Arsenal: 4 tactical errors Arteta made vs Manchester United

3. Poor Substitutions & In-Game Management

Having the game in the palm of their hands and throwing it away with a needless penalty required an urgent response. United at this stage were happy to defend their one goal lead and invite the pressure, so the players to come off the bench have to react to that intent.

Emile Smith Rowe was blowing and came off in the 70th minute for Bukayo Saka, which is fine since he was struggling to keep up with the pace, but the decisions that followed that made little sense.

In the end, Arteta’s idea to find the equaliser was to bring on his attacking players…in place of his attacking players. It beggars belief.

As foolish as the error was from Odegaard, why did Elneny have to stay on the pitch? Arsenal are chasing the game at this point and they need their most creative players on the ball. Hook the Egyptian and play Odegaard in a deeper midfield role to maintain some centrality. Go gung-ho. There is nothing to lose.

Instead all the substitutions felt like they were made with the fear of losing 4-2. That seemed to blur Arteta’s rational as opposed to putting the cards on the table and seeking the third goal.

It was all so negative, so cautious. There is nothing to say Arsenal couldn’t even have taken off a defender just to implement all the attacking tools available. United were so comfortable in those final stages because Arsenal let them be with more poor in-game management from the boss.

The same can be said at half-time. Arsenal clearly lost control as they sat off, and knowing United were there for the taking he could have made the Elneny and Sambi substitution even sooner.

Reading the room is something this manager and this team have to learn to master.

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