*Arsenal fans look away now.*
On this very day in 2011, Man United slapped Arsenal silly and were comprehensive 8-2 winners at Old Trafford.
Seven years ago, wow! Time really does fly when both your clubs are declining rapidly.
The Barclays wouldn’t be the bloody Barclays if it didn’t produce sh*thouse results like this every so often.
This scoreline is just about as memorable as they come.
As an Arsenal fan, this still hurts me.
I can feel my blood boiling more and more with every picture I see of Andrey Arshavin attempting to track Nani.
I think it helps to talk about it though, it’s therapeutic in a way.
In the interests of fully exorcising those Old Trafford demons, let’s have a good old reminisce.
Here are eight things that you’ve definitely forgotten about that infamous day…
1 Arsenal’s starting eleven had a higher average age than United’s
Following the humiliation, much was made of Arsenal’s youthful side being left high and dry.
Sympathetic pundits sided with the Gunners players, declaring that they had been sent to the slaughterhouse by Arsene Wenger.
With an average age of 23.6 years, there’s no denying that Arsenal’s side wasn’t exactly jam-packed full of experience.
It must be said however that neither was United’s, with their team boasting a younger average age of 23.1.
A lighter read for Arsenal fans:
Carl Jenkinson is the Premier League survival expert who we can’t help but respect
2 Ashley Young turned into Messi and Ronaldo combined
Young had just made the £20million move to Old Trafford and his performance on the day made him an immediate contender for the Ballon Do’r.
The former Aston Villa man tore Arsenal apart, scoring twice and also chipping in with two assists.
Rumours have it that Johan Djourou still has nightmares of Young cutting in on his right.
Look at him now, eating bird sh*t for a living.
3 Carl Jenkinson and Theo Walcott almost had a scrap at 0-0
With the sides still level at 0-0, Walcott attempted to give an inexperienced Jenkinson some advice on the pitch.
The defender, who was making his debut for the Gunners, was letting Young cut inside far too often.
If only he would have listened instead of telling his teammate to “fack off.”
Jenkinson is clearly not one for constructive criticism. This would explain his career path then.
4 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came onto make his debut at 3-1 down
What do you do when you’re 3-1 down and perilously up against it away from home?
Chuck an 18-year-old on the pitch for his debut, of course.
Having clearly lost the plot by this point, Wenger turned to Chamberlain to make the difference at Old Trafford.
Unsurprisingly, the youngster failed to make any sort of impact.
No doubt this just gave him unhappy memories of his Premier League debut.
And Arsenal fans wonder why he left.
5 Armand Traore was pictured laughing at full-time and was sold the next day
Traore was visibly unmoved despite the fact he was part of a defence that had just shipped eight goals.
The Frenchman could be seen smirking to himself as he walked off the pitch at full-time. Sh*thouse behaviour.
Traore even admitted after the humiliation that he shouldn’t have been on the pitch.
The ‘defender’ revealed how he was injured and even asked to be subbed at half-time, but was made to continue by the physio.
The Frenchman joined QPR just 24-hours later. Classic.
6 Wenger subbed Robin van Persie for Marouane Chamakh
Wenger made a few fairly questionable decisions throughout his 22-years as Arsenal manager. This one has to be right up there.
With the scoreline making for unfortunate reading at 7-2, the Frenchman turned to his bench for some inspiration.
Sat there staring back at him was a snood wearing Moroccan, the obvious replacement for Van Persie.
The Dutchman only went onto score the 37 goals that season and win Player of the Year, no biggie.
7 Tom Cleverley bossed the midfield battle
Alongside Anderson, Cleverley formed part of a formidable midfield duo on the day.
The youngster was one of the star performers for United, despite not getting himself on the scoresheet.
Everyone was heralding Cleverley as the saviour of English football after this.
There’s still time.
8 The result forced Wenger to spend a lot of money horrendously
Peak banter era Arsenal players, doing peak banter era things.
READ MORE FROM THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF DREAM TEAM:
- How a measly £10million could have prevented Man United’s Old Trafford humiliation
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- Pietro Pellegri is the perfect replacement for Kylian Mbappe at Monaco
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