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MANCHESTER, England – Paul Pogba walked off the pitch only after once again playing a central role in Manchester United’s downfall. The French midfielder’s unnecessary foul on Héctor Bellerin in the 68th minute resulted in a penalty from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to seal Arsenal’s first league win at Old Trafford since 2006.
Pogba, who has always lacked defensive qualities, conceded another penalty in a 6-1 home loss to Tottenham last month when an equally thoughtless challenge to Ben Davies led to a penalty for the rival.
This is Pogba’s problem. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can only trust that the £ 89 million player will let him down, so the question arises as to why the United manager continues to trust him with a place in the team. United’s loss to Arsenal isn’t a Pogba story, but it does embody why Solskjaer is still going around in circles after 100 games in charge and why Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is driving your team forward in a more compelling way.
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When Arteta took over at the Emirates last December, he inherited a talented but unreliable midfielder in Mesut Ozil. Less than a year into the work, Arteta has thrown Ozil into the desert and built a plan without the German. That decision emphasizes the certainty and conviction of the Spaniard and is now showing itself on his team.
As for Solskjaer, no one really knows where United is headed, and Pogba sums up how the team is drifting towards stagnation.
Yes, they have beaten Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig in the Champions League this season, but United are now 15th in the Premier League, with seven points from six games, and have failed to win any of their first four league games at home for the first time since the 1972-73 season. Solskjaer’s cheerleaders can celebrate Champions League victories all they want, but the club’s bread and butter is the Premier League. United are already nine points behind leaders Liverpool, so forget about the title for another year.
Not long ago, United versus Arsenal was the game that mattered in the Premier League. Between 1996 and 2004, the two teams won nine titles against each other in nine seasons. Those days are behind us, Arsenal haven’t won the title since 2004, United since 2013, but they are such big clubs that they should both be much closer to the top than they are now.
But despite having been at Arsenal for less than half the time Solskjaer has been at United, Arteta clearly has his team on the road to recovery by imposing a coherent plan, including signing players to solve clear problems. This was the first time since a win at Manchester City in January 2015, a 29-game streak, that Arsenal beat an opponent named the Big Six, and the win had Arteta’s fingerprints all over it.
Two of his big summer signings, defender Gabriel and midfielder Thomas Partey, were crucial figures in this victory. Gabriel, with his aggressiveness and organizational skills, ensured a solid baseline for Arsenal and also kept Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood quiet. And Partey dominated the midfield, albeit against a United team that struggled to make their diamond formation work.
Until Arteta arrived to replace fired Unai Emery 11 months ago, Arsenal’s problems at the rear and in midfield had turned into an embarrassment, problems that Emery and Wenger had somehow failed to solve. But Arteta has already taken care of both and his strategic summer recruiting has been key to that.
By contrast, Solskjaer and United have once again paid the price of a chaotic summer window. Dutch midfielder Donny van de Beek, Ajax bought for £ 40m, has yet to start a league game, but with Pogba and Bruno Fernandes already playing in their favorite position, why sign him in the first place? United needed a dominant central midfielder and defensive midfielder, much like Arsenal did, but they did not address either problem.
Arteta got what he wanted and needed, but Solskjaer ended up with a midfielder he hadn’t targeted and two unfilled holes.
But it’s not just about signings either. Tactically, Arteta led Solskjaer back to school, who used wings Bellerin and Kieran Tierney to take advantage of the lack of width caused by United’s diamond formation. The pair wreaked havoc all afternoon – the contrast of United full-backs Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka was striking – and Solskjaer sat on their hands as United clamored for a change of approach.
But Solskjaer has never shown much certainty or direction as United manager, so it is not surprising that his team plays the same way. Arteta, for his part, has Arsenal playing his image in a positive way, and his team looks good.
These two clubs will eventually get it right again, but the smart money would be for Arsenal to get there first.
