Arsenal's burst against Manchester United was cool. They'll also lose to a bad team this month

Before this weekend, Arsenal's start to the new season was reassuringly predictable. They'd been trundling along at a nice, steady pace in the Premier League, not as fast as to look genuine title contenders, but sufficiently quick for their adorable fans to disagree; they'd been Mourinho'd by Chelsea with sure-fire cynicism; and they'd started their Champions League campaign with the most predictable of unpredictable defeats to a couple of very wily counter-attacking units. In short, it was classic Arsenal, and classic Arsène Wenger: Admirable but ultimately naive.And then Sunday happened

Arsenal were expected to have problems at home to Manchester United, with Louis van Gaal's claims to entertainment belied by the possessional überfunctionalism that has characterised his year at Old Trafford. By and large, United have played ugly football, but have been disproportionately rewarded with results, effectively becoming Arsenal's antithesis in doing so. As a result, they looked every bit a side against whom the Gunners' Red Sea of a midfield would part, leaving Anthony Martial free to fill his boots up top.

But what's this? Six minutes on the clock and the off-form Alexis Sánchez is darting in front of Matteo Darmian to poke home. The instant replays have barely finished before the playmaking phantasm Mesut Özil has buried a low shot past David de Gea for two. The Premier League's harmless herbivores have suddenly developed a taste for blood, and they can smell it all over United's defence. Most uncharacteristic is that they even look defensively sound, seeing off a wave of United pressure before Sánchez ices the cake with a glorious third -- and not even a quarter of the game has gone.

After that it was plain sailing for the hosts, who held on for a 3-0 victory. It was a performance of uncharacteristic incision and intelligence, with Arsenal strong enough at the back to keep United at bay, and threatening enough going forward to create chances at will. It was a display that left everyone wondering why the Gunners can't play so well more often.

But maybe this result wasn't so unlike Arsenal, after all. In fact, it's arguably the opposite.

We all know that they have some very good players, and from time to time they show it with great vigour. Think of their hard-fought 2-0 win away at Manchester City in January, or their 4-1 smashing of Liverpool in March. But what makes Arsenal Arsenal is their incredible absence of consistency -- and not just against the Premier League's biggest clubs. They lurch from looking like Guardiola's Barcelona to a sad Rodgersian replica, complete with all of the hilarious trimmings.

The common understanding of football's mechanics includes the assumption that matches are not wholly independent of another, but linked by a common thread of fitness and form. Fitness is easy to prove: Just ask Jack Wilshere. Form, or confidence, or team spirit, however, are mystical, interdependent forces that no one seems to quite comprehend. It seems to make sense that playing well makes teams happy, and happy teams will in turn play better. But how? Why? And in Arsenal's case, where?

If it had been Manchester City or Chelsea who'd beaten United so convincingly on Sunday, we'd be crowning the former champions and hailing the latter's return. As it is, we're momentarily confused, but feel safe in the expectation that Arsenal will return from Vicarage Road in a fortnight's time with eggy faces and all will once again be right with the world. For the Gunners, it seems these big wins are themselves mere oases in the desert; mirages that come and go with emotional but immaterial consequences. It's just as well they're eternal optimists, isn't it?