My two cents from the Emirates to Old Trafford

Dear Reds,

Being an ardent Arsenal fan, and in the same vein, an equal Manchester United hater which I have never hidden, I feel pleasure writing this letter. In fact, the very first letter made me scratch my head and then laugh. Why did you guys want an alliance with us – the Invincibles?

I had no doubt in my mind about how much I enjoyed your thrashing by the Citizens at the Theatre of Dreams (you still call it by this name!!). Honestly, you Reds were comprehensively beaten there. I mean, 6-1 is some score. Even our so called ‘one man team’ was not beaten by this margin in both home and away matches. We even defeated the eventual champions and that ‘one man’ did not score.

So, is this the new dominance by your neighbours that has made you panic? Just one season without a trophy, and defeats in both matches against them, and you want an alliance? I still can’t find the logic behind it. To be frank, I don’t have any such affection for Manchester City. But to support them over you, I will do that any day. True, they have taken a few of our best players. It’s also true that they spend an insane amount of money which not many can rival. But clearly, they look and play better than you.

You say Man City is splashing cash. Well, you did the same when you bought Ronaldo, Tevez, Berbatov and now, in some sense, van Persie. You spent and you won, and things were fine. You went into debt when the FFP rule was never in the picture, but things were fine. Now, you could not go past the group phase of the Champions League in a group which you were predicted to top, and voices are raised for alliance? Seriously, you Manchester United fans have some real guts.

First, my friends, learn to win matches without the referees’ help. Against Liverpool, you were never the better team, and never deserved to win. But as it happens in sports, the deserving team doesn’t always win. Even Valencia will agree that he would not have given a penalty on that tackle. Oh, excuse me, was there a tackle in there? Valencia stumbled because of the air generated by Johnson’s brilliant run back into the box to win the ball. And this was not the only occasion something of this sort happened. Ask Paulo Coelho. He might write a great book on your antics, and a soft corner in referee’s hearts for your team.

And most importantly, was the match-winner not the same man who was our ‘saviour’ last season? He has scored four times in his four appearances for you, in the process rescuing two matches which you would and should have lost. It’s strange how verdicts on a certain player change as he enters your team. Last season, he was Arsenal’s only man; this season he is yours. Savour his goals; they do not last for too long. Before you say anything, we were not lucky to witness his form last season; it was our perseverance with him for last seven seasons. Make sure Rooney returns fast, as the savior is very fragile. I hate this player so much now that I can’t even take his name. God bless him.

I respect Sir Alex as a man and his achievements. But sometimes, he breaches that line of conduct for the trophies. Would he have stuck with the saviour if he had endured so many injuries in his early days? I don’t think so. If you have proven yourself like Vidic has, you can stay at United even after repeated injuries. The saviour was a kid back in 2004.

I count myself lucky, that in spite of being madly in love with the colour red, I never supported the Red Devils. Red and White was the team for me. I am a proud supporter and more importantly, I can hold my head high.

Another Gunner.

DISCLAIMER: This piece is a work of fiction, and should not be regarded as real.