Arsenal is unbeaten in six at home to Man United but Ruben Amorim left the victor on his one and only visit to the Emirates Stadium.
Long before a truce was called and back when Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger rubbed against each other like sandpaper, Wenger revelled in Arsenal’s maiden win over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.
Thierry Henry’s headed winner in January 2007 marked the first added-time winner United had conceded in the Premier League era. There would not be a second until 2019.
Wenger suggested United had tired. Ferguson fumed at that analysis, labelling Wenger “petty. It’s a load of nonsense. We were all gutted to lose at Arsenal and all disappointed. But to criticise our stamina is absolute nonsense.
“I am not sure what he is doing or why he has done it. I think he is just trying to make himself look great again, you know. It is all ‘Look at me, I am the great Arsene Wenger’.”
Ruben Amorim’s United head to the 18-year-old stadium amid more questions over their running. This time from their own head coach. Amorim mentioned United players’ dubious work rate unprompted at his first two pre-match press conferences.
Mikel Arteta was seen as a blueprint for United to follow under Erik ten Hag: things having to get worse before they get better, patient recruitment and climbing the Premier League ladder to become a serious side again.
Ten Hag passed the point of no return to make United a credible force again a year before he cleared his desk at Carrington. In his first encounters with Arsenal, United won at Old Trafford and arrived in north London in January 2023 six points behind the leaders. That was the closest they ever came to earning the status of title challengers.
“I think he’s done an amazing job,” Amorim said of Arteta. “Sometimes the coaches that are just judged about the titles, but what he has been doing in Arsenal I think is amazing. It transformed the team.
“He bought some youngsters that now are the big talents in this country. I hope to have the same mindset that he had in the difficult moments because I followed the Premier League for a long time. I think it’s a very good characteristic in Mikel, so I think he did a great job.”
Arteta survived an eighth-placed finish in the 2020-21 season (somewhat misleading as the majority of matches were played behind closed doors) and three opening league defeats the following season by an aggregate score of 9-0. Arsenal rallied but still finished below Tottenham and failed to qualify for the Champions League for the sixth season running. A repeat at United would be unimaginable and unsurvivable.
Amorim already knows United are incomparable with other clubs. “That is also always important for a coach to have that confidence,” Amorim acknowledged, “but we have to acknowledge that Manchester United is a little bit different. All the attention that you guys put in here, all the time.
“So I know that sometimes is not possible to have all that time. So we will try to manage that and try to do things a little bit more fast knowing that here is a massive attention and massive judgement every day.”
So is he surprised by how big the United job is? “A little bit, because you don’t know how life is in this kind of club. So it’s always a surprise. I think I can manage that, but you have to do so much more than coach the team.
“So you improve and other things in yourself as a coach, you have to manage the time in a different way. You have less time to prepare the games, not just because you are playing after two days, but also because you have a lot to do. I can say I was a little bit surprised, but at the same time I was expecting something different.”
Arsenal won away at Amorim’s former club Sporting and West Ham United last week by five-goal hauls. Amorim has already triumphed over Arteta’s Arsenal in the Europa League round-of-16 two seasons ago with Sporting, surviving a late Manuel Ugarte red card to progress via a penalty shootout.
United’s central defensive department is not as depleted as last week, with Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro available, though Lisandro Martinez is suspended. Kobbie Mainoo is as well, which could ensure a recall for Ugarte.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their past six games at home to United, winless in ten away games against the old ‘big six’ teams. The days of Cristiano Ronaldo’s and Wayne Rooney’s coruscating counter attacks at Arsenal’s post-Highbury home are distant.
United did fortuitously beat Arsenal with a back three system in November 2014 under Louis van Gaal. The line-up that night included Luke Shaw, albeit he lasted 16 minutes before breaking down. Shaw is in line for a return to the starting XI tonight at centre back.
As formidable as Arsenal are, Amorim has identified weaknesses. “I already knew it, Arsenal this year, they play a little bit different,” he explained. “They are more fluid. Two years ago when we faced them with Sporting, you knew how to press because you can understand better the structure.
“Now it’s more fluid with (Riccardo) Calafiori and (Jurrien) Timber in different sides. One coming inside, the other going outside, also (Martin) Odegaard changed the team and you can feel it during the season.
“So you can take something from that game, especially because I know the opponent so well. So you can understand the weakness of that team. But every game is different, so you take something, but you already know that you are going to face a very good team.”
Stamina will be key. United have lost at Arsenal to 89th minute and 96th minute goals under Ten Hag.
