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Arsenal’s Plan Of Attack Against Manchester United Revealed
By Josh Sippie
One of the biggest criticisms of our dear sweet manager Arsene Wenger is that he does not adjust. He is set in his ways. No matter the opponent, Arsenal are going to look the same.
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Last year we saw that change a bit. Arsenal started to display a new counter attacking scheme that worked wonderfully against bigger teams. It was no longer a game of control possession and never score. It was a game of surrender possession and strike fast.
That has become the name of the Arsenal game now. Against Leicester, the openness of the game played into Arsenal’s favor. They struck quick and often. But Leicester City and Manchester United are different ball games. And yet Arsenal looked even better against Manchester United. So what gives? What did Arsene Wenger tell his guys to do in order to match the intensity we saw against Leicester? After all, United are not a team that can be dominated.
Per Mertesacker has spoken out about what Wenger told the club. Wenger spoke to his guys and told them to do their job. He said to have no regrets. But that is the ordinary stuff.
Le Prof also told his guys to throw caution to the wind. To attack relentlessly and not let United breathe.
Has there ever been a time in the past decade that Arsenal have been instructed to attack relentlessly and throw caution to the wind? If so, then Arsenal were awful at putting it into play. This Arsenal squad is evolving. I wrote a piece not long ago about the evolution of Arsenal’s defense. Their aggression and proactive play is unlike anything we have seen in years.
Well, the club as a whole is evolving as well. And Arsene Wenger with it.
What we saw against Manchester United was an evolved Arsenal. Their attack really did look free. It looked like they literally left all of their caution and all of their reservations in the dressing room. There was no hesitation. There was no second-guessing. It was a confident attack that was not going to be held back.
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Essentially, it was an offense that did exactly what Arsene Wenger wanted.
That is the job of the manager, no? To deploy tactics that play to your team’s strength and the other team’s weaknesses? Or is that too obvious of a question to ask? Consider it rhetorical.
The point is that Arsenal is getting better as a unit. They are looking cohesive. They are looking like the best team in England. And no, that is not just based off of the Leicester City and Manchester United results. That is based off a team last year that lead the second half of the season in points and only got stronger in the summer.
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