Central reservations

Manchester United really intrigue me at the moment.

I can't help but think everyone's getting a bit carried away, going mad over the youngsters.

Yes, they looked good against Spurs but the game was pretty close for 70 minutes and to me that wasn't a real test. Spurs had a lot of players missing - certainly in midfield - and there's no doubt there are plenty of much tougher tests ahead.

I do think the 3-0 result flattered them a little bit and the more I look at it, the more I think that is nowhere near Sir Alex Ferguson's strongest team. It will still be Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez up front, Nemanja Vidic and - fitness permitting - Rio Ferdinand at the back and even though everyone has been waxing lyrical about Anderson and Tom Cleverly in midfield, I still think that's one area where United are short.

I've said before, Sir Alex Ferguson will remember the runaround they were given by Barcelona in the Champions League and if he goes into games against the better European sides with those two, it will happen again. That is why he was in the market for Samir Nasri, that is why he looked at Wesley Sneijder and Luka Modric. I just think they are short in midfield.

They probably were last season but got away with it in the league, but not Europe - and there's no way you can tell me the midfield they have been playing this season is better than that.

They need a real talent in there. Manchester City have got David Silva and now Nasri, Chelsea have bought in Juan Mata and right now, I think those two are stronger in that area than United. The trouble is there isn't that much talent around.

Last season we seemed to be bemoaning the lack of top-quality strikers and now this year, it seems to be genuine midfield talents that are lacking. Look around and it's hard to see any who Ferguson can get - and Arsene Wenger will be thinking the same.

Don't get me wrong, Anderson has it in him to be a great midfielder, but to me he could look sharper and fitter. He had that horrible cruciate injury and a few off-the-field problems which put him back, but it looks to me as if he needs to work on his attitude.

Exposed

The one huge thing United have in their favour is the way Wayne Rooney has started the season. Remember last season? It took him ages to get off the mark; this season he has already got a couple, he looks sharp, his touch is spot-on and he looks like he's loving his football.

Defensively as well United have no problems. They have been forced to play the youngsters but Chris Smalling and Phil Jones don't worry me the same way as the midfield, or the keeper for that matter. Jones, I think, will go on to be a future captain of club and country because he looks so calm all the time, does the right thing and looks like a man in a boy's body.

You have to give Sir Alex credit, because he did his shopping early. He knew that Vidic and Ferdinand would not be around forever, so made sure Smalling was signed up last year and then went and got Jones. If you compare that to Arsenal and what Arsene Wenger has left himself with, it shows you just how smart Fergie has been.

Selling Nasri might bring an end to one problem and getting into the Champions League might end another, but they have a whole lot more coming their way. Yes, they stood up well to a tough test at Udinese but if that same side is asked to go deep into the knockout stages and take on the best teams, they haven't got a chance. They will get exposed.

I'm not just talking about losing Nasri and Cesc Fabgregas either. That just papers over the cracks at the back where they have needed strenghtening for some time now. Johan Djourou can't seem to stay fit, they played almost all last season without Tomas Vermaelen and now Lorent Koscielny looks like he's got a back problem, which is never good. But the truth is, this hasn't crept up on Arsene Wenger; we have been saying this for a couple of years now.

While Sir Alex saw the problem and went out and bought young and bought early, he didn't - and I don't know why. Maybe sometimes managers are too close to the problem and can't see the wood for the trees.

He also needs to find a midfielder you would assume, because he's lost two, but he now faces the same problem as Sir Alex - there just aren't too many around. We have less than a week before the transfer window closes and it really wouldn't surprise me if he ends up buying no-one. I'd like to think he has a masterplan, but I would still love to know what it is!

Amazed

I do think that win over Udinese will give the dressing room a lift going to Old Trafford and I don't think they are lambs to the slaughter by any means. But I'd be amazed if United didn't win, absolutely amazed.

It seems a strange thing to say given what we are used to in the Premier League, but for the first time I don't think it's fair to compare Arsenal and United; they are just so far apart. Usually this is the two heavyweights going head-to-head; this season Arsenal's biggest battle, I think, will be with Liverpool and Spurs for fourth place.

That might well take some of the pressure off and people might even give Wenger a break, sit back and let him have the January window to spend that money and then see how he does. And it wouldn't surprise me if they went and won something like the Carling Cup either, this year. But whatever happens on Sunday, there's no doubt you would rather be in Ferguson's shoes than Wenger's.

United's bench on Monday had Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, Ji-Sung Park and Dimitar Berbatov on it; Asrenal have had to play teenagers in their first team. United have defensive strength-in-depth, Arsenal have had a problem at centre-back for some time now.

The only area where Arsenal are better off, is in goal. I've watched David de Gea closely and from what I've seen, if I was a United defender he would scare the life out of me. I think his handling's poor and it doesn't matter how you dress it up, he was suspect against Spurs again. He just looks like a bag of nervers which, for a keeper at a top club, is the last thing you want to see.

Wojciech Szczesny on the other hand, looks like he's going be one less headache for Arsenal. That penalty save on Wednesday night might have earned his club £25million and he has looked commanding and confident, even if his defence hasn't. Arsene Wenger may have 99 problems, but a keeper ain't one...