By ALAN SHEARER
ANDRE SANTOS returned to London with Robin van Persie’s shirt under his arm.
It might well be the only trophy an Arsenal player has to show for their efforts this season.
Saturday’s encounter at Old Trafford brought into sharp focus the Gunners’ decline from title winners — even challengers — to also-rans whose main target now is to finish in the top four.
Defeat marked Arsenal’s lowest points total after 10 games under Arsene Wenger.
Is he working to a plan from above or is it down to him?
What I would say is which other big club around Europe in the bracket of Manchester United, Chelsea, the Milans, Barcelona or Real Madrid would sit by and continue to employ a manager who has not won a trophy in 7½ years?
Or do Arsenal no longer put themselves in their category?
You look at this team compared to the classic Arsenal line-ups of the past and you wince at what might happen if they faced each other.
Wenger has overseen the buying and selling of the players that have brought this situation to pass.
Some players obviously run their course and it’s not as if you are going to find someone to replace the likes of Dennis Bergkamp too easily.
Yet it is the ease with which their best players have walked out the door at the height of their powers that is so worrying — and the replacements have not been up to it.
People like Van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure and, soon, Theo Walcott.
I know the Bosman ruling can often take things out of the manager’s hands but why are the players allowed to get to a point where they can use it. Of course, if the team was successful they would not be even looking at the exit door and therein we have the biggest problem.
There is nothing to suggest this Arsenal side is going to change that trend.
The DNA has gone out the side.
The strength at the back, the fight in midfield, the flair up front.
You could argue this Manchester United team does not compare with that of 1999-2001 or of 2008 that had Cristiano Ronaldo in it.
What it still has is that steel, desire and will to win.
The flair and goals have never gone away.
Yes, Alex Ferguson also had a barren spell, if you can call it that, when he went three seasons without the title between 2003 and 2007.
People were even questioning him at that stage.
But he rebuilt and produced another all-conquering team.Arsenal just seem on a continual slide to a point where they are not even considered contenders.
Saturday’s contest between themselves and Manchester United was woeful in comparison to the classic encounters of the past.
If anything, Manchester United seemed to be pulled down to Arsenal’s level as they went about their business in second gear.
Jack Wilshere’s frustration at the proceedings seemed to come out with his sending-off.
Goodness knows what Walcott was thinking, sat on the bench until the 52nd minute.
Even if there is a contract issue with the club he had to start for me.
It was all very painful for the Arsenal faithful, made worse of course by Van Persie’s goal, which makes it 10 now for him in 11 starts for his new club.
Well done to Van Persie by the way for showing some real class by refusing to celebrate his goal. If the sight of that was bad enough, what must those same Arsenal fans have thought when they later saw pictures of Santos asking for Van Persie’s shirt as they left the field at half-time.
Their former hero scores against them, now their left-back is running after him at the break to get something to remember the occasion by!
That must have been on Santos’ mind before the game even kicked off.
I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.
It would have been interesting to note the reaction had he done that for his last club, Fenerbahce, at half-time against Galatasaray for example.
He’s 29, not a young naïve lad.
He was absolutely all over the place on Saturday as were the whole Arsenal team in terms of defending.
The defending from the corner for United’s second goal was appalling as they allowed Wayne Rooney to exchange passes with Ashley Young before swinging the ball in to an unmarked Patrice Evra.
Rooney had the choice of picking out Evra or Van Persie, who was also unmarked.
It was the same with United’s penalty as Young was given too much room to put a ball in, which then hit Santi Cazorla on the arm.
Arsenal escaped in this instance as Rooney put his spot-kick wide Now the attention turns to the Champions League and the pressure is really on for Arsenal’s trip to Schalke tomorrow.
Their 2-0 home defeat to the Germans in their last group game has given Olympiakos some hope.
It seems unthinkable that Arsenal would not get out of that group, which also includes Montpellier. But this is a very different Arsenal.
