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.
