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By Sir Hardly Anyone
Yes the old Arsenal.com site really is a wonder of information, for it is currently (7.30am on 26 July) showing that the forthcoming Arsenal games are
| Arsenal | V | Manchester United | Club Friendlies | |
| Manchester United | V | Arsenal | Friendly Match |
What is not clear is if both games are being played on the same pitch. But anyway, according to their official site Mancesther United are ahead of Arsenal in games played this summer having lost 1-0 to Rosenburg on 15 July and then beaten Rangers away 0-2 on 24 July. So I guess our two games against Man U at once are a way of catching up – except they are playing two as well so…. well, you know…
They have bought in Leny Yoro from Lille and Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna both on permanent deals. Ten players have left to go to another club. Leaving aside those who have retired or been released without another club to go to, at the end of their contract they have shipped out (according to the official site)
- Alvaro Fernandez (Benfica)
Omari Forson (Monza)
Mason Greenwood (Marseille)
Willy Kambwala (Villarreal)
Charlie McNeill (Sheffield Wednesday)
Donny van de Beek (Girona)
Although it is 11 years since they last won the league Manchester U have kept on plugging away at the trophies, getting the FA Cup last season and the league cup the season before.
But unlike Arsenal, since dropping down the league table and then charging back up, Man United have been zig-zagging. In the last six seasons they have come 6th, 3rd, 2nd, 6th, 3rd, 8th, and it is this lack of constant progress that has annoyed some fans.
Indeed their points totals of 58 in 2022 and 60 in 2024 were their worst since 1990/91, and for a club that appears to have a belief in their absolute right to be at the top, that has been difficult to take.
Perhaps what makes it worse is that in the last three seasons they have scored just 57 or 58 goals in each campaign, This is the level Arsenal were at during the rebuilding process of 2019/20 and 2020/21. However the difference between the two clubs now can be seen by a peek at the end of the season table for 2023/24.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Arsenal | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 91 | 29 | 62 | 89 |
| 8 | Manchester United | 38 | 18 | 6 | 14 | 57 | 58 | -1 | 60 |
In goal scoring terms these figures really are remarkable, with Arsenal scoring 34 more and conceding 29 fewer resulting in a goal difference a staggering 63 GD better than Manchester United.
Yet if we go back just a few years to 2021 the league table ended…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Manchester United | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 73 | 44 | 29 | 74 |
| 8 | Arsenal | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 55 | 39 | 16 | 61 |
Arsenal have benefitted of course from having just one manager with a plan. Arteta has executed it, and is still executing it, not just with player purchases but tactical manipulations the likes of which we have never seen before.
But during this period when Arsenal have had one manager and one plan Manchester United have had four managers – two permanent (Solskjer and Ten Ha), one caretaker (Carrick) and one “interim” (Rangnick). How many plans they have had is not clear.
But whatever the number of plans, as a result they have completely failed to build on the 2020/21 achievement of coming runners-up in both the League and the Europa, and last seasons they finished eighth in the league, 29 points behind Arsenal.
And if Arsenal and Manchester City can keep up their form (or even if it is just Arsenal that keeps up its form with Manchester City finally being brought to book by the various football authorities that seem to be interested in their affairs) that leaves Manchester United with a lot to do to catch up as we have just seen.
In fact the problem that Manchester United have is that which Liverpool, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hots, Chelsea and Newcastle United also have. Arsenal like Manchester City, have a team in place. And that doesn’t just mean a team on the pitch that can win the games, but also a backroom team which seems to grow year by year as more and more specialists are added.
People like Nicolas Jover, the set-piece specialist, through to the two performance managers Zaf Iqbal and Tom Allen. Arsenal also now have no less than three match analysts, as well as the four video analysts – and as far as I can see it is this incredible attention to detail in the specifics of the game that has taken Arsenal from a goal difference of +8 in 2019/20, to a goal difference of +62 last season.
Indeed I wouldn’t be surprised if Arsenal signed very few new players between now and the closing of the window, but brought in a few more specialists instead.
