The French midfielder sat out the dying moments of the thrilling 3-1 victory at Arsenal but will be sorely missed for the Manchester derby and beyondA French midfielder with massive presence sent off in an intense match between Manchester United and Arsenal reflected on his emotions in the dressing room, mind whirring while the latter stages of the game was played without him. “It’s tough, especially in a big moment like that,” he said. “You feel like you let the team down. There are so many emotions going through your mind, and everything is negative – I was so mad about the red card.” As it happens, those words belong to Patrick Vieira, who experienced the frustration of being dismissed –...
Despite numerous chances at the Emirates Stadium, Arsène Wenger’s side came off second best once again and showed they remain unstable at the backFor 79 minutes on Saturday, Arsenal were superb. In that spell, they had 32 shots to Manchester United’s five. They pummelled a team noted for their organisation, creating chance after chance. As Arsène Wenger underlined afterwards, they hammered them on the xG. They forced David de Gea into a Premier League record 14 saves. The problem was that by the time they began that spell, they were 2-0 down.There is an entire chapter in Alex Ferguson’s last but one book devoted to Wenger and how predictable he found Arsenal, how easy they were to counter-attack. Wenger claimed last week...
Arsène Wenger might rightly feel his side should have won, but that would be to deny the unadulterated brilliance of the man in Manchester United’s goalHow did Arsenal not win this match? Actually scratch that. How did Arsenal not win this match 6-3, or at the very least end up drawing it? This is not a rhetorical question. There is an answer. The main reason this didn’t happen and why instead Manchester United were able to extract a stirring, ruthlessly executed 3-1 away win is because David de Gea produced a performance of relentless brilliance in goal.For an hour at the Emirates, as Arsenal surged back from the indignity of conceding a 2-0 deficit, De Gea was a one-man spider’s...
Portuguese’s name should be mud for allowing the Premier League’s three best players at the moment to slip through the Stamford Bridge net. Another Chelsea talent drain must not be allowed to happenDick Rowe, the head of A&R at Decca Records in the 60s, was a kingmaker in the music industry. He signed the Rolling Stones in 1963, gave Van Morrison his break and launched the career of Tom Jones. But Rowe isn’t really known for any of these coups. He’s the idiot who rejected the Beatles. “We don’t like their sound,” it’s said that he told their manager, Brian Epstein. “And guitar music is on the way out.” Decca offered a contract to Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.There...
José Mourinho’s stubbornly dogmatic team tactics cost his side at Stamford Bridge and look to have handed the title initiative to Manchester CityThe memories of Manchester United in 1985-86 and Newcastle United in 1995-96 serve always as caveats, but already it feels that it would take something outlandish for Manchester City not to be named as champions this season. Perhaps their slick cogs and gears will somehow stick or grind, but at the moment none of the chasing pack are applying pressure. The gap already is eight points and, once again, on Sunday, it was hard to avoid the thought that there has been something meek in the way José Mourinho has presented the initiative to his rivals.When United defeated Ajax to...