Who says no one remembers the losers? It looks as if the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) members had them in mind when picking their team of the year.
On a weekend that all but stripped Arsenal of their premiership title, five Gunners were honoured in the all-star line-up. From Old Trafford, the Highbury bunch had only Paul Scholes for company.
The selection was skewed because the players’ votes were cast last month, long before the season started to deliver its findings. Even now there is a hankering to honour Arsenal that springs from pristine memories of the sleek, swift performances with which they promised to outstrip all challengers.
This helped Thierry Henry win the individual award as player of the year, but their work as an ensemble set a standard that not even the champions-elect have quite touched.
Manchester United should soon be too busy celebrating to waste their breath on disputing that widely held opinion. If they have not dominated the campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad have endured it better. The Arsenal squad is coming to pieces just as they want to hold themselves together for their last three premiership matches.
Arsène Wenger must feel persecuted. No sooner had Patrick Vieira recognised that a damaged knee required rest that leaves him a doubt for even the FA Cup final, than his replacement, Edu, hurt his own knee in training. The Brazilian will not re-emerge before August.
A clattering contest at the Reebok stadium had Freddie Ljungberg dreading he had broken an ankle.
The harm to the ligaments is severe enough to put him in doubt for the premiership run-in. Pascal Cygan and Lauren may not be in any shape to face Leeds United on Sunday, and suspension means Sol Campbell’s service to the club has ended for this season.
Arsenal supporters, as they steel themselves for dejection, might try to take the edge off their misery by putting it all down to fate. That attitude, however, does Manchester United a grave disservice. They could match their north London rivals misery for misery, reliving the days when a scalpel was slashing through their season. Roy Keane’s hip operation got all the attention, but in the months before Christmas Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Quinton Fortune, Wes Brown and Gary Neville also had, or were in recovery from, surgery.
Arsenal may protest that their sorrows have come at a stage when there is too little time left to lick their wounds and plot a recovery, but that would not be a realistic attitude. With the days running down, all the side had to do was muddle its way through to a few wins that should still have been attainable. They lacked the hardiness to complete that mission.
We are beginning to see the high price that Wenger has paid for the exquisite football that he envisaged as Arsenal’s grand style. Only a boor could summon up enough malice to complain about his commitment to thrilling entertainment — and the manager, in any case, will assert that good sense, rather than wispy romanticism, is at the base of his plans. After all, his outlook was realistic enough to clinch the double a year ago, wasn’t it?
All the same, the joys of 2002 did not arise solely from those rippling, imaginative attacks. Tony Adams, in the weeks before retirement, coerced his protesting body into a few more defensive labours. He turned out in five of Arsenal’s last eight premiership fixtures, conceding only a single goal. That was followed by a clean sheet in his swansong, the FA Cup final.
It was inevitable Arsenal would miss Adams just as they will, before long, pine for David Seaman and Martin Keown, but those who talked about Wenger’s mission to build a new defence misunderstood him. It would not have been in his nature to commit to devising an updated version of the splendidly nasty back four that was George Graham’s pride and joy.
Arsenal do not have a budget on United’s scale and the Frenchman has directed his funds at the more comely areas of the side. The resilience was meant to be located in the midfield, where Gilberto Silva, bought to partner Vieira, was last year’s only high-profile purchase. The spending on the rearguard has been conducted with a bargain-hunter’s temperament.
Lauren did cost £7-million, but he arrived as a midfielder and the relocation to right-back cannot have been part of any master plan. Of the established defenders on the staff, Wenger’s most expensive acquisition was Pascal Cygan at £2-million.
Such frugality is not feasible in the long term and United have footed a hefty bill to establish the premiership’s tightest defence. Forget Fabien Barthez and Rio Ferdinand — even Mikael Silvestre cost twice as much as Cygan.
Wenger did splash out to cover Campbell’s wages as a Bosman signing, but he will have to devote even more cash than he would prefer on the dreary bits of the team. Since January 29, Arsenal have led against Liverpool, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Bolton before having to settle for a draw. Ten points were torn from their grasp and the inability to close out a win also deprived Arsenal of a champions league quarterfinal.
No one can disregard defence and stay at the top for long. Not unless they are Real Madrid. —