That didn't last long.
We were told that there was a new friendliness and respect between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
You wouldn't have noticed from today's newspapers:
This is the Arsenal manager quoted in The Guardian:
"There are other points [than diving] that, for me, are more urgent – players who play only to make fouls and who are never punished; players who make repeated fouls and who get out of the game without a yellow card. That, for me, is more anti-football than a player who did what Eduardo did."
Darren Fletcher is the key target of Wenger's ire:
"Wenger was asked to clarify whether he meant Fletcher and laughed, replying with mock surprise: "Why do you say the name?" Fletcher had given away six free-kicks, twice as many as any of his team-mates, but was not one of the three United players to get a yellow card. "I have seen a player who plays only on the pitch to make repeated fouls," Wenger continued. "Look at how many deliberate fouls some players make and get away with. I think that's a bigger problem [than diving] because it cuts the flow of the game. And people come and pay to see football. They do not come to see free‑kicks. You should ask the referees [how they get away with it].""
Writing in The Telegraph Alan Hansen concludes that the grit of Fletcher is exactly what Arsenal needs:
"Fletcher is a box-to-box player, he runs all day and gets up-and-down the pitch. He is competitive, somebody who is prepared to get his foot in, and he is also good in the air. That is why Sir Alex Ferguson has begun to use him more and more in United's big games over the past couple of years. Fletcher is a really important cog in the wheel. Put him in an Arsenal shirt, though, and he probably wouldn't fit into their style of play because Arsène Wenger just wants to play open, attractive football. And that is one of Arsenal's major flaws. They are terrific to watch and, at times they have produced some of the best football that I have ever seen, but whereas United tend not to lose games that they have dominated, it happens all too often with Arsenal and five years without a trophy says it all."
