Former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn believes manager Arsene Wenger was again let down by his players after last week’s goalless draw against Blackburn.

Writing on his weekly Islington Gazette column, the 47-year explained that it was a frustrating afternoon in which the players failed to repay the manager for all the belief he invested in them. On the title race, the Englishman was full of praise for Manchester United as he called them “almost the exact opposite of Arsenal”, referring to their inner belief to win important games.

On the Blackburn game, he said:

It is frustrating for everybody connected with the club, and especially for Arsene himself. He has invested a lot of belief in this group of players and has backed them to the hilt for the last two seasons when everybody has been clamouring for him to buy big-name players.

At times their football over the past two seasons has been superb – and we need to remember that they are second and not second from bottom – but once again it seems those players just haven’t delivered for him.

I just wonder if he is now asking the same questions of the players that everybody else is. They didn’t look like a side who believed they could score on Saturday, and that is very worrying.

Of course they have not become a bad side overnight, but for the last six weeks they have been very, very average and really need to somehow find a way to win a game to get some confidence back.

Unfortunately, Manchester United showed on Saturday just why they have won so many trophies and are almost the exact opposite of Arsenal at this stage of the season.

This is a very workmanlike United team, nowhere near as good as some of Sir Alex Ferguson’s other sides, but they have that inner belief that they can win games whatever the situation. It is the all-important missing ingredient for Arsenal.