Manchester United faring worse than Arsenal in life after two dugout legends

Between them they managed Arsenal and Manchester United for 49 years, and with the Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger eras now both over it is fascinating to see how each club is coping without its legendary manager.

We have more evidence to go on where United are concerned but the indications are that Ferguson continues to be by far the more sorely missed of the pair, with the latest stark illustration of that coming on Tuesday when United were comprehensively outclassed by Juventus on their own turf.

David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have found out what we all expected – that the Scottish knight would be the toughest possible act to follow – but the sheer gulf between performance levels during his time in charge and those that have followed his departure is still surprisingly wide.

In 2012-13, Ferguson’s final season in charge, United won the title by 13 points, a staggering margin given that on paper it was one of the weakest squads he had to work with at any point during the second half of his Old Trafford reign.

The nine players who made more than 20 league starts were De Gea, Rafael, Evra, Ferdinand, Evans, Valencia, Rooney, Carrick and Van Persie, many of them when they were well past their prime, and it would be hard to argue that the overall quality of the squad was superior to those assembled by Ferguson's three successors.

Yet United have finished seventh, fourth, fifth, sixth and second in the five completed seasons since Fergie departed, are currently languishing in tenth place, and can be backed at 100-1 for the title.

Worse still, under their current surly manager the quality of football they are producing is the worst since Ferguson retired, with Mourinho doggedly sticking with the dull, defensive approach that is being made to look increasingly ugly with each passing week that the genuine title contenders produce dazzling victories.

It speaks volumes for the admirable loyalty of the United fans that he has not been booed out of the club months ago.

The graceless gaffer continues to point fingers at his players, the board and anywhere else but himself for his glaring failure to revive United’s fortunes and one wonders how much longer the United business plan can be jeopardised by retaining the manager.

Over at the Emirates, life after the long-serving manager is starting to look a lot brighter after a difficult start, with Unai Emery having reeled off ten straight victories that have got the Wenger-out brigade purring with satisfaction.

The season started with defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea, which were understandable, but the ten subsequent matches have all ended in victory, with the Gunners scoring an average of three goals in each.

• Ace Arsenal 33-1 to win Premier League after tenth straight success

That has reflected a reasonably easy run of fixtures but also shows Emery has made a decent start, although those calling for Wenger’s head on the basis that the club needed to go to the next level will find nothing has yet changed on that front as Arsenal lie fourth in the table, which is where they appear to have roosted for most of the past decade.

It would be hard to say that a great deal has changed in terms of playing style, but there were signs against Leicester in a belter of a game on Monday that some of the old Vieira-Henry era swagger is back.

Having gone behind during an astonishingly stylish early onslaught from the 2015-16 champions, the Gunners dug in and fought back, and some of their football in the second half possessed much of the clinical effervescence of the Invincible days.

One of the hallmarks of the latter years of Wenger’s time in charge was the loss of the ability to counter-attack with lethal rapidity, but Arsenal’s stunning third goal looked like a carbon copy of the kind of thrusting play they regularly produced more than a decade ago.

We will get a better idea of what progress Emery has made during the next six weeks, with tests against Liverpool, Wolves, Tottenham and United lying ahead, but so far so good for the Basque, whose most impressive early achievement has been to get Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dovetailing so effectively.

From a neutral perspective it is pleasing that Emery seems a likeable guy. As noted in this column last season, with the exception of Mourinho, the other clubs in the top six are managed by people you would jump at the chance to drink beer with, and the replacement of Antonio Conte for Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea has not altered that situation.

All we need now is for Wenger to take over at Old Trafford. Should that happen I would gladly pay a three-figure sum to see Mourinho’s face when he learns the news.

Alonso antics could be costly for Chelsea

It has not passed entirely without comment, but still nothing like enough has been made of an extraordinary incident that cost Chelsea a goal that could have massive implications for them as the season unfolds.

The build-up to Anthony Martial’s first goal for Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday bears the closest scrutiny, specifically the actions of Marcos Alonso, the Chelsea defender whose role was central to the goal.

Alonso attempted to clear a cross into the Chelsea box with his head but, under a degree of pressure from Romelu Lukaku, he misdirected his header and the danger was not averted.

He went to ground, despite not having appeared to suffer any contact with opponent, ball or pitch that should have resulted in even the slightest injury, and lay there as the United attack continued.

The ball was crossed into the box twice while he continued to lie on the six-yard line and eventually Martial turned it into the net, whereupon Alonso rose to his feet and trudged into position for the restart.

The first thing to note is that Mike Dean once again showed what a superb referee he continues to be by refusing to stop play.

The second is that had Alonso got straight back up there is every chance an extra body in blue would have helped ensure the ball was cleared to safety.

It would be fascinating to know what his colleagues and manager said to him afterwards although there can’t have been too many hard feelings given that he signed a new five-year deal on Wednesday.

Various Chelsea fans expressed their dissatisfaction with his conduct on social media and it is hard to believe he was shown much sympathy in the dressing room.

At the end of every season most fans look back on a specific incident that may have happened months earlier and say that if it had not been for that their team could have avoided relegation, been promoted or finished in the top half.

It is valid to say that Alonso cost his side at least two points which, come May, could have significant consequences for Chelsea.

Twenty20 thrills diminished by slow play

Deeply disappointing data arrives from the other side of the world, where Tasmania-based cricket statistician Ric Finlay (@ricfinlay) has revealed an alarming drop in T20 over-rates.

The supposedly thrilling, rapid-fire version of the game has slowed to a crawl in recent years, as anyone who watches it regularly will be well aware.

You don’t need stats to have noticed that the amount of fannying around between deliveries, particularly in the closing few overs of each innings, has become ridiculous and done much to kill the essence of this brilliant form of cricket.

But Finlay’s figures show just how drastic the slowdown has been. In the past ten years there have been nearly ten fewer balls bowled per hour, which is something that should spark the game’s rulers into action.

In 2008 there were 84.14 balls bowled per hour on average in international T20 matches. This year that figure has slumped to 74.69 balls per hour.

It is unacceptable. The delays are caused by a ludicrous belief that captains and bowlers now have a better appreciation of where to position fielders, presumably as a consequence of the current obsession with data analysis.

I’m not saying coaches and managers cannot learn from this data but the idea that by moving deep square leg six feet to the right is going to increase his chances of catching the ball or preventing it crossing the rope is flawed. The striking of a cricket ball is simply not that precise an art.

While over-rates in Tests and 50-over internationals have remained fairly constant in the last ten years, the elongated pauses between balls in T20 are simply intolerable and the issue needs to be dealt with.

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