Arsenal vs Manchester United tactical analysis.
THREAD.
THREAD.
The match started strong as usual at the Emirates and Arsenal dominated proceedings in the first 5 minutes.
They had two corners in quick succession with Ćdegaard having his shot blocked and Partey missing a chance inside the box.
They had two corners in quick succession with Ćdegaard having his shot blocked and Partey missing a chance inside the box.
First off, United pressed in a 4-2-3-1 with Bruno sitting on Partey and Rashford/Antony would press the ball-side CB with the midfielders matching up behind them.
The problem was that the United FBs stayed on the touch-line wingers and didnāt jump to the Arsenal FBs.
The problem was that the United FBs stayed on the touch-line wingers and didnāt jump to the Arsenal FBs.
This left the Arsenal FBs in space and a simple clipped ball wide from Ramsdale would leave gaps centrally and potential overloads out wide.
Immediately, Arsenal looked to exploit this weakness.
Immediately, Arsenal looked to exploit this weakness.
So everything pointed to Arsenal blitzing United and killing the game early, but that didnāt happen for several reasons.
First, the duel winning, and second ball control wasnāt good enough from Arsenal.
First, the duel winning, and second ball control wasnāt good enough from Arsenal.
Arsenal were poor at winning duels and United won the first & second balls. This led to them gaining control of possession and taking that away from the Gunners.
Here, Arteta wants Saliba to head it down to White so Arsenal maintains possession, he doesnāt and it goes straight to Shaw.
Look at Artetaās reaction to it. That was mostly the story in those first 10-15 minutes.
Look at Artetaās reaction to it. That was mostly the story in those first 10-15 minutes.
It didnāt help with Arsenal also being poor technically and constantly giving away the ball cheaply. Partey and White were the main culprits of this, especially the former.
And this was punished as Partey loses the ball and Rashford pounces, dribbles past him, and shoots into the bottom corner from long-range.
It was an excellent goal by Rashford that came from the poor giveaway by Partey.
It was an excellent goal by Rashford that came from the poor giveaway by Partey.
Arsenal later began to wake up, a key reason why they were able to regain possession despite losing their duels and giving it away.
It was the fact that the press was superb and suffocated United in the first phase.
It was the fact that the press was superb and suffocated United in the first phase.
Arsenal pressed in their usual 3-4-1-2 man/zonal oriented press with Saka and Nketiah on the United CBs, midfielders matched up in the middle, Ćdegaard on McTominay the #6, and a 3v3 in the back-line.
The pass to Shaw was a pressing trigger for White to jump.
The pass to Shaw was a pressing trigger for White to jump.
Normally in a press, you'd leave the GK with time on the ball. But due to De Gea's build-up deficiencies, Nketiah decided to press him. He curved his run to cut off the passing lane to Varane while pressuring the United GK.
This was very effective.
This was very effective.
To counteract this, Shaw sometimes tried inverting in-field to a similar position Zinchenko usually finds himself in. But it was to no avail as White followed him.
Here, Saka looks back and tells White to follow Shaw inside.
Here, Saka looks back and tells White to follow Shaw inside.
Eventually, Arsenal did get the breakthrough and their goal came from sustained pressure off a corner and a sensational header from Nketiah.
But the corner happened due to United not being able to successfully play out of Arsenalās high press.
But the corner happened due to United not being able to successfully play out of Arsenalās high press.
Throughout the rest of the half, Arsenal werenāt at their best but were cutting open Unitedās pressing and the spaces left by them not pushing their FBs up.
Arsenal regularly punished that.
Arsenal regularly punished that.
Again, the free man which was the far-side FB was exploited by Ćdegaard's intelligent first-time pass.
Another thing that helped Arsenal beat Unitedās press was Zinchenko inverting next to Partey which allowed Xhaka to drift wide.
This caused United issues as they didnāt know which player to guard.
This caused United issues as they didnāt know which player to guard.
Here's an example of this.
When United had possession they transitioned into their usual 3-1-6 in which either Eriksen/Shaw dropped into the back 3, and AWB occupied the right half-space with Antony/Rashford holding the width.
Or Antony came inside and AWB held the width.
Or Antony came inside and AWB held the width.
This structure didnāt result in many chances being created for United as AWB couldn't do much in those attacking areas as he isnāt the best going forward.
Antony also didnāt do well on the right because he couldn't take on his man.
Antony also didnāt do well on the right because he couldn't take on his man.
Arsenalās defensive structure in their 4-4-2 block was also resilient with the wingers willing to drop into the back line to help out.
In the second half, Arsenal came out like a different animal. Ćdegaard was finding spaces and picking apart the United defense.
This pass from him to find Xhaka in a tight space with a flick that was so clever.
This pass from him to find Xhaka in a tight space with a flick that was so clever.
Zinchenko was everywhere all over the pitch in the second half. He was dictating the tempo and enabled control in the first, second, and third phases effortlessly.
It was another out-of-this-world performance from him.
It was another out-of-this-world performance from him.
Despite Unitedās goal from the corner and the close score-line, the second half was all Arsenal.
The sustained pressure improved due to the better second ball winning and in duels compared to the first half.
The sustained pressure improved due to the better second ball winning and in duels compared to the first half.
Another thing was how well Arsenal overloaded the United defensive lines with a front 6 and how quickly they were able to switch it vertically from side to side to exploit the underloaded side.
Tomiyasu did well to contain Rashford after coming in at halftime for Ben White who looked a bit all over the place in the first half.
And finally, on Nketiah, I told you. Some people decided to ignore the sample size to push unfair agendas against him.
And finally, on Nketiah, I told you. Some people decided to ignore the sample size to push unfair agendas against him.
Overall, it was a similar match to the Liverpool (H) match where the score-line made it seem like the game was close, but in actuality, Arsenal dominated the majority of it and conceded to sloppy errors.
Anyways, end-of-thread hopefully you enjoyed reading it & any feedback is greatly appreciated!
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