Keep the faith

The kingdom has fallen. People are fleeing in all directions or kneeling down begging for mercy. The merciless red tide pours forward. Waves and waves of attack relentlessly eroding away the confidence of the people. "It's all over!"

Yes, it's now a massive 11 point gap between United and Arsenal.

But wait! Has Shihua given up?

The answer is a big fat NO. Certainly not in the next 7 days. I will reserve my judgment until United play Arsenal on 24th October. (But actually I think even if United loses that game I will still remain optimistic =) )

Here's why. Everybody has been going on about the 11 point gap. Let's actually analyse the fixtures. If you look at the games United have already played, they had actually faced everybody in the top eight besides Arsenal already. Arguably, the really bad results have come against Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham, and perhaps Chelsea since they didn't even get a point. Well you can argue that you can only beat those in front of you (for implying the opposition faced by Arsenal aren't as strong) and even though teams like Middlesborough and Everton are in the top 8, United should really have beaten them like days of old. I really can't say anything against that. But if the likes of Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea do manage to get a draw off Arsenal, voila! They've dropped 6 points AND still technically UNBEATEN. Which brings me to the game next week. As Schmeichel said during the highlights show, it could be 14 point gap, but it could very well be reduced to 8 points too! And United still remain the best equipped team to beat Arsenal. For one good reason, they aren't AFRAID to go out and kick those arses. Too many teams have been afraid to have a good go at attacking Arsenal and just packed their defenders in front of the box. it might work against Chelsea who have consierably less creativity but if you jsut sit in front of the box waiting for Henry, Reyes, Pires and Bergkamp to come at you, you are just inviting trouble. For one thing, United will go out there and press the fuckers all over the pitch AND keep the ball decently when they win the ball back.

Hmm, but even if they win, 8 points is still a huge gap. Yeah no doubt about that. But I must point out one thing, Arsenal have never won the league when they have been put under huge pressure. In 97/98, United collapsed and Arsenal cantered home with 2 games to spare. Same case as in 01/02 when United failed to put any form of sustained pressure. And I don't even need to mention last season. But when you look at 98/99 and 02/03, when United do manage to hang onto their coat tails, they start faltering in late March etc. Yeah so what is my point? Get to within 4 points by beginning of March, and Arsenal would start feeling the heat. 2 consecutive draws or a lost and then United would be right back in it. So if United win on Sunday, its 8 points, and that means 4 points to make up from then till February. Doesn't sound too daunting now right?

Relying on a team who have not lost in 49 matches to lose 4 in the next 29 games is nigh on impossible you say?

Absolute rubbish. If football worked on the law of averages, we should all just shut up shop and go home. THE BALL IS FUCKING ROUND! Anything can happen! if Henry and Campbell get injured, they are fucked rather big time. And as I said, you don't need to lose 4 games, a couple of draws here and there and you STILL DROP POINTS (EXACTLY like what United are doing now). There's still 6 months more of football to be played. As the saying goes, a week is a long time in football, what more 6 months?

AND most importantly, FORM IS TEMPORARY, CLASS IS PERMANENT.

Keep the faith.