Everyone had that feeling in the back of their mind, that whirl in their stomach - nerves. Then again, it is the first day of the season AWAY at Old Trafford. As kickoff approaches those nerves start to turn into excitement. The mind starts to race on all the possibilities - seeing Gyokeres do the Bane Celebration mainly - until the first duel is contested. Zubimendi gets a whack in the face from Mbeumo and the ref does a good job of pretending it didn’t happen. That’s when the fear strikes at what could possibly happen here in this raucous stadium.
Key Moments
Arsenal struggled to get a foothold in the game in the first 10 minutes, constantly getting out duelled and being sloppy in possession. There almost seemed to be a fear within their play, the confidence was not there. Even the mighty William Saliba looked to be a shell of himself during the opening exchanges.
As you can see above, United controlled most of the zones throughout the game and Arsenal ceded way too much control in this game. This can be partly due to the game state in the second half - but make no mistake about it the first half was poor.
Now onto a positive note, in the 13th minute - The Italian Stallion - Riccardo Calafiori was aware and there to nod Arsenal into the lead from - yeah you guessed it , another set piece - this time a corner from Declan Rice. I don’t say this lightly but Declan Rice may just be the best corner taker there is. The ball was whipped perfectly and controversially or not, Bayindir was brushed aside by Saliba and Calafiori tapped in. Interestingly, this corner routine was different and new from Arsenal. They do say new season, new beginnings.
As seen here - Arsenal have 4 to 5 runners starting from deep and attacking the space in the box. This not only cause confusion for opposition, but with PL clamping down on contact from set-pieces we could see a fair few penalties for Arsenal as opponents attempt to stop the runners attacking the ball. Actually, from this very corner Arsenal have a penalty case as Cunha wrestles Zubimendi down.
Once the goal happened - there was some hope (from me anyways) - that Arsenal would start to shift into gear and play with some more control. However, what could possibly be a significant change for this season came into effect shortly after.
The Basketball Effect
This is a term I have decided to use for what looks like a new type of game model for Arsenal this season and that is transition play. Arsenal of old is centred around one word - Control - this went out the window for this game. Now I am not sure this was the best game to introduce this game model, however Mikel Arteta decided to do so.
Arsenal when the chance arose decided to play fast and forward quickly. Now this comes with its dangers as if the rest defence is not set the opposition can be in on the counter if the ball is lost. This exact scenario happened multiple times in this game. Arsenal in the end were lucky to get away with it.
The players didn't look ready to play this type of football as of yet. Martin Odegaard misplaces his through ball pass numerous times on the counter. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martnelli both made numerous poor runs on the counter attack. Gyokeres - this situation is where he thrives - was not fed enough or close enough to goal when on the counter attack.
Gyokeres vs Havertz
Now this has been the talk for a while, who is going to start as Arsenal’s number 9. Arteta chose to give the role to Viktor Gyokeres against Manchester United. In my opinion for this game in particular this was not the correct decision. I obviously have the luxury of knowing what’s happened, Mikel Arteta clearly does not pre game. The way Arsenal played was not to play through Man United’s press but over it. However, this type of play does not suit Gyokeres at all. He only won 1/6 of his duels with De Ligt.
On the other hand, the very few times Arsenal played to his strengths - which is putting balls down the channels to leave him 1v1 - he looked much better. During the season he will look much better, right now I would put it down to his lack of sharpness and fitness.
Meanwhile, when Kai Havertz entered the fray, I thought he had a solid 30 minute cameo. When we played long, he held the ball well and brought others into the game. Kai Havertz suits the playing over the top of the press so as such thrives in these game states. Hence my reasoning that he should have played 60 minutes to start and then when the game opens up and there is space to run into, Gyokeres should come on and play the last 30 minutes.
The Press
Arsenal press to begin was as simple as you can put it - Not Good Enough. Manchester United always had a +1 whether that was the RCB of Leny Yoro or the LCB in Luke Shaw. Gyokeres particularly struggled to get up to speed with the pressing schemes.
As you can see here - Saka is left with a choice as Manchester United often do they send the CCB into midfield as part of their buildup. Saka now has to choose to go and press the LCB Shaw or stick with De Ligt who has moved into the base of midfield alongside Casemiro. This situation repeatedly arose for Arsenal during the first half partly due to Gyokeres not pressing correctly or with enough intensity. This allowed United to take control of the game with the ball as they were technically secure and won their 2nd balls well.
Arsenal have been trying this new press since pre-season where instead of pressing in a more conservative man-to-man approach it becomes a higher risk man-to-man press. This didn’t work particularly well as through some technical excellency Bayindir played United out of the press numerous times with ease.
As seen here Bayindir splits Odegaard and Rice with this great pass into Bruno Fernandes and then United are through by taking 5 Arsenal players out in one pass. These are the risks that come with the more aggressive man-to-man press.
Conclusions
As a fan of this great football club I would say it’s a top win at a ground that is certainly one of our biggest bogey grounds. To not only win there but also keep a clean sheet is a great result for Arsenal to start the season. From the more analyst POV this was a poor performance for Arsenal’s standards. I would say the only way is up from this performance and I would expect many improvement against Leeds on Saturday.
1 game unbeaten, 37 to go.