Football Update: English Premiere League: Arsenal vs. Manchester United (Recap)
On Monday night Arsenal lost (yet again) at Old Trafford to one of their bitterest rivals in the Premier League era and it was no wonder that all of Tuesday morning’s dailies were littered with headlines depicting how bad Arsenal were on the night.
Although the headlines were as predictable as the result at Old Trafford and it’s a shame that a meeting of two giants of the English game was predictable. However, such has been Arsenal’s team tactics that it was hard to see anything other than a United win on the night. Yet some credit must be given to the Gunners for their performances, as they tried to stand up to United and were not afraid of going into a dirty tackle or two.
The tabloids regarded the performance as shoddy with phrases like disgraceful, flat track bullies, false dawn and what not but taking into consideration all the parameters, it’s a bit harsh on Wenger’s men.
Arsenal may not have put in a tireless and technically adept shift to stifle the slick United machine but at a ground where they have had the worst of luck historically, a loss by a solitary goal is far from a disgrace. There is not a doubt about the fact that the Gunners lacked ambition, were lacklustre and lacked creativity going forward. However, at the same time it can be said that United’s defence was impeccable and Fletcher, Anderson and Park put in three indefatigable shifts that stifled Arsenal in the midfield, nonetheless their performance was by no means a disgrace and to label them as such is to say the least ‘tabloid journalism’.
To expect anyone, let alone Arsenal to go and win at Old Trafford is a tough ask and a failure to do so must not be regarded as abysmal performance and that too when the margin of loss is a single and fortuitous goal. Of course, no team can go and win every single match they play but yet for Arsenal it was imperative to win this game to establish their title credentials in a highly competitive and unpredictable season.
Arsenal’s performance on Monday night was no doubt a little shoddy with no real ebb and flow to their play but to be fair the same two qualities were missing from United side too and what proved to be the deciding factor in the end was United’s greater desire to win the game. Arsenal were not mauled, thrashed or humiliated on Monday. It was a dull and uninspiring performance by both the sides but unfortunately, for Arsenal they ended up on the losing side.
Arsenal are a very good side that play very good and attractive football but their problem is that they lack belief in themselves when they come up against bigger sides, their record against Chelsea and United in recent years is ample proof of this fact and their games against Barcelona in last year’s Champions League further emphasized this fact.
One big positive from Monday night’s game was the performance of Arsenal’s goalie, the man with a name impossible to spell and even more difficult to pronounce. However, Wenger should give that guy more of a chance as to make a debut in such a big game and yet come out with flying colours is no mean feat and credit to him for that.
Every side has weaknesses, Chelsea and United have both demonstrated this and come May, only that side that is able to better cope with these weaknesses will win the title. However, that is still some way to go and all is not lost for Arsenal yet, as no titles are ever won in December but foundations can be laid in this month and United certainly have done so and if they go on to win against Chelsea next week, they will put themselves in pole position to land a 19th title but in an unpredictable season as this nothing can be said for sure.
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