Manchester United's win-win Arsenal A race to see whose new signing has dug a smaller hole

After two warm-ups each, both Arsenal and Manchester United have their first quality tough game.

Before the game, Ten Hach said that the team should take the game seriously, there is no politeness and friendliness, I believe Arteta also considered so, so in the starting list, both coaches are full of sincerity.

On the Arsenal side, except for the left-back and center positions destined to be substitutes for the new season - Fuan Jianyang and Nkedia, all other positions are basically the main force, the right back is handed over to the new signing Timberbell, and the midfield combination is the combination of Rice + Havertz + Odegaard that can be guessed before:

On the Manchester United side, because Rashford, Casemiro and others have not kept up with the rhythm of their teammates, there are slightly more substitutes on Manchester United's side than Arsenal, such as Sancho will definitely not be the main center, whether Ghana Jo can occupy the main position on the left is still in doubt, Mount is definitely Casemiro instead of Menu, of course, Onana will be the main goalkeeper in the new season and so on.

But Bruno's addition will certainly make United's attack a little better than the previous two games.

And that's exactly what happened.

After the opening, both teams played seriously, such as Arsenal aggressively pressing forward after the whistle, putting pressure on Manchester United's back:

In the 5th minute, Manchester United connected directly with Bruno at the back, who helped Anthony play the first threatening attack:

Two minutes later, Martinelli returned with a long-range shot:

Then came Manchester United's help from Wan-Bissaka, who opened up space from the right rib and formed a continuous attack:

Turning around, Arsenal sent in a threatening cross from the right to let Martinelli outflank him at the back post, and the improvement brought by new signing Timber was evident throughout the process:

Compared to Ben White, who helped Saka here last season, Timber is obviously better skilled and more versatile, which makes the right-back assist more than just a sleeve, nor just a back plug to provide impact.

That's what pre-season is all about, with new signings giving the team their own abilities and characteristics through their own performances, giving the head coach more ideas.

However, not every new signing can play to their strengths.

In this game of sufficient intensity, Tenhag's thinking was more clearly displayed, and Bruno was clearly higher up than Mount when he was off the ball, so the midfield position was still a positive triangle:

That is, still the 4231 station, not the 433 station.

As a result, Mason Mount's defensive prowess deep in midfield needs to be scrutinized more. In fact, Tenhag's tendency to adopt the defensive thinking of people in strong conversations has greatly reduced the burden on the players' defensive awareness, as long as they follow people, they don't have to think too much about their own area.

However, this time the ball was completely forgotten about Odegaard, and it was unqualified in the human targeting system:

In addition, as mentioned in the first warm-up game, this kind of transfer ball that tests the player's technical skills, and Mount should not expect too much efficiency:

So Mount Pin replaced Erikson, and the most significant improvement was the rate of presence.

He can indeed get to the right position faster than Erikson, and even if he runs wrong, he can make up for it as quickly as possible, but the rate of being in place and the efficiency after being in place are two different things.

Thankfully, Arsenal did not have a problem with Mason Mount this game, mainly because they performed poorly on the left side, and they would not have lacked opportunities in this area.

In this game, Manchester United's side faced a major problem is that it is difficult to open the advantage locally, Sancho playing center forward is only a temporary person, Ghana Jo and Anthony have no obvious opportunities against Timbell and Fuan Jianyang, so in the 20th minute, Wan-Bissaka began to insert frequently to help the team open the situation:

So Arsenal should have performed better on the left wing, but Kai Havertz and Martinelli clearly lacked tacit understanding in this area and did not know how to cooperate, and such mistakes abounded:

Instead, in the 30th minute, Bruno scored from distance from Kai Havertz's defensive area:

Looking closely, Havertz also instructed Fuan Jianyang to pay attention to Sancho inserted, but his own defense area he did not cover:

Therefore, Havertz's use of the method, Arteta must pay attention to, if you want to change the system, you also need to do it as soon as possible.

In half a month, the Premier League is about to open, and this kind of thing is not to be fooled by saying that Havertz's position has not yet been determined.

In the 37th minute, Manchester United scored the second goal through an error by Arsenal:

Although leading by two goals, problems on United's side are actually looming in the making, with Wan-Bissaka's frequent forward insertions and Mason Mount in place but ineffective, forcing the backfield players to put more pressure.

A big move like Lisandro Martinez that exerts brute force is actually a manifestation of pressure:

In the new season, such scenes should not be uncommon.

Therefore, the test at that time is whether Wan-Bissaka can be grasped more and better after the forward leaning of Mount formation:

In the second half, Manchester United changed a large number of players, including Marcus Rashford, Casemiro and others who played for the first time in pre-season, and the intensity was very different.

However, even so, Arsenal's attacking end still did not find a good way, and instead allowed Manchester United to create two good chances by counter-attacking:

In the end, United won in the 90th minute, and the penalty shootout after the game was also won, this piece is not mentioned.

In a way, it's a race to see whose new signings bring more improvement to the old system and less digging holes. Manchester United's side has not changed much, Mason Mount has obvious shortcomings, but the young man can indeed make up for Eriksen's lack in terms of athleticism, which allows United to maintain basic intensity.

Of course, this will change in the new season with different opponents and different situations.

On Arsenal's side, the problem is more obvious.

Havertz doesn't say much about this, he has said a lot before, or that sentence, want a Havertz who is both offensive and defensive, this is impossible in the short term, if Arteta continues to be so willful, don't talk about competing for the title in the new season, let's compete for four.

And Havertz's use of it raises new questions. Rice's real value is the long waist and short legs, and there is some flexibility under this physique, so it can provide some role in the process of pushing from back to front, so he is more suitable for appearing in the double back system, giving him some forward freedom.

Now flanked by Odegaard and Havertz, Rice has effectively become a single back focused on wiping his ass, making up for it, and he himself does not have the technical stability that Thomas has when splitting the side, so Rice is shrunk in this system.

100 million to buy this use, equivalent to going to Haidilao to eat hot pot, but hanging a "do not disturb" sign around the neck, instead of this, it is better to spend a small amount of money to find the waist of the beast, the effect is actually similar.

So, Arteta faces bigger problems than Tenhach.