The Ten Hag 'process' might just take as long as Arteta's

Arsenal's Granit Xhaka (on knees) is mobbed by team-mates after scoring their side's third goal of the game during the Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. Picture: John Walton/PA Wire. 

IF Erik Ten Hag is to be given time to rebuild Manchester United after the open heart surgery it requires, according to current interim manager Ralf Rangnick, the result could look something like Mikel Arteta's Arsenal. And that means at least another two or three years without challenging for the title.

Arteta has been derided to the point of ridicule for asking fans, players and critics alike to 'trust the process.' The stress has been on changing the culture of the club by banishing over-inflated egos (see Ozil and Aubameyang) in a bid to establish a spirit of unity and togetherness on and off the pitch.

One only had to look at how the Arsenal players related to each other to try to solve their problems when United were on top in this match to see how well they are bonded. United, meanwhile, could not have looked more disjointed. While Arsenal went into animated huddles, or ran to listen to Arteta's pitch-side instructions, United shrugged shoulders, waved anguished arms at each other and sulked. No wonder Jesse Lingard has been quoted as saying their 'dressing room is a disaster.'

Rangnick described it as 'normal' but maybe that shows just how fractured things are at Old Trafford if ‘a disaster’ is acceptable. It could also be why United should be patient enough to allow Ten Hag to rebuild with a long-term plan in mind.

That is not to say Arteta's Arsenal are perfect. Victory keeps them very much in the hunt for Champions League qualification, but they could just as easily have drawn or lost a match in which United had enough chances to get a result. Had Arsenal not followed their impressive midweek win at Chelsea the pressure would have been back on the Spaniard.

He has, however, seemed to have assembled a band of brothers who share in each other's success and failure in equal measure. The core of the side is either English or homegrown and they track and attack their prey in a pack. The art of modern-day pressing seems to have bypassed Rangnick's United. Arsenal did the same at Chelsea last Wednesday night and maintained the intensity at the weekend. It is what Liverpool and Manchester City have been doing consistently for years now.

Arteta knows he is a long way behind those clubs, of course, and there could have been calls for his head had he not recorded his latest two victories after a run of three defeats. But he did turn it round, the team rallied behind him and they are seemingly ahead of United in the race to catch up with the 'big two.'

The headline grabbers were first-half goalscorers Nuno Tavares and Bukayo Saka. They were joined on the Arsenal scoresheet late on by Granit Xhaka, who snuffed out any hope of a comeback after Cristiano Ronaldo's 100th Premier League goal. Bruno Fernandes, lucky not to be sent off for a foul on fellow Portuguese countryman Tavares, missed a penalty and defender Diogo Dalot hit the woodwork twice.

The unsung hero of Arsenal's win was midfielder Mo Elneny. The 'Egyptian Messi' epitomises the spirit in Arteta's Arsenal in that he works tirelessly for a manager who rarely starts him and is something of a fatherly figure to the teens and 20-somethings in the dressing room.

He excelled at Chelsea and played at the same level against United despite these being his first matches since December. He owes his chance to an injury to Thomas Partey and is out of contract in the summer, but he knows his role remains important.

He said afterwards: “This is my club for the last six years. If Arsenal say ‘we want you’ I don’t think about leaving. They are my family and I give everything to them until the last minute. It’s been a long wait for me but you have to believe. I have to train hard every day to wait for a chance.

“Mikel is close to all the players. We always talk together and he gives us confidence. He gives us the chance to play games and the most important thing is that he trusts his players and we trust the process.

“The three games we lost, if you watch them again, we dominated them all and deserved to win them. Unfortunately we lost, but the boss just said that we have to believe in what we do every day and don’t change anything because we are playing good even though we are losing. This happened and after the Chelsea game we saw that the way we believed in each other and the way we play helps us win.” 

The United camp was naturally less effusive. Midfielder Scott McTominay will have a role in the Ten Hag era as he suits the profile. He also seems to be suffering more than most from the fallout.

He said: “I've got no words to say as I'm absolutely devastated and gutted. But we won't give up. That's what we've said in the dressing room. We're playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world and everybody has to have the same mentality to play with a bit of pride and guts about our performances."

They get another chance to live up to the Scotland international's strong pledge when they host Chelsea on Thursday night.

ARSENAL: Ramsdale 7, Cedric 5 (Tomiyasu 90), White 6, Gabriel 6, Tavares 6, Elneny 6, Xhaka 7, Saka 8 (Holding 74), Odegaard 8, Smith Rowe 5 (Martinelli 64), Nketiah 6.

Subs not used: Leno, Lacazette, Pepe, Lokonga, Azeez, Swanson.

MAN UNITED: De Gea 7, Dalot 6, Lindelof 5, Varane 5, Telles 5, Matic 6 (Rashford 77), McTominay 6, Sancho 6, Fernandes 5 (Mata 84), Elanga 6 (Lingard 77), Ronaldo 6.

Subs not used: Henderson, Bailly, Jones, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Garnacho.

Referee: Craig Pawson 5