Sir Alex watched from the side lines as his team was trounced 3-1 at the hands of mighty Barcelona. In hindsight, not many of the United faithful were confident of beating the Spanish champions. They were probably hoping for a piece of tactical genius from Ferguson or a miraculous performance from their star players on show. But apart from Rooney’s well worked goal, the red devils failed to impress in the most lucrative match in club football. A midfield duo comprising of the aging Ryan Giggs and a rather sluggish Michael Carrick were no match for the excellence of Iniesta and Xavi as Busquets guarded behind them. Messi, Villa and Pedro equalled pace, pace and more pace. It was evident that United were miles behind Barcelona and Sir Alex was well aware of it.
Ferguson offloaded aging squad members, deciding it was time to inject freshness into the side and in the second half of the Community Shield against rivals City he saw his vision come to life. Since then Anderson and Cleverly in midfield have been outstanding, Young looks like he’s been playing on the left side of United’s midfield all his life and the lively Danny Welbeck made an inspiring start to the season before his untimely hamstring injury. In defence, Evans, Jones and Smalling have been phenomenal following injuries to Ferdinand and club captain Vidic. Wayne Rooney is back to his unplayable best and all in all Sir Alex seems to have found that vital team chemistry once again and they look set for another successful season.
Cesc Fabregas had been eager for a return home to Barcelona for almost two years. Wenger probably spent that time living in denial. Surely he should have had someone in mind to replace the Spaniard? Apparently, not. His problems were compounded when Nasri expressed his desire for a move away from the Emirates. Clichy was snapped up by City fairly early in the window so the Frenchman had plenty of time to chase down potential replacements and put deals in place. Maybe it was his reluctance to spend that held him back although he had no trouble coughing up the twelve million it took to acquire the services of Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain, a talented winger no doubt, but only a teenager and one from a team newly promoted to the championship. The player’s naivety was evident when he declared himself worthy of top flight football. The fact that Wenger opted for the Southampton winger whilst he retracted his interest in a much more astute option in Gary Cahill left me perplexed.
Arsenal fans were screaming for a big name signing all summer but Wenger, was stubborn as ever, seemingly motionless. It came down to the decisive final two weeks of the window during which the London side lost Fabregas and Nasri, were dealt a major blow with Wilshere’s injury setback and had to contend with the suspensions of Song, Frimpong and Gervinho. The Dismal side that stepped out at Old Trafford were annihilated 8 – 2 and suddenly Arsene experienced what could only be described as “a rude awakening”. United’s superiority was undeniable and the Londoners will use their team’s sorry state of affairs as an excuse but were they really unforeseeable? Fingers must be pointed at the Gunners boss for his lackadaisical approach to the market and his failure to realise the severity of the damage the departures inflicted on his side. If he doesn’t pick up the pieces soon, these departures could well mature into a mass exodus.
Time and again Sir Alex has reassembled teams during his 25 year tenure at Manchester and no one has done it better. He has the uncanny ability to stay in touch with his roots and the basics while adapting to the modern world of football. Flexible with his style of play, he’s prepared to dig in deep or play uninhibited attacking football and it is this versatility that has led him to triumph over his London counterpart.
Prior to Arsenal’s humiliation at the Theatre of Dreams, I predicted a 3-0 home win when some suggested a 0-0 or 1-1 score line maybe possible. But the reason why I simply could not see that happen is because I have never known this Arsenal side to dig deep and fight and kick people to survive over the past six years. I would have given Stoke or Wolves more of a chance to come away with a point than Arsenal. The most disturbing thing is Wenger sent his boys out there without an inkling of a game plan .It was a tactical disaster (if there were any sort of tactics involved in the first place). It’s almost as if he said, “ok lads, the goal is that way. Give it your best shot.” No one was telling young Jenkinson to hold his position. The advice was finally dished out by Theo Walcott who had to clean up after him. All the while Wenger sat in his seat cringing. At the very least he should have been down in his technical area spurring his team on, encouraging, criticizing, abusing, having a go at the referee or throwing his water bottle around. Something! But he just sat there like there was no point to it. And it seemed to transcend on to his players. When Rooney dispatched his first free kick, Rosicky was the least bothered while the balled soared over him en route to goal. It was the most bewildering thing to watch in the replay, he never turned back, like it was expected and he just wanted to get the rest of the hammering over with. I can’t imagine Ferguson’s reserves even performing so dispassionately and certainly can’t see the fiery Scot sitting idle while his team gets humiliated.
On the final day of the transfer window Wenger finally set out and made some panic signings. Per Mertesacker is a very useful addition and so is Arteta but he seems more temporary than a permanent fix. Still, with the new faces in the squad, suspensions out of the way and the return of Wilshere, Arsenal have a decent enough squad. Liverpool are presently favourites for that all important fourth spot but I wouldn’t be surprised if Wenger comes up with the goods and continues Arsenal’s presence in Europe. I have no doubt in my mind that this Arsenal team will begin to impress and fans will be optimistic once again. But the reality is that they are back to square one, six years ago. Back to the transitional phase, back to rebuilding, back to only the promise for the future and most significantly, still no trophy. 
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