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Arsene Wenger names the two things that cost Arsenal against Manchester United

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Arsene Wenger is in a good position to judge an Arsenal team and he’s had some words of advice for Mikel Arteta’s men after seeing them lose to Man United.

Wenger looked on as United ran out 3-2 winners in an enthralling game at The Emirates.

The Gunners’ lead at the top has now been cut to just four points and it means we are only one more swing like this away from it just being a point difference to Man City.

What was Arsenal’s biggest problem against Man United?

A graphic to show Arsenal's statistics against Man United.
Image credit: Getty Images/Catherine Ivill – AMA

Bizarrely, Arsenal never had any control in the game after United’s first equaliser.

And according to former manager Wenger, there were two key elements missing from Arsenal’s performance.

Arsene Wenger states what Arsenal lacked in 3-2 defeat to Man United

Arsene Wenger was part of many famous battles with United over the years and he knows exactly how a game like this can be both won and lost.

Wenger was speaking on BEIN Sports for the game and was asked to look at what went wrong for Arsenal.

Bryan Mbeumo challenges William Saliba during Arsenal vs Manchester United
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

And for Wenger, he felt the goals themselves illustrated a big indicator as to how the game went.

“When you concede three goals at home, it’s difficult to win. I would say the goals scored on both sides illustrated a way that both teams played,” Wenger admitted.

“The goals of Man United were well built up, good cohesion and the goals of Arsenal were more decided by fighting and power from the corners, it was not clean play. They gave everything, Arsenal, but they lacked in the first half what I’d say is patience and technical cohesion.

“What Man United have, I think there is something going on in this United team. The way they played was very convincing and as well, when Arsenal came back to 2-2, usually it’s the home team who wins the game. But they found the resources to win the game, so I must congratulate Carrick.”

Are Arsenal in danger of repeating things yet again?

It’s important to remember that we are still only in January and there is a long way to go on all fronts.

However, that works both ways for this Arsenal team. On one hand, there is time for them to put another run together and pull clear in the title race and finally get it done.

Sum up William Saliba’s performance against Man Utd in three words

A bit of creative excellence and defensive failure…🥲

A graphic to show William Saliba's stats against Manchester United.
Credit: Getty Images/David Price/Arsenal FC

But, there is also ample time for them to throw it away yet again and make it three seasons under Arteta where they’ve been in pole position, only to crumble when it mattered.

There does appear to be a different feel about this Arsenal side but the last few weeks have shown they aren’t the finished article.

A win next time out, then, is vital.