Rio Ferdinand took aim at Mikel Arteta’s overly ‘cautious’ approach after Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester United, accusing the Spaniard of playing with the ‘handbrake’ on for much of the season.
The Premier League leaders saw their advantage cut to just four points as Matheus Cunha came on and beat David Raya with a late wonder strike to silence the Emirates crowd.
Michael Carrick’s United were forced to come from behind to win in north London after Lisandro Martinez directed the ball into his own net on the half-hour mark.
A rare misplaced pass from Martin Zubimendi gifted the visitors an equaliser through Bryan Mbeumo before Patrick Dorgu’s thunderous 50th-minute effort sent the away end into raptures.
The Gunners had looked on course to salvage a point from the contest as Mikel Merino scrambled home after some goalmouth pinball – but Mbeumo had other ideas after coming on in place of Mbeumo.
The result saw the Red Devils leapfrog Chelsea into fourth place in the table, with Carrick winning two from two after the club’s shock derby day victory over Manchester City last weekend.
‘Arteta is cautious, he’s naturally [cautious]. His first instinct is to go, “Oh, let’s just throw a few jabs”, everything’s a jab,’ ex-United and England defender Ferdinand said on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel.
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‘I haven’t seen the right-hand haymaker come over the top, I haven’t seen him get close on the inside with an uppercut.
‘Everything is at a distance, just poking it out, little touches here and there, not even a stiff Lennox Lewis jab!
‘It’s got to be more than that.’
Metro at the Match: Arsenal 2-3 Manchester United
Metro’s Tom Olver breaks down the winners and losers from Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at the Emirates.
Gabriel Jesus stutters in centre-forward audition
Given the nod over Viktor Gyokeres after an impressive brace against Inter Milan in midweek, Gabriel Jesus will no doubt have been itching to nail down his spot as Mikel Arteta’s first-choice centre-forward.
But with the Gunners utterly dominant in the early exchanges, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard combined to provide the main threat from out wide – with the Brazilian a largely peripheral figure through the middle, in stark contrast with Bryan Mbeumo at the other end of the pitch.
It was more of the same from Jesus as the second half wore on and Mikel Arteta had seen enough by the 58th minute, with his side stumbling in search of an equaliser after a spirited fightback from the visitors.
A huge opportunity missed for the former Manchester City attacker as United threw a cat amongst the pigeons in this year’s title race. It leaves Arteta with a tough call to make up front ahead of Arsenal’s return to top-flightaction at Leeds next weekend.
A rare moment to forget for Martin Zubimendi
Martin Zubimendi helped gift United a route back into the game with a horrible lapse in concentration at a crucial stage in the contest before half-time.
Arsenal’s usually metronomic summer signing has hardly put a foot wrong since joining from Real Sociedad and the Spaniard could scarcely believe what he had done as Mbeumo latched onto his misplaced pass before calmly rounding David Raya and stroking the ball home.
An unwanted collector’s item for Zubimendi and a moment he will not want to repeat any time soon.
Even ignoring his blunder, there was a distinct lack of creativity and urgency from Zubimendi when the hosts badly needed someone to stand up and take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Arsenal match ratings: Raya 7, Timber 7, Saliba 5, Gabriel 5, Hincapie 6, Zubimendi 4, Rice 7, Odegaard 6, Saka 6, Trossard 6, Jesus 4. Subs: White 4, Merino 7, Eze 5, Madueke 5, Gyokeres 4.
A mixed day for Martinez
Martinez has endured surely his toughest period yet as a United player and things went bad to worse for the diminutive centre-back on the half-hour mark at the Emirates.
After being on the end of some scathing criticism from Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, the Argentine will have been desperate to build on his encouraging display against Manchester City.
But another of United’s Class of ’92 was left less than impressed as Martinez – put under pressure from Jurrien Timber – directed the ball into his own net to open the scoring for Arsenal. ‘He should deal with it,’ said Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
Martinez did, though, show great resilience to keep his chin up to help keep the likes of Saka, Trossard and Jesus quiet alongside a near-faultless Harry Maguire at the heart of Michael Carrick’s defence.
Bryan Mbeumo the big-game competitor
Bryan Mbeumo further showed himself to be perhaps United’s most shrewd piece of summer transfer business with just the latest in a long line of eye-catching performances for the club.
He more than deserved his first-half goal, helping force a rare misplaced pass from Zubimendi with some relentless pressing through the middle. The subsequent finish had all the coolness and confidence of a player well and truly at the peak of his powers.
It’s no coincidence that United’s resurgence under Michael Carrick has coincided with Mbeumo’s welcome return from the Africa Cup of Nations.
The £71million spent on Mbeumo will prove to be a steal if the Cameroon international continues in the same vein over the coming weeks and months, adding to his already impressive scoring tally.
Carrick won’t mind Mbeumo’s animated reaction to being substituted for Matheus Cunha in the 68th minute. It’s exactly that kind of character and personality that the club have badly lacked for so long in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Patrick Dorgu comes of age
Michael Carrick was full of praise for Patrick Dorgu’s ‘immense’ performance after a dream derby day for United – and the Dane picked up where he left off this weekend.
It’s fair to say the youngster has had an up-down start to his United career since becoming the first signing of Ruben Amorim’s turbulent reign. But his talent has always been undoubted – it’s just that he is now beginning to showcase that ability on a far more consistent basis.
His 50th-minute wonder strike – which Neville branded ‘the goal of a lifetime’ – was the standout moment of quality… that’s until Cunha provided some serious competition with his stunning effort to win it in the closing stages.
Such a shame that a suspected hamstring injury cut short Dorgu’s showing with ten minutes remaining in the capital. Carrick will be praying it’s not as bad as it appeared and he is able to make a speedy return to the fold.
Man Utd player ratings: Lammens 7, Dalot 6, Maguire 8, Martinez 6, Shaw 6, Casemiro 6, Mainoo 6, Amad 5, Fernandes 7, Dorgu 8, Mbeumo 8. Subs: Cunha 8, Sesko 5, Mazraoui 5.
Ferdinand feels Saka been a shadow of his former self of late and there is now a body of evidence that suggests the England forward has lost some of the connection he once shared with Martin Odegaard.
‘He’s the one they always go to but I don’t see him running onto anything,’ Ferdinand said of Saka.
‘Maybe it’s just the way Arsenal play or maybe it was that Manchester United got into a shape so quickly and didn’t allow there to be space in behind to run.
‘But I never see him running onto things. I want to see him doing that.
‘He’s now brought that other part to his game where he runs on the outside which I like, it’s added a different variation to his game.
‘The link-up with Odegaard isn’t what it was a year or 18 months ago.’
According to Ferdinand, Arsenal may only have themselves to blame if they manage to throw away their lead and miss out on the title this season.
‘The biggest hinderance or obstacle maybe to Arsenal winning the league is Arsenal,’ he added.
‘You guys [Arsenal] have got to build a character and a confidence and a f*** off mentality that says, “We’re gonna go on and win it and we’re going to take the handbrake off and the shackles off and get over that line”, but they’re so uptight.
‘They’re isn’t the freedom and they’re too robotic… that’s what I thought Eberechi Eze has been bought for maybe but they’re not using it.’
