Would Man Utd 2008 really ‘batter’ Arsenal 2026?

Theo Walcott might have known what he had said when the words finally came out of his mouth.

When Walcott made the question of whether the 2008 Manchester United team could “compete” with the current Arsenal side, Walcott made an apparent question to Wayne Rooney.

Rooney nods off when asked how they compare.

United’s all-time top goalscorer remarked, “Yeah, we’d batter them.”

Given that he was a member of the United team, you would expect him to say that, of course.

Walcott did, in fairness, claim that the United side of ’08 was “probably the best team I’ve ever played against.”

Rooney and Walcott worked as experts on Arsenal’s 3-1 Champions League victory over Inter Milan.

The result maintained the Gunners’ 100% record in the league phase. In the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, they are seven points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table.

An unprecedented quadruple is still alive and new with a home time against League Out outfit Wigan Athletic in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

A suitable replacement for Peter Schmeichel was seven years old for United.

With Edwin van der Sar, they discovered a capable and capable goalkeeper with the same commanding presence.

By the time the 2008 Champions League final took place, Van der Sar was 37.

You might assume that the Dutch international had reached the end of his professional career. He would remain at Old Trafford for another three years.

David Raya, 30, has key distribution skills and is perhaps more suited to the modern game because he is athletic, at ease with his feet, and has key ball skills.

Van der Sar is the master of this game if our sole concern was trophies. Up until 2008, he had won the Champions League twice, six league titles, and four domestic cups, just to name a few of his medals, having previously won at Ajax and United.

Raya, by contrast, has yet to achieve any domestic success. He competes alongside Unai Simon in titles at Euro 2024 and the Nations League, but he won them both as back-ups.

Therefore, Van der Sar has the upper hand in terms of accomplishments.

Let’s make one thing clear: Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are the standout central defensive duo. Case is closed.

William Saliba and Gabriel are not at fault for that. You simply cannot compete with the United defense’s founding duo.

However, central defenders are not the only subject here.

Arsenal have assembled a strong first-choice team that can handle injury setbacks as well as a capable first-choice team.

Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, and Piero Hincapie follow Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber as full-backs.

Patrice Evra excelled on the left for United, but would Wes Brown still be a part of many elite clubs today?

In reserve were John O’Shea and Mikael Silvestre (Gary Neville missed the start of the year with a broken ankle).

Just a quick glance at United’s attack.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2008 and would go on to become one of the greatest players ever, is in your possession.

Then comes Rooney, the United and England’s all-time top goalscorer.

And Carlos Tevez scored 14 Premier League goals between 2007 and 2008, despite his lack of success at Old Trafford.

To fear, it was a forward move. Ronaldo had 22 goals, Tevez had 12 and Rooney had 9. At this point in the season.

Arsenal has a who? Victor Gyokeres, a striker who may develop further, has not yet lived up to his £55m transfer fee.

Bukayo Saka is undoubtedly a world-class outsider. However, it is challenging to argue for Noni Madueke, Leandro Trossard, or Gabriel Martinelli.

This season, Saka and Trossard have scored seven goals, compared to Gyokeres and Martinelli.

Declan Rice, who plays alongside Martin Odegaard and Martin Zubimendi, is regarded as one of the best players in the world today.

However, Alex Ferguson was excellent with Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick, and Paul Scholes.

The teams’ records in the top two competitions are almost identical at the same time of the season if we only look at goals.

In 28 games, United had scored 57 goals (2.04 per game).

For Arsenal it is 60 goals in 29 games (2.07).

However, United provided significantly more chances. They had took 505 shots at 18.04 per game.

At 15.10 per game, Arsenal have 438 shots.

The more effective team, in your opinion, was Arsenal.

However, the Premier League and Champions League numbers are remarkably comparable, excluding penalties.

(15 of United’s 57 goals came from set plays) (26%).

Arsenal have scored 60 goals in this campaign, or 19 set pieces (32%).

The Gunners’ victory will not come as a surprise, but it is by a lot.

Forget about the other players. Avoid scoring opportunities. What really matters is now, then.

Silverware is the only true barometer for evaluating teams, in reality.

The 2008 United squad was the Premier League’s reigning champions at the highest level.

They won the Champions League and kept their Premier League title in the 2007-08 season. In 2008-2009, they would also add a third.

This Arsenal side hasn’t won anything. The FA Cup was the club’s final trophy from 2019-20.

There shouldn’t be any real comparisons until they do.

Perhaps Walcott has a subconscious belief that Arsenal should not be given credit for its recent performances.

That will be presented in the form of trophies.