Arsenal vs. Manchester United – Tactical Review (Part 5)
With both mid-fielders taken-off by Sir http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 concentrated on getting rid of his marker and giving the ball to the strikers, Park Ji Sung did not really help the team in defending.
There was not a single holding mid-fielder for Manchester United and they became quite vulnerable on the counter-attacks. Arsenal had a lot of chances to score again but with Samir Nasri taken-off, it was Andrei Arshavin who played quite deep into his own half to help the team in their counter attacking tactics.
After scoring the only goal of the game, Arsenal stood steady in their half and defended deep outside their 18-yard box. Johan Djourou was taken-off because of an injury as Sebastien Squillaci took his place. Squillaci does not have the same defensive skills as Djourou and bringing him on, was quite a risk that Arsene Wenger took.
However, if http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thomas-Vermaelen-c35002 was to play in the game, there was quite a possibility of him getting injured again and Arsenal did not want to take that risk.
Arsenal’s substitutions included http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Johan-Djourou-c18779 leaving for Sebastian Squillaci. It was not a tactical change and the only reason why Squillaci came on, was because of Johan Djourou getting injured.
The second substitution meant that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Samir-Nasri-c32360 was to go off as Andrei Arshavin took his position in left mid-field position. Samir Nasri was seen limping on the field and it was a cautionary act taken by Arsene Wenger, who still believes his side can win the Premier League title. The French coach wanted to save one of his strongest assists and that is the reason why Andrei Arshavin made way to the pitch.
Even though it looked to be a difficult decision, Arshavin really worked hard to help his team stay in the game. The Russian striker played deep in his own half as his team relied too much on counter attacking football. Arshavin made many great sliding tackles to deny Manchester United the opportunity to move forward.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jack-Wilshere-c17463, Andrei Arshavin and Robin Van Persie often took advantage as they tried to score a goal on the break.
Arsenal got two wonderful opportunities to find the back of the net during the game, but they failed to capitalise on the chances. One of the reasons for Arsenal’s failure later during the game was http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380. The Dutch striker played a vital role throughout the game and looked to be quite tired, as he could not deliver the ball perfectly. However, he was not taken-off the field.
Arsene Wenger then made the last substitution for his side as he took off the young Englishman http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Theo-Walcott-c34873 for Emmanuel Eboue.
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