louis van gaal  has filled his players’ heads with so much information this season they look shackled in a dressing room where everything is analysed, the players look unable to break free if ever a fixture can change that, it’s this one manchester united against arsenal is a game to inspire any player and, with a potential trip to wembley, you can see players like wayne rooney falling back on their natural attacking instincts if they do break from van gaal’s mould, those creative personalities could come flooding through wayne rooney and his manchester united team mates have looked shackled under louis van gaal's regime  playing at pace  united have dominated possession recently but arsenal won’t be troubled if united play keep ball the win at city shows how they are now just as happy hitting teams on the counter as they are keeping possession with alexis sanchez, danny welbeck and theo walcott, they have pace to burn and with no jonny evans it means another change in the united backline, which will only increase uncertainty arsenal speedsters such as theo walcott can cause united's defence all sorts of problems at old trafford  watch out for welbeck  danny welbeck would have been smarting when he was sold by van gaal he is a good finisher, a mature player and there is no way he will want to see united troop out for a cup final in may danny welbeck will be looking to prove a point to louis van gaal who moved him on from old trafford  the fortress is crumbling  when arsenal last played united in the fa cup, sir alex ferguson’s side won 2 0 in 2011 since he left, old trafford has not been the same in a season and a half, united have lost nine league games at home that’s as many as ferguson lost in his last six seasons teams don’t fear going there and even the home fans don’t know what to expect these days arsenal will hope to exploit any doubts old trafford has not quite been the fortress of old since sir alex ferguson's departure  van gaal's  side have played 33 games this season, nine fewer than arsenal, so should be fresher in the table of minutes played by both squads, only two united players are in the top 10 and one is goalkeeper david de gea minutes played  per mertesacker, arsenal: 3150  santi cazorla, arsenal: 3121  alexis sanchez, arsenal: 3081  david de gea, man utd: 2970  calum chambers, arsenal: 2392  wayne rooney, man utd: 2383  kieran gibbs, arsenal: 2287  wojciech szczesny arsenal 2279  nacho monreal, arsenal: 2266  laurent koscielny, arsenal:  2194  my memories of a classic rivalry  there has always been a great rivalry between these sides, but i never played at old trafford with any fear i went there as a youngster in 1986 and won with arsenal and during the wenger years we had a team that could go and win anywhere we were a physical team but we could play, and it was almost a compliment when united tried to match our physicality in 1999, ryan giggs scored that classic fa cup goal and it turned the season arsenal could have won the double but united went on to win the treble andy cole made a run to drag me out of position, but sometimes you just have to admire moments of genius the other game people love to remind me of is the ‘battle of old trafford’ in 2003 in the little black book of opposition players, ruud van nistelrooy was one not to be trusted he was a top player and a fighter, but he would look for any reason to go down perhaps i overreacted, but the whole team was infuriated by him and i’m still not convinced i deserved to give away the penalty that ruud eventually missed! martin keown clashed with former manchester united striker ruud van nistelrooy in 2003 
alexis sanchez danny welbeck theo walcott manchester united louis van gaal old trafford a season and a half united
the likes of alexis sanchez, danny welbeck and theo walcott can cause manchester united problems on the counter . danny welbeck will be looking to prove a point to louis van gaal . old trafford is not quite the fortress it once was . in a season and a half, united have lost nine league games at home . man utd vs arsenal: team news, match stats, probable line ups and more . click here for all the latest manchester united news 