I mentioned this yesterday. If our defensive recovery is slow, United will punish us. And they did.
The goals they scored were avoidable. You can watch the extended highlights of the match here. United’s first goal came through a momentary lapse in defensive concentration. It seemed most of our players froze, taking photographs and signing autographs (catch the sarcasm?). The second goal hinged on United’s counter-attack which, again, I mentioned yesterday.
But that’s football.
Annoyingly, Sp*rs won their match emphatically, and this pushes us back to 5th position on the table.
Our attack and midfield could be better but, it’s our defence that needs some redemption. Unai’s doing an excellent job with what he’s got, but we need to shop. That, or restructuring.
Before the game yesterday, Squawka stats showed that Arsenal had conceded 20 goals compared to United’s 25 goals. With United sitting 8th on the table, you’d think we’d have shipped in fewer goals.
More worrying things: Aaron Ramsey and ‘Robbie’ Holding.
[su_quote cite=” Arsenal.com” url=”https://www.arsenal.com/fixture/arsenal/2018-Dec-05/manchester-united-2-2-arsenal-match-report?utm_source=premier-league-website&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=website”]The worst for us today was the news with Rob Holding. We are going to wait for what the doctor tells us, but it is maybe a big injury. We are going to wait; it is his knee. The other is Aaron Ramsey, but it is a small injury with him. After the two injuries, every player played with good commitment and mentality to keep the performance [going] in a difficult moment, and we could not control the game like we want for the 90 minutes, but the second half gives us confidence for this draw.[/su_quote]
In summary, we’re thin at the back. Add that to the fact that Marcus Rojo and his teammate nearly killed Lacazette while he was in motion trying to score the second goal.
Shkodran and Sokratis might need a convalescent Koscielny to join them or Julio Pleguezuelo.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_482Cl1TI6s” width=”800″]
That’s just a quick reminder of who the kid is, in case you didn’t know.
On this blog, we’ve mentioned Benatia, Bailly, and sometimes Manolas being candidates to succeed Koscielny or act as a buffer until we get something better. But it’s left to be seen if Arsenal dips into the transfer market or, puts faith in the youngsters Mavropanos and Pleguezuelo.
