Scott McTominay’s revealing quality shows Manchester United have semblance of a plan

Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal: Amid a mediocre match, the United youth product and a stout defence offer foundations for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

If it’s now clear that Monday’s meeting at Old Trafford was one of the worst matches between Arsenal and Manchester United in the modern era, it does provoke a question where the answer is much less clear. What about these teams is good now?

What is there to build on?

This isn’t quite as simplistic as it seems, or a mere counter to the commotion about how bad this game really was.

It is about how bad it might be at these clubs in general, and whether there is any solace.

The discussions about what is wrong with these teams have after all now been done to death.

The quality of the squads are at generational lows. And, even allowing for that and the difficulty of judging managers from that context, there are equally fair doubts over whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Unai Emery are the right men for the jobs.

But that doesn’t quite mean everything is wrong.

The first thing that can be said for United is that, despite some sloppy moments in this game, despite even Harry Maguire getting caught out for the equaliser, Solskjaer has implemented a defensive idea. There is a structure there, and a solidity.

McTominay was a rare positive from an otherwise poor game (Action Images via Reuters)

It means that, even if they’re not scoring much, they are not conceding much. They give little away.

It is possible that Liverpool and Manchester City may reveal the myth of this in the manner that Chelsea did when they eventually meet, but right now it is leading to one tangible positive on the table. United’s defensive record remains the joint-third best in the Premier League, only behind Liverpool and Leicester.

It is one positive Maguire has added to. He does give them greater assurance there, and just makes them more dependable in the air.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did disrupt them on Monday, but that’s because he remains Arsenal’s greatest positive. He is by far the best player in the team, and the closest to world-class. It’s actually rather remarkable to think, now, that Arsene Wenger was somewhat reticent on signing him.

Bukayo Saka is showing signs of promise (Getty Images)

Bukayo Saka was also hugely impressive alongside him, and there are always signs that some of their other business will come good. Dani Ceballos was once more incisive, and generally improved Arsenal’s attacking shape, while Matteo Guendouzi continues to develop.

If you want to be kind, and say that the “duck” only really seemed that way because of the deflection of the ball, Granit Xhaka had one of his more solid games.

On the other side, Scott McTominay continues to show that he is a solid lieutenant for Solskjaer. There has been all manner of discussion over whether he is actually “United level”, but that in itself misses a point. Sir Alex Ferguson made a huge virtue out of such players, and always had a core of them in his squads. He realised their value, what they did for cohesion. They could just be depended upon.

That is the case with McTominay.

United congratulate McTominay on his goal (Getty)

It does seem that, if United have the basis of an idea of a team in that defence, Arsenal have parts of an idea throughout.

The bigger question for the season is whether the managers can bring this together and make something better – and whether it is better than the ideas at some of the upwardly mobile sides like Leicester City.

It’s only then we’ll really know how bad Monday was.