Charlie Ashmore - The View From Block 99 

Four Reasons to Enjoy Arsenal's Hard-Fought win at Manchester United 

However it is achieved, an Arsenal win at Old Trafford is a thing of immeasurable beauty given its rarity says Charlie Ashmore 

Heading to Old Trafford, the consistent failure to beat United sides ranging from average at best to downright poor over many years was haunting me. 

I couldn’t bring myself to be optimistic.  Even when chatting to a United supporting pal outside before the game and hearing his pessimism didn’t enthuse me.

I was wrong. 

I was wonderfully, beautifully wrong. 

Because, however it is achieved, a win at Old Trafford for us is a thing of immeasurable beauty given its rarity.

For all my pessimism before the game one thing made me stop and think again. 

Here's Four Reasons to Enjoy Arsenal's Hard-Fought win at Manchester United 

1 - Our bench  

For the first time in an awfully long time that bench was proper. Proper players ready to come on and make a difference. Potential game changers or game savers galore.  That was down to a combination of a good summer with transfers and an unusually fit squad – only Jesus missing through injury I think.

At kick off with the away fans in good voice and the teams lined up I felt calm.  I wasn’t feeling calm two hours later when we had somehow dug in and held on to the early lead seeing off everything this reinvigorated United side could throw at us.  And they threw a lot at us, mainly because we let them especially in a second half where we created more problems for ourselves than we seemed to solve.  

Sure, the performance wasn’t great.  We did not resemble the well-oiled machine we would have liked but matchday 1 (as we are encouraged to call it these days) is not for me the time to get too much into the weeds of the performance.  

For me the phoney war period of the season leading into the first international break is just about survival – gather as many points as possible while you work things out on the training ground particularly the synergies with new players.

2 - Don't listen to pathetic critics of Gyokeres after a single match

I am aware from listening to the radio on the way back that already there are knives out for Gyokeres.  Pathetic.  One match. 

A match in which the players he depends on to make him look good and give him the chances he thrives on didn’t deliver.  Even Haaland is nothing without service. 

So to have a downer on the man after his first competitive game, in which his supply line underperformed, is genuinely pathetic. 

Yes, of course the contrast when Havertz game on was startling. The same people screaming for a striker signing were the same people bemoaning Havertz’ contribution. 

I would wager a lot of money on them being the same people saying look how little Gyokeres contributed compared to Havertz. 

They are completely different players – one is in tune with his teammates and the way they play (the design of which he has been a part of) and the other is a completely new type of player to the squad with a skillset that the players have to adapt to (and he has to adapt his skillset to them). 

That doesn’t happen overnight, though it was noticeable how much quicker we were playing the ball forward (not necessarily effectively but that will come) perhaps partly in an attempt to get him involved early and partly in an attempt to shift from the caution-first mindset of much of last season’s play.

3 - David Raya's saves

Raya had a strange game, but his save from Cunha was absolutely superb, and his command of his area excellent.

Yes it is fair to say his distribution was mixed, and he nearly came badly unstuck in the first half when from where I was standing he could easily have given away a penalty. 

The booking was farcical. He was merely moving the ball to where the free kick was supposed to be taken. 

The problem there is with the officiating.  Why doesn’t the linesman stand still until the ball has been placed in line with him rather than the officials just shrugging and saying well it’s within ten yards so crack on.  Having said that, we can’t keep pushing at the boundaries of time-wasting this season – we know officials will not give us the benefit of the doubt. 

I thought a number of our bookings were harsh in the context of what United players got away with.  No idea what Jurrien Timber was booked for.  Genuinely….no idea. 

To me the ref was inconsistent throughout but that is something we have to live with and adapt to. 

Then again I am told a lot of refs would have given a foul on the keeper when we scored so credit where it’s due.  Seeing it on MOTD on my return home it felt to me as if a foul would have been soft.  Raya had a similar situation and dealt with it immeasurably better than their keeper did.

United looked a lot better than last season’s incarnation.  Mbuemo was dangerous every time he got the ball (and we gave him a lot of space) and when he and Cunha bed in properly they may be a force to be reckoned with – this three points may look even better as the season progresses, not least thanks to Raya stepping up to keep a vital clean when required. 

4 - Martin Odegaard looks sharper

For us, Martin Odegaard looked sharper and fitter than for much of last season, even if had to do a lot of his work further back than we’d have chosen. 

He showed snippets in the first half of the player we know he is and it was nice to see his willingness to shoot. 

Team notes:

Gabi Martinelli’s defensive shift was superb but going forwards he (like Bukayo Saka on the other side) was off his game. 

Defensively the drop off when Noni Madueke came on was noticeable and that’s something Arteta may need to think about in terms of how he manages them. 

When trying to hold a lead I’d rather have Martinelli on the pitch.  Further back the players had to put a shift in and it looked like there were a lot of last ditch tackles and clearances.

Charlie Ashmore's View From Block 99 Verdict: 

It’s fair to say that, with the exception of Raya, nobody really shone. 

But do you know what?  I don’t care. 

I have seen plenty of games we have lost or drawn that we deserved to win comfortably. 

There’s plenty of time to work on performance.  Three points is three points. 

And while all three points can be said to be equal, a winning start to a tough set of opening fixtures is brilliant and for us a win at Old Trafford is rare enough to make these three point feel a bit better than many.

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