Manchester United 2 - Arsenal 1

It is hard to believe that the team that showed up on Saturday at Old Trafford looked like potential title contenders a few weeks ago (at least to a few). Then we went on the international break, came back and lost to Norwich, were lucky to get past QPR, got crushed by Schalke at home and lost 2-1 to Man U in one of the most one-sided 2-1 games you will ever see. The team was ugly from the first minute until the last, forgoing the completely meaningless strike from Cazorla at the death. It was the sort of pathetic display from Arsenal we have gotten used to over the past eight years, but very hard to understand -- given the importance of the contest. Besides a scintillating performance by Mannone, who kept the score respectable with a number of world class saves, and a decent game from Mertesacker, who is certainly vying for most improved together with the injuried and missed Gervinho, the team played with the sort of abject listlessness they seem to have collectively caught during that break.

The game started poorly after Santos was again caught off on the right after a Man U interception, but a poor pass to the charging RVP by Raphael should have been cleared easily by captain Vermaelen. Instead he completely flubbed the ball and Van Persie cooly placed it between his legs and past the outstretched Mannone. What followed was a comedy of error half that somehow ended without Man U putting in another goal, even as Rooney stepped to the penalty spot to do just that in the final minute. He missed right and Arsenal must have thought they were still in a game they had no right to be. So they would certainly come out in the second half and give it a go, right? No, they wouldn't. For about five minutes they looked like the fluid team they did earlier in the season, before regressing to form and finally sealing the deal by allowing the shortest man on the pitch, Patrice Evra, to head a ball in from Rooney after a short corner. Vermaelen was arguably again at fault, as his poor positioning behind the full back allowed him to get into space and force it into the corner. From there, Wilshire lost the ball on a bad touch (which was the habit of the entire team throughout the contest), charged into too strongly to try to win it back and was shown his second yellow in the game. Man U just missed several chances to make it three, before Arsenal suddenly woke up in the waning moments and had a few decent opportunities before the lovely, but meaningless, Cazorla strike that ended up being the last kick of the game. On to player grades before I consider the future of a team that is reeling at the moment ...

Mannone (9): maybe a little high, but he had a number of world class saves and could have easily had a clean sheet but for the two defensive lapses by the Gunners. He, like the team as a whole, is an enigma -- some weeks he looks great, others like the third option he was at the beginning of the season.

Sagna (6): had a decent defensive game, but nothing spectacular. Made a number of important stops or interceptions but didn't get forward very effectively and no crosses to Giroud (which is what we need at the moment to wake up our sleepy offense).

Mertesacker (7): best of the bunch today, with a number of important defensive headers, interceptions and I don't remember him missing a pass all day (the only Gunner that can be said of).

Vermaelen (4): what has happened to our captain? He has always been prone to the occasional mistake and risky tackle attempt, but he played a terrible game when we needed his leadership on the pitch. Giving up the early and needless goal to RVP set the stage for what followed and he was also culpable on the second goal. Truly awful from our purported leader.

Santos (5): really bad first half where he was beaten down the wing consistently and gave the ball over and over again through either bad passes or dawdling on the ball for too long, he did show up in the second and playing marginally better defense and moving forward with purpose (although he blew a good opportunity with a truly awful cross).

Arteta (6): one of the worst games I've seen from our stalwart in some time. He gave the ball away on several occasions and even had some bad passes thrown in -- as the most proficient passer in the EPL, even a few stand out. Didn't really get the attack moving forward and lacked the decisive edge we were looking for.

Wilshire (5.5): not a great second game back for the young star. He too often tried to dribble right through defenders, without any success, missed real passing opportunities and was part of the reason the Gunners rarely got into the box until the last minute of the game. The red card ended any chance for a comeback, but the team ironically played better after he left. 

Cazorla (6): after his early form, Cazorla has had a slight drop off and this might have been his worst game yet, forgoing the goal that might actually be meaningful in our "trophy" run for fourth place. He put too much weight on several passes that would have put us in good positions, lost the ball on several occasions, didn't shoot a few times when it might have opened up the Man U defense and handed the ball in the box, almost putting the game out of reach at the break. Hopefully his play in the final few minutes will awaken the beast again on Wednesday.

Podolski (4.5): the German has a habit of disappearing in some games while being everywhere in others. Yesterday he was nowhere to be found, except with bad passes, bad crosses and lost possession. It's hard to understand the unevenness of his play, but we need the player from the start of the season who charges forward with purpose, not the one who seems like he doesn't want to be on the pitch.

Giroud (5): one of the biggest problems for Giroud right now is the rest of the team isn't giving him the service to provide clear chances, but I also notice that he is not doing enough holding the ball up when it is sent into him in the air. Too often yesterday, he had a chance to get the attack started and took too heavy a touch or simply gave the ball away, putting us back on the defensive right away. Had a few half chances, but wasn't in the right position, the cross was bad or he fluffed the half chance.

Ramsey (5.5): I do not believe that Ramsey should be starting games right now, but there he was again in an odd position for him (right winger). The choice by Wenger didn't work out well at all and one wonders if Walcott, Gervinho or Chamberlain were in that spot if the result might have been different. Given the overall performance of the team, I doubt it, but Ramsey was truly inept. He missed pass after pass, made a few good runs (which always resulted in nothing), and too often gave the ball up. When he plays in midfield, Ramsey has a penchant for slowing down the attack -- up front he is even better at killing it. He is just the latest example, to me, of a player Arsene keeps faith in when it is undeserved. 

Subs

Walcott: came on with a chance to sort of play in his preferred position and his advertisement was a resounding "don't buy!" Instead of sending the ball in the air to him, it arrived at his feet on several occasions, and in each case Walcott took a heavy touch that gave the ball away. He looked like the same player that's been driving me crazy for most of the last three years and I honestly hope he goes in the transfer window. As a winger, his speed and improved crossing and shooting make him a dangerous player, but his desire to play in the middle is not matched by his talent. Watch his performance versus RvP and you see why it should never happen.

Arshavin: his first involvement was a foul from behind that resulted in a yellow. After that he played into the game a little and created a little offensive flow, but not really enough time to truly measure his performance. Given how badly the club is creating, I (gasp) wonder if he should get some more time on the pitch  against Fulham.

So Arsenal lost a game 2-1 that could easily have been 5-0. Bad passes, bad touches, losing the ball at their feet, lack of creativity, shaky defending and a general listlessness showed how far we are from the top three (though we still only sit two points out of fourth as Tottenham lost at home and Everton settled for a third successive draw). It was not necessarily a defining moment for the season, as we have not been getting anything at Old Trafford for years now, but it does ask serious questions about the team. 1) How much longer are we going to accept this slightly-above-mediocrity team? 2) Is it time for Wenger to hang it up if we finish outside the top four 3) Are we actually going to spend some money in the winter to at least bring in a viable central striker 4) Why does the team fail to perform on the big stage so often 5) Is mediocrity the preordained future for this squad as our best players seek out greener (or redder or bluer) pastures each year. Watching RvP play for the victors was always going to be painful, but I would like the team to shun him a little, instead of Santos asking for his shirt at half-time (please let the Brazilian leave sooner rather than later).

I was a little disappointed with the team selection as well. It would have been interesting to start with Walcott after his heroics in the Capital One Cup last week, I don't understand allowing Santos to play in this game after his recent performances when we could have switched things up and let Jenkinson or Coquelin play instead and Ramsey on the wing is too defensive a move for me. The most disappointing thing is after we seemed to wake up our semi-dormant offense against West Ham, we have looked downright anemic ever since. There is too much dawdling in the middle of the park, bad passes forward, runs made right at defenders as if they will step out of the way, heavily weighted passes and an inability to put in good crosses. The team needs to wake up and reestablish some flow -- which might be helped when Gibbs and Diaby return. But with the talent we have, the only word to truly describe the game yesterday was disgraceful. Let's hope we do better against Schalke on Wednesday.