United They Stand!

It is a cliché that when you find an ally in what was a major rival, you are no longer considered a major threat. That is the place Wenger found himself in over the last couple of seasons as some Arsenal fans advocated for his sacking after an unbearable trophy drought, and Sir Alex vocally stood in his defense. After a flying start to the new season that has taken Arsenal five points ahead of nearest rivals in the league, Wenger is returning the favor by defending Sir Alex’s successor as United finds itself trailing in unfamiliar mid-table territory.

Moments away from what is sure to be a season defining game, the dynamics of this encounter are more different than they have been in nearly a decade. Given their lofty league position and that they have just returned from impressively conquering last season’s Champions League finalists on their own turf, Arsenal are considered overwhelming favorites for this tie. Not even United’s relative improvement in form with a run of eight games unbeaten will reduce the odds that are heavily in Arsenal’s favor!

Pound for pound, you could say there is very little to choose between the quality of players on both sides. Granted Arsenal boasts a vastly superior midfield but United’s attack is dominant. United’s defense will however only measure up if new manager David Moyes makes the right selections with regular right back Rafael Da Silva’s availability in question.

If both sides hold firm to make it an even contest, this is a game that is likely to be won on United’s right flank. Moyes must stay away from the easy option of selecting center halves Chris Smalling or Phil Jones as replacement right backs. Their performances have bordered on comical when faced with a tricky winger! A masterstroke for United would be the selection of regular winger, Antonio Valencia at right back and roll the dice with the wild card selection of Wilfred Zaha. Though untested at this level, Zaha’s potential is enormous and the element of surprise could put United on the front foot. Nani if he understands that he is playing for his future after the boos he had to endure from his own fans during the last outing may also turnout to be a smart move if it prompts him to improve his decision making. After all, either winger will be up against the offensively brilliant but sometimes defensively naïve Kieran Gibbs.

Given their run of form since the turn of the year, Arsenal will have every reason to head into this tie with more confidence than their rivals who have recently not enjoyed the most positive of results on home turf. United’s form in the Moyes era has been patchy at best, only showing glimpses of class but never a collective performance of verve to last an entire match. You can almost touch the tension at Old Trafford as many fans cheer in hope rather than expectation that this evidently hard working, humble and honest man can win a trophy and secure the job of his dreams.

What may just keep United standing at the end of this much anticipated encounter is the support from neutrals and some sworn enemies that they will enjoy for the first time in decades. While most neutrals will prefer an Arsenal success at the end of the season, they will hope a win by Manchester United, the serial champions, will make the league more watchable as suddenly several other clubs come into play for this season’s title. Even Manuel Pellegrini from the noisy neighbors could not hide his support for United in this encounter during his pre-match press conference at Sunderland.

Can a United win help them build momentum that will come back to haunt some of their bitter rivals for their support?

The Shifting Balance of Power in the English Premier League

The curtains came down on last season with speculation about who would fill the power vacuum left by the incredible Sir Alex Ferguson rife. Sensing the opportunity to launch their clubs to the pinnacle of the English game, the two runner ups to Ferguson’s Manchester United decided to replace their managers with more formidable names.

Manchester City signed a couple of seasoned professionals to strengthen their already enviable squad and Chelsea returned the trophy laden self-proclaimed “Special one” to gel their embarrassing wealth of attacking talent. Predictions intensified that Mourinho would be the true challenger to Arsene Wenger as the league’s new Godfather. In order to work their way to this season’s title, they both would have to overcome Man City, led by Pelligrini, nicknamed the engineer because of his ability to make so much of his teams with very little resources.

As Arsenal’s North London rivals splashed plenty of resources on reinforcing a team that very narrowly missed out on fourth place last season, Wenger continued to tighten his purse strings. As speculation intensified that last season’s fourth placed manager may follow his conquerors out of the door, Wenger was thrown a life line by Madrid’s Bale signing from Tottenham.

For now at least, it looks like Wenger’s signing of Mesut Ozil, European football’s assist master was a master stroke. The signing has also caused previously considered average players like Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud to lift their performances to a much higher level, and a brilliant Arsenal to the top of the league. Chelsea who started the season like a work in progress are however lurking just two points behind and many pundits are starting to predict that Mourinho’s affinity for trophies may just tilt the balance of power in the blue corner’s favor.

Evidence of Fernando Torres’ recent rejuvenation may give predictions of a Mourinho success some weight, but it is the player’s former club’s rejuvenation that seems to be catching more attention. The Sturridge – Suarez partnership is generally acknowledged to be the best striking partnership in the league with many at Anfield hoping they could tilt the balance of power back to Merseyside after a long absence. This weekend’s top of the table clash against Arsenal may be a key pointer to which of these two pretenders in the eyes of some skeptics is in the race for the long-haul. With Everton ridding high just two points behind second place, Liverpool will be determined to win the clash for Merseyside dominance if not for their own title aspirations. After all Liverpool’s ownership has been quietly playing down their title aspirations to fourth place much like Wenger did last season.

Ironic that despite being defending champions, there are not many betting on the title aspirations of the team that knocked Liverpool off their perch. Even Yaya Toure from their noisy neighbors wrote off Manchester United’s title chances saying “they are really struggling under Moyes”, and tipped Liverpool to be City’s major threat. Given that City are just two points ahead of their struggling Manchester neighbors, it may be argued that the Manchester dominance of the last three seasons is shifting away. Whether it is shifting to Mersey side or London may be up for debate over the next twenty nine rounds. If the spirit of Ferguson that continues lurk over Manchester with his recent autobiography translates to the players’ performances on the pitch, Manchester may not relinquish the power that easily. However, given the very uncertain start that “The chosen one” has made to life at Old Trafford, even the most loyal fans will consider any sort of title challenge a major success.