David Moyes has often been ridiculed about his difficult start to life at Old Trafford, but there seems to be a silver lining on the horizon for Manchester United. The home win against Arsenal must have been a major confidence booster for the Scot, who has lost 17 times to Wenger while he was manager at Everton.
Wayne Rooney seems to have finally settled down at United after the summer fiasco which is a major relief to his mentor. The England international gave an incredible performance against the Gunners which rightfully earned him the Man of the Match award, which he shared with strike partner and former Arsenal man Robin van Persie who scored the only goal of the game.
The Dutchman once again scored against his former club and viciously celebrated the goal, which reminded Arsenal of the creative spark they are missing up front. Moyes got all of his tactical decisions right and won praise for successfully decreasing the threat of Arsenal’s midfield.
The midfield quartet of Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Michael Carrick and Shinji Kagawa did not disappoint in the important fixture. Michael Carrick and the ever versatile Phil Jones completely shut down Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla, who have regularly shredded the teams they have come up against. Ozil was hardly given much space to operate, while Cazorla was unusually slow for a player of his caliber. Flamini and Wilshere were also a let down due to their injuries but are surely to be back to their best in the near future.
Moyes headed into the Arsenal game without some key defenders but their replacements did not let him down. Rafael’s attacking powers were missed but Chris Smalling was decent as a right back and what he lacked in attack he made up for in some solid defending. Jonny Evans is finally turning into the world class defender he is destined to be and showed off his skills when he blocked the attacks of Giroud and Aaron Ramsey. Nemanja Vidic also had a good game but a knock on the head forced him out after the break. One can safely say Moyes got his decisions right when it came to defence.
Manchester United are now very much back in the title race and will fight ruthlessly for the top spot as they always have in the past decade. Sir Alex Ferguson, who was present at the game, will surely be pleased with his successor’s performance which will only get better.
Moyes now faces a 14th placed Cardiff City and looks certain to come out the victor against the Welsh team. December will be a challenge for Moyes who faces Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Newcastle United who look certain to halt Manchester United’s charge to the top.
All that aside, Moyes is finally starting to find his place at United and a couple of world class signings next season will safely secure his team against rivals. It can be safely said that the United fans fans are firmly behind David Moyes and his Red Devils.