The new year opens with trepidation for Arsenal and Manchester United

Both clubs have squandered their strengths in the past decade and fallen a long way from grace

Hardly anyone inside the Emirates tonight will be expecting it to be a happy new year for Arsenal and Manchester United. A decade ago, these were the most stable clubs in the Premier League. Now it is hard to imagine either side winning the title in the foreseeable future.

Mikel Arteta has one of the most difficult jobs in football. Arsenal’s long-term decline was disguised by their 19 years of consecutive qualification for the Champions League. Arsene Wenger’s standards had slipped way time before his eventual departure from the Emirates two years ago but the problems went unaddressed season after season.

United have made many bad choices since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. At both clubs too much power was centralised around the manager. The lesson for the dominant teams today should be to create an internal structure that does not leave such a huge vacuum when the man at the top leaves. Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola are the best in the business but Liverpool and Manchester City need to have a plan in place in case their manager unexpectedly departs.

There were, at least initially, some excuses for the collapse at Old Trafford. No one, least of all Ferguson, envisaged such a sudden end to his time in charge. The Scot’s retirement came out of the blue and coincided with David Gill, the chief executive, leaving to take up a position at Uefa. In a single summer United lost a phenomenal amount of experience. David Moyes would have replaced Ferguson even if Gill had remained but subsequent managerial moves and player recruitment would likely have been handled in a much more sensible manner. Seven years on neither manager nor chief executive at Old Trafford are good enough for a club of United’s size. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is out of his depth and Ed Woodward, Gill’s replacement, has provided no sense of direction.

Arsenal are in an even bigger mess. The London club do not have United’s wealth to insulate them. Wenger should have left around the same time as his great rival Ferguson but limped on for another half-decade. Towards the end, the Frenchman was embroiled in a power struggle with Ivan Gazidis, who eventually forced the manager out. If Arsenal’s chief executive had a strategy for life after Wenger it was an exit strategy. Within four months of appointing Unai Emery, Gazidis announced he was joining Milan. The carnage that was left behind at the Emirates will take years to repair. Wenger’s powers might have been waning but he was still just about holding the club together.

The 2-1 defeat by Chelsea in Arteta’s first home match illustrated many of Arsenal’s problems. There is plenty of talent available to the Spaniard, as shown in their dominant first half-hour, but the team are prone to horrid individual mistakes like Bernd Leno’s blunder for Jorginho’s equaliser. They fall apart quickly. Calamitous defending and the lack of resilience that caused them to concede two goals in the final seven minutes have become characteristics of Arsenal’s play. The squad is dispirited and unbalanced.

For 83 minutes against Chelsea Arteta could be positive. The Gunners were not great but they showed some fight and there appeared to be a basis to go forward. The visit of United provides another opportunity to gauge Arsenal’s potential. The last knockings of the once-titanic rivalry remain and if the home team cannot raise themselves for a game like this then the new manager is in trouble. Solskjaer’s side lack creativity and are ponderous in their passing. If Arsenal are to have any hope of reviving their season and putting in an assault on the top four this is the sort of contest they have to win. No one at the Emirates can feel confident about getting a result.

January will bring no respite for Arteta. Stan Kroenke will not be sanctioning any spending spree. This is another area where Old Trafford has the advantage over the Emirates: United can at least try to buy their way back to competitiveness. Arsenal need to sell to raise cash. They are at their weakest position since the 1980s.

Both clubs have squandered their strengths in the past decade. The 2020s open with trepidation. Ten years ago it felt like these teams would always be at least in the top four. Complacency goes hand in hand with decline and, in football, becomes desperation quicker than anyone can imagine. Grim as it is, Arsenal and United look like two sides who still have some way to fall.