Before Arsenal took on Southampton and all the rest of the Premier League action this weekend, Arsene Wenger was asked in his press conference, reported by Arsenal.com, about the big match of the weekend, the Manchester derby and the clash between Jose Mourinho at Manchester United and Pep Guardiola at Man City.
Only time will tell and everyone connected with Arsenal will be hoping that both of these clubs and their new managers hit the skids at some point, but early indications are that both will be there or thereabouts when the EPL trophy is decided at the end of the season.
Obviously Arsenal will need to finish above the bog spending Manchester giants if it is to be our name on the trophy, so Wenger was hoping to see some weaknesses to exploit as they faced off at Old Trafford.
He said, “The two teams have started well so the game will have more psychological impact than a mathematical impact. You could say the team that wins will straight away be branded as the favourites to win the Premier League in May, but it is a bit early.
“But it will be interesting to watch. I am like you, I will watch that game and see a little bit what strengths and weaknesses come out of the two teams.
“I will watch the game again, yes [after our game]. Most of the time [I look out for] the turning points of the game because normally people after the game speak only about the results, but we know inside the game that there are some turning points where a guy missed the final ball, or someone was offside and if he had not been offside they would have been 1-0 up.
“[I look for] the potential of the teams as well, the organisation, the decisions of the managers during the game. All these kinds of things, you are relaxed enough to observe it.”
So what do you think the Frenchman made of it all? I certainly think there were some weak points from both sides to encourage Arsenal, such as the poor defending of United and the way that City failed to push home therir advantage and let United back into the match.
There were also some things to worry about, but what did yopu make of it from an Arsenal point of view?
Bob.