Arsenal vs. Manchester United – Tactical Review (Part 2)
Sir Alex Ferguson brought some changes to his first team. The Scotsman did not really want to risk a few of his players so he decided to change things around.
The Dutch goal stopper, Edwin Van der Saar, played in between the poles. The Dutchman was not rested and he guarded the Red Devils’ goal throughout the game.
Edwin Van der Saar was assisted by four defenders. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rio-Ferdinand-c31173 both played throughout the game despite the fact that they have to perform against Schalke 04 on Wednesday, 4th May.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabio-c13152 da Silva replaced him in the first team as a right back.
Michael Carrick played as a holding midfielder and did not move up front as Manchester United camped deep into their own half.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Carrick-c25282 was assisted by the Brazilian midfielder, Anderson. Anderson’s role was of a box-to-box player but he wasn’t much influential in the midfield as Arsenal’s midfield consisted of three instead of two players.
The Gunners were able to out-number Manchester United’s midfielders.
Luis http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Antonio-Valencia-c6345 was rested for this game because Sir Alex Ferguson wants to play him in the UEFA Champions League semifinal tie against Schalke’ 04 during the midweek.
The former Wigan winger did come on during the second half and replaced Anderson as Ji Sung Park joined Michael Carrick in the midfield and Luis Nani moved to the left.
Wayne Rooney played in the position where he has featured most of the time this season, a deep centre forward. The Englishman played deep in the midfield to add an extra man for Manchester United.
Rooney was assisted by Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez up front, as the Mexican played as a sole striker for Manchester United.
With these team line-ups, the tactics and system did change for both the teams. Manchester United was missing out on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paul-Scholes-c29394 to create spaces for the team in the midfield.
On the other hand, Cesc Fabregas did not feature for Arsenal. The North London side did miss out on their captain but Aaron Ramsey was the player who changed the cause of the game.
Not only did the Welshman score a goal but also caused a lot of problems in the midfield for the Manchester United players.
The use of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aaron-Ramsey-c3065 allowed Arsenal to concentrate a lot on their midfield. As Cesc Fabregas often plays more of an “attack minded” game in the midfield, Aaron Ramsey performed a little deeper into the midfield.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jack-Wilshere-c17463 and Alex Song assisted Ramsey in the midfield but both the players were given a free role to move around the field.
Jack Wilshere played a little higher than his usual position. With Wilshere given an option to move around the field to help his team add an extra man everywhere, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-Song-c4804 was given a job to complete.
The Arsenal holding midfielder, Alex Song, had to cover http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 throughout the game.
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