Arsenal and Man Utd End Hopes of Top Four Finish after Draws

Man United and Arsenal both dropped the ball finishing their respective games in a draw, and the resulted could not have been worse as it results in each failing in their hopes of making the top four. Instead, it breathed life into Tottenham and Chelsea, and it came down to superior goal difference.

The impact of Arsenal’s draw to Brighton saw several of its key players sitting in a slump and Man Utd’s failure to beat Huddersfield means they will not qualify for the Champions League. The 1-1 draw for Arsenal means that will finish in fifth behind Tottenham.

The fact that neither Man United nor Arsenal have won their last four games has not helped matters. What is worse is they failed to take advantage of Tottenham and Chelsea’s own poor performance and instead fell further behind in the race for the top four.

Gary Neville, a pundit with Sky Sports, was not at all impressed with the disheartening display at Huddersfield. Commenting, Neville stated,

“There’s nothing I like about this United team at all. It’s just awful. Look at them. They’re the most despondent group of people.”

In an interview with Sky Sports, Alan Smith commented on the draw with Brighton stating,

“Fifth or sixth for this Arsenal team is about right. If they had finished in the top four, it would have been over-achievement.”

However, not all is lost for Arsenal is they manage to be successful in the Europa League as it will qualify them for next year’s Champions League. Isaac Mbenza scored the tying goal for the Terriers’ 60 minutes into the match. It was their tenth at home game of the season, and Man United’s uninspiring efforts did little to help them out of their current four game loss slump.

Gary Neville continued with his feelings towards United saying there is little he likes about his former team at the moment. Adding to this, Neville stated,

“It’s just awful. Look at them. They’re the most despondent group of people. This isn’t a team at all. It’d be nice if the club got an experienced sporting director to help him, but the shambles of that recruitment reported in the press this week hasn’t helped.”

While Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would not comment on plans pertaining to the team over the summer, he did mention that some have played their last games for the club and suggested that one of those leaving will be Alexis Sanchez. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did feel the team played well however they were not good enough for the full match. Commenting, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said,

“There’s always a chance it’s a last time but I wouldn’t say that about any individual now, I don’t think that’s fair. Every performance makes an impact on who you want to keep and who you want to let go. That’s easy enough to answer. Let’s see how bad his [Sanchez’s] injury is for now. Every player is always playing for their place in the team.”

Unai Emery, coach for Arsenal, commented in post-match media interviews that he was also unsatisfied and that he feels they need new players and energy to be infused into the team in order to change the performance.