Arsenal V Manchester United: Gunners Wave the White Flag

The starting lineups said it all: This Arsenal v Manchester United matchup was destined to be a shootout.

It didn’t quite pan out that way, but there were just enough goals at both ends to tell us all we needed to know about the status of these two underperforming clubs.

At the end of the day, Man U’s 2-1 victory puts them in the fourth Champions League spot—a result that is part Red Devils resolve and part Arsenal’s resignation to failure.

The Gunners midfield was rife with attack-minded players in Aaron Ramsey, Alexis Sanchez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack “just try and keep me from running at goal in a derby match” Wilshere.

Man U, meanwhile, seemed content to take their chances on defence with a return to Louis van Gaal’s preference for three center-backs, even though the formation has yet to prove consistently sound (and at times has been utterly dreadful). 

Once the match began, however, it became clear that United’s formation was more of a 5-2-3 in reality than the 3-4-3 it might have started as in theory.

Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia were supposed to function as superhuman wing-backs who would streak down the channels in attack and recover even more quickly on defence, but Arsenal’s persistent pressure and incisive through balls in the first half forced them to batten down the hatches and stay home in their defensive third for the long haul. 

This is not to say United didn’t have chances in the first half.

However, rather than build attacks through their midfield—which for all intents and purposes was non-existent in the first half—van Gaal seemed content to invite pressure and hope for a set piece or a moment of inspiration from his talismans Angel Di Maria, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie to get on the scoresheet.

The philosophy reeked of Jose Mourinho, but it worked for United in the first half, as they went into the break 0-0. It would work even better for them in the second half.

Before we applaud anyone for defensive brilliance, however, let’s note that the absence of goals in the first half between two of the least impressive defences in the league of late was more due to Arsenal’s lack of clinical finishing than United’s steel and experience in the back line.

Wilshere had the best chance of the match in the first 45 minutes when he went one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he couldn’t quite dink it over David de Gea (who had already committed to the ground).

De Gea answered the call every time he was tested and deserves credit for his quality, but his performance would have been considerably more impressive if Arsenal had thought to shoot the ball anywhere besides off the Spanish stopper’s chest.

Aside from substitute Olivier Giroud, Arsenal’s shot placement was persistently atrocious all night long. They looked like a team that was more concerned with not missing the target than actually scoring.

Danny Welbeck was clearly out to prove his worth against his former club and was energetic in the attack. He made runs toward the corners where he could find space more easily, but his decision-making when cutting back toward goal left a lot to be desired.

Having a chip on your shoulder when playing against your former club can be an obvious boon to your performance, but unfortunately for the Gunners, Welbeck’s zeal seemed to cloud his judgment more than improve his finishing in front of goal.

Early in the second half, he collected the ball wide-left and drove to the near post, but he chose to take a no-angle shot straight into de Gea rather than lay the ball off for a probable assist to a streaking Wilshere at the penalty spot. His influence over the game generally started to fade after that.

The odds definitely seemed to be in Arsenal’s favor for most of the game’s first hour, but they were clearly trying the patience of the soccer gods (not to mention their own supporters). In the 55th minute, the favor of the powers that be changed hands when a shot deflected off Kieran Gibbs’ boot and into the Arsenal’s side netting.

As if that wasn’t enough of a swing, Wojciech Szczesny was also injured on the same play and had to be replaced by Premier League debutant Emiliano Martinez.

At this point, many managers would try to take advantage of the momentum and tell their team to press forward to test the inexperienced Arsenal goalkeeper. Van Gaal, though, seemed to be content to stick to his defensive game plan and hope the narrow lead would be enough away from home.

In hindsight, he now looks like a man who knows his team’s strengths and weaknesses much better than his counterpart, Arsene Wenger.

You could say Rooney’s 85th-minute goal killed off the Gunners’ chances, but the truth is that the North Londoners had lost their fighting spirit well before that.

They were at home, staring down a 1-0 deficit in the 55th minute that could certainly have been overcome for a victory (just ask any Sir Alex Ferguson team that found itself in a similar position over the years), but they effectively threw in the towel.

There were still some flashes of energy in the attacking third near the end, but overall, the Gunners looked dogged and deflated long before the final whistle blew.

This was Arsenal’s chance to show their teeth and get their season back on track with a win against a team that had had the better of them in recent years, and they blew it.

The nature and timing of this match could not have been more perfect for either of these teams. Both Arsenal and Man U have been underperforming this season, but they are both still firmly in the hunt for a Champions League spot.

This matchup between them would have important implications for that top-four race, obviously, but given their historic rivalry, a victory for either could also provide an immeasurable morale boost to power them through the critical December period.

They both have elite offenses and shaky defences, so this was a chance for either team to blast its rival with an emphatic barrage of goals. It was an opportunity for Arsenal to reclaim some pride after that historic 8-2 drubbing that still stings supporters’ memories.

It was also an opportunity for United to reassert their attacking pedigree and justify their incredible summer spending spree in the transfer market.

With all the sensational storylines so evenly shared (both clubs struggling, both with poor defences, both with a striker going up against his former team), perhaps it is fitting that the match was ultimately decided by tactics and, above all, heart.

Van Gaal’s tactics were not revolutionary by any means, but they did play to his team’s strengths.

At first, it appeared that playing Di Maria as a forward would prevent him from being the crucial linchpin connecting the defence and the strikers, but it was he who provided the assist to Rooney’s game-winner (he also had a one-on-one to put the match to bed but couldn’t find the net.)

Ultimately, United’s lack of a real midfield link did not prove to be an issue.

At the other end, United’s defence is neither skilled nor experienced enough to absorb long stretches of pressure like Chelsea did during Mourinho’s first stint in charge. But van Gaal decided to make the best of a bad situation by overcrowding the center to make up for his players’ shortcomings.

This encouraged Welbeck to get out wide and forced Wilshere (who is not a natural finisher by any means) to maraud forward and function as a striker in the center when Arsenal were pressing high.

The result was an entirely lackluster shooting performance from the Gunners midfield that resulted in no goals until their traditional center-forward Giroud did what was he was signed to do.

United hung on through that tepid storm until they caught a lucky break with their first goal. After that, they bolstered their defence and tried to grind it out while waiting for the opportunity to release Rooney and Di Maria.

It wasn’t clinical or pretty, but it worked because the Red Devils were determined. The defence was determined to stay on its marks, while Rooney and Di Maria were determined to add goals to their records—even if they had to do it alone.

Arsenal, on the other hand, utterly lacked that tenacity and decisiveness. Wilshere was his usual derby self, doggedly perusing the ball in the opponent’s half and occasionally getting caught up in the heat of the moment (as he did when accosting Marouane Fellaini).

Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain made their usual runs. Mikel Arteta augured the midfield like any other weekend. Per Mertesacker was tall. But that’s exactly the problem: The Arsenal players just played how they always play and as a result lacked the creative spark necessary to unlock an overpopulated United defence.

Well, at least that was the problem for the first hour. After that, the team simply threw in the towel.

They made some attempts, but after the second goal, all the air was removed from their lungs. They were down 2-0 at home to a bitter rival with time left on the clock, but there wasn’t any team pressing to speak of.

If Chris Smalling stood on the ball and waited, eventually an Arsenal forward would jog toward him and force him to play, but the Gunners were basically just milling about after having effectively given up. 

In a practical sense, you could say the game was essentially over by that point, but that shouldn’t matter. There is something to be said for professionals playing until the end, and in a rivalry match those expectations should be doubled for fans and players alike.

Sure, Arsenal got unlucky with the first goal and with their injuries, but their play at the end of the game indicated that they were choosing to embrace that misfortune rather than rally against it. A team that plays like that at the end of a game certainly was not mentally prepared for the task at hand from the start.

The Emirates Stadium was emptying well before the assistant ref even raised the board for stoppage time, and you got the feeling some of the players would have joined the deluge of fans headed toward the exits if they could have.

The bottom line is that both of these teams are playing in the EPL—a league where players routinely get standing ovations for showing they care and respect their clubs by running the length of the pitch to recover a ball they had lost.

But right now, only one looks like it wants to be there.