[ilovepantyhose]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

Man U was 2nd best once the whistle was blown from the start.

Arsenal deserve the win. Probably just lucky to get 2 goals.
The absence of Casemiro was probably felt. The entire team was chasing shadows.

Again failure to protect the draw even with Fred thrown in cost them the points.

like city in the 6-3 mauling, arsenal showed that they are superior this time and gave a harsh reality check, here are some thoughts

selection
i feel that ETH selected the wrong players in the starting XI:
shaw - should be malacia instead, malacia stuck close to mahrez throughout the derby match, keeping him quiet, i think he would be able to replicate the same performance. shaw allowed saka to receive the ball time and again, and gave saka ample room to attack. saka already showed that he is a threat during the 3-1 loss, ETH see him no up? lesson learnt: malacia must start ahead of shaw as DL against city and arsenal

antony - should be fred instead, fred was a defensive presence on the inside left (marking KDB). antony was pretty much ineffective and wasted a good chance to counter with a poor pass. he also needs to train his right foot so as to improve his versatility. eriksen is not a defensive player and when saka drifted inwards, eriksen was slow to close him down for the second goal. lesson learnt: must start casemiro & fred as DMC against city and arsenal

passing style
ETH instruction to play out from the back was suicidal. like past seasons, man u yet to have the personnel to play out from the back against a high press, losing possession in their own third (AWB) and under constant pressure. with WW playing up front, should have gone long aiming for the targetman

AWB
AWB performed his job well as DR trying to keep martinelli quiet. but all his good work was undone when he switched off, ball watched as nketiah sneaked in for the equaliser. poor concentration is his major weak point and i think its why ETH prefers dalot ahead of him. he got his chance when dalot got injured, and we can see improvement in his performances. AWB gotta work overtime to rectify his weak point, a lapse in concentration against a top team will be punished

WW
WW is the sort of targetman ETH needs for his system, tireless running and pressing, holding the ball and linking play. somehow i feel that he needs to improve his strength

martinez the butcher
what a player, we need more players like him in midfield and defence before we can challenge for the title

remainder of season
having lost 5 games, the priorities from now on is to win a trophy (EFL cup) and consolidate a top-4 position