Red Devils superior in all departments

A commanding performance by Manchester United saw the Red Devils beat Arsenal 8-2 at Old Trafford – a result which is destined to be remembered by both sets of supporters for quite a while yet. Using FourFourTwo’s Stats Zone application, I decided to take a look at the match from a statistical standpoint. Although an 8-2 drubbing would suggest that United were superior in all areas, it would be interesting to put some numbers to the key performance areas.

It is important to note that although Arsenal had a numerical advantage in central midfield, the performances from United’s centre backs as well as Tom Cleverley and more importantly Wayne Rooney nullified Arsenal’s ability to exploit this advantage.

Looking at the graphic which demonstrates the players’ influence on the match, we can see that United had more players who were more involved – receiving and playing more passes, whereas Arsenal were overly reliant on Rosicky and Ramsey. By the way, how is the move to Arsenal turning out for you, Aaron? It is also quite striking how much more involved United’s centre back pairing of Evans and Jones was compared to Arsenal’s Koscielny and Djourou.

I found the superlative performances of both Smalling and Jones quite pleasing as just three weeks ago, a deluded Arsenal fan voiced his opinion that they were not as good as Koscielny and Djourou. Their comical defending for Welbeck’s goal and throughout the entire match firmly planted many Arsenal fans back into the realm of reality.

As we can see from the following image, Arsenal did do their part to forge a fair few chances – not many sides come to Old Trafford and have 20 attempts on goal. Of the 20 attempts, however, only 8 were on target and, more importantly, 6 attempts were blocked by United’s defenders.

Defence:

One of the key factors of United’s victory was the superior defensive performance. Man Utd’s defenders made more interceptions (21 vs 19) and attempted more than twice as many tackles as the Gunners (31 vs 15). Crucially, United won 21 of their tackles compared to Arsenal’s 8. United also made twice as many headed clearances (6 vs 3).

Manchester United defended resolutely, outperforming their Arsenal counterparts in terms of tackling and blocks, making more than twice as many tackles and 6 blocks versus a solitary block by the Gunners.

Passing

As we can see from the graphics showing all passes played by both teams, Arsenal had a higher defensive line, which ultimately proved fatal for the gunners, but that United were also more comfortable retaining the ball in the first third of the pitch, receiving and playing the ball more often within that space.

United had 57.1% of the possession and thus completed more passes than Arsenal even attempted – 454/525 vs 325/394.

Tom Cleverley played an important part in this victory with his energetic box-to-box performance, which will be demonstrated later. He was United’s top passer completing 61 of 67 attempted passes – a 91% success ratio. Besides Ashley Young’s telling contribution to the match, it’s important to note that Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans completed more passes than the 14 other outfield players from both sides.

Jonny Evans and Phil Jones vs Djourou and Koscielny

Jonny Evans was dreadful last season, but is coming back to form and is looking more determined to win every challenge. He did concede the penalty which De Gea saved, but otherwise he had a good game making 6 clearances and 4 interceptions. Both Jones and Evans kept the ball well and moved it nicely between defence and midfield. Ronney’s and Welbeck’s pressing of the Arsenal defender’s probably also contributed to Arsenal playing the ball out of defence sooner.

Event key

The midfield battle

As stated earlier on, Tom Cleverley was very important to this victory. What we can see from the following graphic is that he completed all but 6 of his passes and that his energetic performance saw him play passes in more areas of the pitch than his counterpart, Aaron Ramsey. Cleverley and Anderson’s performance in combination with Rooney dropping deep negated Arsenal’s numerical advantage in midfield.

What we can’t see from the above graphic is Cleverley’s superb off-the-ball movement and his ability to close down opponents quickly. Cleverley passed and moved throughout the match, making himself available to receive the ball form team mates quickly after he had played the ball. He also played two great balls in the first half which sliced Arsenal’s defence wide open.

Here’s a video highlighting Cleverley’s firt half performance:

Rooney – a vital cog

Wayne Rooney had an excellent match and not just because of his hat-trick, but also because of his overall contribution to the game. Rooney pressed Arsenal’s defenders well and his movement often dragged them out of position allowing Welbeck to run into space the defenders had just vacated. Rooney also dropped deep to help out Anderson as well as Cleverley and distributed the ball intelligently, creating chances for his team mates. It might not be completely fair to compare Rooney to van Persie as the latter operated as a lone striker, but I still find Rooney’s superior contribution to the match quite striking.

Wing Play

And finally, let’s talk about United’s wingers. Nani had a poor match against Spurs, but had an improved showing versus Arsenal. Had it not been for his selfishness, he might well have been able to create a goal or two for his team mates. Nonetheless, he kept Traore busy, was a constant wide outlet for United and scored United’s 5th goal. Nani also performed his defensive duties and actually won three tackles which is quite pleasing.

Ashley young had an impressive game for United. He was a constant threat on the left, scored two absolute beauties and was able to switch play to the right side with some nice cross-field passes. Both Nani and Young stayed wide for most of the match, while Arsenal’s wingers tended to drift more in comparison. Both Arshavin’s and Walcott’s contributions were more ‘dispersed’ and both were less involved in the game than their United counterparts. I guess it helps if your team mates know where to find you.

Room for improvement?

It would seem that United attempted only one solitary cross from the left flank and maybe that is an area which United could exploit more effectively.

Conclusion

Manchester United were superior in all areas from front to back. Phil Jones and Jonny Evans were comfortable moving the ball within the first third of the pitch and then out to midfield. Cleverley’s energetic performance was impressive and in tandem with Rooney, they were able to drag Arsenal’s players out of position with their movement as well as quick, interchanging passes, which created space and chances for team mates. United’s wingers were superior and contributed more than Arsenal’s. Needless to say, United showed more heart, passion, worked harder and were more clinical infront of goal.

A slight concern would be the defending for the first goal conceded and Jonny Evans absolutely MUST stop using his arms so much. An additional are of improvement could possibly be to increase the amount of crosses from the left side of the pitch.