Arsenal: Rennes has absolutely nothing to do with Manchester United

Arsenal have to put the loss to Rennes behind them to face Manchester United, but you’re daft if you think that’s not something they can do.

Arsenal failed at Rennes for two big reasons – Sokratis had a complete mental fallout with his early red card, and Unai Emery didn’t quite nail the tactics to cope with the loss. That was it. We still get a chance to make up for it, and surely it wasn’t a fun match to watch, but that’s it.

This loss has absolutely nothing to do with United. I’m tired of seeing all the people out there saying that because we lost to Rennes, we therefore had no chance against United. Has no one been paying attention all year?

Think about it. After we beat BATE Borisov in the return leg at the Emirates, so many people thought that the Gunners had uncovered a winning formula. So much so that they were livid when Unai Emery went changing things up against Tottenham. Tactically and personnel-wise, the North London Derby was nothing like the second leg in the Europa League Round of 32.

And yet this club came out with a vicious tenacity against Spurs and deserved the full pointage at Wembley, despite the fact that Emery changed so much from the resounding victory over Borisov.

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That’s because Emery approaches each match in isolation. Each opponent brings fresh challenges, fresh things to consider and a whole new perspective. It didn’t matter how that game against Borisov went, because the approach to Tottenham was going to be unique, isolated and different.

That’s true for United too. There is no way that what we saw against Rennes is repeated against United because that isn’t how Unai Emery works. He doesn’t pick a plan and use it until it stops working. That was a very Arsene Wenger thing.

Emery, if anything, micromanages each match down to a tee, choosing his best options based on that game in particular and not based on what happened recently. He may be influenced in the smallest bit by who is in good form, but only pertaining to strict positional battles between very similar players.

Other than that, it’s all a unique decision making process.

Meaning that all these doomsday sayers are absolutely wrong and, as usual, overreacting. Either for attention or because they’re miserable fans who can’t get a grip on modern times. We’re going to go toe-to-toe with United. Bet on it.