It was a disappointing outing for Arsenal as they lost to weakened Manchester United side at Old Trafford 3-2. It wasn’t just the loss that will hurt them, it was the manner of the loss as well, a loss that could well have dented the hopes of many Arsenal fans of the team winning the Premier League title.
Manchester United were there for the taking, missing several first-team players and playing with a bunch of youngsters but Arsenal could not take advantage of it and were already 2-0 down in the first half before they got a goal back from Danny Welbeck.
It just showed that Arsenal do not have the bottle to close out important games or even perform in these crunch ties. One of the biggest mysteries in the game was about the absence of Olivier Giroud from the starting line-up and the position of Theo Walcott as the solitary striker.
Arsene Wenger might have thought that the English attacker’s pace would lead to a ton of problems for the centre-back pairing of Daley Blind and Michael Carrick but nothing of that sort took place as Walcott was extremely poor in his role as the only attacker.
Walcott is more primed to play as a winger than as the central striker, though Wenger has tried to convert him like he so successfully did with Thierry Henry all those years ago. Walcott though needs to be upgraded, Arsenal need someone who can do the job that Walcott does, which is just running and trying to cross the ball.
They need someone who can actually do the job as a winger while also having the confidence or running at the opposition. Walcott does not seem to be that kind of player and even as a striker he did have a stinker of a game. Arsenal really need to get someone in place of the Englishman.
Another player who didn’t have the greatest game was Aaron Ramsey and understandably so, Ramsey might be playing in his favoured central midfield position but he isn’t a Santi Cazorla who can control games.
The Welshman would rather move forward with the ball at his feet than try to ping those important passes to start attacks. Ramsey too needs to get upgraded but his replacement is there in the Arsenal team at the moment with Cazorla and even when Jack Wilshere comes back from injury.
Both the players listed are good players on their day but they just don’t seem to be doing the job on a regular basis for Arsenal. The need to have quality all around is important, we cannot blame the pair for the debacle that took place at Old Trafford on Sunday but certainly the pair could have done better with their performances and who knows, had Cazorla and Giroud started, the result could have been different for the Gunners. To summarize, The Gunners definitely need upgrades for both the players if they are serious about winning the league anytime soon.