Did Arteta’s tactics nearly cost us 3 points?
Coming into the game against Manchester United, I was extremely confident, not the type of confident that leads to ignorance, but I thought it would take something special from United to take the points off Arsenal last night, but to be honest, they came very close several times. When I look back on last night’s game, I think we have to consider ourselves lucky that they didn’t manage to get an equaliser late in the game.
Leandro Trossard’s goal was a great one and was some smart play by Kai Havertz to catch Casemiro off his line and out of position, but for me, it felt like some what of a lucky break and although we obviously walked away with the three points and that’s all that really matters when we look at the big picture, I still think we could and should have done more throughout the game.
There were a several occasions where United came very close to getting an equaliser and if it wasn’t for their players playing so bad, they could have easily punished us. United have been struggling with their defence and their midfield and we didn’t use that to our advantage, we continued to lose possession of the ball and if we were up against any other team, I think we would have been punished for it.
Going in at half time, I felt confident, I thought we would come out in the second half and look a lot more dangerous and confident going forward but it seemed like Arteta had told the squad that it was okay to sit back and let United have the ball while we take the pressure and left the door open for the home side to get back into the game.
There were some moments where I thought we would throw it all away and if it wasn’t for individual performances, we could have ruined things for ourselves. Partey, who before the game I thought would be the perfect guy for the CDM role, looked out of shape and now when I look back on it, I think Jorginho would have been a smarter option through the middle.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter, we got the three points and we can now focus on the next task and pray that Manchester City magically end up dropping points to Tottenham. Although it feels criminal to want Tottenham to win, hopefully they can do us a favour and pinch a win or draw off the reigning champions.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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At this stage of the season 3 points are 3 points ,and I have to take my hat off to Arteta and the team as I didn’t think they could replicate last seasons 2nd place .
It’s been an enjoyable ride even if we finish second again it’s been a different season compared to last where we choked as was the season before ,this season it’s been a proper scrap and that’s what a lot of us (Arsenal fans ,not Arteta fans )craved for ,so fair play .
I would add that was the worst Man Utd team I have ever seen since 88 when I first started supporting us ,but I suppose it goes in circles I just hope we can get a few trophies before it’s our turn once again .
Someone remind me…didn’t we beat them?
What’s the point of this article if so?
I didn’t really care how we won – just that we did win
To have come out of the doldrums post Emery, and to have comfortably guaranteed 2nd place at worst this season is a great achievement
Manchester Utd are still struggling to strike a successful path after SAF over 12/13 years ago. Arteta has brought Arsenal to the brink of a league title in less than half that time in his first senior role. Whatever happens on Sunday, this season has cemented belief in themselves
SueP
What ever the outcome on Sunday the one thing I believe we have is the team are still growing, still learning and will only get better and stronger .
City will no doubt will go again but we are slowly and surely closing the gap
Pride and belief is restored and I am loving ❤️ it
Onwards and upwards
👍
That’s a key point missed by people for years.
Man U has struggled despite a barrowload of cash. All the doubters should notice that – Arteta had a multi-year plan (it had to be multi-year) and it’s working very well.
Anyone saying 8th was “unacceptable” for Arsenal just doesn’t understand how the world works. That kind of entitled thinking will only lead to someone being disappointed and unhappy.
Probably good for clicks on their illogical articles though. Which would be a cunning plan worthy of Baldrick himself.
Yea, negative or positive tactics what matter is 3 points in the back. Credit to Arteta he has learnt by experience that at this stage you need a bit of pragmatism to win certain crucial games.
We played so much better there last year and lost so happy with 3 points & a safe performance
The game state dictated what tactics to employ. We went pragmatic after our goal and the negative ‘terrorist ball’ was us shutting shop.
Our mid field three got uncharacteristically nervous and shell shocked requiring a pivot. Good to know we now have a plan B that can be used to preserve an in game result…either protect a goal advantage or prevent a goal.
No they didn’t. His tactics made us get 3points in a title run in not getting out of 2nd gear
👍
Arsenal has known before hand that Man Utd are very dangerous in counterattack.
More so, in this particular match fixture involving them and Arsenal in the past in the Epl at Old Trafford.
Hence, the cautious approach in the game generally that was exhibited in it by by the Gunners when it was being played.
So that they will avoid being caught on the break in it by the Red Devils.
And as the Gunners exploited the Red Devils defence lapses early in the math and took the lead in it.
But despite that the Gunners became jittering and nervous thereafter as the game went on. They held on to their 1 goal lead to the end to win the match and won it.
I think Arsenal the match as a result of the match winning mentality that they’ve inculcate into themselves. And which has seen them winning matches regularly in the Epl this season.
Exactly right. Last season Man U were outplayed and won it with a couple of counter attacks.
Arsenal Plan B in the modern game is not some 1970s “hoof it up to a big bloke”, it’s a tight defensive game that they have obviously practiced in training and mastered.
In fact, Mourinho might be hoping to take over hehe
They were not ‘negative tactics’, they were winning tactics.
Yes, the end result says it all, thankfully. But, it only needed one goal from them and we would have been in red alert panic mode and unable to get out of the whole we would have duh for ourselves. Call that negativity if you want.
I’m sorry? So if we went ahead searching for a second goal and Utd transitioned quickly from defence into a counter that results in a goal, would we be saying Arteta’s tactically naive etc. etc.?
Did you even watch the game? Their counters were dangerous, their intensity just dropped off after the second half and if Garnacho’s finishing wasn’t sh!te, we’d be up sh!t creek
While I’m glad we won, I disagree with all those saying, “a win is what matters” in this stage of the campaign. In addition to the win, GD is very important. Man City have reduced our GD to just 3. Should they draw against spurs, then GD will be the tie breaker. They can easily score 5 against West Ham while at our current form we may struggle to get 2+ vs Everton. We should have also tried to boost the GD
That’s a bit gloomy SS. It’s not always possible to a) play exciting football and b) score lots of goals. It wasn’t a great match from that perspective but our away record against MU hasn’t been sparkling over recent years so I can take a difficult win as a positive.
As for your last observation we can only do our best on Sunday. City will know they have a serious rival at the very least
What is our current form? — you mean 3 goals Vs Brigton, 5 goals vs Chealsea, 3 vs tottenham, 3 vs bournemouth, 1 verse United away is a poor form?
C’mon, I think some of you think its PlayStation…… Arsenal April/May run in was the most difficult but we have come out with an exceptional goal tally & points – I hoped you watched Liverpool yesterday, coming from winning 3-1 in the 85th minute to draw 3-3 at the end. – that was us in the past, one thing that Arteta has dealt with this season.
That game could have easily ended like a 2-2, 3-3 and YES, a wounded United at Home to either Arsenal or Liverpool will always turn up nonmatter the line-up.
What a strange way to look at it.
In 16 years, we had only won once at Old Trafford. That win was also with Arteta at the helm in 20/21.
So despite no one else making us win in 16 years, we shouldn’t give credit to Arteta, but rather claim the win was despite him?
Arsenal won there in 2015. That will make it 9 years. Caught again lying about Wenger’s facts to praise Arteta as you unsurprisingly did on your last paragraph.
One can also say Arteta has won there only once in 5 years. Not an impressive record despite your feeble attempt to make it look so.
I hope he is paying you well.
@HH,
I am getting worried about your continued aggression towards Anders, no matter what he says.
EVERBODY has been saying that we have only won once in the last 16 years, but you have decided to suddenly include the FA Cup so you can call him a liar?
You need to tone down your anger simply because he has always defended Arteta. Do you just hate admitting that he is right?
It’s not true that Arteta has done what others couldn’t do in 16 years. Of those 16 years Arteta has 5 of them. Why couldn’t he do it in 2019 or 2020?
It has taken him 5 years to beat the worst United side in EPL era, a narrow win at that.
It’s not like he was playing against Ferguson and his cheating referees and facing a squad made of characters like Vidic, Ferdinand, van Der Sar, Rooney, Ronaldo etc…
I have problem with Anders always framing things to put Arteta as an overachiever while he is not.
However I do humbly apologise for calling him a liar.
But HH, that wasn’t in the PL, it was in the FA Cup. So Wenger has only won there twice in 22 years in the PL, while Arteta has won there twice in 5 years.
Would help if you checked your facts.
My mistake, Wenger has won there 3 times in 22 years.
I was not aware he was talking only about the PL HD.
But still a win there is still a win. Whatever competition we play it’s still Old Trafford, still Man utd, same players, same manager, same fans.
And regarding the wins, look at what United Wenger faced and what United Arteta faces.
What Wenger faced is equivalent of facing Man city now. And I give Arteta deserved credit for being the only one capable of defeating Man city without it being considered an upset.
Wenger faced some Utd teams that weren’t that strong after Fergie left, and still lost.
You posted previously about the refs during Wenger’s time, cast your mind back to last season. We go 1-0 up and the goal was disallowed. A few months later it came out that it was one of six incorrect VAR decisions.
The sign of a team going places, is being able to eke out a win without playing particularly well.Highly successful sides like Real Madrid have been doing this for decades.Last season we outplayed Utd at their place and lost .Arteta is no longer a naive apprentice and while he infuriates me at times with his lack of imagination and enterprise in the use of certain players, the results speak for themselves.
I dont think the tactics were negative. History suggests OT is never a favorable ground for Arsenal and Arteta was cautious. United always up their game when they play against us irrespective of their form. Arteta wanted Arsenal not to lose and once we got the all important goal, we defended bravely and gave United hardly any proper chance to shoot at our goal. We must remember, at times, discretion is the better part of valor and the main aim was to win the game.
Absolutely gfl.
Knowing our history at Old Trafford especially our last visit, where we lost 1-3 after dominating 80% of the game – 3 counter attacks dis us like they have always done in the past.
That loss reminded us of the infamous Evra “boys Vs Men” statement when Wenger talented kids would dominate possession/intricate passes up to the goal line, then Roney/CR7 gets one or two counter attacking chance runs the length of the pitch to score! – i have also hated bogey boy Rushford almost turning into a Rooney, scoring in every game against Arsenal nonmatter our dominance. – thanks, Arteta, for the tactic & win.