When Arsenal went into the dressing room at Anfield at half time earlier this season, having played atrociously and conceded a sloppy goal, Arsene Wenger's rallying cry was "You're not fit to wear the shirt". A shirt that has been worn by the likes of Bastin, Brady, Adams, Smith, Bergkamp and Henry. Some of the greatest names in footballing history. Wenger would be forgiven for repeating himself before and after he shows his team a tape of their performance as they lost 3-1 to Manchester United this Sunday afternoon.

It would be nice if one could finish the sentence: 'I haven't seen Arsenal play that badly since...' and have to think back a little further than only November of last year when Chelsea gave the Gunners a similar pasting in front of the Emirates crowd. Whilst the other members of the 'top four' (perhaps minus Chelsea) have been on the end of drubbings this season (Utd lost 3-0 at Fulham and Liverpool lost 3-1 at home to Villa), Arsenal have been beaten by at least a two goal margin three times this season. The Gunners are still, technically, in contention for the top spot; however, today will probably be remembered as the point where, in terms of the title race, the three became two.

Man United's success this season is almost entirely down to two men: Ferguson and Rooney. Sir Alex has managed to negate the effects of losing one of the world's best players and kept his team competitive throughout a prolonged defensive injury crisis. In turn, one of the biggest reasons that Feguson has been able to do this is the outstanding form of Wayne Rooney who took his premier league goal tally for the season to 20 today. A bit of perspective will reveal however, that this short-term success is really only papering over the cracks.

To the casual observer, second place in the premiership, last 16 of the Champion's league and a trip to Wembley in the Carling Cup would suggest that all's well in the red half of Essex, er, Manchester, but it's the mid to long term future that the fans must really worry about. The Glazers are at that club to stay, and money that only a few seasons ago would have been spent on expensive British talent will instead service the debt. If United's top talent decides that their inevitably less lucrative contracts are an insult, then top European teams are waiting in the wings.

I only mention this because it's one of the few things which makes me feel better about today. Man U were there for the taking, and Arsenal had seemingly bottled it before the game even began. Ferdinand, clearly inspired by my Rocky II reference, took a swing at a Hull player in midweek, and Vidic was sidelined too with some kind of injury that I didn't care enough to research. The back four was therefore as follows: Evra, Brown, Evans, Rafael. That's a defence waiting to be tested, to be forced into making mistakes, to be put under real pressure. Did Arsenal capitalise on this makeshift backline? Did they hell. Arshavin jumped on a couple of early mistakes: he put a couple of chances wide when he should have at least hit the target, but his team mates did not share his enthusiasm and until the dying stages, the United defence looked far too comfortable.

The visitors used this defensive confidence to build from the back, and Nani and Park were both allowed to push on behind the Arsenal defence and play dangerous balls across the box. Ferguson clearly took careful notice when Ashley Young gave Clichy a torrid time in Birmingham midweek, and Nani seemingly had free reign to attack the leftback and try to get in behind him. It was with embarrassing ease that he skipped past Clichy, Nasri and then Fabregas before trying to clip a cross into the far post that a back peddling Almunia could only palm into the net. It was only four minutes later when, as an Arsenal attack broke down, Rooney received the ball in his own half before releasing Nani who was charging down the right wing. The centre forward was on hand to receive the Portuguese winger's return pass on the edge of the area and drill his shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Things got even when worse when, shortly after the restart, Park was allowed an extraordinary amount of space, managing to run from the half way line to almost the penalty spot before finishing past Almunia. Clichy will no doubt wonder why he afforded the Korean as much room as he did, not that it matters now.

A late rally saw a deflected Vermaelen effort find the net at the other end of the pitch, and Gallas should have scored with a header that might have made the scoreline more respectable, but in the end the visitors ran out deserved winners.

The media might suggest that the difference today was in the quality of the two teams, but that's nonsense. Arsenal's starting line-up matched that United's in terms of ability; the difference today was desire and commitment, of which Arsenal seemingly had none. They were second to every ball, slow to close down in midfield, and unwilling to run at the opposition with the ball, or run beyond them without it. The amount of time Carrick and Scholes had in the middle of the park to pick their pass was embarrassing. How does a team fighting to win their first major honour in five years show so little desire in one of the biggest games of the season, only a week after fighting back to beat Bolton after going two goals down?

Couldn't tell you. Almost inexplicable. The closest I can come to any kind of explanation is that a combination of memories of last season's Champion's League semifinal and the pressure of being considered for the first time in a long time as title contenders was simply too much to bear, and the side just folded under the weight of expectation. There's no excuse though. The Arsenal shirt is a privilege, not a right, and some of the current crop of players would do well to remember that.

Special mention must go to Denilson, who was completely anonymous in midfield, and Clichy, who made Nani look good (which is no easy task). In fact few players came out with any credibility. Fàbregas's struggles in midfield were more a reflection of the ineptitude with which he was surrounded; he, Rosicky and Nasri had a few bright moments, but hardly covered themselves in glory. Arshavin made a promising start, but his unwillingness to harass the United defence was irritating in the extreme.

If I may quote myself: '...if the players keep showing as much determination and spirit as they did on Wednesday night then there's no reason they can't sustain this title challenge'. Well if they show as little spirit and determination as they did on Sunday, there's no reason to think that Arsenal won't be overhauled by Villa, Spurs and the Pool and finish outside of the Europe spots all together. Chelsea are the opponents next weekend at the Bridge, and if that game ends in defeat then that really is the title challenge over for another year. There may be knock on effects from that, eg players looking elsewhere to satisfy their lust for silverware, but above all, I just don't want our shot at the premiership to end like this: not with a bang but a whimper.