Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford as a “big, big result,” particularly given the wave of optimism around United after their summer rebuild.
He wasn’t blind to the flaws, though. In his post-match interviews, the manager admitted his side fell short “in a lot of aspects,” but he was quick to highlight the character shown by his players as they soaked up long spells of pressure, especially after the break.
“Control” has been the buzzword for the Gunners over the last couple of years, but with last season turning a little stale and predictable, Arteta is clearly trying to loosen the reins. He wants more speed, more verticality, and with Viktor Gyokeres leading the line – a striker happy to run channels and stretch defences – it makes sense.
The problem, for now, is execution.
“I think there were seven, eight situations when the ball is completely open to play through and we are on and we’re attacking the keeper. And we give that ball away and then it becomes a basketball game,” said Arteta afterwards.
Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Gyokeres were all guilty of wasting promising breaks with sloppy passes.
It almost felt like the manager was braced for it. His praise centred not on the quality of the attacking play but on the way his players reacted when things went wrong, scrambling back into shape and working to make up for their own mistakes.
“I think we did two things very well,” he said. “One, to take the set-piece [from which Calafiori scored the only goal] and then react to, especially, mistakes.
“Some of them are necessary, some of them unusual. But the way every single player reacted to that gives us the opportunity to win the game. If not, it’s impossible. And that’s about how we compete and how much we want it as a team.”
He added: “A basketball game against a team that is extremely, extremely good at finishing actions with the quality that they have, that’s a very difficult thing to do.
“That’s why I talk about the reaction to that. Because if you don’t react in relation to that mistake, quick enough, sharp enough, you have a big problem.”
In truth, Arsenal did ride their luck at times and were grateful to David Raya, who made several important interventions. But three points at Old Trafford isn’t to be scoffed at.
Leeds at home on Saturday is a chance to sharpen things up. After that, it’s Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, two sides whose tactics we’re supposedly looking to emulate.
They won’t be as forgiving, so we can’t be as wasteful.