Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck capitalised on Antonio Valencia’s atrocious defensive error to send his side into The FA Cup semifinals.
ESPN FC’s Alejandro Moreno and Craig Burley point out that Louis van Gaal’s tactical inefficiencies are affecting Manchester United’s style of play.
ESPN FC’s Alejandro Moreno and Craig Burley weigh in on Manchester United’s lethargic performance against Arsenal in The FC Cups 6th round.
LONDON — It was finally a moment in which someone from the Manchester United camp showed some attacking thrust and caused some tension, but with a caveat. This incident came from their manager, rather than one of the 10 players that toiled so much in the second half even before Angel Di Maria’s red card, and it only arrived after full time had gone on Arsenal’s 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
Louis van Gaal had been asked about the decision to sell Danny Welbeck back in September while bringing in Radamel Falcao, and whether it was right given the English youngster scored the winner in this FA Cup tie and the Colombian remained on the bench. The United boss immediately went on the offensive.
“You are very happy to say that,” Van Gaal said to the journalist. “I can see that in your face.”
He also insisted it was absolutely the right decision.
“Falcao scored four goals and three or four assists. His contribution and he stimulates also the other players so that is an aspect of a profession but it is now easy for you to say that.”
That answer wasn’t all that convincing, much like Van Gaal’s team, but soon got even more confusing. The manager was then told that four goals isn’t all that much, something that is especially relevant when you leave Falcao “stimulating other players” from the bench, rather than bringing him on when you badly need a goal.
Danny Welbeck scored the winner for Arsenal while the man expected to replace him at Manchester United, Radamel Falcao, sat on the bench.
“I cannot change that,” Van Gaal then bizarrely said of Falcao’s record. “I cannot change facts.”
This game pointed to the exact opposite. Most pointedly, Arsenal changed the “fact” of their dismal record at Old Trafford, avoiding defeat at the stadium for the first time since 2009 and claiming their first win there since 2006.
In doing so, Arsene Wenger also inverted the entire recent history of this fixture. His team did what United have so often done to them, and that didn’t actually necessitate all that much. Arsenal simply stood their ground and waited to take advantage of United’s eventual errors, of the problems that meek possession will eventually bring.
That in itself was an inversion of United’s recent run of form, but the truth is that very run indicated this.
The oddly passive nature of their play continued to bring errors, even if Antonio Valencia’s atrocious back pass for Welbeck’s winner was obviously more extreme than usual. This time, United were punished. At the same time, they didn’t get any luck at the other end, but still struggled to actually create in open play. It says an awful lot that the last moment they looked even vaguely like scoring was in the 65th minute, and that from a set piece that Chris Smalling blazed over the bar.
There’s so little spark to their play, so few “wow” moments. Right now, you just don’t expect any magic from them. That should be a real concern.
It is just as much a concern that there should have been a degree of expectation about this result. The way it panned out felt as if the fortune of their recent run was evening out. It also feels highly relevant, rather than just a coincidence, that it came in a big match against a properly good team.
The reason their recent run had garnered so much qualified criticism — despite the admittedly fine points return — was precisely because they had just about got away with unconvincing wins against underwhelming opposition.
This match would show the reality; or, as Van Gaal might put it, “the facts.” It would reveal how inconsequential or important the flaws from those games were; whether a good team could punish them or, alternatively, whether United could themselves raise it.
Instead, the “fact” is that, amid this run, Van Gaal’s side have now lost at home to the two best teams they’ve played: Southampton and Arsenal.
That is why they are now out of the FA Cup, a trophy the manager had declared as a big objective, and why could yet struggle in achieving the main objective: returning to the Champions League. The race of the top four is increasingly looking like it will come down to the finest of margins, and it is not helped by United reducing so many of their games to the finest margins.
That was what should be so frustrating about this for United. Arsenal were themselves there for the taking but Van Gaal sucked out his own team’s vigour.
Louis van Gaal was defiant in his post-match news conference, despite Manchester United’s exit from the FA Cup on Monday night.
Initially, United had raised their game according to the level of opposition. They certainly rose to Nacho Monreal’s 26th-minute opening goal, that came from such open defending. Within three minutes, Wayne Rooney took advantage of a similar amount of space in the Arsenal box, powering Di Maria’s cross past Wojciech Szczesny.
That was a “wow” moment, a brilliant sweeping move. It also suggested they may be able spark the magic.
The match was hugely entertaining, if also interspersed with so many errors. Then, in an effort to stop those errors from his own team, Van Gaal made two big changes at halftime.
Phil Jones was brought on for Luke Shaw, and sources state that was over an injury concern. Michael Carrick was also brought on for Ander Herrera, but that was apparently a pure tactical decision.
Herrera hadn’t been brilliant, but he had been taking risks, and was one of the few players looking to push United forward to try and spark some magic. Van Gaal wanted some reality. He made the midfield sit much further back by then pairing Carrick with Daley Blind.
You could understand the reasons why he did it, but also find reason to fault it. United lost their attacking thrust, and were suddenly even more susceptible to the recent errors that have made this side so unconvincing. Once Di Maria went off for a red card that was the most stupid moment of the match, pulling on referee Michael Oliver’s shirt, Van Gaal couldn’t change it back. There was a huge gap between Marouane Fellaini and the pairing of Blind and Carrick, with no one to fill it with craft. As such, there was just no creativity at all. United barely produced anything other than more dives.
Angel Di Maria’s moment of madness saw him excused for the evening, and with his departure what remained of United’s attacking play dried up.
It was also such a regression. Far from showing necessary pragmatism in a game as unpredictable as this, Van Gaal reverted to type.
He tried to go back to the apparent principles of this so-called philosophy he is trying to instil, guarding possession. He went back to his template.
That is all the more galling for United because Sir Alex Ferguson himself had in his autobiography detailed such a template to play Arsenal, to sit back and intercept then counter. There was none of that.
It begs the question over whether Van Gaal should have pragmatically gone to that for one game, especially because there is still no sign of his longer-term system integrating to the level that could fairly be expected.
It is also why the story of this game is what United did rather than what Arsenal did. Wenger’s side did show creditable patience, and that means they may now only have to wait two months for the next trophy, rather than the nine years last season’s FA Cup ended.
They also look full value for the top four, and should have no problems there.
The same cannot be said of United. They may endure a real wait for that, and one filled with tension.
Miguel Delaney is a London-based correspondent for ESPN FC and also writes for the Irish Examiner and others. Follow him on Twitter @MiguelDelaney.