Man Utd failed to copy Arsenal model after repeatedly playing the Arteta card

A NEW dawn could soon break out at Arsenal — who have not been champions since Tony Blair was Prime Minister

With a seven-point lead at the Premier League summit, Mikel Arteta’s men have never had a better chance of breaking their 22-year title drought.

Manchester United will be the latest team to attempt to stop the Gunners juggernaut on Sunday.

The Red Devils’ underachievement will make this their 13th season without a title — and as legendary former boss Sir Alex Ferguson recently warned, that barren run could extend to another decade

There will be plenty of people in the United boardroom asking what they can learn from the hot title favourites, who are still fighting on three other fronts, too

As co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe observed in October: “Football is not overnight.

“It’s three years. You look at Arteta. He had a miserable   first couple of years.”

Arteta certainly endured a torrid start to his Arsenal career but he is now the envy of Prem rivals after exerting his authority.

Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, two luxuries rewarded in Arsene Wenger’s final months, were seen off and not missed.

Ruben Amorim did similarly with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho.

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United’s erratic form, and the infamous summit with director of football Jason Wilcox prior to the 1-1 draw at Leeds earlier this month, prompted the Portuguese to engineer a sacking.

In the fallout over Amorim’s exit, the Red Devils insisted on calling his temporary replacement Michael Carrick ‘head coach’, while Wilcox has gone around Carrington likening his role to a ‘manager’.

Ironically for United, Arteta’s title was also changed from ‘head coach’ to ‘manager’ in 2020.

Pep Guardiola is listed as ‘manager’ at City.

Of all the coaches United have hired post-Sir Alex, Amorim was the closest in profile to Arteta… and he turned out to be the worst.

Arteta was an elegant player but also snide.

He has incorporated both skills into coaching — and Arsenal, once all style and no substance, are all about substance and little style.

The All or Nothing documentary showcased some of Arteta’s wacky team talks and methods.

He regaled the players pre-match about the night he met his wife in a nightclub, played You’ll Never Walk Alone in training ahead of a trip to Anfield and got the club photographer to deliver a team talk.

It was eccentric enough of Ratcliffe to task cycling guru Sir Dave Brailsford with effectively overseeing United’s performance.

Brailsford, who once confessed he knew little about football, lasted 18 months before quietly leaving.

United’s ambition now is so questionable, almost no one at the club can bring themselves to say they should target Champions League qualification.

Darren Fletcher has been the only one — and he uttered that after his second and last match in caretaker charge.

When Arsenal lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semis last term, Arteta claimed they had been the best team in the competition.

He was obviously wrong but it would have been a psychological lift for a squad reeling from another trophyless season.

Now they are top of the Prem, top of the Champions League, leading 3-2 going into the Carabao Cup semi-final, second leg against Chelsea and soon to host League One minnows Wigan in the FA Cup fourth round.

Arteta’s record as a manager against United signals the shift in fortunes between the two clubs.

He has suffered only two defeats — the most recent over three years ago — and recorded eight wins and three draws from 13 games.

One of the losses came in a 3-2 defeat against Carrick’s United when he took over following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking in 2021.

Glancing at his full seasons in charge, Arteta has overseen gradual, season-on-season progress.

At United, they have tried to play the Arteta card a couple of times.

When things started to unravel under Erik ten Hag in 2023-24, Arteta was privately cited as an example to justify the club’s backing.

But the Red Devils went backwards in Ten Hag’s second season.

It was salvaged by their sweetest FA Cup triumph in almost three decades but the league form was their worst in 34 years.

United also came bottom in a Champions League group featuring Copenhagen and Galatasaray.

In October, Ratcliffe vowed Amorim would get his three full years.

He did not make it three more months after he publicly took on Wilcox.

That was another false dawn…

Once they decide on a new permanent manager in the summer, it will require a man to topple Arteta, who is highly likely to be starting a title defence in August.

The latest Chosen One will certainly benefit from studying the Spaniard’s rebuilding job in North London.