How City Dismantled Man Utd: The Fallout.

Arsenal vs Forest, Bournemouth vs Brighton and Burnley vs Liverpool also analysed.

On The Fallout this week:

• Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest

• Bournemouth vs Brighton 

•⁠ Burnley vs Liverpool

•⁠ ⁠Man City vs Man United

Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest

Arsenal’s Sizable Arsenal

The ease with which Arsenal won this game is truly impressive. Without Saka, Saliba, Odegaard (for most of the game), Havertz, and Rice (rested after international duty) - all key starters - Arsenal still won comfortably: to win so easily is a testament to the depth of their squad - and is a formidable warning to their title rivals.

Let’s look at how this rotated Arsenal XI dominated the game.

Arsenal set-up as expected, in possession, a kind of 3-1-6: (The arrows indicate the typical movements of the players.)

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I want to particularly draw attention to the highlighted Eze and Madueke. After the game, Arteta expressed how their distinct profiles allowed the team to excel.

Madueke, on the one hand, is an old fashioned winger. He likes to hug the touchline, and is unbelievably singleminded in his approach: get past his man to the byline and cut the ball back. Defenders, of course, know this. That doesn’t allow them to stop him, however: in this game, neither Morato nor Williams could inhibit Madueke.

The corner that leads to the goal arises from Madueke’s direct approach.

Here, we see Madueke standing off his man, slowing the pace of the game. Then, with a burst of pace, he flies past him:

At the byline, Madueke cuts it back - the ball, this time, is cleared, but the resulting corner allows Zubimendi to finish his volley in an unbelievable fashion.

This is one example of Madueke’s continued terrorisation of the right-wing.

On the opposite side of the pitch is Eze, with the opposing type of profile. Eze, unlike Madueke, is more comfortable closer to the centre of the pitch. See, like Madueke, he has pace, but his greatest strength is his skill on the ball. Eze’s quick footwork seems to make time slow down, allowing him to thrive in the tightest spaces where every second counts.

This ability on the ball was instrumental in the second goal.

The ball is played over the top and Eze, first-time and on the half-volley, plays an exquisite ball across to Gyokeres who need only pass the ball into the net.

To draw attention to a couple of other excellent players: Nwaneri, who replaced the injured Odegaard within 20 minutes, looked completely at home; and, most notably, Mosquera, who has come in for the injured Saliba, has made the transition looking seamless - as though there isn’t a drop off from missing one of the best centrebacks in the Premier League.

This game helps to confirm that the floor of the Arsenal squad is so high that, even without 5 starters, they barely need to break a sweat. Title rivals, on the other hand, if they weren’t before the game, should be nervous - and sweating.

Marinankis’ Mob

Nuno Espírito Santo was relieved (in both senses of the word) of his managerial duties Tuesday morning.

It is not hyperbolic to say that, result-wise, Nuno is one of Nottingham Forest’s best managers in recent history: last season he led them to 7th position, European spots - something Nottingham Forest hadn’t managed to replicate in 29 years. He also started the season solidly, picking up four points in three games.

You’d be mistaken to think that this sacking is because of results, however.

The relationship between Nuno and the club hierarchy had, reportedly, been deemed irreparable. Nuno, dissatisfied with transfer policies, had fallen out of favour with the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, and disagreed with the methods of Forest’s (and Olympiakos, and Rio Ave FC…) Global Head of Football, Edu.

It turns out Marinakis’ first name, Evangelos, is only nominal. He did not deliver Nuno good news: a harsh, and maybe unfair, decision - but, “it’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.”

You see, blood and ethnicity are intricately intertwined for the Family. There is a desire to limit the diffusion of power, keeping it closely tied to familial bonds. He found that in the replacement, Ange Postecoglu; the Nottingham Forest (Mob) Boss, when presenting the Greek head coach award, said:

“What I want to say about Ange is that he has spoken about Greece many times, he is proud to be Greek and in the great success he had with Tottenham by winning the Europa League, he spoke about Greece.”

Footballing-wise, Nuno and Ange are polar opposites. Nuno favours defensive solidity - soak up the attack with a low-block, then hit them on the break: last season, Forrest had the deepest defensive line in all of the top 5 leagues and the lowest number of touches per player in the Premier League. Ange favours attacking entertainment - to win, he utilises a high-line: last season in the Premier League, Spurs had one of the highest possession percentages.

It is Ange’s stylistic difference, as well as the appeal of having a Hellenic household, that resulted in Marinakis, evidently, “[making] him an offer he can’t refuse”.

And yet, despite these marked, theoretical differences, they were scarcely evident against Arsenal.

Ange’s Inaugural Game

It’s hard to read into this game: Ange has only had one full training session with all the players since taking over; making such a change in so little time would be nigh impossible. And so, against Arsenal, there weren’t many differences between Nuno’s Forest and Ange’s Forest.

As we know, Ange has a very distinctive kind of football. But, despite the media narrative surrounding his entrenched and uncompromising style - Ange has, fairly routinely, adapted his game. The final three or four Europa League games with Spurs are an example of this: sure, his teams still attacked when the opportunity presented itself - but, they weren’t as gung-ho as they typically were. He’s shown he can be pragmatic when needed.

Ange, also, isn’t stupid. He knows that to repurpose the team, and the team’s style of play, requires a delicate and nuanced hand - not a blunt and unyielding bludgeon.

As such, Ange continued with his predecessor’s low-ish block, not switching to his preferred high-line. Nor did Forest press as aggressively (or as fluidly) as Ange teams have done in the past. And, to top it off, the score (3-0) was identical to Nuno’s Forest last year.

They set up as expected in a 4-2-3-1, and even though they did have passages of playing some nice football - they were pretty poor.

We did learn some things, however - after now gaining some concrete evidence of players under Ange.

First, Ndoye in particular - along with Hudson-Odoi and Bakwa - are the perfect fit for Ange. Spurs’ wingers didn’t suit his style - they struggled to beat a man one-on-one and so couldn’t hit the byline. Maeda at Celtic, under Ange, alternatively was great at this - and excelled.

The most significant chance for Forest occurred when this worked: Nodye went past his man and cut an early ball across to Wood.

After a chaotic sequence, the ball fell to Hudson-Odoi, who would likely have scored if not for an excellent tackle from Mosquera.

Second, we’ve learnt that Wood may not be cut out for Ange’s style. The pressing structure wasn’t fluid - and this disjointedness was largely due to Wood pressing alone, not in tandem with the team. This is not surprising - pressing has never been a core element of Wood’s game.

Third, Anderson is an absolute joy to watch - and, I think, will thrive under Ange. Where Ange lacked an expressive, and defensively sound defensive midfielder at Spurs (except for the few sporadic games where Bissouma turned into Xavi), Anderson is just this: brave on the ball, capable of line-breaking passes, and highly intelligent. If Ange is to succeed, Anderson must be at the heart of this new Forest side.

It’s difficult to come to a definitive answer over how good Ange’s Forest will be. Against the best defence in the league, with some of the best well-drilled pressing structures, Forest were always going to struggle.

Their next game against Burnley will be the real test.

Bournemouth vs Brighton

This game was poised to be a tactical tussle between two equally adept, young, and hungry managers with completely different styles and tactics. And it was so - so much so, that they essentially nullified each other. At moments it was fueled solely by heated intent, with Brexit tackles flying in - 8 yellow cards being handed out in total.

Both teams had moments where they excelled equally at their tactics: Bournemouth dominated the first half especially, their aggressive press restricting Brighton’s ability to play out from the back; Brighton looked great after the half-time break, managing to authoritatively dictate the flow of the game.

But, the game was separated by such small margins that the goals resulted mainly from moments of brilliance, and moments of madness. Let’s go through them.

Specifically: Scott

After winning two out of three games, and only losing to the Champions, Bournemouth went into this game confident. This was clear in their style of play, with Alex Scott embodying this confidence. Confidence ebbed through his game - for a man who often surreptitiously goes under the radar.

Scott, irrespective of his goal, had a great game. He swaggered around the pitch, brazenly playing line breaking passes, cutting open the Brighton midfield and rendering them ineffectual. These risky passes were the means through which Bournemouth had Brighton on the backfoot for large moments of the game.

His midfield partner, Adams, it should be noted, was brilliant at the base of midfield; it was only through Adams’ role and aptitude that allowed Scott to flourish; they both complemented each other.

Now, looking at Scott’s goal - it arises from some silky Semenyo play.

Scott hits a quickly-taken shot from just outside the box that catches the goalkeeper off guard; this was the cherry on top of a good performance for the Cherries man.

However, this is what I mean by separated by small margins: not only is this a moment of quality from Scott, but no-doubt, Brighton fans will feel hard done to because the chance only occurs after Semenyo cynically clatters into the Brighton fullback, De Cuyper - which affords the space and time for Semenyo and Scott to combine. A little fortunate.

We spoke of Bournemouth’s confidence preceding the game - well, Brighton, I think, also shared this feeling, having just beaten Manchester City the week prior.

Minteh, like Scott, is an example of this mood flowing through the players: every chance Minteh got, he tried to beat his man. The second goal is created through this.

Minteh got the better of Trouffert (routinely, it must be said) and, for the goal (pictured above), put in an unbelievable ball for Mitoma to place into the net. The exceptionality of the cross cannot be overstated: it perfectly loops over the keeper where Mitoma easily finishes it.

The third goal, unfortunately, is the antithesis of the first two goals, as it comes about through sloppiness. Misplaced passes and dangling legs lead to a penalty being given, which Semenyo coolly places in the corner.

Brighton fans will be rightly frustrated with this result; Bournemouth fans will be rightly vindicated with this result; so is the closeness in skill between the teams.

At the end of the season, there will be few points and positions separating these two teams, that’s what this game showed us.

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