Manchester United exceeded expectations by continuing to defend their FA Cup crown by beating Arsenal on penalties at the Emirates Stadium. Through a combination of resilient defending and picking their moments superbly - it was Ruben Amorim's best work yet...
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00:00Hello everybody, Adam Monk here from 442, not Adam Cleary today, and the most important
00:10thing to start the video with, I'll be taking over for a week on the channel, so Adam very
00:14sadly last week had a loss in the family, so he's gone back up to Newcastle this week
00:18and I'm going to go down to London tomorrow and then take the rest of the videos for this
00:22week in the Snazzy studio, I've got my bedroom today, but yes, Adam's fine, he's just taking
00:27a week away to be with his family, so leave him some lovely comments in the comments section
00:31and yes, without further ado, we'll carry on, and you've got me for today, so yes, you've
00:36got me for today, the supply teacher of the 442 YouTube channel, yes I do know the syllabus
00:41but every now and then I'll just throw some text books out and call it a day if you know
00:44what I mean, and by that I mean I don't have a subbuteo table, but yes, it has been a couple
00:48of months since I've done a video on the main channel, so if you are a newcomer and you've
00:51not seen anything from me before, then here's my presenting acumen summarising a nice little
00:56clip.
00:57Erm, yeah, pleasure.
00:58Pleasure to meet you.
01:00Yes.
01:01Mummy's tough.
01:02You've left him hanging.
01:03Oh sorry, I was looking at the camera!
01:06Rule number one of being a supply teacher, don't give your students ammunition.
01:10Anyway class, if you'd like to turn your textbooks to page 17, you'll see the headline
01:13Arsenal won, Manchester United won, 12th of January 2025 headlined, how to beat Mikel
01:20Arteta.
01:21Starting with the lineups now, this is my makeshift £15 bought off Amazon tactics board
01:26because if I actually paid the full price for a subbuteo table in this small bedroom,
01:30no female would ever speak to me ever again.
01:33Also it's not as big as a subbuteo table, look at the size of these hands, I'm like
01:37the Godzilla of being a nerd.
01:39But Manchester United, who we're going to go with in the red today because Arsenal played
01:43in a sort of whitish hue, they obviously lined up with the, you guessed it, 3-4-3.
01:49Across the back three we had the usual three of Dilip Martinez and Harry Maguire between
01:53both of them.
01:54And then across the middle four of course we had Nusa Mazraoui, Diogo Dalot who we will
01:59talk a little bit about later because he actually, conversely in my opinion, won United this
02:03game.
02:04That does sound mental but we'll come on to it.
02:08And then in my opinion the two most important players in the pivot positions, Kobe, Mainu
02:11and Manuel Agate who are a much better alternative to what played against Newcastle United which
02:17was of course Christian Eriksen and Casemiro.
02:21Now I'm just going to overlay Eriksen and Casemiro's heat maps from that game against
02:25Newcastle and it's very subtle the difference here.
02:29Now like I said it is a very subtle difference, I'll just alternate between Eriksen and Casemiro's
02:32heat maps here but you can see that they're almost occupying the exact same areas of the
02:37pitch despite playing the same position which is not good.
02:42Compare that to Manuel Agate today and you can see quite clearly, I'm not going to get
02:45my hands in the way of this tactics board by the way because it will just cover the
02:48overlay, but you can see that he's a lot more all action and occupying more areas on
02:53the pitch.
02:54But then you switch to Kobe Mainu and boom, there you go.
02:56Despite partnering Manuel Agate, his positioning is a lot more varied and that's kind of what
03:00you need from a double pivot.
03:01You need the best of both worlds.
03:03Mainu likes to carry it further forward, Agate's that rock, the guy who screens the back line.
03:07It's much more of an equilibrium, makes more sense for any opponent, not just a midfielder
03:11as good as Newcastle United or Arsenal or Liverpool.
03:15Then across the front three, the three players who are expected to stretch Arsenal's defence
03:18in transition, Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hoyland.
03:23So then coming on to Arsenal's line-up, David Weir in goal, Jürgen Timber at right
03:27back, Gabriel Anceliba of course at centre-back.
03:29Then at left back, a massive blow for Arsenal today of course, not having Calafiore who
03:35is so handsome that he made the team collectively lose aura apparently.
03:40So yeah, they had to go with Lewis Skelly at left back.
03:42Then into the midfield three, Jorginho at the six with Mourinho and Martin Oerdegaard.
03:46Yes, Martin Oerdegaard in the middle.
03:49Martin Oerdegaard today, probably the most starved individual I've ever seen a player
03:52be starved this season, if that makes sense.
03:55There was just no runners, no nothing for him in that first half, which is the source
03:59of Arsenal's main problems at the moment.
04:01Then on the flanks, Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus with Kai Havertz leading the line because
04:06Alexander Isak plays for Newcastle.
04:08Yeah, doesn't land quite as well when you rob the joke and Newcastle aren't in the
04:12video.
04:13This is in the third minute of the game and Gabriel Jesus decides to attempt the most
04:16ambitious give and go I think I've ever seen in the history of the FA Cup.
04:21You can see United are in a nice compact defensive shape here with five across the back, stretch
04:25nice and wide with four across the middle and Jesus sets off from this pass and tries
04:30to make an arced run round the back of the United defence.
04:34Oerdegaard passes it into the only area of the pitch that he really can do and look at
04:38the difference in yardage here between Jesus and Lisandro Martinez.
04:42That's a good three, four yards of difference.
04:45That's kind of how off the pace Arsenal were in this first half when they tried to make
04:49runs.
04:50And this is ultimately what Martin Oerdegaard likes to do.
04:52We've seen this so many times.
04:53He opens his body up and looks for a runner towards the far post, someone he can give
04:57it to who's going to make something happen.
04:59We can see here Jesus clearly has given up on making any incisive runs himself and he'd
05:03rather hold the whip, but if that is going to be the case then you actually need someone
05:07to make an attacking run to the six yard box.
05:10The first time round this doesn't happen so the ball just gets recycled back to Martin
05:13Oerdegaard.
05:14And don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing that Oerdegaard did this to just recycle the
05:17ball because it's going to draw the midfield out a little bit and then he can hit that
05:21pass, but you can see every time Oerdegaard received it in the first half he was opening
05:24his body up and looking for a runner and consistently it didn't come.
05:29After playing the one-two with Jorginho he then hits the cross because there's a little
05:32bit more space that he's fashioned, but instantly the cross is shallow and De Ligt is there
05:36to anticipate it and clear it and this was just a rinse and repeat.
05:39Literally, because Arsenal sustain the pressure, recycle the ball and it finds its way onto
05:43the right hand side again, Oerdegaard in the same position for like the fifth time in the
05:46last 60 seconds.
05:48Now Jesus here is going to go for a similar give and go as he did the previous minute
05:51and this one works a lot better, but just look at Manchester United's back line.
05:55This is all they had to really do today to ensure that Arsenal just couldn't open the
05:59door.
06:00It's a give and go and the ball is a little bit over here, but if it wasn't and Jesus
06:03wasn't stretching for the ball and had time to put a ball in, look at where the space
06:07would be in the penalty area here, beyond the edge of the D and behind the penalty spot.
06:11And Manchester United's back line was so compact in this game that even if he had time
06:15to touch the ball and pick that area of the pitch out, he wouldn't have been able to
06:19do so because Maguire, Martinez and Dalot were positioned almost perfectly to cut that
06:23passing lane out without the need to have a defensive mid on the edge of the box.
06:27Now in fairness to him, in my opinion today, the only real player in the first half for
06:31Arsenal who understood what Martin Odegaard wanted was Gabriel Jesus.
06:34This give and go is really, really nice and he just seemed to have a bit more energy about
06:38him than the other Arsenal attackers.
06:40But if you just stop it there, of course, this is the offside goal.
06:44The anticipation from Matis De Ligt here is just absolutely superb and he was the man
06:49of the match today for me without a doubt.
06:50You can see Martinelli's ready to make the run, Maguire's stepped up a little bit.
06:55The back line is a back four right now and it's not completely rigid.
06:59There is space there to run in behind.
07:01But what for me is the most impressive thing here is the know-how that Matis De Ligt can
07:04see that Jesus is running onto the ball.
07:07Therefore, there's a fraction of a second before he's going to hit this pass, which
07:10if you just slowly go through, you see there De Ligt steps forward and therefore plays
07:15Martinelli offside.
07:16It's just an absolutely brilliant bit of defending that split second.
07:20If you just roll back and forward through the footage, as Odegaard's back heel is going
07:24into Jesus' path, that's when De Ligt knows, bang, I'm going to step forward.
07:28So then by the time the pass is hit, Martinelli's just several yards offside.
07:32So every Manchester United defender today was just absolutely, well, okay, barring one,
07:37all the other Man United defenders and midfielders were on their absolute A-game in terms of
07:40anticipating passing lanes, playing people offside and generally just keeping that back
07:45line rigid so Arsenal couldn't break the deadlock in open play anyway.
07:50Now the next thing that Manchester United absolutely nailed today was the transitions,
07:54much like Newcastle United did when they won 2-0 the other day.
07:58So it's nice to see both clubs harmonising after the massacre two weeks before.
08:03And I can prove it too.
08:04First of all, let's have a little flashback to Adam Cleary's clip.
08:08In decision, this impossible situation he's in just gives Isak all the time in the world
08:12to play this frankly pornographic pass to Jacob Murphy.
08:18And were it not for this frankly brilliant and deadly serious foul by Leandro Trossard,
08:24he likely rolls this back to Isak here and he's got a really good chance.
08:28Thank you very much, Adam.
08:29Now have a look at this.
08:30It's not quite the same kind of transition as Newcastle United, but Manchester United
08:34get the upper hand of Arsenal on the right-hand side yet again.
08:37And right here, Lewis Skelly simply loses his 50-50.
08:40This was a common theme for Arsenal today that Manchester United just really capitalised
08:44on.
08:45But now you have Mazraoui bearing down on Arsenal's goal in almost the exact same situation
08:48that Jacob Murphy was the other day.
08:51And from almost the exact same position on the pitch, Arsenal commit almost the exact
08:55same tactical foul as they did on Alexander Isak, this time on Bruno Fernandes.
09:01There's a blueprint here.
09:02There's space to be had in this area of the pitch against Arsenal, and I don't really
09:05know what you can put that down to, whether it's the profile of six that Arteta's invested
09:09in.
09:10I have always said in previous videos, I don't think Declan Rice is an out-and-out six.
09:14He wasn't playing on the pitch at this particular juncture, Jorginho was, but also do I think
09:19Jorginho's good enough anymore to play lone six at his age?
09:23I'm not quite sure.
09:24I think this is a recruitment issue, to be honest.
09:27Someone who's able to snuff this out better than the current plays they've got are.
09:30And don't get me wrong, as Adam said in the previous clip there, that was actually
09:33quite a good tactical foul.
09:35The transition was slightly different.
09:37But I don't think the necessity to make a tactical foul like that in the United instance
09:40should have even been there in the first place.
09:42If you look when Lewis Skelly goes to ground here, and Mazraoui breaks away with the ball,
09:46there is just a void in the middle of the pitch being occupied by Bruno Fernandes.
09:50And how that foul wasn't given, by the way, I do not know.
09:52So going into half-time, Manchester United's defensive game plan was set in stone.
09:56Stay defensively resolute, and then capitalise on Arsenal's piss-weak 50-50 challenges,
10:01which they continue to do.
10:02You remember I just showed you that Lewis Skelly one there?
10:04Well, it happened again, twice.
10:06And then United went 1-0 up.
10:07So going into the second half, I think Arsenal actually tried to change the pace of the game
10:11and the way they played slightly.
10:12You can see here David Rayer going for a long ball to Raheem Sterling, which wasn't really
10:16the case in the first half.
10:17United obviously win the ball, it's Maguire on Sterling.
10:21You can't even really call this a transition.
10:23This is literally United keeping the ball in their own back line, and then Maguire hitting
10:26a ping over to the side of Diogo Dalot.
10:29Okay, this isn't a 50-50, it's two players going for a header.
10:32It's maybe a 70-30 in Dalot's favour, but still, it's an Arsenal player committing his
10:36body and challenging for the ball, and if United win it, he's going to be out of the game.
10:40United do win the ball.
10:41Now, what should a smart centre-back like Gabriel do here when he's up against Alejandro
10:45Garnacho, a player who's much smaller and much physically weaker than him?
10:50Probably show a bit of temperament and not do this.
10:52He just goes for the header and tries to recycle possession and just gets it completely and
10:56utterly wrong, and then Garnacho wins that ball, and instantly then, not even from a
11:01counter-attacking position or a transition, you have a 3v2, and this goal is just as simple
11:06as Manchester United capitalising on several Arsenal mistakes, going back from the goal
11:10kick going long to Sterling, to then losing the second ball, to then losing the third
11:15ball, and United capitalise on each and every one.
11:18Arsenal were just over-committing from the offset of the second half instantly, and it
11:21was their undoing.
11:22Now, the reason I said that Diogo Dalot might have won the game for Manchester United, it
11:26sounds crazy, but Arsenal at this point might have been second-guessing their over-committance
11:30early on in the second half.
11:32What then gave them licence to do that even more was United going down to 10 men.
11:36My opinion might seem as stupid as Diogo Dalot's foul here, but trust me, I think this changed
11:41a lot.
11:42Arsenal did score a goal, by the way, and yes, it was a set-piece.
11:45They right now are basically the footballing equivalent of the Detroit Pistons in the 90s
11:49in the NBA.
11:50Just brute force, and listen, I actually think Manchester United would have defended this
11:54had they had an extra man on the pitch, but in terms of open play-play, I think going
11:58down to 10 men did help United, so let's just brush over this set-piece, because we're here
12:02to talk about United, and I just think, you know, there was an extra man in the box, and
12:07it's hard enough defending Arsenal when it's 11v11 from set-pieces.
12:10Martin Odegaard has the ball yet again, in the exact same position he spent the entire
12:15game in, but for good reason.
12:17The difference here this time is that every outfield Manchester United player is in shot,
12:21as is Declan Rice in the penalty area.
12:24Now this is just something that wasn't happening in the first half.
12:26Of course, Arsenal needed to go for the win, or wanted to go for the win, but they were
12:29committing an extra body, a midfielder they brought on, to almost play a second striker
12:33role, which left so much more space for United to just hit them on the break.
12:37So conversely, with Dalot getting sent off, it gave Arsenal the impetus to put more men
12:41forward, which made United more dangerous on the break.
12:44More chances came for United when they went down to 10 men.
12:47Now look, it was a great ball by Odegaard, and an even better save by Bayern Deyr, and
12:51I understand if Rice scored this header, this is kind of how this channel works on YouTube,
12:55if Rice scored this header, I'd have had to make a video on how brilliant Arsenal were
12:59today, and how they beat Manchester United, and eventually broke them down.
13:02Well that's football, sometimes you don't score your chances, and that was always going
13:06to happen.
13:07But the point I'm trying to make is United were more threatening when they went down
13:09to 10, Jesus.
13:10And I can prove it, you know, this was with 5 minutes to go, again, every United outfield
13:14player in shot.
13:16The crosses, I mean, I'm not even sure what this is from Martinelli, is it a cross, is
13:19it a shot?
13:20He kicks the ball.
13:21And it's snuffed out instantly, but look where Declan Rice is, the man who's meant to be
13:25helping Arsenal not concede chances in transition, he's in the penalty area when Xerxe picks
13:29the ball up.
13:30And it was a bit of individual brilliance from Xerxe, to be fair, which you do need
13:34in a game like this, but then just look at the turnover.
13:37The amount of space Amad has here is just something that wasn't afforded to any United
13:40player in the first half of the game.
13:42Having said everything I have said though, if Arsenal had a different individual on the
13:47end of this chance, then yeah, I'd definitely be making a different video.
14:08If I was to sum up United's performance here in one word, it would be resilient.
14:11Because yes, you are going to concede chances when you go down to 10 men against a team
14:15like Arsenal that are committing more bodies forward, but the individual brilliance from
14:20some of those defenders today, as well as the collective, in terms of keeping structured,
14:24was second to none.
14:25And I'm talking about Mattis De Ligt and this block right here.
14:29This is a brilliant piece of play from Arsenal and it's a tricky one for Lisandro Martinez
14:33to deal with because if he doesn't get out to Jorginho, Jorginho can simply have a shot
14:36on goal.
14:37But it's this from De Ligt, I don't care how many charts, graphs, numbers you wave
14:42in someone's face, you cannot quantify how good a piece of defending that is.
14:47I think what's most impressive about it is he almost blindsides Trossard, you'd expect
14:51Maguire to be the one on Trossard there, but he sniffs out that that's where the ball's
14:54going to go.
14:55You'd think usually De Ligt would be hanging to the back post to stop Declan Rice from
14:59scoring, but no, he comes in on Trossard's blindside and just hooks it away.
15:03It's one of the best pieces of defending I've seen individually this season.
15:06So yeah, Manchester United went on to win the shootout, as we all know.
15:10If you'd like a little clip from that, then here's actually, let's look at this.
15:14Can anyone tell me what Dabid Raya's doing here?
15:16He looks like a bodyguard trying to stop a bullet from hitting the king or something.
15:20I've never seen a dive like that in my life.
15:22But yes, guys, a game of resilience for Manchester United and a game of few ideas for Michael
15:26Arteta and Arsenal.
15:28Maybe it was the FA Cup ball, who knows?
15:32Don't forget to subscribe though, guys.
15:33I've been Adam Monk.
15:34I usually would have a physical copy of the magazine here, but our lovely editor will
15:38put it here now somewhere.
15:40Yeah, there's the mag.
15:41You can buy that at all good retailers.
15:45And yes, I'm going to head to London tomorrow now.
15:47So yeah, I'll see you later this week.
15:49Goodbye.