Instead he selected the ageing and immobile Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger over Morgan Schneiderlin, and the United midfield was ovverrun by the speed of Arsenal, who scored three times in the opening 19 minutes.
Advertisement
“We are in it, we are two points off the leaders, Manchester City, so I hope that result today will give us belief and ambition to fight for it”.
In stoppage-time, Arsenal substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was unfortunate not to make it 4-0 when his angled chip floated over the keeper, but hit the crossbar. The remainder of the game was mostly uneventful, as Arsenal was easily able to hang onto their lead and secure a key 3-0 victory. United had also managed to register a win in the Champions League group stages.
Having won their past four games, and entering the day at the very top of the Premier League table, no one could have envisioned Manchester United having such a awful performance.
United nearly netted just before the break, but Petr Cech, recalled in the Arsenal goal at the expense of David Ospina, made a superb block with his legs to keep out an Anthony Martial shot.
“We were good, we started strong to press to win the ball and to be quick in transition”. When you give a team like Arsenal so much space to play football, you know you shall lose.
That was Louis van Gaal’s assessment of Manchester United’s dismal performance on Sunday.
“You could see that everybody from the Copa America had a slow start, in other teams and competitions as well”. The 27-year-old goes on to say that before the game began, van Gaal’s side had one aim on their minds – that of retaining their coveted top spot in the Premier League.
“I talk about “team” and Wayne Rooney is a very important part of our team because he’s the captain”.
“It is hard for me to answer and also for the players as they are all in an emotional moment”.
“Mertesacker said: “[Sunday] was just special and then it’s always hard for your opponents to gain a foothold when they are so far behind after 15 minutes”.
Advertisement
Arsenal now face a weekend without domestic football, with many stars on worldwide duty, before several key games that are likely to shape the course of the Gunners season.
