Arsenal now will have a full week of rest: - before Man Utd (h), - before Hull City (a), - in the week between Man City (a) and Liverpool (h) - And will not need to potentially re-schedule a home tie with Sunderland (who could be in Europa action) 20-30 rest days. Added.

‘Michael Carrick will be given time to turn things around’ and ‘the hierarchy do not want to rush next steps’ should be read and digested for what it really is: an indecisive club without any succession planning or contingencies because it doesn’t have clarity of identity in the first place. A club that often takes the cheap instead of the smart or right route because of the crippling Glazer debt, plus decision-makers who are never aligned - except in their own self-preservation. And it ends up costing more. It explains the chaotic nature of lurching from one coaching philosophy to its extreme, to revisiting candidates that were on the agenda - some as far back as 2019 - that were already ruled out, to having a shortlist of options with nothing in common to take over a mishmash team that has suffered from horrid squad planning; both in incomings and exits. Blame the players, blame the name in the dugout while the people who brought them to Manchester United, kept them, created the absolute opposite of a culture of excellence are allowed to rinse and repeat.