Manchester United vs Arsenal: It’s time for Arsene Wenger’s Gunners to get nasty again

Flashback: Koewn taunts Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2003
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John Dillon28 February 2016

It is time for Arsene Wenger to kick a man when he is down, namely Louis van Gaal, a fellow member of the veteran managers club. It is time in fact, for them to turn back the calendar and re-ignite the spirit of what still stands as the most ferocious rivalry the Premier League has known - between the Gunners and Manchester United.

It is also time to give Olivier Giroud a rest up front and give Danny Welbeck the chance to impress once more against his former club rather than turn to Theo Walcott as the alternative striker at Old Trafford.

It was Per Mertesacker's suggestion this week that the team's problems lie at the front rather than the back, where they have lurked so often before.

If the side takes the field lacking the confidence that the goal-getters can do their job - Giroud has not scored in eight appearances - then they will surely struggle to find the belief required to maintain their title challenge in the coming, highly-critical period of three vital fixtures inside seven tough days.

There is a lot of talk about passion and spirit in football and much of it is rubbish. This though, is where mentality begins to count above all else.

Some believe this "passion" can solve every problem in the game. It can't. Talent comes first. Then calm calculation and a sense of purpose. Tactics, too.

After that, these qualities then have to be allied to heart and character. This is the magic mixture of success, particularly in English football.

The reminder of how successfully Arsenal once concocted this formula came this week, with Martin Koewn back at the Emirates in his role as a pundit. Seeing him afterwards, in the wake of the crushing defeat by Barcelona, a picture came to mind.

It was of Keown, the mighty defender, leaping around and barging into Ruud Van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford at the height of the conflict between the two clubs in 2003, as Arsenal got on course for the famous title triumph of The Invincible.

The pictures of it have a place among the club's folklore.

It wasn't pretty but the watching nation was spellbound and understood what they were seeing - the white heat of raw competiveness between two groups of the most intensely combative players English football has known.

The collisions, both physical and mental of men like Keown. Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane are embedded in the DNA of the Premier League and helped make it the globally captivating competition it is now.

Even if is not so openly hostile at the top, it's pugnacious attitudes now run through every team down the ladder, currently barring feeble Aston Villa.

It is this spirit which is required by Arsenal in the north on Sunday because they have no choice but to lift themselves instantly after the skewering of their soul by Lionel Messi last Tuesday.

Perhaps this was why Arsene Wenger was uncharacteristically critical of his side after the 2- 0 defeat. To provoke a reaction?

The alternative view is that having been defeated after performing so well against such a truly brilliant team for 70 minutes, Wenger's usual stubbornness had dissolved and he had been forced to confront seriously the idea that he will never win the biggest prize of all, the Champions League.

Whatever his motive - it could have been just sheer frustration - Arsenal have to recover their mental drive. Now, the title race becomes a battle of the mind even more than one of the body.

Manchester United vs Arsenal combined XI

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We know how good and purposeful they can be - they showed it for those 70 minutes against Messi and Co. We know they can be resilient and forceful if they wish. After all, despite the dejection created by the Barca defeat, this trip to Manchester is the sequel in the league to the dramatic defeat of the leaders, Leicester City.

The euphoria and the sense of achievement created by Welbeck' s winner that day must be part of Arsenal' s make-up in Manchester. This where the elusive but much- discussed quality of momentum must come into play.

Wenger's team have to obliterate the nagging idea that they lack the bottle and the sense of purpose to win the championship.

After United, they face Swansea and then head for one of the most important north London showdowns at Spurs for many years.

First, though, here has rarely been a better time for them to go to Old Trafford.

They haven't won there since 2006 in the league, although Welbeck scored an FA Cup winner against his former team-mates last season.

Domestically, though Van Gaal's United are in disarray; confused, uncertain and with the crowd now a critical Greek chorus rather than the committed, supportive one Wenger encountered there during the era of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Van Gaal looks like a coach who cannot get to grips with the ferocious nature of English football. At 64, it may be that his time is up.

Wenger, who is 66, is being doubted again. But he has built yet another fine team who ought to be sweeping all before them in this title race.

It is vital that they perform on Sunday in order to remind the world that their boss is so stubborn for a reason - because his beliefs are still potent and valid.

If they rewind the clock 13 years and summon up the cavorting spectre of Keown, it won't compromise any high - minded football philosophy. It will be precisely what is needed.

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