I took a bit of a busman's holiday on Tuesday and went to watch Crewe take on Manchester United in the Carling Cup and what I saw was a pretty decent game of football. It became even more palatable when I sat down the following evening and thought about watching Arsenal play at Manchester City.
Unfortunately the lack of atmosphere at the City of Manchester Stadium, not to mention recognised first team players, persuaded me it wasn't worth watching. Instead I am able to compare the contrasting consideration given to the Carling Cup by United and Arsenal.
At Gresty Road, I fully expected to see at least a couple of the United stars who had beaten Arsenal on Sunday. I was disappointed not to, as were most of the 10,000 plus crowd who gave Crewe their best gate of the season. But instead I was able to enjoy, as did the fans who made it a special night.
Crewe set off at a rate of knots and dominated the opening nine minutes but when Alan Smith rattled in the first goal, in what for him was a most familiar white shirt, I feared for the Alex as the way the former Leeds striker hit the ball, with no back lift but still too fierce for Ben Williams as it flew like an arrow inside his right hand post.
There wasn't a single player in the United starting line-up who started the game against Arsenal but, significantly, when comparing the Gunners' team at Manchester City, every single one of them was a Premiership player and six of them were full internationals.
So, whilst it wasn't the United team we had come to watch it was a team full of quality and players who underlined the massive gulf between a top Premiership side and a team that struggles in the Coca Cola Championship.
The sheer athleticism of the United players, Keiran Richardson and Louis Saha especially, which is sometimes lost in the over abundance of such quality in the top flight, was a joy to behold. The fact that the United players gave Crewe the respect of displaying their ability did credit to the second-string side Sir Alex Ferguson put out.
There were a few things that stood out for me, apart from the above and made a good night for all concerned.
Alan Smith and Crewe's Justin Cochrane engaged in a good old-fashioned midfield battle, bruises and belligerence throughout but at the end of the game they were the first players to embrace, warrior-fashion, and I thought that was nice…
Then there was the moment that Wes Brown sold a dummy to Crewe's Northern Ireland international Steve Jones that was the height of confidence and cool…
Then there was Kieran Richardson splitting the Alex defence with the kind of piercing pass that would open up any side on the planet to set up Liam Miller's clinical finish.
All of those cameos made it worth watching.
