Well this is just painful. The main reason it took me so long to get to this match report is because I had to go to other work, but in retrospect it was probably a good thing to take a step away from my TV, from Twitter, and from my computer screen.
In all the matches that United have played this season, regardless of the result, this must have been the most agonizing for fans to watch. For once, United actually came out and played pretty well in the first half, aside from Arsenal's goal. The Gunners scored on a defensive miscue from the right side of the defense, with Valencia and Smalling both pushing centrally while di Maria stood watching. I hate to say I told you so, but this was one of the things that worried me going into the match. Di Maria is essentially useless on defense, so he left Valencia out to dry most of the game. Yes, Valencia didn't help things for himself, particularly when he gave a terrible back pass to de Gea that led to Arsenal's winning goal, but di Maria did little to help him. Having Rafael at right back and Valencia on the wing would surely have made for a different story. The left side of the defense did pretty well, until Shaw had to be subbed off at half time due to apparent injury.
Even so, most of Arsenal's chances only came after United went down a man thanks to a moment of idiocy from di Maria. There's really no excuse for how he conducted himself, first receiving a yellow for simulation (which has bothered me all season with him), then receiving a second yellow for pushing the referee. I can forgive a player for playing poorly, I can sometimes forgive a player for trying to win a foul, but I can never forgive a player for making such a rash decision and costing his team the game. From that time on, United were going to be up against it. The same idea goes for Januzaj, who followed suit by going to ground far too easily and earning a booking for diving.
The central midfield play for United in the first half was good, only to turn to mediocrity in the second half. Blind and Herrera successfully eliminated Ozil from the match, while still maintaining decent spells of possession. Young struggled for most of the night on the left side, particularly in dealing with Oxlade-Chamberlain's pace. Di Maria basically cost United the game, despite his wonderful first half cross into Rooney that gave United the equalizer. Even Fellaini managed to have some nice instances of control in bringing the ball down by chest or heading it to teammates. At the end of the first half, everything seemed to be going well for United.
But everything changed in the second half. United didn't look like the same team. Van Gaal swapped out Herrera for Carrick at the start of the half, likely in an attempt to strengthen the middle of the field in defense. Unfortunately, Carrick didn't contribute much to the offense, failing to deliver the incisive passes we've come to expect from previous seasons. Blind never really seemed to gel with Carrick, and the duo were unable to push the Reds forward to goal. United never really looked like equalizing after going down a man, despite a couple of half chances.
The defeat, as I said, is particularly difficult to handle. Not only did it come at the hands of Arsenal, a team we have dominated in recent history, but it came even after a first half of good action from the players. I don't know how or why, but all the momentum United had going into the break dissipated by the time the second half started. Even so, Arsenal still didn't look to be that big of a threat, with the goal coming off of a big mistake from Valencia, as mentioned.
United will need to pick themselves up and dust themselves off, and quickly. The game that was supposed to give United confidence and a hope of a trophy this season proved to be the game that could decide the fate of the season. With the tough run of games coming up, beginning with Tottenham on Sunday, we are going to learn a lot about the character of the squad.
On a side note, Welbeck really angered me when he celebrated his goal. Firstly, the goal wasn't even the result of great build up, he merely capitalized on the previously mentioned Valencia mistake. Secondly, and more importantly, it wasn't the fans that wanted to see him go in the summer, it was van Gaal who felt he had no place in the squad.
No comments:
Post a Comment