‘See Man Utd, then see Arsenal’
Firstly, my apologies for not being able to blog the last couple of games.
I was going to park my blog until after the Everton game, but there is something I cannot shake.
I don’t like to talk about Manchester United.
I dislike them more than any other club, including Tottenham. I suppose that in my lifetime, Manchester United have been significantly more relevant to Arsenal than Tottenham. I lived in North London briefly, and learned to dislike Tottenham a little more, but the comparison just isn’t there for me.
Unfortunately, more of my friends support Manchester United than any other club. So, as long as I love Arsenal, I will regularly hear about Manchester United. I wish I could run away from conversations regarding Manchester United but it is the main burden that I have to carry.
The one huge advantage to being up with what is going on at Old Trafford, is that I can write this beautiful piece.
The history of Manchester United in my lifetime has been somewhat parallel to that of Arsenal. The legacy managers, who most see as the best in the history of their club.
The guinea pig at Arsenal was Unai. Emery who seemed to fail because of his approach and communication skills. For whatever the specific reason was, he lost the dressing room.
It seems that he does extremely well with good players and good teams, but that elite players don’t jive with his methods and personality.
Manchester United have spent the post–Fergie era trying to find the right coach. They have repeatedly failed. They are currently going through their latest episode that most everybody saw coming. Carrick is not an elite coach and clearly does not understand and is not able to implement modern day tactics. He was the right man at the right time last season. He came in when the players wanted to feel some freedom and a chance to show their personality and the timing was perfect. This season they needed something different and he doesn’t seem to have the talent to adapt to the needs of a 2026–27 team.
Since I moved to America in 1999, I have worked for multiple athletic directors at High Schools as well
as youth soccer club owners.
Apart from one, they have one thing in common. They don’t understand football and don’t care to understand it. It is a threat to the core traditional American sports, yet it is becoming very popular. They essentially select the first person to raise their hand in the air when it comes to hiring a football coach.
It is what I expect now so I don’t get overly upset about it, but for many years it was entirely frustrating that those people in charge didn’t care like the players and parents.
I equate this directly to the situation at Manchester United. The fans obviously really care. The owners don’t care enough. Those running Manchester United have blown up the club because they haven’t got the skillset to understand what the club needs, yet make the decisions anyway. They just go with the latest big thing regardless of whether he is a fit. Why? Because they don’t care enough.
This is also evidenced in the massive contracts that they have given to almost all of their players who are paid 50% more than they are worth. They also expose the fact that they don’t care as they are unwilling to rip it up and start again when in fact, everybody else sees that this is what they need to do.
We’ve heard about their toxic dressing room for around a decade, and that is the foundation of everything. Yet they don’t rebuild with a foundation, they just bring in the latest thing and expect them to work magic in a situation covered in mold.
So, why do I care so much about Manchester United throwing grenades at themselves?
Because, Arsenal. It’s always Arsenal.
Manchester United’s die situation helps me see the club that I love with such clarity.
Everything at Arsenal right now isn’t perfect. There are always things for people like me to pick on. There are things that we would change. There are things that upset us. Very occasionally, there are things that are undeniably wrong.
When you look at Arsenal Football Club through the lens of Manchester United, you cannot help but feel appreciation.
Even though the ride with our owners hasn’t been smooth, there has to be credit given to them for changing course.
It seemed like Arsenal was more of an investment, a shiny toy or at best, a club that was being built slowly until the owners got full control. The super league was a huge mistake and the ‘we care, do you’ campaign was pivotal. It seems like the biggest decision in the clubs recent history came when the LA Rams won the Super Bowl and the Kroenke family caught the trophy bug.
Where Manchester United have refused to rip it up and start again, Arsenal found a coach whose plan was this exact thing.
After Max told me that Como had thrashed Manchester United I immediately thought of Arsenal. I thought of walking around Disneyworld with my family and finding out that Chelsea had beaten us 6–0. I thought of the repeated embarrassing performances against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. I thought of Unai Emery.’s Arsenal conceding over 30 shots at Vicaridge Road. I had to stop at that.
When you live in the prettiest house in the neighbourhood, there is a tendency to want to perfect your situation. Maybe a lovely boat to sit at the top of your lake lot. Perhaps the latest and greatest vehicle even though you bought the latest and greatest last year. Perhaps the only thing missing is to be finally declared as the ‘Best Halloween display in the Neighbourhood’ and you feel incomplete, even though you’ve bought the boat and the new car and your situation is as close to perfect as you’ve ever had.
My desire to write this blog was prompted by our performance in Munich.
United had just got smacked in Italy and Arsenal once again, had proven that they are undoubtedly one of the top clubs in the world. Arsenal have beaten Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester City and even Barcelona in a mad muddy friendly.
At some point, you have to park the desire to perfect your club and sit back and appreciate. If you don’t, then you will sail beyond the great times and only appreciate them when they are gone. A tragedy that many people experience as they are addicted to perfecting every situation in their life.
Nobody goes to Munich and gives them such a consistently difficult game. Apart from PSG, nobody has run around Europe in the last few years and beaten everybody like we have. Nobody has maintained their seat at the top table without corruption, major owner investment or huge debt, but Arsenal have.
Nobody can come close to winning 14 Champions League games in a row. Nobody has so many clean sheets in the top leagues. Nobody has a penalty area that is the most solid fortress in football, like ours. I occasionally have to remind myself that David Raya is the best goalkeeper in the world because he can have his cigar on his lawnchair for three games in a row as the soldiers protect the fortress.
Arsenal might not have the attack that we want and probably deserve but my appreciation for the club keeps me grounded in the reality that we could’ve signed 12 attackers on July 1st but the reason we didn’t was logical. We chased two of the best in world football and you have to give them time and the respect that they desire because unlike most of our other signings, they rightly have elite choices themselves.
Arsenal’s biggest problem right now is the inconsistency of Eze, Gyokeres and Havertz.
Manchester United’s biggest problem was declared by a caller on talkSPORT today. “Nothing will change at Manchester United whilst the Glazers are in charge and for that to happen, it would be best if Manchester United were relegated.”
Oh, and whilst we look down the hill from our pretty perfect house, we also see this lot…
Enjoy Arsenal.
We are really good.
Former Highbury regular. Moved to TN, USA in ’99. Married with 3 kids. Coached in UK and US for 27 years.
Mike McDonald Soccer Academy in Morristown TN, Olympic Development coach, Regional Premier League Champion.
No comments yet.