Manchester United 0-2 Arsenal: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis

#3 Tactical tweak ensures Solskjaer’s team gains momentum but not a goal

Fred helped United to gain some control back in the second half

Maybe, the reason for Arsenal’s partial dominance in the game was that they were managing to outdo United in the midfield in terms of tenacity at times. So, Solskjaer, as he has done multiple times in his short tenure so far, introduced a quick tactical tweak by shifting Fred to the centre of the park.

This had a sudden positive impact as United were now in even better dominant position as they moved the ball slickly, breaking the opposition’s midfield lines and looked threatening to notch a goal sooner or later.

Fred’s change of position added more steel, creativity and doggedness through the centre for Ole’s side. He won the ball back rapidly and played quick, short passes to keep the opposition on the move.

Then, on one fine occasion, he played a thoroughly an opulent through ball to Lukaku, who took an extra touch on the ball and missed a sitter yet again in the game. Lukaku and Rashford’s inability to finish off attacks hurt United big time as their decision-making took a sudden decline after a period of improvement.

Maybe this was just a one-off odd game for them, but unfortunately, from a team’s perspective, their off day came during a very crucial game. On the flipside though, the Belgian’s holdup play was brilliant, but that could not result into anything substantial for the Red Devils.