Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal Match Analysis
Analyzing Manchester United’s loss to Arsenal in the Premier League.
Overview of Line-ups:
Arsenal went with their usual 5-2-3 lineup, with the revitalized Mohamed Elneny starting alongside new signing Thomas Partey in their midfield. Aubameyang and Willian flanked Alexandre Lacazette. As for Manchester United, they went with the diamond formation that was so successful against RB Leipzig in midweek, with Paul Pogba back in a Premier League lineup.
Manchester United’s Build-Up & Progression:
One of the main issues Manchester United have faced this season, is their lack of good build-up structure and their inability to progress the ball through compact mid-blocks and high pressing teams. This was clear against Arsenal. Arsenal pressed United high with a 4-3-3 shape, with Aubameyang and Willian staying close to Manchester United’s CBs, while Lacazette looked to close down the centre. This made it difficult for United to progress play and build-up effectively as they were unable to create any numerical advantages, with each player being closely marked.
Example 1:
Figure 1: Voronoi of Manchester United’s build-up
Figure 1 is an example of an instance that saw Manchester United (Red) attempting to build out from the back. We can see from the controlled spaces that Arsenal were extremely effective in closing down spaces, while Manchester United players are not in good positions to beat that press.
Example #2:
Figure 2: Manchester United build-up
The clip above is a clear example of why Manchester United found it so difficult to progress the ball. Maguire does not have many ‘good’ options, Fred is under pressure, Luke Shaw has no escape and will have no option but to go back to Maguire, and although Scott Mctominay is in a good position, it is a risky pass with Saka in a good position to pounce. An option for Manchester United could’ve been having Shaw push higher, with Maguire and Lindelof splitting higher and having Fred drop between them. Bellerin would thus have to drop deeper to remain close to Shaw, leaving Lacazette with a choice of marking Fred (and thus leaving space in the centre for Mctominay and Pogba), or remain in the centre giving Manchester United a 3v2 advantage in the build-up. United end up going back to De Gea who eventually has to go long.
Example #3:
Figure 3: Manchester United build-up
Figure 3 is another example of the issues mentioned in the second example. A similar situation occurred (one that occurred far too often), with Manchester United eventually having to go long once again, thus losing possession.
This, in turn, made it difficult for Manchester United to effectively progress the ball and get into dangerous areas. Manchester United had no clear method of ball progression, making it easier for Arsenal to defend against them. Their 51% accuracy from progressive passes (Arsenal were at 61% in comparison) is evidence of that. Scott Mctominay and Fred only combined for 4 progressive passes. Thomas Partey had 9 alone.
Arsenal’s Compactness:
Of course, it would be remiss not to mention Arsenal’s role in stifling Manchester United’s ball progression. The Gunners were extremely well organized with their defensive structure and pressing. The examples and clips shown above are a testament to Arsenal’s defensive shape as much as they are to Manchester United’s build-up struggles.
Arsenal Ball Progression:
Compared to Manchester United, Arsenal had a clear method of ball progression. They looked to exploit the wider areas due to Manchester United’s narrow midfield (due to the diamond formation) as they looked to stretch the pitch and pull United’s midfielders wide and out of position. The spaces were in the wider areas, and Arsenal looked to take advantage of that (particularly in the first half). Figure 5 below shows where Arsenal’s progressive passes ended. The darker red the zone is, the more passes ended up there. We can clearly see the focus on getting the ball out wide.
Figure 5: Arsenal’s Progressive Passes end locations.
Figure 6 also shows an example from the game where Arsenal looked to exploit wider areas and escape the congested central areas.
Figure 6: Arsenal exploiting wide areas.
With all Manchester United players in the central zones, Thomas Partey quickly switches the ball out to the right, creating a numerical advantage (2v1) out wide with plenty of space for them to get into a dangerous zone. Manchester United struggled to deal with this in the first half. It is no surprise that the majority of Arsenal’s penalty box entries were from those wider areas (Figure 7)
Figure 7: Arsenal box entries (Passes)
Lack of Presence Up-Front:
Finally, Manchester United missed the presence of Anthony Martial up-front. Despite not being in great goalscoring form, the Frenchman is a key player for Manchester United with his hold-up and combination play. They were clearly missed against Arsenal. With United having troubles progressing the ball, they needed someone who will hold it up when they eventually do. Rashford and Greenwood struggled in that area. The Englishmen are great players and thrive on running at defenders and beyond them, but receiving the ball with their backs to goal is not something either is particularly comfortable doing. In the cases that United were able to play through Arsenal’s press, the front two were often wasteful and struggled with their backs to goal. Both are much more effective when facing goal. We can see an example of this in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Rashford’s hold-up play.
Key Player: Thomas Partey
The Ghanaian had a dominant performance in the Arsenal midfield. Here’s a look at some of his key stats:
93% Pass Completion
12/13 Final Third Passes (Team High)
4/6 Take Ons (Match High)
11 Recoveries (Match High)
4/5 Tackles
2 Interceptions
His pass map and defensive action zones are shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9: Thomas Partey v Manchester United
Sources: FBRef (https://fbref.com/en/) & StatsZone
