Manchester United 3️⃣-1️⃣ Arsenal
Game Review as Red
Devils Pull the Trigger
-Samarth Purohit
-Editor: Mitansh Kagalwala
Both Manchester United and Arsenal came into the game in
good form, with the former bouncing back from their disastrous start to notch 3
wins in a row, while Arsenal were the only team left in the Premier League with
a 100% win record. The match promised plenty of fireworks as the two
juggernauts collided, and the game did not disappoint, with United winning 3-1
in a fantastic game of football.
What went wrong for Arsenal?
1.
The High Back Line
Mikel Arteta perhaps underestimated United with his
defensive set-up, allowing William Saliba and Gabriel to play in an incredibly
high back line. While good for facilitating build-up play and aggression, the
pace of the United front line proved to be too much for such a high line to
handle, with Marcus Rashford toying with the Arsenal defence at times.
2.
Midfield
When playing a high line defence, it is vital to shield the
back four with a central defensive midfielder to close down space and prevent long
balls in behind to the strikers. Arsenal were forced to line up with Granit
Xhaka and Albert Sambi Lokonga as their double pivot, with both Thomas Partey
and Mohammed Elneny injured. The lack of a defensive midfielder, and the lack
of positional discipline of Lokonga in particular, meant that not only were
Arsenal’s midfield unable to dominate and dictate the tempo of play, but it
also left Arsenal’s high line vulnerable.
3.
Finishing
Despite creating a good number of chances and having the
majority of posession, Arsenal were ultimately poor in front of goal and lacked
cutting edge, both in terms of the finishing, and the final pass. However, this
really can't be used as an excuse when your attack consists of Gabriel Jesus,
Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli. A rare off day in front of
goal for the Gunners.
4.
Substitutions
Following United’s 2nd goal, Mikel Arteta made a host
of attacking substitutions in order to equalize. However, these substitutions
were far too early given how much they took away from Arsenal’s defence, and seemed
like a move of desperation from the Arsenal manager. Eventually, the defence
fragility led to United’s 3rd goal, and the match was decided.
What went right for United?
1.
Tactics:
A lot was made of Erik Ten Hag’s stubbornness to play his attacking,
possession-based style with this United squad, which lacked the player profiles
required to succeed in this system. However, it seems that Ten Hag has come to
terms with the limitations of his squad, and has adjusted the tactics
accordingly, preferring to give up dominating possession against technically
superior teams like Arsenal, while still managing to integrate some semblance
of his preferred style with rapid, lightning-fast attacks.
2.
Resurgence:
United’s squad have been no strangers to criticism lately, but have
seemingly found a resurgence in performance. The backline of Tyrell Malacia,
Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot was exceptional, completely
killing Arsenal’s attacking momentum. For the first time in a while, United dominated
in midfield, with Scott Mctominay looking comfortable beside Christian Eriksen
in a double pivot. Both Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford also look to have found
a new lease on life, with both shining against Arsenal in attack. It remains to
be seen how well Antony and Casemiro can integrate into the squad.
3.
Mentality:
Perhaps
the greatest thing Ten Hag has done is instil a mentality of teamwork, as the
squad finally looks like a single unit rather than a hodgepodge of players.
Even when Arsenal equalised, United were quick to retaliate without stretching
their resources thin, and while they definitely won't be in contention for the
title this season, given 1 or 2 more years, there will definitely be more doubt
around that statement.
Comments
Post a Comment