Oh dear! Look now who is complaining about unfavorable match fixtures!

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Fergusson has, unfortunately, complained about a dubious fixture list straight after the deserved 2-1 loss to bitter rivals Arsenal on November 8 at the Emirates stadium. The point is had United won, this would not have come up on a windy Monday morning. But then all managers tend to do this after a loss to one of the title rivals, isn’t it? So, it’s no surprising that one of Britain’s greatest ever managers is no exception to ‘moaning’.

Well, Sir Alex talks of a bizarre fixture list that sees United play important Premier League away matches against tough opponents straight after each Champions League matchday. Frankly, it may be tough but the most successful Premier League is forgetting one basic fact that the FA decides on the annual Premier League fixture list whereas it is UEFA which by lottery fixes Champions League matchdays. Unfortunately for United fans, the club is the victim of a tough coincidence.

If this is an excuse Sir Alex wants to provide to cover up the loss to the Gunners, well I must say something is wrong with the attitude of this United team, both on and off the field. If United has suffered the fixture syndrome, why forget Arsenal? The North London side’s five Champions League games are followed by tough away assignments in the Premier League, but Mr. Wenger isn’t complaining, well at least for the moment!

This game is a great leveler and a prudent wise man like Alex Ferguson would know this fact better than anyone. United might have taken only one point from three big away games against the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal but at a later stage of the season, the champions can dictate proceedings with considerable home advantage against three of the big four teams.

The bottom line is the Premier League and European champions are rattled and the pressure of defending the title seems to have got to the players and the coach and in addition to this the speculation surrounding Christiano Ronaldo’s future at the club has surfaced again with reports suggesting that the Portuguese player’s agent has demanded a pay hike for his client from United. Clearly the Red Devils cannot afford to be blackmailed once more although the two goals against Stoke City on Saturday would have diffused some of the tensions.