Arsenal are proving Wayne Rooney right after ridiculous Man United comparison
Theo Walcott tried to compare this Arsenal team to one of the best in Man Utd history and now it is starting to look foolish.
Manchester United celebrate winning the 2008 Champions League final
It’s not been a good couple of weeks for anyone keen to back Theo Walcott’s idea that this Arsenal side could give the Manchester United vintage of 2007/08 a run for their money. Tamely beaten in the Carabao Cup final and knocked out of the FA Cup by a team from the Championship, a potential quadruple has now shrunk to a double, but the pressure is mounting at the Emirates.
It was back in January when Walcott asked Wayne Rooney how the United of 2008 – which Walcott said was the best team he played against – would compare to this Arsenal team, which, until a couple of weeks ago, had only lost three games all season.
“We’d batter them,” was Rooney’s blunt response. Walcott looked taken aback, leading Rooney to add: “I think we would. I have to be honest.”
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That idea has gathered traction recently. The Arsenal of 2026 are a product of their environment: a physical, set-piece-dominant team, grinding out results in a league that has become all about those traits. But when those weapons fail, they look less than the sum of their parts in open play.
The United of 2008 played with swagger, led by a front three of Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 79 goals between them in all competitions. Arsenal have just two players in double figures this season so far, with Viktor Gyokeres on 17 and Gabriel Martinelli on 11.
It wasn’t just about that front three, however. United had Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in the centre of defence, and midfield combinations of Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves. They ticked almost every box, and many shrewd judges would mark them down as Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest ever team. It is between them and the 1999 treble winners.
Between 2006/07 and 2008/09, United won three successive Premier League titles and one Champions League title, but they reached the Champions League semi-finals and the final in that period. They were among the best in Europe and one of the best teams the Premier League has ever seen.
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It is clear that Arsenal can’t hold a candle to them at the moment. Mikel Arteta’s side should still win the Premier League, though given their reputation for collapsing under pressure and their last two results, that now feels far from certain. They should also beat Sporting in the Champions League quarter-finals.
But they have to do much, much more to be compared with the United of 2008. They need to play with more ambition for a start. That United team is remembered fondly for the football they played. Even if Arsenal win the title this season, nobody will remember them in 15 years’ time.
If there is a regret for Rooney and his Old Trafford teammates in 2008, it’s that they didn’t win the treble. They were stunned in the FA Cup quarter-finals as well, beaten by an underdog from the south coast, in Portsmouth. At least that’s one thing they have in common with this Arsenal side.
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