Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Russ D
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by BBKing
Club history doesn't affect performance on the pitch, but the facts are there in the books, and there's no excuse to be ignorant of them, or think of them as a substitute for the currently slipping standards up in Manchester.
|
You wish! Didn't Arse start off this season with some kind of unbeaten record? (ie We are unbeatable, we are unbeatable etc etc) Then United soundly beat them and Arse's season slowly went in decline (ie around about the time you stopped contributing to this thread). They had a resurgence and now find themselves second. Form comes in bits and pieces, United has been up and down all season just like the Arse's.
Slipping standards? When United drop out of the top 5 THEN you may have something vaguely resembling a point. |
That happens though. In the days when we were good enough to finish 3rd in the Premiership (94-95) and reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup (95-96; Man U lost to Rotor Volgograd on away goals in the first round that year)- a finish which would be champions league now
we actually managed to set a then-record of 25 PL games unbeaten
we lost our next game 7-0 at Ewood Park, they beat us 5-1 at the City Ground and we lost 5-0 at Old Trafford at the end of the season (the equivalent fixture the previous season being a 2-1 Forest win; which was their only home reversal for two years).
Point being, normally going on a long unbeaten run seems to get a lot of games you should be losing but you normally draw- and when the luck runs out you do tend to lose a few. That's what's happened to Arsenal, whilst they had the momentum things worked for them but when they didn't have the unbeaten run the luck they were previously getting wasn't quite so forthcoming... I'm not sure about this but I think both Arsenal and Man U have had injury problems for much of the season as well- it's not an excuse but it's a mitigating factor if you can't play your best player for a while!
From a neutral's perspective, as for slipping standards I believe BBking has a point.
92-93 W
93-94 W + FAC
94-95 2nd
95-96 W + FAC
96-97 W
97-98 2nd
98-99 W + FAC + EC
99-00 W + FAC
00-01 W
01-02 3rd
02-03 W
03-04 3rd + FAC
04-05 looks to be 3rd and a chance of the FAC
Three third placed finishes in four years when the previous nine had yielded seven titles and two runners-up finishes.
Maybe not a drastic fall but looking at Chelsea's young side, endless pit of money and investment in the Academy it may be a sign of things to come. Especially as Arsenal will continue to be there or thereabouts whilst Wenger remains at the helm... and Benitez looks like making moves towards success at Anfield.
Will be interesting if nothing else.