Toothless Arsenal falls 3-2 to resurgent Manchester United

Anxiety or apathy?

Arsenal entered this Manchester United match knowing that it needed a victory. Both Manchester City and Aston Villa had won in the preceding 24 hours, putting both level on 46 points—just four shy of Arsenal's tally of 50.

But from the opening kick, Arsenal didn't play like a team that wanted to win: it played like a team that didn't really want to lose, and would've taken any other result without complaint. Call it what you want—nervy, tense or just plain old indifference—but it clearly didn't work for the Gunners.

"We had a lot of giveaways, a lot of duels they won and let them run and attack us," Arsenal captain Odegaard said, via The Telegraph. "We never got into the rhythm of creating chances, creating attacks."

"We dropped the standards," Arteta agreed. "The game wasn’t in our control and then they had two magic moments. Credit to them."

Arsenal's lack of inspiration was clear throughout the second half, but it was never clearer than in the final minutes of extra time. With less than five minutes on the clock and a one-goal deficit keeping it from a draw, Arsenal still had a chance at nicking a point...but spent its time carefully playing out through its defense rather than lumping the ball into the opposition penalty area with intent. Arsenal seemed more keen on passing than pushing in the dying moments of the match.

Did Arsenal freeze up and revert to basics out of fear? Or did it genuinely have no other plan for a situation like this? Either way, it's hardly the instinct of a Premier League champion.

A tough road ahead

The club's next Premier League opponents are Leeds, Sunderland, Brentford, Spurs and Chelsea. Arsenal took 11 of a possible 15 points from those five in the first half of the season. If it isn't able to meet or better that tally, Arsenal's four-point lead at the top of the table could be gone by the end of February.

Arsenal's attack can stop the skid. If Arteta can get his deep bench of offensive playmakers working—and stop them from reverting to pointless passes in moments of need—his team will look far more like champions than they did against Manchester United.