The big one-two

Everybody’s been saying that this is a huge fortnight in footballing terms and it is – in both England and Scotland.

They won’t thank me for saying this at Old Trafford, but I’m really worried about how our defence is going to handle Thierry Henry’s pace. The form he’s shown in his last few Arsenal games has been absolutely incredible. Never mind England, I think he’s the best striker in the world at the moment. Man U certainly won’t want to be giving free-kicks away around the box. The ones he banged in against Villa and Roma were text-book. There’s no keeper – Fabien Barthez included – who could’ve kept them out. What it’ll probably boil down to on the day is who takes their chances better – Henry or Ruud van Nistelrooy.

United beating Liverpool was obviously the cause of great celebration in the McGrath household, although, being truthful, I don’t think they played that well. The Dudek mistake that lead to the first goal was absolutely astonishing and, although Diego Forlan struck the second well, Dudek ought to have at least palmed that one away. At the start of the season, he’d have caught it, thrown it out and set up a Liverpool counter. Goalkeepers – more so than other players – depend on confidence and his is obviously shot at the moment.
Which is good news for Chris Kirkland. Human nature being what it is, there’s part of him that would’ve gone, “Great, here’s my opportunity!”

One thing that struck me again on Saturday is how few options United have on the bench. I’m absolutely astonished that somebody like David May, who’s nearing the end of his career, is willing to settle for two 15-minute run-outs a season. It’s obvious that as soon as Rio Ferdinand and Laurent Blanc are fit again, he’s going to be back festering away in the reserves. Purely from a pride point of view, you want to be playing first-team football week in, week out, which he’d get if he took a cut in wages and went to somewhere like West Brom or Wolves. I could’ve spent another couple of seasons warming the bench at Aston Villa, but went to Derby instead because I wanted to end my career as a player rather than a spectator.

The lack of cover at Man U isn’t only down to injuries. £28 million in Arsene Wenger’s hands would’ve bought four or five players. In Alex Ferguson’s, it got just one, Juan-Sebastian Veron, who hasn’t had the impact on the Premiership you’d expect. I don’t know whether their scouting system’s better, but Arsenal seem to get more for less. I know Alex hates conceding defeat, but if I was him I’d get whatever I could for Veron and go bargain shopping in Europe. Henry, Pires, Lundberg, Grimaldi, Viera…none of them cost anything like what Manchester United paid for Veron and they’ve all been far more effective. It’s a hard one to call, but forced into a prediction I’ll say 2-1 to Arsenal with Henry grabbing at least one of the goals.

Rangers v. Celtic is another tight one, although I think the Bhoys will shade it. The key difference between the two sides is Henrik Larsson, who’s incapable of not scoring at that level. A few people I know think he’d be great at Old Trafford, but I’m not so sure. In the same way that Michael Owen’s a country mile behind them, I don’t think Larsson’s truly world class in the way that Henry and Van Nistelrooy are. Which might be why he’s decided to stay in Scotland.

While the Old Firm games are wonderful occasions, there’s an edge there that I’m not too keen on. Myself and Lou Macari went to one a while back, turned the wrong way in the car and had to pull the visors down so that we weren’t recognised. I thought, “Jeez, if they twig who we are, we’re in trouble!” As passionate as derby day is in Manchester, you don’t get that sense of raw hate.