Who's In More Trouble Than Manchester United
"So many people told me I'd score today, staff members & players, we had a feeling"
Arsenal welcomed Manchester United at home for the marquee fixture of a Premier League packed weekend. It was well advertised for, with plenty of clips and quotes online doing the rounds to remind us what a clash of giants this was going to be.
Don’t ask me if Tottenham are actually good yet, we’ll get into this during the international break next week with the top 6 Premier League predicted rankings.
Manchester United away to the Emirates, it was this fixture that I attended last season that poetically planned out in a similar fashion with corner-kick related goals scored by Arsenal and Marcus Rashford’s killer finishing.
I’m struggling to decide whether or not Declan Rice slots in perfectly with this team. I find that Rice comes into the team with many pros and, fortunately, cons that can be easily hidden. Rice might have the most intense engine in football. What he provides Arsenal as a defensive-base is spectacular, but he’s still too shy to get involved in the offensive build. Zinchenko should not be a better passer than Declan Rice, he’s not.
For me, the most notable change in this fixture comes with Manchester United’s enhancement at goalkeeper with Andre Onana. With all due respect to De Gea, having a ball-playing goalkeeper like Onana, who at times looked like he was playing in the 6, offers Manchester United a totally different dimension in their offensive build up play.
I have been so impressed with Eddie Nketiah, I think he’s a fantastic Premier League forward. Nketiah (and Ødegaard) is one of the more easy to spot press triggers for Arsenal, except for this match Arteta had to adjust for Onana. The change in Nketiah’s position came from him pressing in a more zonal manner, covering an area and its passing lane far more than the orthodox man-marking that’s played by most teams. Zidane’s Real Madrid would do defense similarly.
Marcus Rashford knows how he can hurt Arsenal. As an elite forward-player, with Rashford’s quality, the United Talisman goes into a the zone once he’s received the ball in the left-hand pocket against Arsenal. I always viewed Rashford’s game and adaptability more in the mold of Heung-min Son; an excellent winger and forward player capable of filling the void of a 9. But after a few tough games to start the season as an isolated 9, I’m more accepting of Rashford’s game compared to Mo Salah, a goal-scorer who starts on the wing but ends with the ball in the back of the net.
Arteta experimented a lot to begin the season but, injury enforced, ultimately reverted back to his tried and true shape. With Declan Rice in the starting XI, it feels safer to play Zinchenko who is a better offensive-midfielder than Thomas Partey.
Ten Hag spoke post-match and, unusually, he is starting to make excuses. The United manager spoke of missed foul-calls and argued for a VAR offside goal. It’s Labor Day weekend and by anyone and everyone’s account the Manchester United squad has improved significantly from last year, but it’s not playing out this way. We’ve seen historically that teams who are prevented from playing their best defense and midfield through injuries struggle and often times miss out on the top 4. A loss against Arsenal and Spurs away are not totally unreasonable but if by the October international break Ten Hag continues to add notches to the L tally, we may need to begin talking plan B.