Starting in 2008, Theo Walcott pitted Arsenal’s current team against Manchester United’s, and Wayne Rooney’s strong response sparked a debate among football fans.
Manchester United finished the 07/08 season as Premier League and European champions (Image: )
Arsenal look like the team to win both the Premier League and Champions League this season, but just how strong are they? Theo Walcott caused a stir on Tuesday when he asked how Mikel Arteta’s side would fare against legendary Manchester United in 2008.
“We will beat them,” Wayne Rooney answered confidently. United hero Rooney was one of the many stars of Sir Alex Ferguson’s side who won both the Premier League and Champions League.
At the time, the Red Devils became the first club to win both the Premier League and Champions League in the same season in the modern format. Arsenal are aiming for their third title after Manchester City won the treble in 2023.
So what happens when Arsenal graduates of 26 years play against the United team of 18 years ago? We asked the Miller football team.
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Jeremy Cross
Wayne Rooney is exactly that. First, the 2008 Manchester United team won the Champions League in Moscow and was the strongest in Europe.
Arsenal are a good team at the moment, but they have yet to win a single one, let alone the biggest trophy. Secondly, that United didn’t just have Rooney in his prime, they also had Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo by his side.
Arsenal pride themselves on their strong defence, but it is difficult to see whether Mikel Arteta’s current defense will be able to stop them from coming at them.
It’s always difficult to compare teams from different eras. But United were one of the great teams at the time and will always be successful.
Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice are good midfielders, but not as good as Paul Scholes. Ryan Giggs didn’t even start in United’s 2008 Champions League final. It was very good.
Andy Dunn
Manchester United’s 2006/07 and 2007/08 teams won the Premier League in both seasons and the Champions League in the second of those seasons.
Of course, the United of Wayne Rooney’s era would beat the current Arsenal team, who, like the team of Sir Alex Ferguson’s era, are a developing team rather than an established powerhouse.
Rooney’s United are regular winners, with Arsenal having won the FA Cup once in the past eight seasons. United’s points per game rate in 2006/07 and 2007/08 was better than Arsenal’s current rate of 2.27 points per game.
In the 2007/08 Premier League season, United averaged 2.18 goals per game, while Arsenal currently score 1.82 goals per game.
Arsenal’s defensive excellence has been key to their dominance this season, but they still concede more goals in the Premier League than United did in 2007/08.
Arsenal concede an average of 0.64 goals per game, while the 2007/08 Premier League champions concede an average of 0.58 goals per game.
In the current goal difference graph, Arsenal finished with a goal difference of 45, while United finished with a goal difference of 58 in the 2007/08 season.
United’s backline, based on the partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, would have been better able to cope with what Arsenal had to offer going forward, while Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo would have posed far more difficulty to the much-vaunted Gunners defense than what we have seen week in and week out in this almost underwhelming 2025/26 season.
It will be a decent battle in midfield, but United will come out on top in the end. batter? Probably not. beat? surely.
United’s front three showed a decent performance (Image: DAILY RECORD)
ben husband
It is always very difficult to get these arguments right. Football has changed dramatically in the 18 years since United won their third Champions League. It could be argued that the current Arsenal team is much fitter and has the ability to exploit possession in a way that English teams struggle with at the moment.
I have no argument whether people are sitting on either side of the fence in the Rio Ferdinand vs. Nemanja Vidic or Gabriel Magalhães vs. William Saliba debate. Both are truly elite. Declan Rice, Martin Zvimendi and Mikel Merino are also a decent midfield three, with some very different qualities to Alex Ferguson’s squad.
But what is completely uncontroversial is the forward area. United ran out an incredible trio of Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo. If Arteta had one of these players, he would be 15 points clearer and almost certain to win the Champions League. And this discussion ends there.
Call me a slave to nostalgia, but I side with United every day.
Felix Keith
A good starting point for this type of discussion is the trophy cabinet. A quick glance reveals that Manchester United won the Premier League, League Cup and Club World Cup in the 2008/09 season, finishing runners-up in the Champions League and reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Arsenal have yet to feature in all four competitions this season, but have yet to etch their name on silverware, so a comprehensive assessment is premature.
United’s squad included some of the greatest players of all time: Edwin van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. Arsenal have some of the standout stars of the modern era in Gabriel Magalhães, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
The only way I see Arsenal’s current vintage coming out on top is if they finish the 2025/26 season winning multiple trophies. But for now, they still have a long way to go before they can be considered on par with those who have been there and done it.
Which team do you support? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Arsenal’s depth has been clear this season (Image: Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
nathan ridley
First and foremost, these questions are already boring. “Maradona or Messi?” “Van Dijk or Vidic?” You won’t find the answer by comparing different eras, but let’s try.
United had the firepower to beat anyone in the world on either side that season and in both campaigns. In a one-shot match, Rooney says they will likely face Arsenal.
However, over the course of the season, Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League will increase. Their squad depth is incredible, with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães rivaling the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.
But overall I think I’ll choose United. We have the evidence for them, but it won’t be until May that we see how good Arsenal really are.
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