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16 تغريدة 1 قراءة Jan 24, 2023

Premier League 2022/2023
Arsenal #AFC vs Manchester United #MUFC
Tactical Analysis
[THREAD]

Manchester United defend using the 4-2-3-1 shape.
McTominay joined the backline several times, filling in the gap between Varane and Wan Bissaka. He was tasked to be aware of Xhaka's underlap.

The @markrstats chart shows that Manchester United has one of the deepest defensive lines.
This is also shown in the statistics for this match, comparing Arsenal def line height (49) to Man United (37).

Arsenal's Build up vs Man United's High Press
Man United high press Arsenal, but they didn't commit enough players , so Arsenal always had one free player (ex: Zinchenko).

How Arsenal Break Down Man United's Low Block?
Arsenal chose to take short corners to break down MU's defensive block. What makes it very difficult to mark Arsenal players, is their fluid rotation that occurs continuously.

For example here, Martinelli and Xhaka both move to halfspace.
However, they moved in different directions (Martinelli moved out, and Xhaka moved into the box), this created a dilemma for Man United to defend and opened up space for Arsenal to attack.

In the 1st goal, we saw initially that Martinelli holding the width and Xhaka was in half space with Odegaard.
Then, #AFC made a circulation and Martinelli rotated with Xhaka. This created empty space for Xhaka and Nketiah was able to score after appearing from the blindside,

Long-distance shots are also one of the ways to break down a low block. This is because teams that play low blocks tend to provide shooting space in front of their defensive blocks.

#AFC tried to shift the opponent's defensive shape by circulating and then switching play when space is created on the opposite side,
#AFC's overloaded the RHS, then switch play to LHS to create numerical superiority against AWB.

With only 0.11 xG in the 1st half, Man United got their 1st goal from pressing.
Shaw and Rashford counter-pressed Saka and managed to win the ball back. Rashford was able to get past Partey with a nutmeg, and fired a long-range shot into the left corner of the goal.

Manchester United and Arsenal were able to record 5 high turnovers, with 1 time being converted into a shot.

Arsenal high pressed aggressively with Saka and Nketiah both pressed Man United's CB, Martinelli pressed Wan Bissaka, Odegaard/Xhaka marked McTominay, White pressed Shaw, and Partey pressed Eriksen.
MU tried to build up from the back, but was
often unsuccessful.

Weghorst was used as a progression outlet, to link up directed to the left flank.
MU is indeed more dominant in playing through the left flank which is filled by Rashford and Shaw.