Opinion: Arsenal Criticism After United Win Is Over The Top

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·19. August 2025

Opinion: Arsenal Criticism After United Win Is Over The Top

I am the first to highlight when Arsenal have not played well and have my doubts Mikel Arteta can make the changes to his principles to get us over the line in a title race. Yet is it me or has there been an overreaction towards a team who went to Old Trafford on the opening weekend and travelled back to London with three points?

We have received more criticism than some of our peers who failed to win. I can recall previous versions of the Gunners who lost at the Theatre of Dreams and did not get the scrutiny the class of 2025 are getting. It is even coming from our own fanbase. Of course it might be YouTubers thinking negativity will get them more clicks but sadly it highlights the arrogance some Gooners have.

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Despite 22 years since lifting the Premiership and not really challenging Liverpool last season, some supporters think we are better than we are. In reality we are not a good enough team to be turning our noses up at a narrow victory on the red side of Manchester.

As our manager pointed out, before he returned to the club our record was terrible in this fixture. Sunday was only our sixth ever Premier League triumph at this ground. All have been by the scoreline of 1-0.

United are no longer giants, but context matters

Of course for the majority of the Premiership era Manchester United were a giant in contention to be champions. At the moment they are a long way from those heights. While you should not worry about reputation and should focus on the reality of what is in front of you, some are viewing this as the runners-up of the league having to hang on against the team who finished 16th in the division last season.

Yet I did not hear that same energy last week. Since the calendar was released I kept hearing how we had a difficult start, how a banana skin was waiting for us, how you would have preferred this trip in a few months’ time.

The likes of Gary Neville had predicted a home win. The pundit, like many, correctly forecast that unlike recent visits there would be hope and enthusiasm in the stands, motivated by a new attack, meaning the fans would stick by the team until the last second. Like Spurs, most are aware that Rubin Amorim had a freak season last campaign and it is unlikely you will ever see them so low in the table again.

They also did not have Sesko, Muembo and Cunha to select. That is approximately £200 million worth of talent to call upon. So I would suggest anyone viewing United under the guise of being the 16th best team in England are not being genuine.

As part of Sky’s coverage, Roy Keane seemed stunned and baffled by how much praise his former team were getting for a defeat and that Arsenal were being questioned for only winning with the one goal.

Martin Zubimendi (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Winning is all that matters

As a once proud captain of one of the biggest institutions in the world, no doubt the former midfielder felt this was patronising to the club he so proudly led. He was in a dressing room that demanded standards from anyone who wore the shirt. Here he was at 54 listening to players pat themselves on the back because they were competitive.

The Irishman was also a winner. Having won every major domestic honour in the game, he was educated that winning is all that matters. Like any sportsperson it is not how you win but if you win.

This was a man who went to war with the likes of Tony Adams and Vieira at a time when both squads believed they were better and would do anything to get the better of each other. Do you think he cared in 1999 that his rivals were unlucky to lose at Villa Park in that famous Cup semi-final? Likewise, do you think our dressing room cared in 2005 when we lifted the Cup after being outplayed in Cardiff?

There is actually an art form to not being at your best but finding a way to win. While you cannot do that every week it is sad more do not celebrate the skill set. It takes team spirit, courage and bravery to do what we did.

Ironically previous Arsenal teams would not have been able to grind out that result. We would have passed around the ball, dominated possession and then been called naive for being too open. It became clear very early on in the match it was going to be a scrap. So we rolled up our sleeves and battled.

We did that at a traditional venue where we struggle. If you cannot enjoy that, you will not enjoy much else this year.

Are you happy that we won on Sunday?

Dan Smith

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