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 us last night. To be honest, they came very close several times and 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 badly, 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, but we 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?
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