Man Utd hand Arsenal another glorious opportunity

The concept of schadenfreude is best explained as the feeling one gets when Tottenham lose a football match. It’s unbridled joy. As an Arsenal fan you almost get a similar degree of pleasure from your own team winning.

Between now and the end of the season it’s hoped there will be many more occasions where Arsenal supporters can draw immeasurable happiness from their most bitter enemies and their Premier League top four rivals dropping points.

Manchester United are not on the same level of hatred as Spurs, but they’re not far behind. At all. So when they looked beleaguered and uninterested once again on a football pitch is evokes a warming sensation. Just like Arsenal capitalised on the Red Devils’ and Spurs’ previous slip-ups with their win at Wolves, the opportunity has arisen again.

While Ralf Rangnick will prove to be a brilliant technical director/consultant etc, he hasn’t made it work on the pitch yet.

Manchester United hand Arsenal another glorious opportunity as Ralf Rangnick’s broken side drop Premier League points to Southampton

Unlike Arsenal they had a game on the weekend, a home visit of Southampton, and despite taking the lead they once again dropped crucial points in the hunt for a top four place. The aggression from all the Saints players was outstanding. They are a team who know their jobs, enjoy their jobs, and trust their manager.

Everything United don’t.

Che Adams’ second half equaliser means that Rangnick’s side sit one point above Arsenal having played two more matches. When Arsenal stumbled to a 0-0 home draw with Burnley before the break that didn’t seem like a plausible outcome less than 48 hours after Molineux.

But beyond being given a chance to put some breathing space between themselves and United for one gameweek, the signs of weakness across their team offers greater encouragement for the months ahead.

Manchester United find themselves in an Arsenal-esque rut at the minute. They’re having strong starts with rapid counter-attacks causing all manner of issues. They get themselves in front and then have an innate tendency to drop off, not score the second, and let the opposition back in. Sounds rather familiar.

They also look shattered, incapable of playing with such speed in transition for lengthy spells, and the dressing room unrest and endless rumours of players pining for pastures new, as well as being unhappy with training regimes and the coaching staff, all works together for Arsenal’s benefit.

But it’s only a bonus if Arsenal cash it in. United appear in disarray and it’s only a matter of time before the summer comes around and then go on another transfer splurge. This season is an opportunity, it doesn’t just feel like one.

Spurs will still be right in the mix just as United will still be there or there abouts, and the head-to-heads will be unbelievably crucial, but when a side littered with world class quality are as tepid and disconnected as they are, you have to pounce.

More bumps in the road will come from Arsenal’s point of view. What matters is ensuring that they’ve got themselves enough of a lead that they don’t become killer blows. Top four openings like this don’t come around too often.

Take them.