FOOTBALL

Tactical Analysis: How Arsenal dismantled Man United

Published

1 year ago

January 26, 2023

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A few days ago, Arsenal held on to their 5 points league at the Premier League summit with a scintillating win over Manchester United at the Emirates.

It was a frantic game full of individual brilliance, but both teams stuck to the fundamental tactical philosophy of their managers.

Arteta’s structuring

There was no surprise in the Arsenal lineup.

Mikel Arteta reintroduced the 4-3-3, which would become a 442 during attacking transitions. Martin Ødegaard joined the frontline of Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli.

Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey were joined by Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko in the midfield. The fullbacks would invert and provide more cover to the backline duo of Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba.

White and Zinchenko overlapped when the wingers occupied the half-spaces. As Saka and Martinelli took up more central positions, Zinchenko and White could burst into these wide pockets of spaces and provided attacking widths.

Ten Hag’s game plan

Erik ten Hag knew that the best chance his team had to take something away from the Emirates was to exploit the transitional phases.

Man United are the only team this season who have won against Arsenal this season. At Old Trafford, United exposed Arsenal’s high line with their blistering pace on the flanks and incisive through balls from the middle.

That seemed to be the most sensible way to go about this match from United’s perspective. They were coming away to a hostile away environment against a team who are statistically one of the best in Europe at the moment.

On top of that, they did not have Casemiro, who has been the best midfielder in the Red Devils squad this season, as he had to sit out to serve a one-match suspension.

United absorbed the wave of Arsenal attacks in the opening minutes of the game. Slowly they started to show their counter-attacking prowess as Aaron Wan Bissaka and Luke Shaw would threaten to break down the flanks. Antony and Marcus Rashford started to run at the Arsenal backline, with Bruno Fernandes pulling the strings from the back.

Marcus Rashford drew first blood as he won the ball in the midfield, escaped away from Partey and took a stunning goalbound shot from outside the box that ultimately got the better of Aaron Ramsdale. Rashford silenced the raucous home crowd to put the visitors ahead, but their lead would only last long.

Eddie NKetiah took advantage of Wan Bissaka’s positional unawareness as he jumped high to meet Granit Xhaka’s inviting cross in the right post and head it in for the equaliser.

Arsenal orchestrated several attacks after restoring the deadlock, but the scores were tied 1-1 at the interval.

The midfield battle

United had to field Scott McTominay at the centre of the park.

The Scotsman is not as good as Casemiro in reading the game and anticipating danger. So, Ten Hag instructed him to drop deep when necessary and rotate position with Christian Eriksen, who did most of the heavy lifting in the middle. He was patrolling the half spaces and was mostly drifting leftwards to stop Bukayo Saka from getting too much space.

When he did move left, Antony and Bruno Fernandes would drop and try to plug the holes that would pop up. This made it harder for Martinelli and Zinchenko to receive the ball in favourable positions around and inside the United box.

But, the next Arsenal goal would come from a moment of madness. Bukayo Saka astonishingly beat David de Gea from a distance to make it 2-1 before Lisandro Martínez pounced in a fantastic header to make it 2-2.

Arsenal would increase their efforts in search of a winner afterwards and was rewarded with a late NKetiah strike to make it 3-2.

FOOTBALL

WATCH: Georgina Rodriguez makes huge claim on Cristiano Ronaldo’s retirement in Football

Published

2 months ago

March 3, 2024

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Georgina Rodriguez made a huge claim on the future of her husband and star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, in Football. In a brief interaction with a host recently, Rodriguez was asked about the time left for Cristiano to make an impact at the highest level. Georgina looked honest in her approach to the question of the host and claimed something the fans would not love to hear.

Georgina claimed that the Portugal star has maybe one year more from him at the highest level. She felt that Ronaldo might play two more years before retiring and not more than that. She was however not sure if he would play for just one or two years and added that the Al Nassr star could also play more than that.

Watch the video of Georgina Rodriguez here –

🚨🎙️| Georgina Rodriguez on Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Paris Fashion Week yesterday:

“Cristiano one more year, then it’s over. Maybe two, I don’t know.”

(via @ArobaseGiovanny)pic.twitter.com/4dxw2j5DuC

— Pubity Sport (@pubitysport) March 3, 2024

“Cristiano one more year, then it’s over. Maybe two, I don’t know,” said Rodriguez in the little chat she had with the host. The video has gone viral on X and the fans have started sharing it on different platforms. Some of the fans feel that Georgina might be right, while others feel that she could be wrong, given the fitness and longevity of the star player.

Legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo

On the 5th of February, Ronaldo celebrated his 39th birthday. He is currently one of the oldest players in the world. In the past, players at this age would have retired way back. But the fitness and consistency of Ronaldo make him play the sport as long as he wishes. In his career so far, Ronaldo has won many major leagues for Portugal and league teams like Real Madrid, Al Nassr, and Manchester United.

With United, Portugal won some major leagues like the FA Cup and the Champions League. With Real Madrid, the 39-year-old won the leagues like the UCL, Copa Del Rey and La Liga. He won it three consecutive times for Real Madrid. For Portugal, Cristiano had a huge contribution to Portugal. He has the most number of appearances and goals for an international team and won the Euro 2016 with Portugal.

FOOTBALL

Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham slapped with Red Card as he argued with referee

Published

2 months ago

March 3, 2024

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Jude Bellingham shown Red Card (Image Credit: Twitter)

England and Real Madrid player Jude Bellingham was slapped with a Red Card during the La Liga game against Valencia. In the game, the home team, Valencia was leading by 2-0 after 30 minutes before Madrid scored in the injury time of the first half. Vinicius Junior opened the scoring for Madrid while Hugo Duro (27′) and Roman Yaremchuk (30′) scored a goal each.

In the 76th minute, Junior scored an equalizer to keep the team in the game. However, in the injury time of the second half, Bellingham was given a red card as he argued with the referee against calling it a full-time before he could score. In reply, the match official decided to slap the England international with a Red Card. The team coach Carlo Ancelotti wasn’t happy with the verdict as the Three Lions player was making a pass at the time.

Jude Bellingham verbally abusing officials and other footballers at the slightest provocation needs to be talked about more. It’s embarrassing he gets applauded by Real Madrid Fans.

Mason Greenwood should’ve allowed La Liga to deal with this simp. pic.twitter.com/ixYSw6YxaC

— Herman Facundo© (@hermanfacundo_7) March 3, 2024

“I think what’s just happened is unprecedented. It’s never happened to me,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“We had possession of the ball and the match should have been finished when Valencia had the ball.

“What bothers us is the red card for Bellingham because he didn’t say anything insulting. He was frustrated of course,” said Ancelotti, adding that Bellingham had used a common English swearword when telling the referee it was a goal.

We are annoyed with Jude Bellingham’s Red Card: Carlo Ancelotti

“We were annoyed with Bellingham’s red card. He didn’t say any insults. He said in English ‘it’s a f—ing goal,’ but he was just saying what we were all thinking … [The referee] allowed play to continue. I think he made a mistake.”

“[Bellingham] was clear in what he said,” Ancelotti added. “He was quite vehement [in his reaction] but that’s normal, after what happened. It wasn’t an insult, not at all.”

FOOTBALL

PL 2023-24: MCFC vs MUFC Dream11 Prediction, Playing XI, Fantasy League Today’s Captain, Vice-Captain, and more for Manchester derby

Published

2 months ago

March 2, 2024

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Super Sunday is set to witness the Manchester Derby in the Premier League 2023-24. The match between Manchester City (MCFC) and Manchester United (MUFC) is set to take place in Etihad Stadium, the home ground of Manchester City. The two teams have had a contrasting journey in the league till now. The fortunes of City changed ever since Pep Guardiola took over the club as the manager.

While the home side are placed in the second position in the points table currently, United are in the sixth place in the points table. In their previous encounter, City hammered Luton Town by 6-2 in the FA Cup. United have shown massive improvements in the last few weeks after not having a good start to their campaign. United were involved in a thrilling game where they beat Nottingham Forrest by 1-0 in their last game.

Both teams feature some of the best players in the world. The likes of Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland, Marcus Rashford, Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, and others would be taking part in the match. Manchester City will start the match as the favourites, given their record in the ongoing league so far and the match taking place in their home. United with their improved record can challenge the home side.

MCFC vs MUFC – Match Details

Match – Manchester City (MCFC) vs Manchester United (MUFC), Premier League 2023-24

Venue – Etihad Stadium, Manchester

Date and Time – 3^rd March 2024, 21:00 IST

Live Coverage – Star Sports Network and Disney plus Hot Star

MCFC vs MUFC – Head-to-Head

Both the teams from Manchester have a rich history in the sport. they have been up against each other in 191 instances. In as many games, Manchester United have been historically the better side with 78 wins to their name. City have managed to win 60 wins, as 53 games ended in a draw. In the last five games between the two sides in the Premier League, City have won four of the five games.