Manchester United Show Weakness In Stalemate Draw Against Arsenal

While Manchester United’s form has been on the rise since October, their record against the traditional ‘big six’ has been an area of considerable weakness.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done a stellar job this season so far in propelling the Red Devils up the Premier League
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table, but there is certainly an area of improvement needed in the crunch matches.

Having played six of those matches already, Solskjaer finds his team having drawn four and losing two of them, with not one resulting in three points. It is a bitterly disappointing record and not one to suggest that Manchester United can truly challenge their across-town neighbours for the title.

Against Arsenal on Saturday evening, Manchester United had a number of chances to win the game, but failed in all of them. The theme throughout the game was rather stagnant, with no team wanting to go all out to take home the three points.

For a fairly depleted Gunners side, Mikel Arteta will be content with their performance and to remain unbeaten in 2021 in the Premier League. For Solskjaer, however, it is yet another missed opportunity – just as it was against Liverpool and Sheffield United – to stake their claim at the top of the table.

The Red Devils have seemingly fallen into a slumber domestically and need to be awoken from it quickly. Their overall play has been largely lethargic, with not enough movement in and around the box.

Which begs the question as to why Donny van de Beek did not feature at all at the Emirates Stadium. A player who is known to work well in between the lines and has grown up on Ajax’s intricate attacking play that can unlock defences in a split second.

With a £40 million investment laid out for van de Beek, Solskjaer’s refusal to use him at times has been peculiar, especially when searching for an all important goal.

Perhaps a genuinely title challenge into the last remaining games is a step too far for this Manchester United side, with Pep Guardiola’s City looking like it is theirs to lose.

But the Red Devils have to remain focussed and awake from this slump or the teams just below them are going to overtake at an alarming rate. Three disappointing performances cannot undo the hard work to get in this position.

More signings and investment is clearly needed in certain areas, but Solskjaer has to find a way to overcome this obstacle of not winning the crunch matches in the Premier League.