In the press conference after defeating Arsenal 3-1 in round 6 of the Premier League on the evening of September 4, Erik ten Hag repeatedly reiterated that Man Utd needs to improve.
Ten Hag is gradually making his mark in management as well as playing style for Man Utd.
Events on the field as well as statistics show that, despite the victory, Man Utd did not play as smoothly as Arsenal.
But this is also the intention of coach Ten Hag.
In that context, Man Utd’s opening goal against Arsenal was a rare moment where the Ten Hag philosophy was demonstrated.
The coordination situation led to Antony’s goal against Arsenal.
The image above simulates the position of the Man Utd player in the goal.
Before that, there were back passes and horizontal passes (picture below).
Realizing that the opponent was too crowded, Antony passed it back to Dalot.
The ball then continued through Varane’s feet and then Lisandro…
… and David De Gea.
Journalist Michael Cox of The Athletic calls this `the beauty of the return pass`.
Man Utd’s next attack started with a straight pass to Fernandes.
Rashford’s subsequent move was extremely good because it forced the Arsenal center-back pair to leave their positions.
When he has the ball, Sancho can immediately pass to Antony along the blue arrow (picture below).
Sancho passed to Rashford, causing Zinchenko to rush in and open up space behind for Antony.
Therefore, when Rashford received the ball, Oleksandr Zinchenko had to rush in to apply pressure, predicting that the English player would shoot with his right foot.
Antony moved into space in the Arsenal defense, before receiving the ball and finishing with his left foot.
The goal opened an important victory for Man Utd, but immediately after, coach Ten Hag said that his team could not keep the match and maintain the playing style he wanted.
Lisandro Martinez’s excellence is the premise for Ten Hag to implement this style of football.
