Arsenal produced one of their most disappointing performances of the season in their draw away at Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
United came into the game in 15th place, yet were able to restrict the Gunners to very few clear-cut chances at Old Trafford.
Bruno Fernandes’ free-kick on the stroke of half-time gave the home side the lead, before Declan Rice saved the day for Arsenal, slamming home after good work from Jurrien Timber.
The North Londoners probed for a winner in the late stages but were unable to find it, condemning Mikel Arteta’s team to another costly draw on the road.
Mikel Arteta made a mistake with his substitutions during Manchester United v Arsenal
Anthony Taylor made an error with Arsenal’s wall for Fernandes’ free-kick goal, lining it up 11.2 yards away from where the United captain took the effort from – rather than the permitted ten yards.
However, this sort of minor error is likely to occur on almost every dead-ball situation from that range, as the referee isn’t using a tape-measure to meticulously outline the distance.
Having said that, Raya received criticism for the set-up of his wall, while the goalkeeper’s positioning has also been questioned.
The Spaniard did make up for this in the second half with some heroic moments in between the sticks, and thus it would be unfortunate to apportion the majority of the blame on him.
In fact, Arteta himself deserves some censure for his role in the dropping of two points, with the Arsenal boss making a poor substitution that derailed his side’s attempts to push for a winner.
Two minutes after Rice had equalised, with the game poised at 1-1, the tactician opted to replace Thomas Partey with Kieran Tierney.
Merino dropped into midfield, Trossard went up front and Tierney slotted in at left-wing.
While Arteta wasn’t blessed with the most appetising attacking options on his bench, bringing on a traditional left-back at left-wing when chasing a winner at Old Trafford wasn’t exactly the most inspiring substitution.
Merino was poor in midfield, while Raheem Sterling was a natural winger the manager could’ve called upon.
Instead, Arsenal’s left-hand side was completely stifled, with Tierney managing just six touches in his 14-minute cameo.
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Mikel Arteta should’ve brought on Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko or Jorginho
If Arteta was fed up with Trossard’s antics on the left and wanted to move the Belgian centrally, he should’ve called upon the actual wide man on his bench.
Sterling has been struggling, but he at least has the attacking poise to create a moment and is more likely to pop up with a goal than Tierney.
However, if Arteta really didn’t want to use Sterling, there were other more dynamic options available to him that would’ve increased the Gunners’ chances of finding the winner.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has delivered some promising cameos in midfield of late, and could’ve replaced Partey.
The Ukrainian’s creative passing in the final third might’ve helped unlock the Red Devils, rather than having Merino struggle in the middle of the park.
Alternatively, Arteta could’ve gone like-for-like with Jorginho replacing the Ghanaian.
Jorginho’s fresh legs, as well as some of his incisive passes from deep, again could’ve helped Arsenal break Ruben Amorim’s side down.
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