We lost to United 3-1 at Old Trafford and I am in the mud. We came to Old Trafford, played our brand of football, dominated most of the game, and still lost. It very much so felt like a classic Arsene Wenger – Sir Alex Ferguson or Pep Guardiola – OGS game where Arsenal/City play the better quality of football, dominate most of the possession and due to pieces of naivety and collapses in concentration, they lose the match to the more clinical/ruthless United side. This isn’t a Kent mental breakdown like our game against Spurs and Newcastle last year where we were utterly useless and toothless, but more so disappointed with the result and content with the performance. We MUST get 3 points against Everton, I will have a mental breakdown for sure if we get anything less than 3 points.
THOUGHTS ON THE GAME:
- Disappointed with the result, content with the performance: I mentioned it earlier but the Arsenal performance was more than fine, especially for a young team going into Old Trafford as league leaders. For large parts of the game, we were the much better team, we had better spells of play, had nice passages of one-touch football, pressed well whenever we lost etc. After the first 10 minutes, I would say form minute 10-60, we played them off the pitch, even when going a goal down. *Insert dumb United fan telling me to look at the scoreboard. But at the end of the day, all that matters is who puts the ball in the back of the net and that is what United did and we didn’t. They caught us on the break, and we had lapses in judgement which cost us as all 3 of their goals were basically tap-ins. United were ruthless and clinical, credit to them, but the 3-2 scoreline might be a bit harsh with the type of football Arsenal produced. Somtimes you play well and you lose, that happens in sport and that is what happened today. If Arsenal played this United team 10 times, I’d say we beat them 6-7 times, this was one of those days where United were the better team and that is okay. I’m proud of how the team played, but we need to shore up some lapses in judgement defensively if we want to take that next step, the football is there, we just need those final touches offensively and defensively to take that next step.
- VAR continues to own me: In the 13th minute, Ødegaard clips the back of Eriksen’s foot which causes him to lose the ball to Saka who controls the ball and plays in a delicious pass to Martinelli for the left-footed finish. Now in clear time to me and many others, its a clear foul that Ødegaard puts on Eriksen, no question about it. However Tierney for whatever reason, mostly him being an incompetent fool, doesn’t call it which allows us to counter and get a goal. VAR however intervenes, calls back the goal due to a foul and 0-0 is restored. That is such a sick joke and is not how VAR should be utilized. When VAR calls down to Paul Tierney to look at that foul, it already puts it in his head that Paul made a mistake. And 9/10, referees are going to overturn their decision if VAR tells them to look at it again. VAR should be there to give the referee another perspective on his original decision, not to completely change it. Only if it is a clear and obvious foul/occurrence should things be reversed, since Tierney made that decision to not call the foul, there wasn’t enough in it for me to overturn the original call. There needs to be a complete overhaul on how VAR is utilized for decisions that do not pertain to offside. Also, Yes I am 100% salty and biased.
- Lapses in judgment killed us: Gabriel has got to make that tackle or foul and stop the play, no way should he have left Arsenal exposed like that for the first goal. On the 2nd United goal, we should have played it out defensively more, not been so keen on getting the 2nd goal and gave United an opportunity to hit us on the counter. The 3rd United goal, we had 20 minutes left to get a tying goal, no way should we have been so high to get that 2nd goal as well. Just a bit naive on how we approached the game in important moments left us exposed.
- United were ruthless: They had 3 chances to hit us on the counter and scored all 3 times. Credit to them, and they won the match. Whether it is a credit to ETH or Arteta’s naiveness, we will see as the season plays out.
- Everton is all that matters: Us losing a match at Old Trafford isn’t a problem, it is just how we respond at home to Everton this weekend. 3 points is a must and the only thing that is acceptable next weekend.
- I miss Thomas Partey: and we need to get his injury recorded sorted out, ridiculous how often this man gets injured. No way should he be getting hurt during training. Figure it out Mikel and Edu. He should have been playing this match.
- Fábio Vieira time to show out on Thursday: Vieira had a slight cameo against United for 20 minutes but I am excited to see how he fares this Thursday in the Europa League. Might be a decent reinforcement in the middle of the park with Thomas and Elneny out.
- Please win this Sunday against Everton for my livelohood
Featured image credits: Getty images