Arsenal: You’re either optimistic about United, or you’re wrong

Arsenal are going to need to regroup to pull three points against Manchester United, but if you aren’t optimistic about our odds, then get out of town.

Arsenal lost to Rennes, and that sucks. But the worst part about that loss was the unavoidable situation we are now in, where there are fans – actual fans – that think that, since we lost to Rennes, we are going to be steamrolled by Manchester United.

After all, United are coming off a rousing second leg against PSG to overturn a 2-0 loss in the first leg, so obviously they have so much more confidence and skill than we do, right? I mean, that’s how it works.

But this is ridiculous. I can’t believe the number of “fans” that have written off our chances of winning at home against a team that has been below us for almost the entire season, when a win can put us in front of them for the rest of the season (ideally).

If you want any further proof that what happened in the midweek fixture doesn’t matter, look at Tottenham. God bless hapless Tottenham and their gift that keeps on giving. They just dumped Borussia Dortmund out of the Champions League and they come out and lose to Southampton.

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We beat Southampton. But please, tell me more about how momentum and confidence carries over from European competition.

It doesn’t happen like that. And just because United are in a good run of form doesn’t mean they are suddenly head and shoulders above us.

Not least of because, as I covered in a post yesterday, Unai Emery is not a “ride that wave” kind of manager. He approaches each match in isolation without hardly a thing carrying over from a previous fixture, whether it was a resounding win or a flatline loss.

It’s caused fans a lot of frustration, as you can find numerous complaints every time Arsenal release their starting XI. Complaints along the lines of, “why we always got to be changing things?”

Against Tottenham, we saw why. Against United, we will see why. That’s part of what makes Emery so special – each match is a new adventure and the results could go anywhere. Thankfully, more times than not he has nailed them and it’s getting to be a bit more frequent in recent weeks.

So stuff your sorrows in a sack. This match is right where we want it to be.