Man Utd 3-2 Arsenal: 4 positives from Old Trafford

This ones stings. It’s going to sting for a while. Suffering their fifth defeat of the season, of all the losses so far, this one cuts deepest. Arsenal leave Old Trafford wondering about the great ‘what if’.

At this point of the campaign, despite all the talk about taking it one game at a time, the fixtures are often looked at in clusters. Consecutive away trips to Manchester United and Everton over the course of five days was such an instance.

Would anyone have taken four points? Most probably, yes. Sadly, those aspirations can quickly be put to bed as Arsenal fell to a 3-2 defeat on Thursday night. A loss all of their own doing.

Emile Smith Rowe smartly gave the Gunners the lead with a well-taken volley, one that David de Gea couldn’t get anywhere near as he was busy feigning injury after his own player trod on his foot. It was a remarkable goal, one that will feature on all the highlight reels.

Manchester United 3-2 Arsenal: 4 positives from Premier League defeat at Old Trafford for Mikel Arteta’s side as Ronaldo scores double

The infuriating inferiority complex that cripples this football team reared its ugly head once again as Arsenal dropped off as many yards as they could, with United’s possession dominance paying dividends as some slack marking saw Bruno Fernandes sweep home.

There was some more of that after the break for Cristiano Ronaldo’s first, even if it was only briefly a lead as Martin Odegaard smartly tucked home less than two minutes later.

Fancying the role of pantomime villain, the Norwegian clumsily felled Fred to allow Ronaldo to score his brace from the penalty spot. An avoidable defeat against an average team. That’s what hurts the most.

But we’re here to find light in the darkness. After all, Arsenal are still fifth and just a point off the top four (which can be mostly forgotten about based on such performances), and if it’s all about the negatives then it’s going to be a tough weekend to get through. Always look on the bright side of life, eh?

Here are the positives from Old Trafford.

1. Team Preparation & Structure Off the Ball

How a team prepares for a match says a lot about the manager’s eye for detail and the group’s mentality. Judging Arsenal off that alone, they’ve come a long way.

Not knowing what approach Manchester United would adopt as they dance between styles and were preparing for a new coach to come in and inject his own ideas, the way Arsenal set up for the game was excellent. The structure of the 4-4-2 out of possession was superb, the triggers for the press cleverly pre-meditated and United could not build in the way they wanted.

It was vital that Arsenal got stuck in from the first whistle, frustrated their opponents and quietened the crowd. They did just that. Harry Maguire was left throwing his hands up in the air begging for options on the ball, and every pass into a forward was met with a defender right up behind them.

Everyone knew their roles and carried them out brilliantly, with the wide areas, particularly on the right where Takehiro Tomiyasu was brilliant, offering United no joy. For large spells in the first half they were limited to pot shots from distance.

That is, of course, until the 20th minute came around and Arsenal reverted to form with the inexplicable decision to sit off and abandon all adventure on the ball.

Looking at it strictly from a preparation standpoint though, in terms of how the team set up, it was impressive.

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2. The Team Response to Going Behind

Once again it was poor defending for the second goal. Nuno Tavares got caught out trying to intercept, which is fine, but when Rashford has a run into the penalty box two players can do better: Gabriel needs to get tight to him and Partey has to get in front of Ronaldo.

It was a killer blow just seven minutes into the second half. How Arsenal responded is what offers encouragement.

Arteta said after the game that this is where he felt most aggrieved with the performance.

"“[…]when the game was there with 2-2, and we were in our best moment and had total control and dominance of the game, that’s when you have to give the next step and go and win the match and then we didn’t manage one situation,” he said."

That all came about from the response. Partey was atrocious in the first half but improved hugely after the break, making more incisive passes and generally tidying up his game. The same can be said for Odegaard, who started finding space in between the lines and kept the ball in the right areas.

Scoring the goal less than two minutes later, the team began to understand the game. It only required two or three passes to get into United’s box, such was the distances between their lines and generally poor spatial awareness. How the team reacted to that goal showed the spirit within in the group even if the issues remain painfully prevalent.

Penalty decision onwards and it’s a different story.

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3. Arsenal Know What the Problem is

The reason this defeat is tougher to swallow than the others suffered this season is because Arsenal shouldn’t have lost it. Yes, the Manchester United and Old Trafford factors are there, so too the magnitude of the game in regards to European ambitions, but nothing is worse than losing a match where defeat could easily have been avoided.

And we all know why.

Fingers can be pointed at Odegaard’s idiocy, poor marking in defensive situations and bizarre substitutions, but the point where Arsenal lost this game was in the 20th minute.

Taking the lead after 12 minutes was what the Gunners deserved for their start. Their shape nullified United’s attempts to play out, the counter-pressing was well drilled and the confidence to play in their half forced the series of corners that the goal eventually came from.

But then they stopped playing. Again.

Taking 20 touches in United’s third in the opening 13 minutes, that number dropped to 17 for the remaining 32 minutes plus injury time. In that first half United were crying out to be attacked. Arsenal had the game state in their favour and indescribably reverted to the same hair-pulling negativity out of possession that has been a mainstay of the team all season.

Arteta clearly doesn’t want them to do this, having said so himself and seen frantically gesticulating on the sidelines for his side to push up, but the frequency of its occurrence leaves him as culpable as the rest.

That’s where the game was lost and, if we’re looking positively, at least we know why.

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4. Waving Goodbye to Tough Fixtures

Silver lining? You’re darn right we’ll find one.

14 matches into the Premier League season and Arsenal have already been to the Etihad, King Power Stadium, Anfield and Old Trafford. Chelsea and Tottenham have been faced on home soil.

They’ve come away with sweet nothing in three of those away games, granted, but those fixtures coupled with the fact that the team still sit in fifth place ahead of the teams they need to be ahead of offers some solace.

Nothing excuses the defeat, the individual performances, or the decisions, but sitting and being miserable about everything will only make for a rotten weekend. Arsenal have played 14 matches, lost five, drawn two and won seven, leaving them on 23 points. The only team who can overtake them as the table stands is Tottenham, who have a game in hand after their trip to Burnley was cancelled.

If there is any consolation as well, it’s that United are still a long way off being a decent unit. They won on this occasion with the quality of their forwards doing the business against poor errors from Arsenal players, but they’ll need a lot of work from a manager with an entirely different philosophy before they can be making the most out of their squad.

Losing at Old Trafford is horrible. Always is, always has been. At least now the next loss can wait until next season, right?