Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal: United attack down the right
The starting line-ups
Manchester United won comfortably without having to play well.
Sir Alex Ferguson named the same side that started last weekend’s win over Chelsea – Tom Cleverley retained his place in the centre of midfield.
Arsene Wenger also named an unchanged side from Arsenal’s last league fixture, so Theo Walcott was on the bench despite his midweek hat-trick.
Manchester United raced into an early lead and Arsenal never looked likely to get back in the game, failing to record a shot on target until they were 2-0 down, and reduced to ten men after Jack Wilshere’s dismissal.
Manchester United right v Arsenal left
On paper, the key battleground was obvious. Arsenal were without first-choice left-back Kieran Gibbs, while his deputy, Brazilian Andre Santos, is unconvincing defensively and looked particularly poor against Schalke in the Champions League recently.
Furthermore, Manchester United play the majority of their passing down the right flank (this has been the case for a few years), and started strongly in last weekend’s victory at Stamford Bridge by pushing Rafael forward to link up with Antonio Valencia, overloading Ashley Cole for the second goal.
Therefore, United’s first goal was rather predictable. Rafael stormed past Podolski, Valencia drifted inside slightly and helped the ball on towards the overlapping full-back, and his cross – via a missed Thomas Vermaelen clearance- was steered into the far post by ex-Arsenal captain Robin van Persie, which only added to the inevitability of the opener. In fairness, Santos didn’t have a particularly terrible game and Valencia didn’t play at his best, but United did focus their play down that side, helped by Michael Carrick constantly trying to play the ball there with diagonal passes.
With Santos moving up the pitch to get tight to his man, Vermaelen’s impetuousness doesn’t work well alongside him. Arsenal looked too open on that side – later in the first half Tom Cleverley stormed forward from midfield into acres of space, while Vermaelen made another error in the second half when under pressure.
As demonstrated below, United generally worked the ball down the right, and van Persie’s shots were taken from an inside-right position.
Van Persie also positioned himself near Vermaelen (the better passer of Arsenal’s two centre-backs) when United didn’t have the ball – so Arsenal had to play through Per Mertesacker instead (101 passes compared to 73).
Arsenal approach
The early goal was a huge blow to Arsenal, because their starting strategy suggested they were attempting to contain United. The use of Ramsey rather than Walcott gave discipline rather than attacking drive, while Santi Cazorla was positioned so deep that Arsenal’s formation looked more like 4-1-4-1 than the 4-2-3-1 (4-4-1-1 in the defensive phase) they’ve generally used so far this season, particularly against Liverpool.
Previously this season Arsenal have sat deep in two banks of four away from home – here they pushed higher up the pitch, which was a surprising strategy if they were trying to keep things tight, as it exposed the (left of the) defence to pace and movement.
Cazorla and Jack Wilshere picked up Tom Cleverley and Michael Carrick, with Mikel Arteta in behind Rooney. It changed the way Arsenal defended, and while it gave them an extra player behind the ball, it meant they struggled to transfer the ball forward quickly when they won possession. At Anfield, Cazorla stayed high up between the lines and prompted counter-attacks. Here, he was much further from Olivier Giroud, who was isolated upfront.
Rooney did an exceptional defensive job on Arteta throughout the first half, before tiring later in the second. He completed more tackles and interceptions (combined) than any other player.
Even though the away side dominated possession, their most frequent passers were the centre-backs – the possession wasn’t in promising positions. They also failed to involve Podolski, who was pushed towards his own goal by Rafael (even if his actual tracking wasn’t great). He was the only Arsenal player with exceptional pace and in theory offered a counter-attacking threat, but this was barely noticeable.
Second half
Arsenal moved Cazorla higher after half-time, and Wenger’s first change came early in the second half, with Walcott replacing Ramsey to give more attacking potential down the right.
But it was the change Wenger didn’t make that was the key tactical feature of the second period. Both Cleverley and Wilshere were already on a booking and had committed a subsequent foul, but while Ferguson replaced Cleverley with Anderson, Wenger kept Wilshere on the pitch. Granted, Wilshere was having a decent game and Arsenal were chasing the victory (so the natural alternative, the more defensive-minded Francis Coquelin, wasn’t a great option in the circumstances) but when Wilshere was dismissed, Ferguson’s cautious decision seemed particularly wise.
“Jack Wilshere had been warned for his third foul on Robin,” said Ferguson. “And then Thomas had a foul on Wilshere, and he got a warning from from Mike Dean, and I wasn’t prepared to take a chance – and Anderson actually changed the game for us.” The Brazilian always seems to play well against Arsenal, and he forms a more natural partnership with Carrick – providing physical presence and verticality alongside Carrick’s calm passing. Cleverley, by virtue of being an all-rounder, is difficult to find a natural partner for.
Along with the goals conceded against Chelsea and Manchester City, Patrice Evra’s header was another Arsenal concession from set-piece. Cazorla pulled a goal back in stoppage time, but the final 20 minutes was a non-event.
Conclusion
Despite nine bookings (including one second yellow), this was a tame, subdued affair. United went ahead extremely early, and Arsenal only recovered after half-time. In the 15-minute spell between Walcott’s introduction and Evra’s goal, Arsenal played some decent football and created a couple of half-chances – Giroud hit the post, for example. Either side of that, they were constrained by Giroud’s lack of support, then by going down to ten.
Nothing new to note about United. They attacked down the right, they had a clinical finisher in van Persie, Rooney was happy to play a defensive role, and they had to remove Cleverley to protect the defence – all features in common with the 3-2 victory over Chelsea.
Re the competition from last week the actual answer was 461.
“Sid” and “Elizabeth” were both one away, 460 and 462. If I can get two scarves I will – if not, I’ll email you both about a tiebreaker…
Cheers!
What’s the point of doing so many EPL games when the vast majority of them are boring and unoriginal tactically? Your site is becoming more and more mainstream every year.It used to be well better a few years ago when you would cover a wide variety of leagues and matches.Also your articles are becoming more uninteresting and lazy,you just cover the basic stuff tactically nowadays.You are just repeating yourself every week.
Let’s be honest this was a shit game not only tactically but as a spectacle,it was completely pointless to cover it.
You sold out in favor of more views by EPL fanboys who only watch the EPL and who seem to dominate online football discussion with their uneducated views,well done.
Relax dude, a lot of people are still interested in this site.You’re not paying Michael Cox anything for this site so quit the hate.Plus ZM’s home country is England so what do you expect?If you want a tactics-based website for another league you can search the native web.
Yet you still come to the site? I admit things have shifted a bit and it’s more premier league centric now, but there are still some great articles, look at the Copa Sudeamericana winners article, that was earlier this year and is simply stunning, I have re-read it multiple times. There was a great article on Wigan’s 3-4-3, you should be less judgemental. The thing I miss is the calibre of commenter (this isn’t a dig at you) where did Roberticus and The Brain go? Those guys were awesome…
I still come to this site but a lot less now,I am only really interested in Liverpool out of EPL teams as I support them.I just don’t really like the league and wouldn’t watch it at all if it weren’t for Liverpool playing in it.But hey my purpose weren’t to just bash the EPL,I don’t mind if there is slightly more EPL games covered than any other leagues as it is a English speaking website.
But so far this season there has been 18 EPL articles and 4 La Liga articles.
18 compared to 4.
@Anonymous Coward: YNWA (You Never Win Again)
i never had looked at any epl matches on this website probably one or two for the sole fact that it would be rather pointless and nothing interesting about how manu or arsenal or chelsea or liverpool played tactically or not.. eventually this article proved me right. i think there was more common sense stuff to cover from the serie A between fiorentina and cagliari or roma vs palermo or napoli and torino. Reading this article (and no offense to ZM) tells me what we already know.. nothing insightful nothing interesting and nothing unexpected both from manu, ferguson, arsenal or arsene wenger (with no offense to ZM) just like when euro2012 played and england was only “2 banks of fours” which we all already know.
sorry i take back my words. liverpool is being coached by brendan rogers and I can see him more tactically adept and mancini at manchester city. the rest are more or less of the same. sorry another is swansea’s Michael Laudrup (who came from spain’s la liga and playing some wonderful football). The rest of the teams in epl are either 442, 451 so that’s that. and manu playing a copy of roma’s spaletti revolutionary football because rooney is so incompetent he is neither a forward, a second striker nor target man more like a defensive midfielder finding some space.
Are you serious? La liga is a joke, has always been.. How can ZM talking about how poor the spaniard defenders are be interesting in any way?
Look at ZM elsewhere. Michael Cox writes more columns a week than any Football writer. Since this is a one man operation he probably doesn’t have the time to write about as much matches.
he makes a great job. he is always working.
and the postman love´s it because he´s never home and he can play “one to one” with is girfriend.
That’s a bizarre comment considering I work from home…
From what I understand ZM picks which games to cover before they actually happen. So he probably thought this game was interesting due to the whole Arsenal vs. RVP thing. It ended up not being too terrific, but without the benefit of hindsight it was one of the better games on the slate for the day.
“So he probably thought this game was interesting due to the whole Arsenal vs. RVP thing” You see? That is exactly the problem,that’s what I mean when I said he is going more mainstream.This site used to be primarily about tactics,not catering to the lowest common denominator,and by that I mean people who are more interested in media stories like RVP vs Arsenal and other tedious gossip.
“The thing I miss is the calibre of commenter (this isn’t a dig at you) where did Roberticus and The Brain go? ”
Why do you think they left? Isn’t it obvious?
There wasn’t another game on the slate that was of obvious tactical interest, and he covered Inter beating Juve today. I really don’t see the issue.
I don’t know if this is true or not but as compared to earlier times (2/3 years back), ZM seems to write more frequently about Serie A, EPL games as compared to say La Liga. It might even be a coincidence or so but last analysis of a match between two La Liga sides other than the clasico was I think one and a half month back. La liga do have some decently good teams excluding the top two right? – Malaga, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla. I think he likes London based clubs…Please ZM there are other teams too who play football.
PS – Just a suggestion, ZM, would it not be a bit refreshing if you include other teams or Leagues which would give a bit of variety to the readers not just the same tactics getting mentioned after every two weeks?
@ Anonymous Coward on November 3, 2012 at 10:52 pm
The solution to your problem? Stop patronizing this site.
More importantly, Never comment again. Thanks.
Wrong,the solution to mine and everyone elses problem is that ZM should start listening to what his audience wants.
You should update your schedule of upcoming matches. It still shows last weeks matches. Also, please write an article on the Juventus Inter game. I missed it as it comes at 1am here in India.
Exactly both Malaga and Athletico have been brilliant this season,he didn’t even cover Athleticos demolition of a full strength Chelsea side.Athletico played a lop sided 4 – 1 – 4 – 1 and they literally conceded only ONE chance or half chance all game(That was Cahills scrappy goal of a corner).It very easily could have finished 6 – 0.I bet you if it was the other way round and Chelsea had won he would ZM would have reviewed it.He just doesn’t seem to like Spanish teams.
It’s a free site. Constructive feedback is fine but you lot just sound like you’re whining.
Hi – I don’t have as much time as I used to, sorry.
Why do I cover English games more? I’m English, the site’s in English, I am often at the games. They also get more views than La Liga games (I expect I’ll be called a sell-out or something, but the reality is that I’m trying to please the audience.)
For the Atletico v Chelsea game I was at a friend’s party – I didn’t have time to watch it until the next Wednesday when everything had moved on.
I haven’t “sold out”. For all the work I’ve done on ZM I’ve probably earned about minimum wage! I do the site in between having work and trying to have a life, I do it primarily because I enjoy it. The only thing I hate is people complaining about the matches I cover – please, just go away
Keep up the great work ZM. More power to your intelligent pen.
Zonal marking you are a disgrace,I won’t go away and as long as you continue to show your hate for Spanish clubs and La Liga I will keep on pointing it out in your repetitive EPL articles.At best I think you are jealous that La Liga is the best league in the world so you don’t cover it,at worst your bias reeks of a “little englander” attitude.
The way you treat your audience is disgusting.You have already lost many of your best readers,your comment numbers are dwindling by the month and I hope you continue to lose more viewers as you ignore everybody’s feedback and treat them with contempt.
Do you think Chelsea took that game seriously?
I highly doubt a million dollar or billion dollar outfit appeared for the match with the purpose to lose against a small team called atletico madrid.
ZM you are a disgrace and if yourself from a few years ago could see what you have become you would have been ashamed,I won’t go away and as long as you continue to show your hate for Spanish clubs and La Liga I will keep on pointing it out in your repetitive EPL articles.
Arsenal defending in a ‘1-2′ didn’t help at all. First, as you said, it meant Cazorla was deeper and so had little influence between the lines. Second, it doesn’t provide the cover in the wide areas as a ‘2-1′ does – Cazorla and Wilshere picked up the two Utd midfielders and Arteta’s job as a holder was to pick up centrally and track. It’s more vertical than a ‘2-1′ where the two holders can move across and help the full back if he’s being run at 1v1. It meant Santos had little support.
Arsenal’s defensive transitions were poor, it was one of the reasons United dominated. Arsenal were slow to regain shape and their lines were all over the place when they lost the ball, making it easier for United to counter. Arsenal could have exposed United if they had concentrated more on the counter themselves and tried to isolate the Ferdinand and Evans, especially with Rafael following Podolski so tightly into deep positions but they didn’t really do that.
van persie worldclass striker
Rooney’s defensive performance was the highlight of the game. Rather than just being on the goal side of arteta ( like he was to mikel at stamford bridge) , he actually man marked him. So more often than not, arteta played a side in absence of time hence arsenal couldn’t get the ball moving fast enough. Cazorla then had to drop deep to receive the ball.
Yes the game was too straight forward for tactics. But this 4-4-1-1 formation of Man Utd can only be successful if Rooney has an excellent day. Any sub par performance by Rooney will lead to a frustrating day in the park for Man Utd. And today Rooney was excellent. Best player by far on the pitch even when he missed the penalty and his through ball to RvP was Brilliant.
To be fair, who did Wenger have on the bench to bring on in the place of Wilshere? Once Ramnsey went off, the only possible replacement was Coquelin, but you hardly want a defensive midfielder coming on when you’re chasing the game.
To be fair, I said pretty much exactly that…
Well, he could have replaced Wilshere with Walcott and pushed Ramsey into the center. But that’s just hindsight.
correct .other he could had replaced podolski with walcott and let wilshere on the pitch since podolski was having a little impact on the game.
Yeah, but the whole point was based around Wilshere being taken off.
rahul return to your country
Santos didn’t have a particularly terrible game?!
That statement can only be remotely credible if you’re speaking in relative terms.
I didn’t think he was that bad, a presence going forward even if his delivery was woeful at times. They did play in behind him through a number of diagonals (Carrick, Evans and Rooney) but he wasnt that bad defensively. The blame should rest with the anemic performance of the Arsenal team.
Well, yeah, I am. He’s an average player and played like an average player, as opposed to, say, against Schalke – when he was downright dreadful.
He played no worse than Vermaelen, for example.
So true ZM. Vermaalen creeps me out (I am an Arsenal fan) whenever the ball is near him.
I concur, Santos’ performance wasn’t a total disaster as it was in the previous games. Once reason could be because I see Podolski was tracking back a lot more defensively this time.
However, one thing that need to be pointed out that is Santos’ positioning. Arsenal’s game plan this season seems to be playing a high-line and off-side a lot. Probably to compress the space available to the attacking players. But I noted many a times, Santos did not move up with the CBs thus playing the attacking players on-side. This happened in the game vs Schalke and it ended up in the 1st goal. It also happened vs MU and RVP almost scored.
now when you want to play a high line you dont play mertasacker in the back 4 because he can be played around and most importantly he is slow in turning back . you only play him against teams like stoke or west ham who play long ball and where you need to have a physical presence in the box to deal with crosses . not when team are playing a floor game .
So many stereotypes in a single post…
Mertesacker is Arsenal’s most intelligent defender at leading the line. Look at how many offsides teams get against Arsenal and how most of them are caused by Per’s excellent timing.
Per is no Usain Bolt but he makes that up with an excellent reading of the game and positioning. In fact I would say he’s the most intelligent footballer I have seen in the EPL this season.
It might be counter-intuitive to play a high line but it helps Arsenal in narrowing the space for the opponents to play. But this is a bit risky since some clever strikers who play off the defenders’ shoulders (like Torres and RVP)can exploit it, especially when Arsenal have tactically weak players such as Santos and Gibbs.
last but the main thing is mikael silvestre utd’s french fullback said this a few years back that what utd have is that british doggedness which arsenal seem to lack since most of the arsenal players are foreign based and i would say that they dont play with same intent as their opposition counterparts . having a local in the team affects because of the intent and that is the reason why utd are having such success and arsenal not .
rahul you are a foreigner, aren´t you?
go working in a seven eleven or stealing people.
don´t comment here
how could you speak about someone´s performance?
your job is a coward existence…writing about other people
andre santos and vermaelen have incredible incomes, they are football stars, and you are just a blogger…
for god sakes…..
Why do you always come back with the same comments? Again and again and again.
I am really having a hard time to understand why Wenger insists on Ramsey on the right and Podolski on the left. With Ramsey and Podolski coming narrow, Cazorla either drops too deep or wanders wide. The play is congested in the center and Arsenal cannot have a shot on target until extra time, just like against Schalke and Norwich.
I seriously think that Vermaalen is a very overrated defender.
If you are interested, you can read my Arsenal match reports at http://arsenalletters.wordpress.com/, though I must say writing Arsenal match reports have caused chronic depression recently.
Wenger always prefers one direct winger and one creative. As Ramsey is probably the only other fit central attacking midfielder we have, he is that player.
What concerns me is that since the international break Arsenal has had serious problems linking midfield and attack. Podolski and Ramsey have been poor, there are few driving runs from midfield (the exception was at QPR where Wilshere was decent at it and Arsenal created several chances). So right now the only link is Cazorla. If he comes too deep like today we really have very little linking the rest of the side to Giroud. Honestly I’m wondering if the team should switch Cazorla and Ramsey.
For the level of isolation Giroud struggled with I think he did well today. Hitting the post, a blocked shot and forced a good save drom De Gea.
i have to agree that podolski was really poor. ramsey was anonymous but i dont expect anything less, podolski on the other hand… it just shows, big time german players are good when in a system and team that they know well, just like any other good players.
your idea about cazorla could be onto something. i think the second midfielder is key right now. italy and other teams have shown the top midfielder/second striker to have a varied, team role leaving the second midfielder to come through. players like ramires/oscar and dembele/dempsey have really taken advantage of this through the centre of the field. arsenal could easily have this with cazorla and wilshere once wilshere is fit
I don’t think you can generalize about German players like that. Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Badstuber, Neuer, Boateng, Kroos, ter Stegen, Khedira, Thomas Mueller ( check out this weekend’s goal against Hamburg, unbelievable )and Oezil are world class.
Players like Podolski or Klose are not really CL-final material on their own, getting the best out of them and in the case of Klose propeling them to one of the most prolific scorers at World Cup finals ever has to be attributed to the excellent judgement of Bundestrainer Jogi Loew more than anything.
At Arsenal’s level Podolski is a decent player but not someone you’d expect to carry the team.
I think many people misunderstand Podolski’s position as a left winger and expect him to run at players or making crosses. He’s basically a left-sided attacker who tend to drift to the center. Secondly he excels in a passing movement.
The current Arsenal team, if you note, do not do a lot of movement and off the ball running to create space (unlike the previous ones). There is an overemphasis on Cazorla to create and when he gets crowded/marked out, the Arsenal game falls apart.
The tendency of Ramsey and Wilshere to hog the ball, actually makes the team game suffer. These 2 players whilst having better than average technical skills, seem to suffer from a lack of football intelligence on when to pass the ball or make off the ball runs to create space or split defensive formations. As such, more intelligent players like Cazorla, Arteta and Podolski suffer.
no the trouble with arsenal is they dont have a player that can attract defense on his side so that space will be created for others . nor did they had the pace but that wouldnt had been the problem since utd dont play a high line and generally regain shape quickly .
but the real problem was as arsene said in his post match comments players losing too many one on one battles which affected their game .
secondly yes ramsey and at time wilshere spend too much time on the ball and it is upto the coach to correct these things .
Cleverley’s ability to play quick passes in tight spots is awesome, he initiates a lot of attacks by opening up the play like this. He needs to have more to his game than this before he can be considered a top-class player, his physical attributes aren’t great, he never scores and could do more in the final third but hopefully that’ll come.
Valencia didnt have a very good game. I think Nani could have come on a bit earlier. Santos was pinning Valencia back almost all the time. And right after the half time, for about 15 mins when Arsenal were dominating, Valencia didnt track back and Santos passed him 3 times consecutively. Utd were lucky that Santos’ distribution is very poor. Am I the only one who noticed that?
And one thing that bothers me is where does Kagawa play in all of this? I thought playing at the left would be ideal but honestly Young wasn’t bad. I mean you just have to play a player who’s been nominated for the player of the year award, right?
And I’m really excited about Anderson. I hope he stays fit. When’s he’s on song no player can catch him. It’s interesting how when he’s in danger he always uses his pace and power to get away from people. Especially since in the centre mid position, players don’t have that much speed( like Arteta, Wilshere, Mikel, Oscar etc.).
It’ll be interesting because I’m a fan of Nani and he seems to gel well with Ando. They both like to play those one touch passes whereas Carrick and Valencia like to stay in their roles and don’t interchange that much. Remember last season before Cleverly got injured? It used to be Young-Cleverly-Ando-Nani and we were ripping teams apart for fun.
And Lastly, I know since Kagawa and RVP have arrived this question doesn’t make sense. But why hasn’t Nani been tried behind the striker? His movement, trickery and the fact that he can shoot with both feet surely make him a contender? For example his goal against Chelsea or that mach against City in the Comm Shield where he was unstoppable, all of that came from a center position. His long rangers are also very good. How has SAF managed to miss that?
I really like your reply.
1. Kagawa is injured, that’s why he didn’t played today (instead of Young).
2. I think this will be Anderson’s year.
He grown a lot, psychically and physical, he is more mature in his game. His passes better (short passes and also long diagonals a la Scholes), he is stronger, he can stay on his feet (very strong player, i like that on him, and also he is aggresive), he also seems to have more creativity, he is fast (for a CM). I hope he will not got injured and keep getting matches.He definitely is in my favorite United players’ top 10.
3. You’re not the only one wondering if Nani can play behind a striker ! I also thought about that myself… His natural game is to drift A LOT inside in central positions. He is agile, has pace, burst of speed, he is good on playing short passes/croses, he can drible, he can control the ball on tight spaces very well etc…
BUT, as you can see, Nani’s role (in any system that Fergie’s using) is more like a “free role”, he is the creative “spoiled” winger, doesn’t defend, doesn’t care too much about his team mates etc (not saying this is bad, this is how Ferguson and a lot of managers likes to play, using one traditional winger – Valencia, and one creative winger – Nani; I just want to point out what his role is and maybe this is THE ONLY role that Nani can play in a team; * he doesn’t seem to be very smart regarding tactics)
Considering this things, I think SAF don’t play him there because he doesn’t have the required tactical intelligence.
your final analysis is right – nani doesnt have the tactical intelligence so ferguson is not playing him. he is like the 12th player, a luxury, when he’s on fire he is unstoppable, but when can you predict that? reliability is a more desirable characteristic in these commercial times
i guess that is andersons problem too. is he consistent enough?
I think Anderson wasn’t consistent enough in this last few seasons because he was* still pretty young (* he joined the club 5 years ago and now he is 24, so at 19-22 you can’t ask too much for a player, ESPECIALLY to fill the boots of Scholes !) + to play in a different country like England. And another thing: he got a lot of injuries that didn’t helped him too much to build confidence…
If this season he don’t get injured I think he can show us that required consistency. I have faith in him.
ferguson is a oldman with alzheimer.
nani and anderson are better than cleverley and young but they are brittish so he play them.
mourinho is the best.
man utd are all referees and corruption
I know Kagawa is injured. But where does he play when he comes back?? I’ve seen him play on the left but he isn’t good as he is in the role behind the striker. This season’s first 3 games he was excellent. But Rooney is currently playing there.
SAF has a lot in his hands. Remember in this match Kagawa, Welbeck and Hernandez didn’t even play a part. I do feel sorry for Hernandez though. His movement of the ball is excellent. But the thing is we do have a striker who’s movement with and without the ball is excellent i.e RVP.
I think the best way to accommodate all of them would be if Kagawa, Rooney and Cleverly/Anderson play in the mid positions and keep rotating b/w themselves. I know it would lead a lot of gaps but attacking wise it would be amazing with RVP leading the line and Valencia/Nani on the right and Young/Nani on the left.
Also I know that people keep on saying that without a good defense you can’t win the league. But I personally think Utd can outscore any team on any ground (atleast in BPL). And since we’re having so many defensive problems, why not let the attack do the work?
I agree with all your views, especially on Nani and Anderson, i really want to see Anderson in particular be given a real chance in the team, week in week out starting games, any Man Utd fan who consistently watches the team knows exactly what Anderson can offer, his driving runs forwards and transitions from defence into attack are an oppositions nightmare, plus this season he really looks focused and much fitter then before, i really hope he is given an opportunity in place of either Carrick or Clevs (most likely Clevs although i must say Clevs’s distribution/passing was brilliant in todays match).
And finally Nani, the guy has got so much talent, but he really must show it more and for me personally id rather see him start then Valencia whose insistence on never looking up to cross the ball really has been very frustrating this season.
angad nani and valencia have too different roles while valencia stays wide and provides width nani has the license to come inside and link up with the strikers just like the game against chelsea in the league cup . as per as carrick’s role is concerned he too hasnt got the license to venture too much forward since he is too stay in front of that back four and protect them . at time rooney overlaps with valencia but then valencia is so much of a good player that he stretches play and can deliver some good balls from wide positions .
anderson is definitely a good player but i think he must had not been that fit ( seems a bit tubby ) to complete 90 min that is why SAF might not had played him earlier .
Too much of analyses will cover the real message: Our team is simply average and we are in trouble! Of equal worry is that we have been held hostage by an ambitionless coach acting d scipts of his paymasters.
Let’s look at it, Wenger does not buy right MOST of the time; he is sturbon and would hold on to the likes of Ramsey. Honestly, i wonder what this team do in trainings; they cant pass accurately, they play as if d team was hurridly assembled the previous night, we have to wait for 85mins to have d 1st shot at goal, incredible!
Fellow gooners, we have a team that even the players dont believe in the club anymore!
Wenger is well paid, and so is the ROI on his master’s investment. These have left us with a mediocre team where players come, get stardom and move elsewhere to get d garlands.
Let us start a compaign to boycot one match at d Emirates and let Mr Wenger play for an empty stadium; the message will sink faster! But as long as these fellows still see 60,000 every week, d slide will continue.
i’m a united fan but wenger should never have started with wilshere today. zm gave him credit for a decent game but as he said about his rating for andre santos, he gives his ratings relatively. and for me, a big wilshere fan, that was way below par.
i rate wilshere in rooneys category, which basically means you have to be a big infleunce on every game you play and i thought it was clear wilshere was half a yard off the pace. when he got booked it seemed obvious he was going to be close to a sending off come the end of the game – it was just like rooney coming back from injury when he is a little under cooked, gets frustrated and makes a couple of rash challenges. just like rooney, wilshere carries that appreciation that he is key, and sometimes it spills over into over-exuberance.
i thought those two players contributions basically effected the entire game, seeing as they are really the linchpins of each team. nobody had an awful game from arsenals point of view, vermaelans individual mistakes were probably the biggest impact on the game but otherwise it was much as zm states. united wise, the best thing was how solid we looked defensively.
I think Wilshere will be undercooked for a while as he has been out for 14 months. Perhaps he should not have been played but given Arsenal’s injuries in midfield there wasn’t much choice.
I don’t think United was terribly well organised defensively, more a case of Arsenal’s attack being very disorganised. Once they started to attack with organisation late in the game they scored quite easily.
what todays game has highlighted for me more than anything is the balance between formation and tactics, versus personalities within the playing staff, which i’m sure is the eternal conundrum.
formations are clearly such a big deal at the moment that even ferguson admits he is experimenting due to external conditions rather than his own inimitable genius (!). with european clubs spanking the brits so badly in the last year or two he has clearly felt his hand forced. but in the last two big domestic games it seems his standard formation basically still rules. while most others experiment with new styles, returning to a familiar style with a few tweeks is likely to be the smartest move.
as k10 and others have said, rooney is probably key to this. he effectively allows us to move between 442/4411/4141/4231/433/4132 – anything you can think of! in other teams you can think of other big players who fit this role – de rossi, toure, busquets, martinez are obvious examples. (this is why i think rooney is rightly rated as world class)
i agree with ferguson that unpredictability is king for the super clubs from now on, with their huge squads of top drawer players – even guardiola was having to experiment with new styles and formations, just so the opposition had something to think about…
i must say, i do like kagawa as well and he could fill the rooney position in a different way off the striker, and overall as an attacking force i think we look good.
anderson is ever the enigma. maybe some of you guys have thought of this too but does anderson at his best remind you of dembele? maybe that is why utd didnt go for dembele, if anderson can remain fit and focused enough, he looks to me to have the same talent and potential to make those driving runs from the second midfield position. plus he can shoot and play through balls!
Always been a fan (/defender) of Anderson, who plays well once he gets a run in the team. When Cleverley burst onto the scene, personally I felt it was actually Anderson, of the two, who was having the better games.
As Michael points out here, his “verticality” can unsettle teams – he has the energy and pace to join with the attack and, even if he doesn’t score much, it creates room and chances for others.
Did anyone else notice how high he played when he came on against Arsenal? A lot of the time he was further forward than Rooney, who almost seemed to drop into an out-and-out centre midfield role, allowing Anderson to play off the striker, or at times it seemed, as a centre-forward when RVP vacated that area.
Whether this was a deliberate ploy or just how the space opened up for him, I’m not sure – but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ferguson was trying him out a bit further forward than he usually plays, to help his all round tactical game if nothing else.
In summary: more of Anderson please, United!
I don’t know if it’s unique to this season but I’ve noticed a lot in the prem so far that with everyone playing split centrebacks and dropping one midfielder to start off moves, teams are pressing onto that midfielder hard, which invites defenders to step forward. In Rio and Evans United have two brilliant centrebacks with the ball at their feet, much better than Arse, this was shown a few times when Rio played some long balls to create moves down the right side and once Evans ended up in the number 10 position playing a round the corner through ball.
I thought Rafael/Valencia were unusually inneffective by their standards, maybe due to fatigue. Also wih RVP generally central/inside left channel Rooney was getting involved quite a lot forming a triangle on the right side with Rafael/Valencia, which just seemed to congest that side of the pitch I thought he would have been better staying more central to switch the play or provide a target. Most of United’s best stuff seemed to come through direct balls to RVP whose movement is brilliant, he also makes a good target man which I hadn’t noticed before he came to United, he’s big and strong in the air.
It might be stupid but I think that although Welbeck has the better engine and seems to contest the ball better, RVP’s pressing has more of an effect because he literally inspires terror.
agree totally that rio and evans were peerless today and that is the standard we need from now on.
rafael and valencia were not ineffective though – this was clearly where play was predicted to come through before the game, they knew so, we knew so, every damn player knew so – it was all about how utd used that advantage as a decoy. and boy did we
there is no doubt that rvp has shown himself to be a truly class top class player since his move, not many can do what he is doing right now. privelege
ps: if you read this, do you still think United will try 1-3 up front? I didn’t catch the match but apparently City are doing it now. I genuinely believe you overthunk it and Fergie’s basically thought “RVP is leaving Arsenal? K I’ll take him”, rather than any 1-3 masterplan. He seems instead to be interested in a fluid frontline except that he’s unwilling to drop Tony V so it ends up being a left wingerless formation where unlike the Park/Giggs extra midfielder you have an extra striker/number 10.
on rvp, i think this is an occasion where we have to give ferguson credit – he saw a player who was seriously top class and half the price of anyone else at his level – i’m talking aguero ibrahimovic falcao, big-time!
1-3 who knows. i dont think ferguson is unwilling to drop tony v, he’s just showing to the big teams that he is willing to play with wingers. its all about unpredictability
i’m not familiar with some terms, what does “1-3 up front” mean?
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/08/21/ferguson-showcases-a-4-2-1-3-against-everton/
Barcelona with Busquets made the midfielder dropping into the back line very popular. When busquets drops back in between pique and puyol, it allows Alves and Adriano to go up and support the attack.
Barca has been using this trick for at least three years, but I think this season is when teams from all over Europe have started employing it as well.
For the record
Manchester’s Total Passes: 533
Arsenal: 593
While Arsenal total passes, by virtue of the way they play and the fact they were chasing the game, is not surprising, no one was even close when it came to United.
It was a frustrating performance for arsenal as they could have challenged united more in area’s. For example, giroud had the beating of the two united cb’s in the air ,so better delivery from the likes of santos could have been beneficial. While I would have liked to see Wilshire charge forward more as he looked dangerous running at the united defence and Carrick.
But instead arsenal were exploited. I think kol should have started in this game to help cover for verm, as his mobility would fad better against a fluid united attack. Also, arsenal lacked a threat outside. Ramsey just doesn’t seem suited to moving inside from the wing, his movement isn’t great and hai dribbling isn’t his best attribute. While podolski was brilliantly pushed back by Rafael, who was one of the games best players.
Wenger has made some mistakes recently in games and it has cost arsenal some needed points.
rafael is one of the most improved players. for a long time ive wondered why ferguson sticks with him but now he is proving his worth
Rafael has been Uniteds most consistent performer, looks focused, he’s not been rash in his tackling, covers the ground brilliant in defence and attack and also has bundles of enthusiasm. Considering during the recent Olympics Football tournament in London i remember a few pundits being very harsh on him during his performance in the Olympic Final, im very happy to see him play great stuff and most importantly looks to have matured leaps and bounds recently.
Attacking wise I actually think both teams were horrific. What was more impressive in United’s case was their defensive work, especially in the first half. They pressed so heavily, stopping Arsenal from creating attacks and when they managed to tackle and get possession they broke so quickly.
At one point they had like 2 or 3 chances in a row but the first of those came from that action, United pressed, stole the ball and attacked. After they missed however they were quick to retrieve the ball and have another attempt at goal.
In the second half they didn’t press as heavy and Arsenal could attack more but Arsenal’s dismal attacking, in which they build extremely slow was easy to stop. For me the big difference between the two is that when they’re in dangerous areas United are SOO much more direct, essentially all their passes are forward where as in dangerous areas Arsenal don’t mind passing backwards or sideways, I think that may be one of the reasons as to why we create so little. We get a chance to break sometimes and waste it by passing backwards
Other than that I think we defended decently on the wings, Podolski and Ramsey did well to help Santos and Sagna respectively so neither were overloaded by United’s winger and full back
United deserved it by far but the scoreline makes me abit happy for some reason. I miss RVP
your first point is very correct . the trouble with arsenal is they dont tend to hold the shape that fast with which utd do . secondly in the one on one situation arsenal players were coming second best .
Today it seemed like a lack of communication amongst Arsenal players — players not accustomed to playing with each other. Mistimed runs, bad passes, etc.
Arsenal might have completed more passes than Man U but that stat is a red herring, there was one disjointed side playing poorly and there was one organized side playing poorly.
This got me to thinking… what is Arsenal’s best XI with the squad intact? Have we seen it yet?
We’re nearly three months into the season and I’m not sure that this Arsenal team has an identity yet, and that is really troubling if you’re a Gooner.
i would say the best arsenal side would be
giroud
podolski cazorla ramsey(given wenger prefers him against the big boys)
arteta diaby/wilshire(this spot is a doubt in my mind)
gibbs tv5 per sagna
sczc
hopefully we would see more from giroud
though i dont know why koscielny isnt preferred more often-he was one of the better premiership center half last year
i was preety mad that juve lost yesterday but the thought that i almost won a scarf has cheered me up considerably-again love this site and are we gonna get a juve-inter post match(btw your preview for betfair was excellent despite internazionale impressive win)
also arsenal fans must be wishing that one of jenkinson or sagna could play on the left-i think arsenal right back is their strongest position-sagna is proven and jenkinson is improving exponentially as he gains match time
I’m not an EPL follower (not too much), but can anyone tell me whether Podolski ahs ever played as a left back? Because headlines have been drawn that he may play as the left back for Germany if he’s not good enough winger for them.
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I don’t know if this is true or not but as compared to earlier times (2/3 years back), ZM seems to write more frequently about Serie A, EPL games as compared to say La Liga. It might even be a coincidence or so but last analysis of a match between two La Liga sides other than the clasico was I think one and a half month back. La liga do have some decently good teams excluding the top two right? – Malaga, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla. I think he likes London based clubs…Please ZM there are other teams too who play football.
PS – Just a suggestion, ZM, would it not be a bit refreshing if you include other teams or Leagues which would give a bit of variety to the readers not just the same tactics getting mentioned after every two weeks?
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What a lame job. Analysis from what has happened instead of making previews or being a coach.
At least bet on football games….
You probably never coach or play in a football team do you?
Just talking and analysing.
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