Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta
Amad Diallo openly mocked Mikel Arteta’s tactics after seeing Manchester United claim a dramatic 3-2 victory over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
The Red Devils inflicted a costly defeat on the Premier League leaders, with more questions being asked of the Gunners’ reliance on set-pieces.
Amad has savagely reminded them that “your only hope is a corner”.
Are Arsenal over-reliant on dead-ball situations?
Arteta’s team did provide plenty of threat from dead-ball situations against United, but offered little outside of that – which has become an unfortunate theme for a team that have seen their lead at the top of the table cut to four points.
Only Manchester City have scored more goals than the Gunners this season, with Arteta’s side registering 42 across 23 games, but their attacking players have struggled for a spark as individuals.
Amad reminds Arsenal of their issues outside of set-pieces
Bukayo Saka, who is being rewarded with a lucrative new contract in north London, has no goals through his last 13 games in all competitions. Swedish striker Vikor Gyokeres has failed to score a goal that was not a penalty in 11 league games, while Gabriel Martinelli is without a Premier League strike in his last 13 appearances. Another winger, Noni Madueke, has no goals through 25 top-flight outings, and Leandro Trossard has recorded one effort across his last 11 matches in all competitions.
Set-pieces have remained a reliable source of end product for Arsenal, with 26 goals being registered via that method this season – the highest return across Europe’s top five leagues. They are, however, in danger of becoming over-reliant on that route to success.
Amad was quick to point out as much after seeing United leave the Emirates with three points. Matheus Cunha grabbed a stunning winner for the Red Devils in the 87th minute – just three minutes after Mikel Merino had restored parity when bundling home from a corner.
Amad responded to a fan on social media by saying: “Your only hope is corner”. He included a laughing emoji and went on to say, alongside a full-time result graphic and be quiet emoji: “Be humble KID.” He was replying to a pre-game post that read: “Arsenal are winning 4-0 they just sent me the script.”
Top four hopefuls: Can Carrick deliver Champions League qualification
Amad impressed again for United in their hard-fought win at Arsenal, having previously played the full 90 minutes of their eye-catching derby victory over Manchester City. Interim boss Michael Carrick has found a role for the Ivory Coast international that does not require him to line up at wing-back – a position that he was often asked to fill in Ruben Amorim’s much-maligned 3-4-2-1 system.
Carrick has been using Amad in his favoured position on the flanks, with Bryan Mbeumo being deployed as a No.9 – meaning that big-money striker Benjamin Sesko has had to settle for a place on the bench.
Carrick told reporters when asked if, after opening his reign with two notable victories over title hopefuls, a top-four finish is now on the cards for United:
“I know from our perspective, it’s just moving forward to the next game. It’s been less than two weeks we’ve been together. So it’s just keep getting good habits, really, and good routines and good habits.
The boys have been fantastic with that. I don’t think we can look too far ahead. We certainly won’t be, anyway. It’s a big week leading up to Fulham and games coming up. We’ll finish where we finish by getting the results.
“I know that’s kind of obvious, but looking too far ahead can come back and bite you really. So we’ve taken this week by week, and game by game. We’ll certainly continue to do that. But we’ve got to ride it and use the emotion, you have got to use the energy and use the confidence. You’ve got to be humble enough to understand how we could just achieve these two big results. It doesn’t just come easy, so we need to continue that and bottle it and use it again.”
