I suppose the writing had been on the wall. Unfortunately, it looks as if Le Boss was blind to it. For once in a long long time, we could claim to have something of a first team start the game, except for one player upfront. No excuses there.
And Le Boss for once, was honest in his post-match press conference. His comments will be there for all to see, but the two most pertinent would be:
"I believe we had no cohesion defensively or offensively."
and...
"We need something special now to stay in the race, of course. I am conscious of that."
All I can say is: Exactly. Fucking exactly.
As far as the defence is concerned, I don't see why it should come as any surprise. Think Everton, where we really should have been spanked at home as well. Think Stoke in the FA Cup, and think (again at home) where we let in two pathetic goals to a pathetic Bolton. Man U at home, and really, there could not have been any other result as far as the defense was concerned.
Offensively, well - that's another story. Arshavin in the middle is worth shit, and today, his performance was worth less. Had two golden opportunities to make something of his chances within the first 20 minutes, but spurned them. It may have meant nothing in the 4-2 win over Bolton, but his failure to find the final pass really, is not something Arsenal should be associated with. So we'd known as well that offensively, we've been asking for trouble. And finally, trouble has come back and bitten us on the arse. We knew it was coming, and saw the new year and the transfer window as a no-brainer. If only we could claim that "Arsene knows".
Let's have a look at the stats. Arse shots on goal: 20. On target? 3. Man U shots on goal: 12. On target? 3. And their goals? 3. Exactly 3 from their 3 on target. Tells the tale right there, I say.
So Le Boss will claim that we need no reinforcements, and even at the press conference, he stuck to his guns. Well, so be it. Let's just concentrate on at least keeping a decent run for second then, and forget about Chelski.
It's funny. At some point last season, we could claim to have done the deed against some of the top 4. Hell, we beat the Man U at home, and Chelski away. The problem was in seeing to the so-called "lesser" teams. Well, looks like this time round, we've shown just how easily it can be to get turned over by a Man U without Ronaldo…and on this team, without anything like their best starting line-up.
Let's go to the player ratings then, why don't we:
Almunia 4 - The fact that he can continue in goal goes to show how far our ways with spending on quality have come back to screw one over on us. The first goal - let's not get overboard with the Nani plaudits. Almunia palmed it into his own net. And deep into the second half, one stupid kick nearly made it oh so painfully embarrassing.
Sagna 6 - Well, at least there was little that he could have been blamed for.
Gallas 7 - Seemed to be one of the few who at least had his game on. Tried his darnedest going forward, and together with Vermaelen, seemed our greatest hopes for a goal. What a laugh.
Vermaelen 7 - He scored. One effort, one goal. If only we could say the same of a few others.
Clichy 5 - Just how Nani managed to get through him and another for the first goal was again emblematic of the overall lack of commitment of getting into the crunch.
Song 6 - I was kinda glad to have him back, and his quality showed too. But alas, he alone could not mitigate against the overall lack of any sort of defensive cohesion.
Denilson 3 - Oh Denilson. Did he start? Hmmm. Couldn't really tell.
Cesc 6 - By his own standards, horrific, but compared to the rest, well, he was still the only source of any sort of quality.
Rosicky 6.5 - He tried. He really did, and you at least saw him a few times. Which is more than could be said of…
Nasri 5 - Did he start too?
Arsh 2 - This was on the wall too, this performance. Supremely over-confident and selfish on the ball, and prone to laziness off it.
I suppose as conclusion, I can only say that what hurts is the embarrassment. The embarrassment of having the double done over us by a Man U we know is weaker than teams of seasons past. The embarrassment of knowing that as far as starting line-ups go, we had this one for the taking. The embarrassment of knowing that just a week or so ago, we were top of the table, and people were going ape shit over our title prospects. Chelski win their game in hand midweek, and they'll be 8 points clear all over again, and we'd still have them at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Oh just how quickly 11 points can come, go and come back again.
This has happened all too often. It's nice to be able to write about crushing victories every now and then, but it's just as necessary to write about evenings like these. It helps me sleep that much better. I hope your sleep will be good too, with the knowledge that our season in the league is just about over.
Looking forward, we will have to ask just when Le Boss will stop and get real. At full strength, and at a long stretch, we might just have a team that could challenge for the top. At anything less than that, and we are woefully off the mark. Does Arsene really know? And if he doesn't, will Cesc know? And if he does, where goes our captain next season. It may not be a bad thing for him to leave - for Le Boss may just follow suit, and perhaps only then will our team go through the real revolution in approach that it so badly needs.
Man U had their 3-0 defeat to Fulham. We've had more than that this season. Shall we bounce next week?
Good night then…I shan't even before.
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