Blackburn will push Roonieless Manchester United all the way

By 1970’s Gooner

Every team has a player who is the driving force behind it. A player who with his drive and footballing ability energises the rest of his team mates.

Thierry Henry used to do it for Arsenal and now Cesc Fabregas seems to have taken over this role. Steven Gerrard is the heart of Liverpool who on many occasions changed the course of games and Didier Drogba and John Terry have a similar impact for Chelsea.

It is in this esteemed list of players that I would place Wayne Roonie and his undoubted contribution to the way Manchester United play their football.

He is positioned just behind the front striker and in this way is the link between the midfield and attack. And from here he has the platform to energise the rest of his team mates.

It is for this reason that I consider the absence of Wayne Roonie from Manchester United’s line up next Sunday against Blackburn a significant loss.

However for some this may be a blessing in disguise.

Ferguson may now have to play Saha, a traditional centre forward, that so many have been arguing is missing from this team.

It was missing last week against Arsenal until he was brought on to great effect.

Balance, so important in football formations, will now be restored. And I would agree with this logic.

Also Roonie’s loss and Saha’s inclusion means that Tevez will assume his role of support striker; a position he is more accustomed with. However I doubt whether he can be as effective as Roonie or as energizing.

And if he repeats his tame performance at the Emirates then United will not find it easy against Blackburn.

Ferguson may of course keep Saha on the bench and play Giggs or Ronaldo with Tevez up front. A viable combination but not as effective as the Saha option. However I doubt whether anyone of these players can effectively replace Roonie.

Rovers are enjoying a strong run of form and travel to Old Trafford on Sunday unbeaten away and only five points behind United with a game in hand.

They are one of the toughest sides to play outside of the 'big four' and head into this in fantastic form, with seven wins in their last eight.

More significantly they have gone up against three out of the big four and come out of them unbeaten and they have kept eight clean sheets in all competitions, including scoreless draws against Chelsea and more recently Liverpool.

I expect them to push Roonieless United all the way.


Manchester United are running scared and Liverpool are lacking in quality

Arsenal pursuing the next Tony Adams but so are Manchester United!

Arsenal’s Formula One Car Cannot Run With The Handbreak On. A Critique

Who Would Wenger Take From Manchester United’s Team? The Final Word

The story so far: A Man Utd site,”Absolutely United” published its thoughts on which Arsenal players would make it in the current Man Utd team. Not surprisingly very few Arsenal players were selected.

Not to be outdone "Arsenal Analysis" replied with its own combined 11. Not surprisingly very few Man Utd players made the list.

Back came the two sites with even more analysis and opinion on the matter. In between, a lot of heated opinions were exchanged between the two sets of supporters on comments left on both sites.

Following our latest reply to Absolutely United’s I Spy he regrouped and came out shooting from the hip.

This is we hope a final reply!

By Eros, Arsenal Analysis resident season ticket holder at the Emirates (North Upper Stand Row Q)

I spy,

Glad to see I gave you some food for thought which, as you admitted, required some of your time in getting back to me.

You insist on questioning my mental health which is I suppose your way of showing some kind of respect. So as you would say ‘respect’

Football is a game of opinions and everyone’s opinions are correct to himself, so as I am sure you know by now we will never find enough common ground to come to a final decision.

That’s why after today we should agree to disagree on some of the pending matters.

Wes Brown for the combined 11. Are you serious?

I can not understand how you can keep a straight face arguing that Wes Brown is worthy of a spot in this team.

You admit that he is not a natural wing back. I will also add that his contribution going forward is almost non existent.

He is also not quick enough and in my opinion can be exposed against high quality wingers.

You also say that you like Sagna as a player and you are impressed by how quickly he adapted to the English game but you seem stuck on the fact he has only played a handful of games (something I pointed out originally anyway).

Granted Sagna did not have the best of games against Sunderland but his overall performances until now have been excellent.

It is obvious that Wes Brown should not have a place in the combined Arsenal/Man Utd squad. Sagna and Eboue should be left alone to fight it out for a place in the starting line up.

Transfer flops: Fergie leads the way!

You seem to like mentioning Francis Jeffers and what a big success he was in North London and I Iet you get away with until know, but no more.

Yes Jeffers was an 8m pound flop but I wonder how much Veron, Cleberson, Djemba-Djemba and Taibi all cost.

Surely one argument that you cannot win is the transfer market success Arsene Wenger enjoyed over the years. Your net outlay on transfers this year is close to 50m whereas ours is a positive –yes positive- 8m!

Clichy is more skilful than Evra

As for the position on the opposite side of the pitch you say that Clichy has nothing that Evra has not. I’m afraid you are wrong again! Apart from a superior level of skill and technique, Clichy has time on his side.

He is only 22 and has a long career in front of him. I am not saying that Evra is old – 27? – but if we are to use your argument that right now they are virtually of equal quality then surely Clichy should get the nod because of his unlimited potential.

Ferdinand is not better than Toure

I still do not consider Ferdinand to be better than Toure, for the reasons that I pointed out in my previous post. Basically what you are trying to say is that Ferdinand looks good next to a world class player like Vidic and I agree with you.

You rightly point out that Campbell had the same effect on Rio because he used to do all the dirty work for him.

As for the goal conceded by Arsenal against Sunderland I don’t think that Toure did anything wrong, it was the full backs that in my opinion were found napping for both goals.

As Sagna was walking back to his position Toure was forced to go out the right to cover which left Jones at the back stick against Clichy, not a real contest now is it?

It’s criminal to compare Rio and Toure in terms of concentration and an insult to use the media card on me for any mistake that is picked up from TV pundits. I do have opinions of my own and as I am sure you can read I am not shy about expressing them!

Robin Van Persie’s special quality

I know we agreed to disagree about RVP and Rooney, however I want to point out a quality that makes RVP special. His form is negatively correlated to the form of the rest of the team.

When everyone else is flying Van Persie usually has a quiet game almost as if he is saving energy for more important periods of the season.

If you look at the recent results you will see Van Persie does not usually score when the team wins comfortably, however when the team needs a goal you can bet that more often than not RVP is going to come up with the goods, like he did twice this week.

Van Persie is going to score the important goals, the goals that will lift the whole of the team when they are struggling. I’m not sure Rooney has that killer instinct in him.

Glad to see you dropped the Scholes vs Cesc debate so I will take that as a victory for us Gooners! It was not a real contest anyway.

Finally you point out that some of your squad players were involved in Saturday’s game and from what I read Anderson and Pique especially never put a foot wrong.

All I would say is Wigan at home is not the most testing of games to judge your ability on.

Try and throw them in at the deep like Wenger was forced to 3 years ago when a 16 year old Cesc and a 19 year old Flamini held Lampard, Makelele and Essien to a goalless draw at the Bridge.

Can’t wait until November the 3rd when I am sure we will cross swords again.

Wonder who will have the bragging rights then?



United Versus Arsenal: The Battle Intensifies

An open letter to Manchester United fans

Who Would Wenger Take From Manchester United’s Team?

An Open Letter To Arsenal Fans

Who Would Fergie Take From Arsenal’s First Team?

An open letter to Manchester United fans

By Eros, Arsenal Analysis resident season ticket holder at the Emirates (North Upper Stand Row Q)

Dear I Spy and Manchester United fans,

Thanks for your kind words about the site, I tried to be as objective as possible when writing the article! I am glad that you agree with my original assessment that all football fans are absolutely mental (you call it how much crack did you smoke).

I have read your reply to my article and your revised selections in your open letter to Arsenal fans. To your credit you have made some adjustments to your original position. You say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and you are correct; however the fact that you felt the need to revisit your post and make adjustments to it I think says a lot! I take that as I compliment.

For all your backhanded compliments however I think that some of your arguments would embarrass ever Red Face himself! As I don’t want this to be a ding dong battle – who I’m I kidding I’d love a ding dong battle- I am only going to object to a few selections.

Even you know that however much alcohol or drugs you take Wes Brown is never going to be a better player than either Sagna or Eboue. An ok utility player an international Right Back he is definitely not! There’s no point even arguing about it.

When I originally wrote the post Evra was the back up left back in the French squad. However Clichy has now made the French squad for the upcoming internationals! I think at the expense of Evra.

So even Domenech agrees with me – I am not happy about this as I would much prefer Evra to play and Clichy to have a little rest. Since Domenech is the bees knees – you point out that he guided France to the World Cup final – who are we humans to argue with him! Clichy it is then.

You asked me how many games Arsenal lost last season; I think 9 is the answer to your question. However we did beat your United twice. I have just checked my stats and they say United conceded 27 goals last year and Arsenal 34. But making your decision solely on how many games each team lost last year is ludicrous!

Toure last season had to play with a different partner nearly every week. Gallas was injured most of the season, Djourou and Senderos were in and out of the team because of niggly injuries and Gilberto had to slot in at the back.

What you forget about Toure is that he and Campbell where the defensive partnership when Arsenal went a whole season unbeaten (something you never achieved and cannot even dream of doing), and in 2006 he was the corner stone of the record number of clean sheets that took Arsenal to the Champions League Final.

The argument that Arsenal lost more last year makes Rio a better player smacks me as an easy way out so that no real comparisons are made between the players!

Toure is quicker, better on the ball and reads the game extremely well. He rarely wastes possession and even more infrequently does he loose concentration, which is something that you really can’t say about your Rio.

On top of all that I’ve never heard that Toure missed a drugs test! And in my book you only forget about a drugs test for one reason and it’s not because you are moving house!

I will not even bother arguing about Rooney, Scholes, RVP and Cesc as none of us are able to eliminate all bias and reach a logical conclusion, so I think its best to agree to disagree on this one. However I have to point out that Cesc this year has already got 6 goals and 8 assists.

You seem to also imply that Rooney has a better ‘range’ than RVP. I’m not sure what you mean by range, but I think that Van Persie is better technically, better on the ball and can score a goal from any situation. I also think he is a better finisher.

As I have explained in my original article there are only three Manchester United players that could make it into the Arsenal team at the moment. Van De Sar, Vidic and Ronaldo.

Lastly, you never mention the depth of your squad. I wonder why.

Such is your lack of depth that Fergie relys on 13/14 players unlike Arsenal which can change any player in their starting 11 and still perform up to standard.

Even if Cesc is out both Abou Diaby and Denilson can come in and keep the team playing, what we call, Fabregas football. I think that is were Arsenal have the real advantage.

I wonder what your replacements will be to the loss of Carrick and Hargreaves.

In your open letter you say that we go overboard thinking that we are better than Brazil and you point out that we had a very disappointing year last time out. Nobody denies the disappointment, especially after the last few years where we were used to competing for something every season.

Unlike United we have not been able to compete in the transfer market. Taking into account all the players that left after 2003/04 and the refusal of Wenger to spend money until the financial future of the club was secure makes the last 2 years’ disappointments seem almost insignificant.

But you see, ever since Wenger took over we make the stars not buy them.

The signs of a team emerging were there last year, with the Carling Cup run and the results in the so called big games especially the double over your United. What the team lacked was consistency and that’s why we did not compete.

It’s too early to definitely say but there are good signs that this team is ready to challenge and fight for every point available. The difference to last time out is that now they expect to win every single game and after the start they had, try and convince them otherwise.

Surely there is going to be the odd bad result but I think this team is so strong mentally that it will not be as affected as the 03/04 team.

I have no illusions about United, I honestly think they are a good team, play entertaining football and they will be serious contenders for the title.

I disagree however with the notion that it’s United’s title to lose. You lot better be ready for a fight, I know our boys are!


Ed: This is a personal view. What is your opinion?


Who Would Wenger Take From Manchester United’s Team?

An Open Letter To Arsenal Fans

Who Would Fergie Take From Arsenal’s First Team?

Back to back for Manchester United?

By 1970’s Gooner

The bookies, as to be expected, have installed Man Utd as favourites to win the title again followed closely by Chelsea.

Liverpool are priced at about half of Arsenal’s odds and the rest, especially Spurs, are really nowhere. These are prices quoted at the time of writing this post.

Man Utd 7/5 Expect.com
Chelsea 15/8 Better
Liverpool 6/1 Betfred
Arsenal 157/14 Pinnacle (that’s about 11.2/1)

For those interested Spurs are quoted at 100/1 by Stan James but Ladbrokes fancy them more at 66/1.

Most of the teams have not yet of course completed their annual summer retail therapy. But most of them, especially the top four, have made significant moves.

More is still to come but the areas that teams need to strengthen are to me discernible enough.

In this four part series I try to analyse each of the top four’s strengths and weaknesses and based on the state of play so far try to come up with a reasonable prediction as to where they might end up by the end of next season.

Part I: Arsenal against the odds?
Part II: Liverpool. It’s getting serious.
Part III: Chelsea come back?


Back to back for Manchester United?

Manchester United’s major weaknesses last season were the lack of quality alternatives in the center forward position, the absence of effective midfield defensive cover and a relatively thin squad which began to show cracks in the latter stages of the season.

Another centre forward?

Saha is the only proper centre forward at the moment and he is also injury prone. Roonie is not really a centre forward he is rather a number 10 playing behind the forward and that is where he is most effective.

No wonder Ferguson brought in Henrik Larsson in the middle of last season. He is now gone of course and Sir Alec’s attempts to buy another quality centre forward originally included Anelka but has since managed to sign Tevez.

However I don’t think that Tevez can really play at that traditional centre forward position.

He is more a roaming forward who is most effective playing in the area between the opposing defence and their midfield. More like Roonie.

Ferguson has got two similar players there and he will have to work out a formation if he intends to play them together.

But one thing is for sure Tevez will add a tremendous amount of flexibility in terms of playing formations. And indeed as high quality cover.

Man Utd have goal sources from all over the pitch but I still think that they really need another tall and strong front target man.

I would not therefore rule out another surprise signing from Alec Ferguson (especially in the January window if events demand it).

If this happens then Man Utd will have the most potent forward line in the Premiership.

Midfield defensive cover

Hargreaves looks a very good buy who will add defensive steel in front of the back four. Something that was sorely missing last season.

Carrick is a good playmaker but is not really defensively minded. He will replace Scholes, eventually. Maybe sooner than we think.

But more importantly the addition of Hargreaves helps to balance the team beautifully.

This may prove a more important signing in tactical and strategic terms than Tevez or the other players that have been brought in.

Strength in depth

Nani and Anderson are too young and inexperienced (especially in the Premiership) to make an impact this season. They are very skillful but they look overpriced to me.

Nevertheless what they will add to the squad this season will be cover especially in the Cup games.

This will allow other important players very valuable rest and at the same time reduce the chances for the occurrence of injuries from too many games.

The addition of all these players will indeed add strength in depth which will prove extremely valuable come the latter and most significant stages of the football calendar.

Something which was so evidently missing last season.

Predicting that Man U will be there at the end is obvious but will they win it again? They look pretty strong to me and this is difficult to say being an Arsenal supporter.

Prediction: Premiership race for the title going to the wire. Back to back titles.

Transfer Activity:

IN Anderson (FC Porto, initial £8m rising to £20.4m), O Hargreaves (Bayern Munich, initial £16.8m rising to £20.2m), Nani (Sporting Lisbon, initial £8m rising to £17.3m), T Kuszczak (West Bromwich Albion, undisclosed), Carlos Tevez.

OUT T Howard (Everton, undisc), K. Richardson (Sunderland, £5.5m), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal, undisclosed), Alan Smith (Newcastle, £6m).

Part I: Arsenal against the odds?
Part II: Liverpool. It’s getting serious.
Part III: Chelsea come back?

Ed: You can leave a comment on what you think and also vote on the poll we have set up "who will win the title?"