I am the first to highlight when Arsenal have not played well and have my doubts Mikel Arteta can make the changes to his principles to get us over the line in a title race. Yet is it me or has there been an overreaction towards a team who went to Old Trafford on the opening weekend and travelled back to London with three points?
We have received more criticism than some of our peers who failed to win. I can recall previous versions of the Gunners who lost at the Theatre of Dreams and did not get the scrutiny the class of 2025 are getting. It is even coming from our own fanbase. Of course it might be YouTubers thinking negativity will get them more clicks but sadly it highlights the arrogance some Gooners have.
Despite 22 years since lifting the Premiership and not really challenging Liverpool last season, some supporters think we are better than we are. In reality we are not a good enough team to be turning our noses up at a narrow victory on the red side of Manchester.
As our manager pointed out, before he returned to the club our record was terrible in this fixture. Sunday was only our sixth ever Premier League triumph at this ground. All have been by the scoreline of 1-0.
United are no longer giants, but context matters
Of course for the majority of the Premiership era Manchester United were a giant in contention to be champions. At the moment they are a long way from those heights. While you should not worry about reputation and should focus on the reality of what is in front of you, some are viewing this as the runners-up of the league having to hang on against the team who finished 16th in the division last season.
Yet I did not hear that same energy last week. Since the calendar was released I kept hearing how we had a difficult start, how a banana skin was waiting for us, how you would have preferred this trip in a few months’ time.
The likes of Gary Neville had predicted a home win. The pundit, like many, correctly forecast that unlike recent visits there would be hope and enthusiasm in the stands, motivated by a new attack, meaning the fans would stick by the team until the last second. Like Spurs, most are aware that Rubin Amorim had a freak season last campaign and it is unlikely you will ever see them so low in the table again.
They also did not have Sesko, Muembo and Cunha to select. That is approximately £200 million worth of talent to call upon. So I would suggest anyone viewing United under the guise of being the 16th best team in England are not being genuine.
As part of Sky’s coverage, Roy Keane seemed stunned and baffled by how much praise his former team were getting for a defeat and that Arsenal were being questioned for only winning with the one goal.
Winning is all that matters
As a once proud captain of one of the biggest institutions in the world, no doubt the former midfielder felt this was patronising to the club he so proudly led. He was in a dressing room that demanded standards from anyone who wore the shirt. Here he was at 54 listening to players pat themselves on the back because they were competitive.
The Irishman was also a winner. Having won every major domestic honour in the game, he was educated that winning is all that matters. Like any sportsperson it is not how you win but if you win.
This was a man who went to war with the likes of Tony Adams and Vieira at a time when both squads believed they were better and would do anything to get the better of each other. Do you think he cared in 1999 that his rivals were unlucky to lose at Villa Park in that famous Cup semi-final? Likewise, do you think our dressing room cared in 2005 when we lifted the Cup after being outplayed in Cardiff?
There is actually an art form to not being at your best but finding a way to win. While you cannot do that every week it is sad more do not celebrate the skill set. It takes team spirit, courage and bravery to do what we did.
Ironically previous Arsenal teams would not have been able to grind out that result. We would have passed around the ball, dominated possession and then been called naive for being too open. It became clear very early on in the match it was going to be a scrap. So we rolled up our sleeves and battled.
We did that at a traditional venue where we struggle. If you cannot enjoy that, you will not enjoy much else this year.
Are you happy that we won on Sunday?
Dan Smith
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End of the season, the record will show we took three points from Man Utd at Old Trafford on the first game of the season, no one will care about the performance, just the result
Agreed
I concur
It’s not easy to win the first game of the season at Old Trafford. Man United have also upgraded their attack significantly by buying Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko
Arteta made the correct decision by playing very cautiously. We could’ve pinned Man United down by playing more openly, but it would be very risky since the Red Devils have highly-skilled attackers with a lot of pace now
That’s true about records ,also true that records will show who won the league and not the ones that came second
Just like they will praise the performance when we lose and praise the win when the performance was bad.
The criticism is not unfair at all. We all know the 3 points is the goal and that was achieved. Luckily, unfairly or with the help of the referee not giving a stonewall penalty, on its own it doesn’t matter. But the manner of it does. People are talking about how well utd played and they did. BUTif we can not criticise the way we played, then we are in a bad way. The way Arsenal went about it was poor. We were timid, out of shape, no aggression, NO PROPER BUILD UP AGAIN, no pressing, poor shape out of possession and relying heavily on our goalkeeper to bail us out. Of course we can criticise. We see it all too often. The same mistakes, the same errors and the same lame excuses. Fantastic 3 points on the day though.
Lets not bury our heads!!!!!
It was the first game of the season Reggie, and I am not into burying my head in the sand.
Let’s reconvene the argument after 10 games and see where we are then. We will know soon enough if its all going Pete Tong
👍🤞
I just remember us being the better team in the FA Cup Final and don’t recall Arsenal being praised for being the better side or Man United criticised for winning without playing well
Not final lol
Yes. I was going to post that I was at the last Arsenal vs Man Utd final (in 2005) and it was probably the most one-sided game there’s been without a winner over normal/extra time – and it was one-sided in Utd’s favour! Arsenal were appalling that day although, of course, they won on penalties.
Bertie,
I remember that game to, United must have felt like they’d been mugged.😂
Just like we did V Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium and a certain Michael Owen.😣
Derek
Oh yes, it worked both ways. We certainly “wuz robbed” against Liverpool alright, although I wasn’t there, I saw it on TV.
I guess for me the Utd final was so embarrassing not just because they were clearly the better team, but because the game with extra time went on so long to emphasise the torture!
That said, Gooner euphoria when Vieira scored the winning penalty (although even then their keeper went the right way!) was incredible.
The 3-1 loss to United in 2017 also comes to mind. We were significantly better than them yet we lost. I believe De Gea made a record number of saves that day. Lacazette was unbelievable that day.
We still let in 3 goals?
The FA cup is one game. This is the league and it is about set up and reliability, unlike the one game shhot out of cups. We all know the 3 points is the prize and playing well is a bonus. But this was about problems that are STILL there from last season and going forwards would/will bit us in the bum AGAIN. Like previous seasons. As long as the “prize” is won (in this case the league) the utd game on it own will not matter, as far as performance was concerned. But we all know, its more than that in the long run. We didn’t look ready. A bit like last season, we were out of it after 10 games because of our stuttering start.
The article ends with: “Are you happy that we won on Sunday?” – which must surely rank as one of the daftest questions asked here, mustn’t it?
Of course, everyone who supports Arsenal is happy when they win BUT that doesn’t prevent justified criticism of the overall performance. It isn’t a question of either/or.
Arsenal played poorly against Utd. Many people in posts on this site before kick-off thought that it would be easy. In the score predictions, as well, there were a 3:1, 4:0 etc. However, Utd dominated much of the match largely because Arsenal didn’t play well (except Raya, who had to and he did, thank goodness).
OK, the three points were secured which is the main aim in professional football, so that’s good but, as Arsenal fans, I think we can and should be critical – when it merits it – which it did on Sunday.
I can point out Arsenal fans who did not act happy
Yes, but are they unhappy we won (full stop) or unhappy about Arsenal’s performance? I suggest it was very likely the latter and, if so, that’s what my previous post was about.
The only thing that should matter is the result
Oh no, I don’t agree with that. The result is the most important thing (that’s obvious as it’s professional football), but it’s not the ONLY thing that matters.
Fans are perfectly entitled to have a view, and to voice it in forums, about how the team performs not just stay “stuhm” as long as they win.
After all, I’m sure many fans support the club financially through attending games, and/or subscribing to other services, and buying merchandise etc. So they help to pay for what they’re seeing on the pitch, if you want to put it that way.
I find it strange to be as critical as I have seen some about winning at Old Trafford
If you said to me now win against Leeds 1-0 playing terribly or draw 0-0 hitting the wood work 20 times I choose the first one everytime
As the three points is the priority then winning 1:0 clearly satisfies that. However, if that was the pattern – and you said winning is all that matters – then Arsenal fans would, I suspect, get pretty fed up with that kind of football, week in an out. They would, I think, quite rightly complain about the performance level.
An example, not from the EPL but it illustrates the point I hope. F C Barcelona appointed their great for ex-player, Xavi, as coach a few years ago. He won the league title in his first full season, but there were “rumblings” from the fans that the level of performance was poor (basically, your 1:0 Leeds scenario). It wasn’t perceived to have got better in his second season although the club was in contention again (although they finished second). He was sacked after that season.
Clearly if Arsenal played like that, I’m not suggesting Arteta would be dismissed in those circumstances (we’d have to have won the title apart from anything else!), but the Arsenal fans would, in my opinion, be more than justified in complaining.
Agree Bertie.
Criticism is fine. And it’s not just the fans doing it. Even the manager and Saka were critical of the performance in their post match interviews. But some of the stuff we are seeing are just beyond ridiculous. There’s a line beyond which criticism isn’t constructive anymore but damaging. For instance there’s players being written off after one bad game by our own fans. How is that helping the team?
Spot on.
Why all these fuss! We won the game and get our 3 points. It’s damn too early to start complaining! As the season progresses, we can start viewing the performance and results and by then we will know whether there’s progress or not.
As a fan, I’m happy that we won!
But the result isn’t all that matters because based on that performance alone the MU players and fans will rightly think that with a few minor improvements they could be a handful for anyone. We are just lucky their defence is absolute gash. That said, we didn’t create a single meaningful chance from open play. Not one, and it’s not like we were unlucky. There was absolutely nothing positive about that game other than Ray’s saves and the result. It was awful and if you think that’s fine as long as we win then there is not point bothering with this sport anymore because it isn’t entertainment, it’s torture.
I watched the game a second time, to see if could get any better insights. It was just a really scrappy affair. Two rusty teams bedding in new players in game one. Don’t think can conclude much from it, just take the ugly win!
Just admit we were terrible at Old Trafford on Sunday and move on to the upcoming Leeds game.The only positive clearly was the one that mattered, being the three points gained but in terms of skill and tactics they were all over us. For me our midfield was the biggest disappointment. Totally not in the game. Also worried about individual performances such as Saka and the new striker, although I’ll give the latter the benefit of the doubt. Also how easily were our inverted full backs beaten for speed, Skelly included.? Definitely a worry and another problem area that has not been resolved.
When we get 3 points how the performance was is meaningless.