Thursday 25th March 2004
There's always an edge against Arsenal
Nobody can pretend that Sunday's game at Highbury isn't hugely
important to Manchester United. If we are to have any chance of
catching Arsenal in the Premiership this season we need to take all
three points off them and as everybody knows, no team has managed
that so far this year. A defeat, or draw, won't really do, so I
think you can expect to see the United team going for it at the
weekend.
Our last three meetings with Arsenal have all ended in draws, but
that might not be good enough for us this time. Our performances
against them over the years have been pretty good in general, so we
aren't worried about playing Arsenal, but winning at Highbury is
never easy. We got an excellent 2-2 draw there last season, which
was a massive result for us at the time – but this year we need to
go one better.
I think it's best that we concentrate hard on how we are going
to play on Sunday, instead of worrying about what Arsenal
might do. If we focus properly on our own game plan throughout
this week, then we should be fine. Our win over Spurs has
given us some confidence and I hope we take it onto the pitch
with us at Highbury.
The desire will be as high as it always is, but this is a
game of football and not a fight.
With Arsenal still being involved in the Champions League and
holding a healthy lead at the top of the Premiership, this game
might not be as important to them as it is to us. They can even
afford to rest a few of their players if they want to, so maybe
we'll be able to take advantage of the fact that they aren't as
desperate for the points as we are. Arsenal had a difficult game in
midweek against Chelsea in the Champions League, and I'm sure they
were quite pleased to come away with a draw. I don't think that
match will have any bearing on Sunday's game though.
The last time we met Arsenal was at Old Trafford in September and
that game ended very angrily with both sets of players having a bit
of a run-in! I was punished by the FA for my part in that row, but
when you look at incidents over the course of a season, I don't
think that dispute was particularly worse than a lot of others. I
accept that something had to be done about it, however, because it
was such a high-profile match. But that's all behind us now.
I wouldn't say that there is ill-feeling between Arsenal and
Manchester United players but there is always an edge when we clash.
The tackles fly in, and the passions run high – but that shouldn't
be too surprising because we have been genuine title rivals every
season for as long as I can remember. History shows that over the
years there has been plenty of trouble when the two clubs have met,
so I don't think we are fiercer enemies now than we have been in the
past.
I just hope that Sunday's match is remembered for all the right
reasons because it should be a great football match. The atmosphere
will be intense and the desire will be as high as it always is, but
this is a game of football and not a fight. Our team will be totally
focussed on how we play and nothing else. The rest doesn't matter.
Manchester United need three points and that's all that we are
interested in.
The manager went with a more experienced starting XI last weekend,
and it wouldn't surprise me if it was similar against Arsenal. The
main change I suppose was in goal where Roy Carroll replaced Tim
Howard, and the boss has said he may stick with Roy for a few games
to give Tim a break. We're lucky to have two such great goalkeepers
and I'm sure Roy won't let anyone down.
At the end of last season Roy Carroll was outstanding for us and the
manager obviously hasn't forgotten that because it couldn't have
been easy to leave Tim Howard out after the brilliant campaign he's
had. But, it's a big opportunity for Roy to stake his own claim and
I'm sure he'll take his chance well. A change can do the power of
good to a team sometimes and maybe it will also help Tim. He's been
superb since joining us, but the break will do him good I'm sure.
力拼阿森纳
周日在海布里与阿森纳一战对曼联显然很关键。如果我们本赛季还想追上阿森纳，那就必须取得这三分，要知道这个赛季还没有哪支球队能赢过阿森纳。失败或是平局都没有任何意义，所以曼联在周末的比赛中一定会全力争胜的。
之前与阿森纳的三次交手都是打平，而这场比赛我们所要的不仅是一分。总的来说在以往和阿森纳的比赛中我们都表现优异，所以我们并不担心与他们的比赛，不过要想在海布里赢球并不容易。上赛季客场2-2平，当时对于我们已经是很好的结果了，但是这一次我们就不仅是为打平而战了。
不要去想阿森纳会怎么对付我们，应该把精力放在我们自己身上。如果这一周的比赛都能集中主意踢好，那将对曼联很有利。战胜热刺给了我们更多信心，而我们更要把这种自信带到海布里。
阿森纳还有欧洲冠军杯的任务，而且在英超积分榜上又遥遥领先，也许这场比赛对他们并不是那么关键。只要他们愿意，甚至可以安排部分队员休战，可能他们不会非常在乎取分，我们可以利用这一点。周中阿森纳在冠军杯与切尔西进行了一场恶战，客场平局对他们还是有利的。不过这与周日的比赛并没有太大关联。
最近一次与阿森纳交锋是去年9月在老特拉福德，正是在那场比赛中双方部分队员发生了激烈冲突。而我也因为参与其中被足总罚款，但是纵观整个赛季，我想那场冲突并不是最严重的。考虑到曼联与阿森纳的比赛是如此引人关注，处以适当的判罚也是应该的。而现在这一切早就过去了。
尽管曼联与阿森纳的球员间并没有不和，但两队交手时总有火花。球场上总能见到更过铲球，场面更火暴，但想想每个赛季我们两队都是冠军争夺者，对这样的氛围就不会感到奇怪了。过去几年中，当我们两队相遇时，总有激烈拼抢，而现在我们的矛盾并没有激化。
周日的对决肯定会非常精彩，希望人们会一直记得比赛中的闪光之处。比赛注定会很激烈，我们有着强烈的取胜心，但这只是一场球赛而不是一场争斗。曼联只在意自己的表现。我们需要三分，那才是我们关心的。
上周末，主教练排出的阵容比赛经验丰富，有可能对阿森纳也是相似的阵型。我猜想，主要的变化是Roy Carrol会顶替霍华德担任门将，教练已经说了会让Roy打几场比赛，好让霍华德休息一下。幸运的是我们有两位优秀的门将，我相信Roy是不会让人失望的。
上赛季末Roy表现出色，主教练当然也记得，所以才会放心让发挥良好的霍华德休息。现在Roy有成名的机会了，他肯定会抓住时机的。有时候阵容的变化会有好结果，而且这对霍华德也是有利的。自从他来到曼联后一直表现很好，可以休息调整下更好。
[此贴子已经被作者于2004-3-26 21:38:39编辑过]
