Pitch Points: Which Arsenal narrative will prevail, and how has Carrick reset Man United? | OneFootball

Are Arsenal really bottling the Premier League title race?

One narrative has been set: Arsenal are bottling it. Last weekend’s home loss to Manchester United confirmed what the Gunners’ biggest doubters always suspected: that Mikel Arteta and his players don’t have it in them to win the Premier League title. Arsenal’s haters already started their victory lap.

Counter to this narrative is the fact Arsenal still hold a four-point advantage at the top of the table. The Gunners remain title favourites over a Manchester City team that has won just one of their last five league games and an Aston Villa outfit drastically outperforming their underlying numbers.

Past traumas are possibly affecting Arsenal. Arteta’s team held an eight-point lead over City after 29 games of the 2022-23 season only to capitulate during the run-in. While the Gunners undoubtedly have made serious progress these last few years, they have yet to prove they can get over the line when it matters most. The nervousness from players and fans on Sunday was almost tangible.

Aside from that, most of history is still on Arsenal’s side. Of the 20 teams to have been four points or more ahead at this stage of a Premier League season, all but four have gone on to clinch the championship. No team have ever blown a seven-point advantage after 22 games, as Arsenal held before losing to Manchester United.

Maybe all this is setting up Arsenal for a bottle job of historic proportions, but a favourable run of upcoming fixtures against Leeds United, Sunderland and Brentford before a north London derby meeting with Tottenham Hotspur should do something to settle them down. The growing narrative that this is the start of a complete collapse still looks to be premature.

What has Michael Carrick unlocked in Manchester United?

It’s worth remembering that Manchester United have still only played two games under Michael Carrick as interim manager before jumping to any conclusions about the 44-year-old’s suitability for the permanent position. But what a two games they were. Back-to-back victories over Manchester City and Arsenal have dramatically shifted the vibe at Old Trafford.

Sunday’s win in north London was proof of what Carrick has unlocked in his players. Under Ruben Amorim, United were too often confusing in their approach. They were limited in the attack and incoherent in other areas of the pitch. Since the Portuguese’s explosive exit, though, there has been clarity. The handbrake has been taken off and Manchester United are enjoying their soccer again.

There’s some smart tactical stuff going on too. Carrick is creating overloads by keeping his full backs wide and pushing his wingers inside. United’s possession sequences are sharper. Quicker. This was most apparent in the sequence for Patrick Dorgu’s goal against Arsenal, but it was also part of how space opened up for Matheus Cunha to decide the game late on. There is more connective tissue in Carrick’s Manchester United team than there ever was under Amorim.

Carrick’s two games have featured tactical match-ups that have suited United; He was able to set up his team to play on the break against Arsenal and City. The task will be very different when United face the likes of Fulham, West Ham and Crystal Palace. In these games, Carrick’s team will have to show they can break down a low block, something that was an issue under Amorim. This far, though, Carrick has found the answers to questions that stumped his predecessor.

Will Trinity Rodman’s new contract do anything to stop the NWSL exodus?

Trinity Rodman is staying in the NWSL and the Guardian played its part. Whether this publication should have played its part is another matter, but the Guardian’s Top 100 football players in the world rankings are part of the new “High Impact Player (HIP) Rule” created to make Rodman one of the highest-paid women’s soccer players in the world. You’re welcome.

While the “Rodman Rule” is contrived, it gave the Washington Spirit the mechanism to last week hand their star player a new three-year deal worth $6m. What role, however, will it play in stopping the exodus of talent from the NWSL to Europe? That will be the true measure of its effectiveness.

As thoroughly as Washington has splashed the cash to re-sign Rodman, only one of the five most expensive signings in women’s soccer history belongs to a NWSL team (Lizbeth Ovalle to Orlando Pride for $1.5m, in the No 1 spot). Notably, two of the others on the list have featured NWSL players exiting the league (Naomi Girma and Alyssa Thompson, both to Chelsea). When the game’s biggest stars become available, money from England, France and Spain has spoken loudest recently.

The gravity of Rodman’s situation was illustrated by the sight of the word “unattached” next to the 23-year-old’s name on the US women’s national team’s January roster. “That was when it hit me,” said Spirit owner Michele Kang. “I’m like, ‘Oh, my god, this can’t happen.’” And it didn’t happen. Rodman scored in the US’s 6-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday and again in their 5-0 win over Chile on Tuesday as a Washington player. Kang, and the NWSL, can exhale, but the fight to keep (and attract) other star players has only just begun.

Header image: [Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters]