MOYES STORMS OUT OF PRESS CONFERENCE AHEAD OF ARSENAL CLASH

It appears as though David Moyes' media handling has gone from parroting banal clichés about anything from stability and rebuilding to outright anger and the display of an increasingly cold shoulder. In yesterday's press conference in the lead-up to tonight's crucial fixture against Arsenal at the Emirates, Moyes ended the conversation prematurely, snubbing a perfectly valid query about Manchester United's mid-season trip to Dubai which begins on Thursday. Moyes' glare from the offset indicated to all present that this was not going to be one of those smiles-and-sunshine chats. He is starting to feel the pressure after a run of poor results that has left them 21 points worse off than they were this time last season.

Indeed, Moyes was asked about that very statistic to which he replied that he was at Everton last season in an attempt to demonstrate that the question was irrelevant. Irrelevant it is not however, as there have been no personnel changes other than the retirement of Paul Scholes and the recruitment of Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata, two players that should theoretically improve on what they had. Claiming that his players have been "terrific" and that other Premier League rivals have made "a lot of improvements" masks the reality of the situation that Moyes, like Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City, had to start from scratch this season as new managers. Tottenham and Everton have also had managerial changes so the only two teams in the top seven that have maintained any stability have been Arsenal and Liverpool.

Arsenal come into tonight's fixtures with questions being raised over the form of Mesut Ozil. Arsene Wenger wants his playmaker to find another level and shake himself out of this bad patch. Ozil, though immensely talented, has often come across as a fair weather player in his career so far. At Real Madrid, he was often substituted early on in games and was rotated regularly enough thanks to the depth of their squad. In North London, Arsenal rely on him as a key player and over the past couple of months, the gruelling English winter appears to have taken its toll on his game. Perhaps he needs a rest but Wenger feels that he can motivate him through media comments and is likely to field him against Moyes' boys tonight.

It should be a fascinating fixture with United in obviously bad form but with Arsenal also needing a win in order to lift themselves after a scrappy few weeks which has seen them slip from the summit of the Premier League. With Chelsea having dropped two points last night thanks to West Brom's last gasp equaliser, the title race is still open with Arsenal still very much in with a shout as long as they can reverse this recent slump.

D. Ray Morton, 12th February 2014.