Manchester United are not broke and are certainly not short of players who can produce moments of quality.
So what exactly is wrong with them?
The uncomfortable answer is that Manchester United still look like a club trying to find out what it wants to become.
Wednesday night’s 3-2 defeat to Brighton summed it up beautifully, and painfully. United raced into a 2-0 lead inside ten minutes, only to surrender the advantage and lose at Old Trafford. It was the first time in 50 years United had lost at home after leading by two goals.
This isn’t simply about one manager, one defender or one missed chance.
It is about structure.
And Arsenal provide an interesting case study.
There was a time when Arsenal looked every bit as lost as Manchester United do now. When Mikel Arteta arrived in December 2019, Arsenal were coming out of the long Arsène Wenger era, followed by Unai Emery’s difficult tenure. The club lacked consistency, identity and, increasingly, belief.
Arteta didn’t magically fix everything.
In fact, Arsenal were sometimes dreadful.
They finished eighth in his first two full Premier League seasons. In August 2021, they lost their opening three league matches without scoring a goal, including heavy defeats to Chelsea and Manchester City. They were bottom of the table.
Imagine Manchester United doing that today. Twitter would probably need counselling.
But Arsenal had something United desperately need: a clearly defined project.
Arteta and the club gradually changed the squad. Older, expensive and unsuitable players were moved on. Younger players were given greater responsibility. Recruitment became increasingly aligned with the manager’s football.
Bukayo Saka became central. Martin Ødegaard became central. Arsenal brought in players such as Ben White, Gabriel and Aaron Ramsdale. Granit Xhaka, previously written off by many supporters, was transformed into an important part of the new midfield structure.
There was pain along the way.
Arsenal’s 2021 summer window, for example, was heavily criticised after that disastrous start. Yet technical director Edu explained that the club had deliberately recruited six players under 23 because they were building a new foundation rather than simply buying another collection of expensive names.
That distinction matters.
Arsenal weren’t just buying players. They were building a team.
Manchester United have spent heavily too, but the question remains whether every piece fits the same footballing puzzle.
The current United squad has quality. Bruno Fernandes remains influential. There are promising young players. The midfield has been rebuilt. Carrick has already shown that he can get the team playing well.
But United still appear vulnerable when matches become uncomfortable.
They can score goals. They can dominate spells. They can produce excellent performances.
What they haven’t consistently demonstrated is the ability to control football matches, protect a lead and impose themselves when the opposition starts pushing back.
That is why the Brighton defeat feels bigger than a Carabao Cup exit.
It exposes an old United problem: the team can still lose control of a match remarkably quickly.
Arsenal eventually learned how to manage those moments because the club stayed committed to a coherent rebuild. Arteta was allowed to make difficult decisions, including moving on established names who no longer fitted the project. The club accepted that rebuilding would take time.
United need something similar.
Not another glamorous reset.
Not another collection of expensive signings.
Not another manager arriving with a completely different tactical philosophy.
They need a footballing identity, recruitment strategy and squad structure that point in the same direction.
Arsenal’s transformation did not happen because they suddenly discovered a magic formula.
They were poor, they stayed the course, they made difficult decisions and gradually became better.
Manchester United now have to decide whether they are prepared to do the same.
Because the biggest problem at Old Trafford may not be that United are bad.
It may be that, after all these years, they still haven’t completely decided what good is supposed to look like.
🚨🎥Chants of “what the f***ing hell was that” from fans in the Stretford End.#MUFC pic.twitter.com/Du19SBQrFc
— Manchester United Forever (@UtdForever7) September 16, 2026
