Where do we start? Our most embarrassing defeat, perhaps ever, has left many of feeling ashamed to be a Gooner this morning.
The Talking Point:
There were eight of them. And they all hit the back of our net. Other than that, RVP's penalty miss with the score at 1-0 felt liek a huge turning point, with Ashley Young scoring United's second just minutes later.
Positives:
Erm...... 3 goals in 3 for Walcott?
Negatives:
Okay, here goes.... Armand Traore. Like seriously, WTF? The boy has never been good enough. I remember us getting hammered 4-0 in an FA Cup game at Old Trafford in 2008. Pretty much all of the goals were as a result of his naivity from a positional point of view. Since then, not even a loan spell at Juventus has improved him and I think I'm right in thinking a League Two left-back could have done better yesterday.
Carl Jenkinson. So far, he's looked pretty solid. But yesterday, wow! Out of position all game long, at fault for the free-kick that led to United's third, and of course, a red card to top it all off. As a 19 year-old fresh from the books of League One's Charlton Athletic, the young Finn shouldn't be thrust into such a high profile encounter, and for that, you have to blame Wenger and his lack of strength in depth.
The whole defence. Djourou and Koscielny literally looked they had met for the first time in the car park before the game at times. The way Nani was left all alone for United's fifth, the way Welbeck had 3-4 seconds to run onto a header for the first, there were so many individual mistakes from these two it was awful. The sooner Vermaelen is back the better.
Arshavin, Rosicky, a lack of commitment. Never have I seen someone look so half arses as Arshavin yesterday. Truth be told, he's looked off the pace for two seasons now and both have outstayed their welcome at Arsenal. The former openly admitted he had lost his passion for the game following Russia's failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup whilst the way the latter didn't even bother to turn round as Rooney smashed in his first free-kick yesterday was mystifying.
Wenger. Dude seriously, buy some f**king players! Our bench yesterday contained the likes of Sunu and Ozyakup. Yes, we had 10 or 11 players out through injury and suspension but if United had the same kind of problems, they'd still be able to field an XI containing the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia, Ryan Giggs, Park Ji Sung, Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez - Players all left on the bench or at home by Sir Alex yesterday!
Conclusion:
Our league form since February's Carling Cup Final has read DDDWDDLWLLDDLL and the pressure on Wenger is now mounting to almost unbearable levels. This result was the final humiliation for many and Arsene really now has work to do if he is to regain the support of us, the fans. As do the board, who have offered supporters who made the trip to Old Trafford yesterday, a full ticket refund.
A disappointing home defeat against our great rivals saw Wenger bear the fans brunt for a substitution that made no sense.
