Premier League: Manchester United, having rediscovered their character, face a fragile Arsenal still searching for identity

The old Manchester United, miracle makers since ’99, have returned. The old Arsenal, perennial chokers since 2006, are also back. A gentle wave of _deja vu_s rolled across the fields of Europe this week. There was the brilliant resurgence of a young Ajax, who outshone Real Madrid, and their victory was met by universal wonder. They united football’s populace, which is so often split across tribal lines.

That tribalism and hysteria, very modish in the contemporary game and magnified on social media, resurfaced as Manchester United won — or stole, depending on one’s point of view — the Champions League round of 16 tie against a star-studded, but spineless, Paris Saint-Germain. They reduced PSG to a parody, with a cussing Neymar on the touchline, a mirror of the club’s anguish and misery in the face of Manchester United’s re-enactment of Torino ’99.

(Arsenal will take on Manchester United at 10.00 pm on Sunday. The match will be broadcast live on Star Sports Select 1, Star Sports Select 1 HD and streamed by Hotstar.)

Further south a 3-1 scoreline suggested Rennes, a mid-table club in the French Ligue 1, bamboozled Arsenal in the Europa League, but that simply was untrue. Once more, in a deficient 90 minutes, Arsenal’s penchant for self-destruction materialised. Even in the Unai Emery era it seems that the London club always finds a way to implode. The Basque coach was partially the culprit as well, removing Arsenal’s attacking force to reinforce his defence. That strategy backfired: Rennes easily unpicked Emery’s double defensive girdle.

From wonder, the reactions went to frenzy and irrationality over Manchester United’s triumph and resignation and frustration about Arsenal’s capitulation. The vox populi and the English media minimised the flaws in VAR and demanded that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be named the permanent manager at Manchester United. The Reds were proclaimed the comeback kings and the coach lauded — ‘even when Solskjaer got it wrong, he got it right.’ Arsenal’s defeat scarcely elucidated a postmortem.

The hysteria and the fallout formed a kaleidoscope of Manchester United’s and Arsenal’s recent condition ahead of their encounter on Sunday in the Premier League. In the north, Solskjaer has become King Midas. With fourteen wins, two draws and just one defeat — ultimately an insignificant loss in the first leg against PSG — he boasts an almost impeccable record, but Manchester United’s renaissance under the Norwegian cannot be explained by merely perusing statistics and digging up metrics. Solskjaer has restored the club’s lustrous cachet, one that had been fading after the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.

In a matter of months, everything about United has become sexy again. There is a purpose to the team, with the staff, players and fans aligned in harmony. They play the attacking football their fans had longed for during the Jose Mourinho era when the Portuguese’s personality weighed down Old Trafford and his negativity metastasised in the entire fabric of the club. Since 18 December and Solskjaer’s appointment, there has been a buzz around United.

In the FA Cup, Solskjaer’s team easily dispatched Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium in January. In the dug-out the Norwegian was chewing gum, like Sir Alex Ferguson. His team played expeditious football, just like the Manchester United of old. They absorbed the pressure when required and countered with pace and precision. In the heart of defence, Victor Lindelof excelled, Paul Pogba dominated the midfield and Solskjaer’s transformative qualities were in evidence in all sectors of United’s team.

And Arsenal? They buckled as they would do against Rennes, the manner of submission ever-worrying, not for the mere elimination in the domestic cup or complicating Europa League progress but for the repetition of conspicuous downfalls. Since the summer, Arsenal have veered between the sublime, on rare occasions, and, mostly, the pedestrian when, as against Rennes, they have failed to execute Emery’s philosophy of pressing to regain possession and speeding forward with quick passes and interchanges. They seem as brittle as under Arsene Wenger. Where is the spine and the identity of this Emery-led team? Is it concealed in the details that the Basque is so obsessed with or in the larger development of the team, struggling to adjust to a new coach in a new era in north London?

United’s 1-3 victory in the FA Cup was achieved with an aplomb that they hadn’t shown in a long time and it was almost a celebration of all that the Manchester club once stood for — the speed, the confidence, the attacking and the goal-scoring prowess. They had rediscovered their identity whereas Arsenal were searching for one. Since then, little has changed. A win for United on Sunday would confirm that narrative, cement Manchester United’s quest for a Champions League ticket and, yes, bolster Solskjaer’s long-term fortunes at Old Trafford.