The needle been missing from the Manchester United – Arsenal fixture in recent years. Certainly Arsenal’s comparative lack of success over the past five years and then Jose Mourinho’s introduction to English football has taken the edge off the bickering between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger. Patrice Evra just pulled out the whetstone.
Indeed, Evra’s words, bordering on the line between fact and disrespect, are sure to wind up the London side on the eve of Monday night’s fixture between the two sides. Claiming that Arsenal will not winning the title this season, Evra goes on to describe the Londoners as a club in crisis.
“Arsenal is a training centre. I watch them play and enjoy it but will they win the title? That’s what people remember,” Evra said.
“Arsenal are a great club but it has been five years since they won anything and that for me is a crisis. We could lose to them on the 13th but then what? There is nothing, there will be no trophy, nothing.”
Of course, there is little in Evra’s words that is untrue. Arsenal’s much-lauded style has brought no conspicuous success in recent seasons, while the side’s soft-underbelly is repeatedly exposed against top sides home and abroad. That Arsenal’s weaknesses come to the fore against middle ranked sides too has consistently undermined everything Wenger has worked towards with his “young” side.
Like his team, Wenger’s excuses never seem to grow old.
Yet, this season a steeliness appears to have enveloped the Emirates club, with former Red Phil Neville identifying Arsenal’s new propensity to fend off the Premier League’s bullies. But in gaining steel, Arsenal appears to have lost consistency. Losses to Braga, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion, present a case in point.
Wenger, no less myopic than the day he walked into Highbury a little more than 14 years ago, reacted to Evra’s jibe with more restraint than is sometimes the case.
“He gave you some good stuff to make it all hot before the game,” the Arsenal manager told the media today.
“We are guided by the way we want to play football and not by the statements of anybody who plays against us.
“Personally, I believe if you are a big player you always respect your opponent and that is what we try to do.
“We do not want to go into any unneeded talking before a game like that. We want to focus on the way we want to play and ignore any provocation before a game.
“We are motivated by the desire to win the game and by the quality of the football we want to play.”
But in recent meetings United’s ability to break quickly has brought emphatic victories at the Emirates in both domestic and European football. That Ferguson’s side also ground out a 2-1 victory much against the run of play at Old Trafford last August simply proved the old adage that United can win when playing badly.
Arsenal rarely does.
It is, in effect, Evra’s point. That is no value criticising Arsenal’s playing style; Wenger’s defensive response about his team’s football quality misses the point. Teams can and do win with style as Barcelona emphatically demonstrated against the Gunners in last season’s Champions League.
Sometimes even the best need an edge.
Indeed, while United has rarely sparked into life this season as Ferguson’s squad deteriorates in quality, between 2007 and 2009 the Reds won with both style and – importantly – no little grit.
On Monday night United is likely to need plenty of the latter. Fans seek some of the former too; they are not and have never been mutually exclusive.
Should Wenger ever discover this secret Arsenal might actually prove Evra wrong. From this distance, it seems some way off.
Not that Wenger’s side is even that young. The starting 11 that faced Partizan Belgrade during the week averaged around 25. Youthful but not without experience either.
Still, the challenge coming from Arsenal this season, with Wenger’s side currently top of the Premier League, might at least spark a revival in the edge between the sides. At its height the war between Wenger and Ferguson was hugely entertaining, although perhaps not always for Sir Alex who famously ended on encounter victorious but covered in pizza.
Evra has fired the first shot across the bows. How United fans will enjoy any forthcoming Ferguson volley.
Well done EVRA keep it up..
Fair enough Wenger has taken a route with youth if it works he`s a genuis if not he`s a failure he`s put his balls on the line & we will see ? On to Monday night I`m going to the match myself but tell me are your fans intending on giving Wenger the same shit abuse that they normally do? Surely a club as big & as proud as yours should stamp this sort of crap out ASAP? Lets face it if S.A got the same kind of abuse you`d be up in arms big time.
Cracking article, its gonna be just brilliant.Watching on the telly of course.
Reading the post takes me back a short time to the Library.Three touches fast cutting,bang its in the Arsenal onion bag, thats what gets fans of their seats, wether at home/ pub/ match.
Not this tippy tappy shite, pass to Nasri, pass to Arshavin, pass to fabregit, pass to Van Persie, ohh nice clip bye the post!
On Patrice he is spot on what he says, its all very well talking a big game.Provide the trophies.How much are their ST’s again….astronimical, for zilch.Yet they slavishly stick with Whinger, it amazes me.
Nobody wants the Lads to fail, thats madness.
This is gonna be a long old season due to lack of capital investment in the “old” big four in high class talent to win the big prize.It wont be decided till around 30/04 and 07/05/2011.But lets enjoy the ride.
Well said Patrice, wind them up, as they do United.Its just United can back up crediability with silverware.
The only thing that bothers me about the Arsenal match is the date. 13th, unlucky for some! Aye the Gooners.
you conveniently forgot the most disrespectful line where evra said “in 10 years time, no one will remember arsenal” or the part abt him nt caring even if arsenal beat manutd 13-0 and he still wont care. disrespectful &arrogant all the things that are expected from evra. i respect united as a club and on their success, but how can one support these arrogant prick is beyond me. IF example clichy were to say in 10 years nobody will remember (insert club) anymore, i would be ashamed and be abit pissed off with him
Arsenal fans talking about “respect” with captain and manager as they are – pizzagate and all – are on very shaky ground. Stones and glasshouses.
Evra on the wind up
Arsenal should win a trophy this season though; the League Cup
If they don’t then Wenger should just fucking walk, useless cunt
arsenal havent won anything in 5 years..as if thats never happened to a club before..as soon as they win something again no one will give a shit. is anyone talking about chelsea’s 50 odd years without the league? does anyone now care?
the sad thing for evra is i think he will look back on his world cup strike with more regret thank anyone at arsenal will look back on the last 5 years.
we see on monday,arsenal got best away record in the league.dont need to resort to silly chat by the failed france right back,this is our year.
OS – no you’ll screw it up again you always do
ffs these cocks, he never said no one will remember arsenal, he said no one would remember the great football they supposedly play if they never win anything, the milk cup don’t suffice, neither does the fa cup, he’s talking big pots
Regardless. Talk is fuckin cheap.
He’s just telling the truth 😉 try to win something BOYS
@”ignorance is your new bestfriend”, and “burpee mee”… to be honest, I agree with both of you… but the truth is every team has it’s fans that don’t give a shit about respect, sportsmanship, or even just simple perspective.
But that’s the way of most things sport related these days.
Ali used to spout that, “I am the greatest” crap, and everyone loved him for it… insulted all his opponants, and the press loved him for it… I fuckin hated it, and what’s worse is that it became the norm for boxers to talk such shit. They’re mostly all thick morons, but think they’re being clever, trying to get inside the others head… fuck off!
Just once, I would love it, if a fighter just kept his mouth shut… let the other man talk a blue streak of shit, but keep his own corner cool and dignified… and then kick ten bells out of the cunt on fight night.
Face it… the days of Moore, Pele, Charlton, Best are gone…
Evra is stupid!! If we lose on monday I will blame hime along with Scholes starting ofcourse..
we won’t lose
we’ll be set up so defensive we won’t concede more than one
and their defence is wank so they won’t stop us scoring
Of course.
I hope to God you are right Knobby. I have had to do a three way swap of shifts so as to be able to watch this match. Somehow; somehow I just worry that we will lose. I do not trust Berba, and Rooney – despite the rubbish the English hacks are – is still wank. Add it to Scholes starting and Giggs running down blind alleysnand optimism just fades!
But then again, we might have Fletcher and Carrick playing well, Nani taking their backline on a merry dance while Evra does kick lumps out of Nasri and we win. Who knows??
irony is clearly lost on the arsenal fans and manager
http://msnsport.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_6568592,00.html
Tomorrow is a big game for Feltcher, and he owes us a big performance…