In an important UEL night, Manchester United snuck past Partizan with a 0-1 win in Belgrade and Arsenal twice came from behind to beat Vitoria Guimaraes 3-2 at the Emirates. And there were some memorable moments, What did we learn?
Unlikely Heroes for Manchester United
The Red Devils find themselves in a peculiar transitional phase where nothing they do seems to be able to shake off this rot that has settled into the team. Although their performance on the day was very much in keeping with that trend, there were signs of life from a few unlikely sources which will give hope to the Man Utd faithful.
Garner had a decent showing in the centre of the park with McTominay who also was able to cut out plenty of the threat through the middle. Although they both seemed to be working individually, rather than as a unit.
Another surprise was Phil Jones who was perhaps the better of the three centre-backs on the pitch. He struggled a bit playing on the right, but once he moved into a central position, he showed some good anticipation and actively shut down danger.
Brandon Williams may be the best left-back at Old Trafford
The thing that was most readily apparent as United fought their way to a 0-1 win is that Brandon Williams is the best left-back at Old Trafford. Now that may not seem like much of a statement given his competition is perpetual sadsack Luke Shaw and the tireless “playing Liverpool expert” Ashley Young, but it really was quite something to see the 19-year-old play so well in such a tough arena.
Defensively he was so dogged, making 2 tackles, 5 clearances and 2 interceptions. This is a youngster who should just be trying to get a handful of minutes but he is instead looking like he should be one of the first names on the team-sheet given his relentless style of play in both defence and attack.
It’s clear Solskjaer doesn’t know attacking football
There are ideas here, sure. United play out from the back and they use their wingers well and are not above deploying a false nine or a back three or a high press But nothing is done with any sense of coherence, it’s all just done every now and again in the hope that it works. They won the game tonight but for the second successive Europa League game they have not managed to create a shot on target from open play.
Man Utd are crying out for a clear, defined philosophy and Solskjaer’s inability to provide one only pours gasoline onto the fire that says he’s not up to the task of resurrecting The Red Devils. He has to do better.
The Nicolas Pepe show
It’s been a tough start to life in England for Nicolas Pepe. The £72million signing arrived in London with high expectations and a massive transfer fee to match.
When he came on in the 75th minute, his team were struggling to string together three passes in the final third. Pepe changed that.
He added a new intensity in attack, dribbling past players and looking to play at a faster pace. The exclamation point of his game-changing cameo was the conversion of two long-range free-kicks. He took two of them and smashed both past Silva, to turn the game completely on its head.
Perhaps we can mark tonight as the night Pepe announced himself to English football.
No Özil…again
It’s no secret that Emery and the World Cup winner have had their issues. The fans were hoping that this would have been put to bed considering the team’s embarrassing collapse towards the end of last season. However, the Spaniard is a stubborn man and he clearly feels Mesut Özil is not worthy of his matchday squad.
Tonight, Arsenal’s performance proved more than ever that they need him. Although Ozil has only featured twice this season, he has still been Arsenal’s fifth most creative player.
How long will Emery continue to justify this blatant scapegoating?
Gabriel Martinelli keeps shining
In a match where his co-workers didn’t seem bothered or interested, Gabriel Martinelli proved to be Arsenal’s only shining light. The youngster once again found himself on the scoresheet, netting his fifth goal in his sixth appearance this season.
It’s unfortunate for the youngster that he’s at Arsenal at a time when Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Lacazette are both there too. But with performances like these, he may well force his way into the team regardless.
Is Unai Emery’s reign nearing the end?
Earlier this week, Unai Emery revealed to the whole world how much he’s feeling the pressure of the job. After an embarrassing performance against Sheffield United, the Spaniard came out firing in his press conference.
This is a man that promised the Arsenal faithful possession and pressing. But tonight, Vitoria dominated the Gunners at the Emirates for the majority of the game.
Consistently poor performances like these against lower quality opposition will eventually spell the end of Emery’s reign at the Emirates. Tonight won’t do much to aid the Spaniard’s faltering reputation.