Manchester United v. Arsenal 4-0 16/Feb/08

Apparently, it does not seem enough to loose against Tottenham horribly, but against the other arch-rival Man Utd proportioned the London side a beat that will live strong in the memory of the 'Red Devils'. It was almost a 'revenge' from the loss of points against Man City, and Man Utd did a warning on the EPL title race. They are still one and more alive than ever. It will be a tough campaign from now on and the tie later in the year will be decisive.
Regarding the game the Manchester side destroyed completely the Arsenal FC. There are no other adjectives that can qualify the perfect way the Manchester side played, and the way the London side was diminished. It was a single way traffic of the ball, and could even be more than four goals.
In the formal analysis of the match, it was a game to forget. Even against the Spurs at the Carling Cup showdown in the semifinal, the team struggled and fought against the powerful nemesis, but here it was a relentless massacre. The first minutes were contemplative, a measuring by both sides, in which strengths were paired, it was the nerve of the game, that took the slow pace of the Arsenal. It appeared that he center back that has raised hails in this blog, was strong and did not loss the pace that characterized it since previous seasons. Lehmann had a few savings until the goal arrived. Man Utd players, specially Anderson, begun the generation of the game with a good solid flow of un-marking. Anderson played excellent, making the necessary support to the forwards and organizing as well as creating game, providing chances and finishing with shots on goal. All plays passed on his feet. The goal, another set piece creation was a good header by Rooney, which had a very good game, showed the reluctance of the game play by Justin Hoyte. I will comment on his game later, which has been one of the worst performance of an Arsenal FC player through my entire life. Immediately, at 20', Nani made a play on the wing which drove nuts Hoyte (all the game actually) and Fletcher took advantage on the terrible mark by Gallas which also had an awful match. Nani has proved a very good prospect on Mr. Ferguson. His role in the wing, similar to Cristiano, has been a delight the 'Theater of Dreams' this season. There are many similarities but we must not mix these players. He played a terrific match and in my opinion he diserved Jav's Player of the Match, with a very respectable double-shared honorific mention to Wayne Rooney and Jens Lehmann. The midfield of the London side was invisible, Eboué was imperceptible although Hleb tried to be the link that has been missing when Arsene lines up Edoardo and Bendtner together. The Londoners were dimished physically. Exhaust took its toll among players like Cesc or the recently returned Touré. The position of Man Utd against the fewest of the chances that Arsenal produced was strong, as Juande Ramos planning in the Carling Cup semifinal. Gallas failed, in this game and the previous mentioned game, to be a leader that is supposed to be. Flamini's leadership lacked and was until he came out of the bench that looked a bit more manageable. The inexistent defense by the London side was clearly pictured in the set pieces, and specially in the memorable offside trap.
The sent off of Manu Eboué was completely correct. He forgot about the ball. He was violent and totally lacked fair play. That play affected emotionally the team, it was a catharsis of the frustration. In seventy minutes the Arsenal was not capable of making a good goal occasion. It would have been more goals if it was not fo Lehmann. Arsene did the three changes in order to reserve his best players to the game on Wednesday. One of the three matches to forget this season, all againsty direct rivals, and not that direct: Seville, Middlesbrough, Tottenham and Man Utd.
Justin Hoyte is different theme. Nani drove him mad all the game, all the game plays came from that side and he lacked everything. He played not awfully, but horrible, a performance not worth of a "first division player". He is in danger although Arsene will keep him, the people at the Grove will certainly not look him the same.
Finally some rumors about Arsene Wenger moving to the city of Barcelona next summer as well as the return of their privileged child Fábregas, popped out greatly among Spanish media reaching unendeavored heights to the extent of both members of the club reassuring that they are going nowhere for a long time.
Both teams manage to make the right replacements due to the UCL matchs against AC Milan (Arsenal) and Olympique Lyonais (Man Utd). Those matches are very important and though the FA Cup was a very high stake in the schedule of Mr. Wenger, the focus of the Frenchman and the team is evidently put in the EPL and UCL respectively. It would be a tough campaign for both English sides facing top teams at their leagues. The case of the AC Milan is a very special one. Throughout the first part of the season they did not won a single home game, until 'Pato Maravila' arrived and made a perfect debut; as posted in this blog earlier and also in Miles'. A bad news for the Gunners is that both Kaká and the Brazilian youngster will be ready for the clash at the Grove. The London team as barely coped with the injury season that stroke the team this season. This injury crisis is even worst than the one faced in 2005/2006. Nearly elven players were not available for this game and presumably the figure will not narrow in frequent days. This though injury setback leaves Arsene limited to a pick of 14 to 16 players. This will be a major setback in the final part due to the same 14 to 16 players playing at a regular two-competence games (if Arsenal advances in UCL), this will cause exhaustion and more injuries. It will be a very hard time for the club, and is the reflexion time when one thinks that in the winter transfer window could have brought a high quality player (such as Samir Nasri) would be a good selection. My bet on the national cups win is broken and I see very though with the 'hospital' that the Arsenal is, to win more than one silverware this seaon. If Arsenal wins one and in case wins both, next season will be even tougher one, due to recovery of injury setbacks.