Man United-Arsenal battles have lost their charm

Manchester United versus Arsenal not so long ago would have been the first of two titanic battles renowned as the Premier League’s most important match-up on the fixture list. Now, though, it may not even be the most important match of the day. Tottenham entertain Manchester City on Sunday also and the level of investment from the blue half of Manchester has elevated their newsworthiness and prominence to such an extent that even United are no longer a bigger story, just on par. That’s not to say of course City are their equals as a team – not yet anyway – just a hugely interesting topic, even if the current project is a generation thing that will fade with subsequent changing ownership. Tottenham, meanwhile, is a club on the up and the loan acquisition of Emmanuel Adebayor and the ongoing opposition to the sale of Luka Modric has illustrated their intention to regain Champions League status. So that game promises to be a crackerjack clash. I support neither club but am actually excited about watching that game already, if only the extended highlights! United-Arsenal should also be chewing gum for the eyeballs and provide stick-ability for television viewers, but let’s not kid ourselves, it’s no longer of the same magnitude as a decade a ago when Roy Keane, David Beckham and Paul Scholes went to battle in midfield with Patrick Vieira, Ray Parlour and Robert Pires; or when strikers’ supreme Ruud van Nistelrooy and Dwight Yorke faced off against Arsenal’s Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp at opposite ends. They were the good old days. If we were lucky we might even have had a 22-man rumble, usually with Keane, Gary Neville, Martin Keown and Parlour in the thick of it. Even neutrals like me couldn’t resist that kind of ding-dong. While Ashley Young and Theo Walcott do provide entertainment value of the current sides, I fear I may succumb to mowing the lawn or consuming my Sunday Roast during this latest content. The prospect of Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick up against Aaron Ramsey and Tomasz Rosicky doesn’t get my juices flowing. [caption id=“attachment_70540” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Even the managers Alex Ferguson (R) and Arsene Wenger don’t seem to wind each other up the same now. Maybe old age is mellowing the once fierce rivals, who are undoubtedly Premier League’s two most successful managers. Ben Radford/Getty Images”] [/caption] Even the managers Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger don’t seem to wind each other up the same now. Maybe old age is mellowing the once fierce rivals, who are undoubtedly the Premier League’s two most successful managers in the modernised division’s 20-year history. Certainly Fergie’s decision to end his boycott speaking to the BBC would suggest as much. To be fair to United, who I think will win the league once again, it’s the decline of Arsenal rather than Fergie’s Reds that has belittled this once riveting fixture and reduced it to entertainment arguably only slightly better than Villa-Wolves on the same day. That Midlands clash will be exciting for sure; maybe more so. The loss of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri from Arsenal’s ranks has depleted them massively and the most intriguing story to happen over the next few days will be how these midfielders are replaced. A combined £60 million for the duo from Barcelona and Manchester City respectively has given Wenger significant ammunition to boost his squad. But not only that, it is an opportunity for him to show the supporters who seem to be doubting him more with every trophy-less season (six and counting) that he still means business and is as ambitious to win the league as he was during Henry’s peak. Unfortunately, while Wenger has a great ability to groom and nurture talent, he also seems to have neglected his responsibility to stay competitive for silverware while overseeing his stud farm that will no doubt produce fantastic players of the future. The problem with that is with every unsuccessful season those youngsters will be negatively influenced, poisoned even, by the back-biting from senior professionals in the first team who grow restless and frustrated at a lack of medals. Why else would Nasri have left? Ok, the money will be so much better at City but was he exactly on the breadline at the Emirates? Of course not, and you can bet that some Arsenal suit somewhere would have proposed a significant contract improvement to remain at Arsenal. But he still moved, because things are happening at City: FA Cup winners last season, who knows what this season. Ultimately, Sunday’s clash is between two great clubs, but without the box-office appeal as years gone by, two teams with title aspirations – but only one realistically, and two teams who will create media hype still, but no longer able to live up to it.