Authors: Nik and Doron

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United thundered home to a 8-2 win versus a bewildered Arsenal side this afternoon at Old Trafford as Fergie’s men continued their (atypical) fantastic early season form.  If somebody had predicted that United would score 11 with only 2 in reply against the two North London sides in the opening two home fixtures, you would quite easily have thought them crazy. Ferguson has talked up his young side (averaging 23.1 years today) since early on in the pre-season tour of the US, and so it was no surprise that he chose to select the same 11 that performed so admirably versus Spurs last week, something he has not done in the league since the consecutive selections for Bolton and then Liverpool early last season. Fergie has always been one to select according to form, and with fitness levels getting back to optimum, he saw no reason to change a winning formula here.

Despite dominating from start to finish however it is worth noting that Arsenal have lost two of their strongest assets in Fabregas and Nasri, and were without the highly influential youngster Jack Wilshere – as well as Vermalen, Diaby, Song, Gibbs and Sagna (Jenkinson looked timid and unprepared, and perhaps should have been withdrawn long before his red card for a second bookable offence).  In fact it is nigh on impossible to read too much into the emphatic win given the lack of cohesion in the Arsenal side, and thus system at present. United were at their rampant best, and exploited Arsenal’s every weakness, but tougher times lie ahead for the Champions. Here we discuss some of the key talking points from the game.