Pitiful Gunners

Man United 3-2 Arsenal

Arsenal last won the Premier League title in the 2003/04 season, taking English football by storm to win the league unbeaten. Since that glorious season, the Gunners have flattered to deceive on numerous occasions, giving their fans hope in one match only to dash their dreams in the next game.

As this current season unravelled, it appeared that this time would be different and Arsenal would finally be crowned champions once again. How wrong we were. Arsene Wenger’s side had dragged themselves right back into the title race last time out with a dramatic last minute winner against title rivals Leicester. They now had to consolidate that result, grab the chance for a title challenge by the scruff of the neck and go on a run of games to cement their title credentials.

The next game away to Manchester United may have looked rather daunting on paper, but in truth United were there for the taking. Louis Van Gaal’s side have endured an average season and with 14 senior players out injured, the manager had to make do with several academy players. In the centre of defence the Dutchman deployed two players in Michael Carrick and Daley Blind who are more comfortable in central midfield, while Marcus Rojo was only just returning from a long term injury and the inexperienced Varela started at right back.

Yet Arsenal just didn’t get at them. There was no intensity to their play, no movement, no hunger or desire. For a side that is supposed to be challenging for the title, this was pathetic. The Gunners may have scored two goals, one from a free kick and the other a miss hit shot from Ozil, but other than that they didn’t really create any goal scoring opportunities from open play. Nacho Monreal had a glorious opportunity early on but that was it.

Graeme Souness described Arsenal’s performance as a joke and he was spot on. Up front Theo Walcott, picked ahead of Giroud in the lone striker role, was abysmal. Walcott was just nowhere to be seen, didn’t hold the ball up, didn’t make runs in behind, didn’t pose any threat what so ever. His poor display was highlighted further by a youngster at the other end making his Premier League debut. Marcus Rashford’s performance was everything Walcott’s wasn’t. The Manchester United man was full of energy and enthusiasm, chasing the ball down at every opportunity, offering his teammates a forward option and always looking to get on the end of things.

Rashford’s two goals were just reward for an excellent performance, which should have Walcott hanging his head in shame. In fact Walcott played a part in the opening goal of the game as in his only meaningful contribution, Walcott hopelessly lost possession in his own half and as the ball was crossed into the box, a poor clearance was seized upon by Rashford, who calmly stroked the ball home. The crowd duly went wild, acclaiming a new hero but Rashford wasn’t done there, getting himself on the end of Jesse Lingard’s cross to glance the ball past Petr Cech as the Arsenal defence stood statically, staring at the ball.

Welbeck did reduce the deficit before halftime, heading home Ozil’s free kick delivery, but Arsenal never kicked on. There was no pressure on the United goal as the Gunners passed the ball amongst themselves painfully slowly with no apparent intention to move the home side out of position or get in behind them. As a result, the Gunners ended up playing in front of their opponents and United couldn’t believe how easy it was to keep Arsenal at bay.

United were therefore able to sit back and hit the Gunners on the break and it didn’t take long for Arsenal to shoot themselves in the foot once more. Rashford once again did brilliantly as he held the ball up waiting for Ander Herrera to join the attack. There were no other United players in sight but still not one Arsenal player spotted Herrera’s run or tried to close him down as he shot from outside the box and saw his effort deflected past Cech.

Ozil reduced the deficit once again but again Arsenal didn’t kick on and didn’t threaten De Gea’s goal anymore. In fact United ended the game humiliating the Gunners as they played the ball around the Arsenal players to shouts of Ole from the home fans.

In the post match press conference Wenger claimed there was no faulting his side’s commitment. The manager had clearly been watching another game. If he truly believes that is the level of desire required to win any game let alone the league, then the manager needs to walk and the sooner the better. This team is a disgrace. They talk in the media about their desire to win the title, but when push comes to shove, they are always found wanting. If the manager can no longer identify that the likes of Theo Walcott should be nowhere near an Arsenal starting eleven then he shouldn’t be in the job. The man who stuck by his guns and gave his squad the biggest show of faith by not signing any outfield player in the summer, has not had that faith returned and now should hold his hands up and admit he was wrong. The one man he did sign in January, Mohammed Elneny does not seem to have the quality to be a success in the Premier League either. Thrown on for his first league appearance, the Egyptian just played the ball backwards time and time again despite United not putting any pressure on the ball. This all points to a squad and a manager that have lost their way massively since beating Manchester City at home. I’m sure every Arsenal fan is dreading Saturday’s North London derby.