Arsenal's familiar issues visible again in Man Utd draw

Arsenal were forced to share the spoils on Sunday afternoon as they drew 1-1 with Manchester United amid a performance that made their issues visible once again.

The Gunners managed to come back from a goal down after Bruno Fernandes put United ahead with a nice free kick on the stroke of half-time. Declan Rice salvaged a point for his side with a fine first time effort from the edge of the box late in the second half.

It wasn't the worst Arsenal performance, but their issues in the final third were once again laid bare.

Arsenal's issues visible again in United draw

Arsenal enjoyed much of the possession against United but struggled to do much with it. Their build-up play moving into their hosts' half was good but they seemed to hit a rut as soon as they broke into the final third.

The Gunners failed to create any serious chances or general threat when high up the pitch and that was shown by their only goal coming through a moment of brilliance from Declan Rice after some tidy footwork from Jurrien Timber.

Many have argued this season that Mikel Arteta's side have demonstrated no sense of desire or urgency to get the ball into the box and that was clear to see at Old Trafford. Arsenal created an xG of 1.41, had 275 touches in the attacking third and entered the United penalty area 41 times but their all-round creative play seemed to be far too cautious for a side looking to pose a real threat.

Most of the Gunners' attacking sequences seemed to focus more on playing sideway passes across the team rather than expose United's weak backline. Arsenal played just four through balls past their hosts' defence throughout the game.

There are occasions when teams can afford to take time in their creative build-up and the Gunners are incredible at doing so as they have shown over the past few seasons, but the matchup at Old Trafford was not an opportunity to do that. United's tactical evolution into a Jose Mourinho-esque low block over the course of the 90 minutes made it incredibly difficult for Arteta's side to have that creativity and they could find no answer to that issue.

The absence of Kai Havertz up top obviously dissuades the temptation to just lob it into the big man but the Gunners still had Mikel Merino. Yes, he is not a striker but he has shown he can head a ball! On too many occasions did Arsenal fail to simply put the ball in the box and instead decide to play their safe and methodical sideway passes.

The team did play 20 open play crosses into the area but they often came at times where that wasn't the best option and as the result shows, that did not pay off.

There is no arguing that Arsenal are struggling to score goals and while that does point to issues in attack, a lot of their problems stem from a lack of creativity. Too often do the Gunners decide to play it safe when around the box, allowing opponents time to recuperate and defend, instead of having some urgency to break into the area with quick passing or even just playing a cross in if that is the better decision. Their choices to play balls into the box have also come at the wrong times when other options are potentially more successful.

It seems the Gunners' main creativity problems come in the form of incorrect decisions. Arsenal have been struggling to break past defences and that has come down to their passiveness when on the ball around the penalty area. They need to be more aggressive, whether that be by playing swift passes or crossing it in for someone to get on the end of it. These issues have been clear for much of the season and they were on display once again in the draw at Man United.

Mikel Arteta was clearly frustrated with these issues as he told Sky Sports "We lacked the knife in the last 20-25 metres." Fans will be hoping that leads to some changes in tactics and performance over the coming weeks but there is no denying that Arsenal certainly have creativity issues.

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