Juan Mata – Rafael da Silva combination key for Manchester United against Arsenal

Juan Mata: Key figure against Arsenal?

The tone to this preview article swayed dramatically over the last 20 minutes of the United Fulham game on Sunday. Though David Moyes’ team does not inspire all the confidence these days but they were certainly expected to ease past the lowest ranked team in the League. Mata’s arrival in Manchester could have been the only shining light for this encounter, especially after Arsenal preferred to choose a familiar road come February. But the Spaniard alone was not able to row United past all the rocks, as demons in the well-known positions crept up again.

Ironically, each one of the current United attackers have been seen previously tearing apart Wenger’s teams; right from the recent exploits of Van Persie, to Rooney’s wizardry from the age of 16, and also including the recent addition of Mata and the inconsistent Ashley Young. Though both Rooney and RVP have just returned from injuries and do not look in touch, and Mata still needs to settle in, the trio looks ominous against a side that conceded 4 goals within 18 minutes of a game.

Looking at the team news for both the sides, it is Wenger who still seems to be suffering his never ending injury woes. Ramsey and Flamini are still out in midfield and so is Vermaelen in defence. Wilshere, Arteta and Ozil will be seen as the trio in midfield, though there have been many calls for Rosicky to be brought in for the out of sorts Ozil.

David Moyes on the other hand will be boosted by the return of the instrumental Phil “big-match” Jones after a concussion in the Chelsea game. Jones started the 1st game against Arsenal in midfield, and needless to say was positioned tight next to Ozil. A similar tactic is expected again with Smalling and Vidic in the centre of defence. Rafael‘s successful return to the squad will be a big boost for Moyes, as the Brazilian has been fairly successful against the Gunners. The front trio selects itself to the field, with Januzaj expected to come into the left wing in place of Young.

With majority of United articles speaking about Mata in February, we will also duly oblige here. But a quick glance on the bench sees that the arrival of Mata and the return of Rafael at RB has restricted Valencia to the sidelines and Smalling to CB. It was Valencia and Smalling who started the earlier game against Arsenal, and in a game that Moyes chose to defend deep and narrow, the Ecuadorian winger and English defender were crucial against the likes of Gibbs and Cazorla.

Monreal’s knock at Anfield would see Gibbs coming back at left back and with Cazolra providing a more central attacking option in front of him, the English fullback will be having the entire wing in his face-up against Rafael.

This is where comes in a subject which has been intricately examined this season, Juan Mata’s defensive role. Mourinho has brought to light a rather lethargic approach in defensive marking and tracking by the Spaniard, especially in games like Arsenal-away where players are expected to sit tight in defense and break swiftly on the break. But Mata’s role in the Fulham game atleast suggests otherwise.

Though the 37 million man was brilliant in his passing and distribution while drifting in, and United finally did have a man other than Carrick with a Pass Completion of more than 90%, but again most of Fulham counters came through Mata’s wing in both halves. First Holtby and then Richardson were both able to break past Mata and an advancing Rafael, and the former went on to assist the first goal.

Looking at few stats of Valencia and Smalling on this flank against Arsenal at Old Trafford would show what a huge role Mata has to play, especially with Rafael behind him; I just can’t stop reiterating the latter part.

Smalling’s battle against Gibbs was crucial in stopping crosses from the left too

Valencia kept the likes of Cazorla in check, and also looked into Wilshere’s wanderings upfront

United’s disastrous season has all but hidden Arsenal’s horrible performance at Anfield. If United’s 37 million man was slightly slow in his defencive tracking, then Wenger’s 46 million man was calamitous to say the least. There has been a massive amount of criticism thrown towards the German playmaker and promptly many have questioned his desire and motivation to continue playing in North London.

But rather than hitting out at Ozil, there needs to be major acclaim directed towards Liverpool’s pressing higher up the field. Ozil has often been seen dropping into deeper areas in midfield so as to avoid the opposition marking him out in the “hole”, also seen against Phil Jones at Old Trafford. But at Anfield, the duo of Henderson and Coutinho pressed the German deep into his own half and the presence of Suarez and Sturridge upfront prevented an obvious back pass.

This is where Arsenal’s over reliance on their central midfielders’ accurate distribution came into play. It is very common to see Wenger’s fullbacks pressing higher up the field when the ball is still with the likes of Arteta or Wilshere in midfield. The fullbacks have started to expect these central midfielders to deliver accurate balls into their flanks and thus bomb forward to receive these.

Liverpool took advantage of exactly this fact by quickly closing down the Arsenal midfield and stationing the likes of the pacy Sterling and Sturridge on the flanks.

In that respect United might not be ideally suited to exploit this particular flaw in Wenger’s team, as both Jones and Carrick prefer to sit deeper off-the ball, in order to ward of the threats of Cazorla and Chamberlain. So the only pressure on the deeper Arsenal midfielders would be Rooney’s presence, which more often than not is sporadic. But the aspect of exploiting the space left behind by Bacary Sagna on the right flank is very much feasible, as the likes of Adnan Januzaj or Welbeck can easily beat Mertersacker for pace and reach Mata’s favored lofted balls behind the defence.

A look back at the earlier game at Old Trafford shows a Van Persie header to a corner which was defended zonally by Arsenal, and that to without Mertersacker at the near post. All of Arsenal’s pressure in the first half was thwarted by Jones’ presence in midfield and Vidic in defence, and the only danger Wenger’s men posed was via Sagna galloping freely on the right.

Vidic’s injury and Jones’ shift into defence saw the likes of Wilshere prosper in making runs into the box, and the only thing that stopped Arsenal from scoring was the lack of natural width in the team and also Wenger’s decision to bring on Gnabry only in the last 10 minutes.

Rafael key to restricting Arsenal’s wing play

The key now in this encounter remains how high United can close down Wenger’s midfield. Moyes is going to pose a definite threat in attack via Rafael and Evra, but despite Mata’s capture, the team still lacks the bite with 2 deep midfielders. In Arsenal’s case it will be all about how much Chamberlain can outmaneuver Evra and play in intelligent balls to Giroud, who will up against Vidic for one last time.

Prediction: Arsenal 0- 0 Manchester United

Statistics courtesy of Squawka.com