I expected Liverpool to cause problems for Manchester United on Sunday but it was easy for United. They had more hunger, were more motivated and Liverpool just didn’t show up.
I’ve not changed my mind about United and their shortcomings under Alex Ferguson but he will always send out a highly motivated team, the same can’t be said about Liverpool at the weekend.
There has been a lot of talk about Rafael Benitez’s team rotation but some of his selections have been strange. Leaving Peter Crouch out again for such a big game when he scored last week in the Champions League and is scoring regularly when he plays for club and country is baffling. Also selecting Mark Gonzalez for such a big match when he’s clearly not ready for such a test just doesn’t make sense.
Liverpool fans are baffled and hurt because they had every reason to hope this would be a big season for them. Worryingly for them also is that Steven Gerrard doesn’t look happy either. He looks fed up and it’s hard to blame him.
In stark contrast, later that same day was Arsenal. They’ve got a lot of young players and are in somewhat of a transition but they’re doing it in style. If there is a threat to Chelsea it looks like it will be from them. They’ve started to play really well and have bedded their players in very quickly, which is a great credit to Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal pass the ball beautifully and they now have William Gallas, who has improved their defence a lot. They’ve a lot of very good players – Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor. Arsenal are good but they will also get much better over the next couple of years.
Another manager impressing is Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa. He’s done really well with limited resources. They’re the only unbeaten team in the Premiership. Hovever, I watched them during their 1-1 draw with Fulham at the weekend and there’s a limit to how far you can go with ordinary players - he’s just about reached that now. He’ll want to buy some new players in January but he’s made a great start.
O’Neill’s teams are always very organised and highly motivated and his players enjoy their football. I mean they were a very poor team last year and he’s got the same players as David O’Leary had.
O’Neill has just got on with it. The manager’s attitude is so important and O’Leary complained a lot, that’s not really a good idea because you’re really undermining your own players.
O’Neill will just get on with the job in hand. He had ordinary players at Leicester City and they won two League Cups, got to Wembley four times, got to Europe. But I think with the transfer window in January he’ll be able to buy a bit of quality and if he does then they could be contenders for a European spot. He’ll develop the club – the future is bright for Villa as long as they can hold on to O’Neill.
As for this weekend, Chelsea travel to Sheffield United and Arsenal entertain Everton and I can’t see problems for either team there.
Manchester United travel to Bolton Wanderers though and I expect Bolton to test them a hell of a lot more than Liverpool did last week. Kevin Nolan is out though and that will be a big loss. He was sent off against Blackburn and now has a three-match ban. Bolton will put it up to them in a big way though. They’re very physical and will make life very difficult for United. Even without Nolan it will be a very, very tough game for Man United.
I don’t rate this United team as you know. Arsenal, for example, are already playing much better football and they will improve far more than United will. Saha is doing really well, Scholes is also playing really well again, Rooney is starting to make a contribution again even if he isn’t back to his best, but defensively and in midfield they’re lacking quality.
Ferguson’s teams will always give 100% and they will need to against Bolton. Liverpool fans should be able to expect 100% from their team too though – I mean it’s not a lot to ask given the money they’re on, is it?
Eamon Dunphy was talking to RTÉ Publishing's Johnny Proby.
