Arsenal Vs Manchester United: Disrupting the key cog

Paul Pogba is the smoothing, calming, creative cog at the heart of Manchester United’s midfield. Arsenal, specifically Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey, must find a way to disrupt his rhythm.

Manchester United are not a fluid and free-flowing attacking side. While they have individually gifted players capable of creating and scoring goals at any moment, they are, as is ever the case with a Jose Mourinho team, a little bit mechanical and clunky in their play, especially through the midfield phases.

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If there is, however, one player who provides at least an element of control and creativity when on the ball, especially when distributing from deep, switching the play from one flank to the other, lofting passes into the channels, pulling and probing the opposing defence, then it is Paul Pogba, the towering Frenchman who surges through the midfield, shoulders broad, head high.

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Because of a hamstring issue earlier in the season, Pogba has played only seven Premier League games this season. In those seven games, he has scored three goals and assisted three goals, averaging a direct involvement in a goal every 101.67 minutes. United, as a team, have scored 21 goals, an average of 3.5 per game. In the eight games that Pogba has missed, United have scored just 11 games, at an average of 1.375 goals per game. That is a substantial difference.

As Arsenal prepare to welcome United to the Emirates, with the Saturday evening kick-off perfectly balanced with a four-point gap between the two sides, it is clear that the man that they have to disrupt and unsettle is Pogba. It’s no surprise that, on his return from injury, United immediately scored four goals, carving open Newcastle United with Pogba at the heart of everything they did.

That is the warning to Arsenal. If they allow Pogba to have time on the ball, settle into the game, and begin to dictate play from deep, then he will begin to pick apart even their most disciplined and regimented of shapes and structures.

In recent weeks, Wenger has clearly demanded that his players play with a greater intensity and energy, pressing high up the pitch, and suffocating the game by limiting the accuracy and the quality of the service up to the opposing strikers.

They must do the same against Pogba, even if he drops extremely deep to try and slip the Gunners’ attentions. Both Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey, who are beginning to blossom as a midfield pair, must be brave in their positioning when United have the ball, being willing to push higher up the pitch, even if that means leaving spaces behind them. It is much better to pressure the distribution than sit deep and remain organised.

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Pogba, if allowed, can take over the game. He is a player of the calibre and quality. Arsenal cannot be passive in their dealing with him. They must disrupt him, unsettle him, and upset him. If he finds his rhythm, it could be a long, long day indeed.