AMORIN COMPLAINS ABOUT TIRED PLAYERS

UNITED MANAGER WHINING, WHAT'S NEW?

They say that people’s entire view of what the good life is as they grow older tends to be shaped by their perception of life when they were around 17 years old. That’s what “the good old days” generally refers to. Well, the good old days for me were watching Arsenal vs. Manchester United when it actually mattered. By 2008, those ties were certainly on the way out, but the muscle memory was there.

Thierry Henry assisting himself with that flick and volley over Barthez. Patrick and Roy squaring off in the tunnel. David Platt and that glancing header. Marc Overmars in that hooped shirt away from home. There were also bad moments—none worse than Bergkamp missing that penalty at Villa Park or that disgusting roughhousing to end our unbeaten run.

So where does the rivalry sit in 2025?

In the absolute gutter. Both teams have had their struggles. United post-Fergie has been a raw sewage dump, gushing cash into the ocean. Arsenal has been a team in a rebuild without any trophies. The interesting twist in both teams' struggles is that they prove one thing: "spend some fu*king money" doesn’t work if it’s spent badly. Meanwhile, Arsenal’s post-Invincibles cash reticence showed that if you don’t aim for the biggest trophies, a winning mentality can atrophy—like a man’s appendage in a cold Hackney Marsh dressing room.