It is a memory that has lasted for what seems to be an eternity. The last time Man Utd showed Arsenal no mercy was 10 years ago thrashing the Gunners 6-1 at Old Trafford and believe it or not, the Gunners went on to finish 2nd that season with United taking the honours. A hammering that has constantly haunted the faithful, it was a result that we well and truly hoped we would never see again.
So moving onto present day, on an afternoon that New York City was evacuated for an incoming hurricane of catastrophic proportions, yesterdays 8-2 demolition of what is being deemed a wounded animal of a team will have severely shaken the foundations of the Premiership in an equally frightening manner. Man Utd’s faultless display sent a clear message out that they are ready to destroy all who lie in their path showing no mercy whatsoever; the only thing is we could have done with the evacuation warning!
I think it’s important to add that despite this abysmal result, we should take heart from the beaten Gunners of 2001 that went on to win their record-equalling third league and cup double the following year and after narrowly missing out on the title to Chelsea in 2003 made a name for ourselves in the 2003-2004 season which forever speaks for itself..The Invicibles!
“We know all this but that was then and this is now!” I hear some cry. Well, despite the faithful feeling like hurricane Irene took a slight detour on Sunday afternoon, it’s now simply all about our bouncebackability, finding the strength and fighting spirit to dig us out of this mess! We have faced tough times before, notably in the early 80’s, but often it’s the reality check needed to really harden teams up. The last smashing in the league was Wigan and they showed fighting character after recording a club record loss of 9-1 to Spurs in Nov 2009 and having refunded the fans for that game, the Latics won their following fixture with Sunderland 1-0, subsequently turning their season around avoiding relegation. We shouldn’t need to worry about that word just yet!
United have had their fair share of poor results too let’s not forget. Following a 5-0 thumping from Newcastle the previous week, United went on to lose 6-3 to Southampton at the Dell in October 1996. This was accompanied by the infamous kit change at half time and completed with a standard Roy Keane dismissal and yet still this didn’t seem to bother them for long as they went on to win the league in a more convincing style after that. Its little consolation but at least we didn’t get our kit off before the final whistle, well apart from Carl Jenkinson of course.
So what now for our fallen team? Crushed, embarrassed and left with 1 point out of a possible 9, it is hard to see how we will pick ourselves up from this dismal start to the season but somehow we quite simply have to. I have said it before but it’s imperative that we get behind Arsene Wenger and instil our faith that he is the man to drive this team forward; there is no-one else. We have to believe, we need our lads to work together to improve and primarily we need to make sure we actually turn up for the next game!
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