retain some element of the atmosphere while muting the commentary. I don’t know who decides which commentators are an asset, but there are times when Discovery+ feels exceedingly expensive” – Alan Gellion.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Alan Gellion, who gets some Football Weekly merch. We’ll be in touch. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
