Sunday, November 04, 2007

Just Shut Up Fergie (Arsenal 2 - Manchester United 2)

Seriously, Fergie should just keep his bloody mouth shut sometimes. His tirade over the Sports Ministers comments were way out of line. Albeit that it was probably a jest, it was in poor taste. I'm sure the 'mob' that supports FC United didn't see the funny side of it. Sadly, I actually think off the pitch, our debt-ridden club will be in for a hard time in the near future. The recent sub-prime woes have exposed the dangerous ground we're walking on building a club based on debt.

But that's another topic for another day.

And just to keep with the title, Fergie issued another tirade after our 2-2 draw at the Emirates. Quite honestly, I don't even know what he's ranting about. We were our own worst enemies today, throwing away the lead twice. Fergie, try looking at our own backyard first.

As for the game proper, the first half was quite honestly a dry affair. Both teams were reluctant to take risks, hence contributed to a drab half. Gallas own goal was the only highlight, and it happened in the dying seconds of the half.

The Gooners came out of the second half firing on all cylinders and it only took them 2 minutes from the restart to draw level. Some comical defending on our part led to Fabregas placing the ball into an almost empty net. Vidic did his best Crocodile Dundee impression when he went on his walkabout, leaving the marking job of Adebayor to Hargreaves. Adebayor out-muscled and out-paced Hargeaves to run riot in the box and the ball fell to Fabregas with both Vidic, and EVS stranded. Rio decided the best course of action was to stand at the goal line instead of staying in front of the Spaniard, and Brown was day-dreaming. In short, it was a fucking comedy of errors by everyone involved.

With their tails up, Arsenal were coming forth in droves without actually threatening. Eventually we managed to regain our composure and matched whatever Arsenal had to throw at us. Fergie threw on Saha in place of an ineffective Tevez and Tissueboy conjured up a beautiful reverse pass into the path of Evra who ran straight thru the heart of the Arsenal defence, causing panic. While the entire defence converged on Evra, he had the presence of mind to lay it a wide open Ronaldo, who promptly took the gift.

It was a wonderfully crafted goal that should have won United the 3 points, but it was not to be. After taking the lead, both Anderson and Hargreaves sat deep, allowing Arsenal to draw level once again. Perhaps fittingly, it was Gallas who scored, rounding off the goals after he had put one into his own net to start it all off.

For the neutrals, it was probably a fitting results since both teams contributed to an entertaining game, but as a United fan, it was probably 2 points lost, both due to our own mistakes. At least we didn't lose ground to.

After watching Arsenal play the last few games, I'm confident that it's just a matter of time before we overtake them in the table. I personally feel that Arsenal is playing the best that they can with the personnel at their disposal.

At the same time, we're just barely scratching our potential. And when we do, we're going to beat them in the next meeting.

4 comments:

Gentleman said...

Spectre,

Similarly, I do feel it was a loss of two points. I really hate it when we concede late goals.. what makes me fucking pissed was the backline's complacency. Rio should have pressured Fabregas instead of doing a 'Phil Neville' in front of goal. Even so, he did not even bother to try and block the shot. He simply allowed Fabregas to slot it home. Terrible, terrible and more terrible!! Conceding the first goal was a fucking big mistake..

PS: Sorry for the vulgarities, I hope you understand the frustration. Argh!

Jiahao

spectre said...

No apologies needed. Our entire defence was crap for that first goal. Rio, Vidic, Brown all had a part to play.

Anonymous said...

What has sub prime got to do with debt?

spectre said...

Sorry, don't really understand your question. Subprime is a loan, and hence means taking on a debt. In layman's terms, a subprime is a loan that is given out to individuals who cannot get one at a market rate (ie. individuals who have a lower credit standing), hence they obtain what is known as a subprime loan at a higher than market interest rate.

While the debt incurred by the Glazers in the takeover of United isn't a subprime loan, it isn't far away from it. From most reports available on the net, apparently we're still around £650 million in debt, and paying an interest of around 20% compounded. I dunno about you, but that's a massive amount of money.

So the question everyone should be asking is....where the hell is that money going to come from? Bearing in mind we'd still have to make acquisitions to sustain a winning team. On top of paying interest, we'd still have to repay the debt itself.

Bloody hell, the more I think of it, the worse it gets.

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