Arsenal have historically found wins at Old Trafford hard to come by. In fact, before this weekend they had managed just 5 in the preceding 30 years (all, coincidentally, by a 1-0 scoreline), and have often looked overawed by the arena and forgotten to play the team in front of them.
I've personally lost count of the times I've watch Arsenal outplay Manchester United at Old Trafford, yet draw or lose matches they ought to have won at the supposed Theatre of Dreams, and there has also been a(n un)healthy dose of absolute humiliation on more than one occasion.
And make no mistake; whilst Manchester United were terrible last season, they've had a proper pre-season under Amorim (who, you may recall, did not want to join them mid-season last season, as he knew that he was on to a hiding to nothing), have far fewer fitness concerns now, and whilst they still have plenty of 'dead wood' to move on they have bought well in attack, and are entitled to feel optimistic about this season. So this was never going to be easy in the circumstances.
And the key circumstances are this; there have been major changes in two key positions - one in particular - that are going to involve evolving to a different style of play, and this is going to take time. Not necessarily ideal when Arsenal have to play 5 of last year's top 7 teams in their first 7 matches, but they'll just have to crack on with it. And Arteta will have learned a huge amount about what is required from what he saw yesterday!
I'll crack on with my thoughts on the game itself now.
White was preferred to Timber, and Calafiori to MLS; two interesting decisions. Personally, whether I'd have made those calls for a difficult away game I'm not sure, and to an extent they fed into some of the problems that Arsenal had during the game. Timber is certainly a more positionally disciplined and solid defender than White, and whilst whoever plays left back has licence to invert, Calafiori is much more of a maverick in that way. As it turned out, Mbuemo had all sorts of room to run into down their right for a good portion of the game, and Cunha had one massive opportunity attacking the 6-yard area at one point (great save by Raya, who I shall come on to). At centre-half, Gabriel and Saliba often found themselves exposed by the nature of United's forwards progressive runs - which were generally from the semi-vacant wide areas into the middle - and both had a pretty torrid time. There is, however, a fairly simple fix to this, which I will discuss later on.
In midfield, Zubimendi took up a lot of really interesting positions and pockets of space, and in general moved the ball more quickly that we have been used to seeing from Partey. However, it is going to take some time for those in front of him to get used to that.
Alongside him, Declan Rice had an absolute stinker of a game - one of the worst I've seen him have in an Arsenal shirt - and that was never going to help. With Zubi taking up some of the positions he is used to taking, and Calafiori perhaps impinging on the left 8 area as well, he may have felt somewhat lost.
The third member of the triumvirate, Odegaard, showed glimpses of getting back to his best (especially on a couple of occasions in the first half), but for me was actually guilty of dropping deeper to receive the ball than he needed to, thereby losing his ability to link midfield and attack at times. Like the defensive exposure issue, this can all be fixed.
Further forward, it was also pretty dysfunctional. Saka was well below his normal levels, Martinelli had an absolute shocker of a game, and poor Viktor Gyökeres was often left isolated as his runs were often not seen or ignored. He was also up against an inspired De Ligt, who made him work very hard for everything. But this was just one game; Arteta needs to persevere and ensure that he gets the service he needs.
No amount of pre-season work can drill the requirements of a new system into players who have been used to playing in a certain way (and the Swede had very little of that, frankly), so whilst there was promise in the type of runs that he made plenty of work still needs to be done. Certainly, Arsenal look much more like they knew what they were doing when Havertz replaced Gyökeres in the second half.
All this whilst coming up against a Manchester United who looked completely transformed by their new signings. They have a complete new forward line - former Arsenal target Sesko made a late appearance, but clearly still need at least one new midfielder (what is going on with Mainoo?) and - and this is glaringly obvious - a new goalkeeper.
Fortunately for Arsenal, they got the crucial first goal; as early as the 13th minute. Another Calafiori raid meant the concession of a corner, and we saw a new routine as the players lined up completely differently to what we've been used to seeing - on the edge of the penalty area as opposed to beyond the back post. Rice's delivery was exquisite - right under the bewildered Bayindir's crossbar. Saliba occupied the hapless keeper, he flapped at the ball, and it was probably going in anyway until Calafiori applied the finishing touch from around 6 inches out (gotta love the close up screenshot btw).
A big moment. Because for all that Arsenal were disjointed throughout one thing they can do is defend. Even though Saliba and Gabriel were exposed at times, they are excellent defenders, and what they failed to turn away David Raya dealt with. No less than 7 saves from the Spaniard, of which one was superb and another - down low and right at his feet from a Cunha shot - was absolutely world class. And so, whilst I started to pace up and down in front of my television during the second half, I don't suppose that I ever truly felt that Arsenal would actually concede. They remain defensively strong, but there are ways to prevent some of the jeopardy they suffered repeating itself as the season develops.
So... what can Arteta and his staff do to make the unit more functional? Let's have a look:
Firstly, there need to be strict instructions to the full backs that they cannot both go upfield at the same time. Whilst Zubimendi or Rice can drop back in to fill the vacant spaces, against teams who are prepared to attack or counter-attack them they ought to be taking it in turns so to speak. I recall one moment in the first half when I remarked that White was alongside Saka, and Calafiori was galloping into the left 8 position at the same time. Far too risky; and also perhaps occupying spaces better taken up by other players.
Watching how Liverpool play, they do that on the counter-attack, not in their primary attacking phases, and that's different. Interestingly, we saw some evidence of Manchester City - now with Klopp's former assistant Lijnders assisting Pep - doing some of the same on Saturday evening. And Arteta should learn from that. I understand the desire to dominate opponents, but getting caught with too many defenders upfield is a recipe for disaster.
In midfield, the coaching staff need to work on positional rotation. There was an element of clockwork for Rice and Odegaard when Partey was alongside them, but Zubimendi is different - especially in his desire to move the ball on quickly - and they need to be prepared for that. Rice needs to find fresh spaces to operate, and the skipper needs to stay closer to Saka and Gyökeres.
Further ahead it was something of a disaster. Saka needs to either stay out very wide to stretch the defenders, or to come inside and overload alongside Odegaard - thus perhaps leaving White the room to operate. On the other side, the coaching staff need to find a way to create space for Martinelli to run into. Or take a different route as regards the Brazilian, who is becoming extremely disappointing (Madueke wasn't much better, frankly, when he came on - but did manage to miss a late sitter that would have made the last 5 minutes of the game a lot more zen than they were).
As for our shiny new striker, the key must be to look for him early, and get him to work his defenders. To drag them out of position and for the likes of Saka to exploit the space that is left. He looked lost, frankly, but one game is a very small sample and there is no need to worry at this stage. None at all.
The squad have a full week to work on all this, and then a relatively 'easy' game at home to newly promoted Leeds United. However, we are going to need to see a good deal of improvement - and quickly - because the following week involves a visit to Anfield!!! And here I'm going to chuck in a PGMOL conspiracy theory - may as well start early... The referee for the Leeds game is Liverpool-supporting Jarred Gillett, who on Saturday will have the opportunity to send an Arsenal player or two off, and thus render them unavailable for Anfield. Call me crazy if you like...
I now have a message for those fans who have been moaning about the performance on Sunday. About how Arteta doesn't know what he's doing. About Gyökeres being useless and a waste of money. About how terrible things are in the world of Arsenal. And it's quite simple: big personnel changes, which look to take the team in a new direction, take time. There will be teething problems.
But... and this is the most important thing... Arsenal left Old Trafford with a clean sheet and all three points. So f*ck Manchester United; and f*ck you - because there's no pleasing some people. That's two more points than Arsenal took from there last season, and things can only, and will only, get better. Get over yourselves, and take some pleasure in the result; for all that the performance left a lot to be desired.
Yes, it wasn't pretty, but you'll hopefully be looking back in 9 months at the old adage that playing badly but winning is the mark of champions. Of our main rivals, Liverpool looked really vulnerable defensively - especially on the counter-attack - and one match is no sample size whatsoever on which to judge Manchester City (upon whom disciplinary action for their financial misdemeanours must surely fall at some point this season in any case).
So, quite simply, lets remain optimistic... We will see improvement on Saturday; that I can guarantee you.
COYG
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