Man Utd vs Arsenal on Monday night shows how far giants have fallen, it used to be reserved for Stoke vs Burnley
THE timing of the fixture says much about its faded status.
Manchester United versus Arsenal on the Monday of a Champions League week.
Two Thursday-night Europa League teams filling the sort of Sky TV slot which used to be reserved for something like Stoke vs Burnley, because they can.
Remember when United and Arsenal would regard Tottenham with contempt?
Well, the following night Spurs will face Bayern Munich in an elite Champions League group-stage clash - putting English football’s one-time duopoly firmly in the shadows.
Then there was the news of Arsenal holding a secret dressing-room ballot to determine Unai Emery’s five ‘captains’ - with the club not possessing one captain genuinely worthy of the position.
You certainly cannot imagine anything similar happening at either Arsenal or United during the days when Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane used to kick this fixture off in the tunnel well before the actual kick-off.
Compare and contrast the commitment levels of those two glorious maniacs with the most high-profile names in the current squads, Paul Pogba and Mesut Ozil, and you realise the decline in mentality in both dressing-rooms.
Unai Emery instigated this ‘five captain’ policy when he arrived last year - and it’s certainly true that continental coaches are often bemused by English football’s obsession with a role deemed largely ceremonial in most nations.
Fabio Capello used to scoff at it all - only for the FA’s decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy to end up causing the Italian’s resignation.
Captaincy, and on-field ‘leadership’, does matter. In the intensity of English football more so than elsewhere.
Arsenal should be travelling north with genuine hope of a first Premier League victory at Old Trafford in THIRTEEN years - especially with United likely to be without any fit senior striker.
Despite a substantially lower spend, the North London side probably have a better chance than United of breaking back into the Champions League.
Arsenal may not have a superior squad to United but they certainly boast the proper goalscorer, in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and the X-factor creator in Real Madrid loanee Dani Ceballos, which United lack.
What Emery does not possess is a scruff-of-the-neck player capable of shaking Arsenal out of a malaise such as that which afflicted them during the 2-2 draw at rock-bottom Watford - a shocking performance which led to serious concerns about the manager’s future.
Granit Xhaka is the man Emery has seemingly chosen to wear the armband but he was booed by his own fans during last weekend’s comeback win over Aston Villa.
Either Emery is oblivious to the strength of feeling against Xhaka or he is being deliberately antagonistic or too heavily swayed by dressing-room opinion.
The Swiss midfielder is error-strewn - giving away too many needless fouls and frequently losing possession.
Xhaka is part of the problem, not the solution, when it comes to Arsenal’s leadership void, and many Gooners would prefer he wasn’t even in the team.
Lucas Torreira, the spirited Uruguayan who seemed to embody a new more resilient Arsenal early last season, has been largely restricted to the subs’ bench since.
Although Torreira’s dynamic box-to-box performance in the 3-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt suggested Arsenal would be better off with him starting Premier League games.
After the summer departures of Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey and Petr Cech, Arsenal needed to recruit a truly dominant character - ideally at centre-half.
Instead, the curious decision was made to snap up David Luiz - talented, experienced and with a fine CV, but horribly susceptible to daydreaming brain-fades.
It has been a curious couple of weeks for Arsenal since that gutless display at Vicarage Road - three victories in three different competitions, plenty of hope for the future but no greater clarity in the here and now.
The mix-and-match Cup teams have looked more impressive than the first team, with teenagers Gabriel Martinelli and Bakayo Saka particularly impressive against Nottingham Forest and Eintracht respectively.
And the return of Rob Holding after a long-term injury could see the Englishman establish himself as first choice for club and even country, given Gareth Southgate’s problems at centre-back.
Perhaps Holding may even be Arsenal’s captain and leader in the long-term.
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But for now this is a difficult team to quantify - very talented in parts, sadly lacking in others, always vulnerable to zoning out.
They are certainly a team in need of a statement result like a victory at Old Trafford.
A result which would indicate that they are done with being a Monday night warm-up act on a Champions League week.
