SO What did we Learn from the Utd game last

night.....next up is Utd at the Theatre of Dreams

Like me you were probably treating last nights game as a scouting mission, seeing where Utd looked dangerous and where their vulnerabilities were.

Arsenal sat off them, let them come to within about 40m of their goal and tried to stop them getting any closer. This gave no space in behind, congested the play in the middle and offered little room out wide. They then looked to counter attack. It worked by and large. SirChesney had little to do and Arsenal won (albeit vs 10 men & a goal gifted by Valencia).

Poch has in the past had success with Saints pressing right up to United. It was noticeable last night that the keeper rolls out the ball every time and does not kick it.

If you look at their back 4, Smalling & Jones are pretty poor on the ball. Valencia and Rojo are not much better. There is a mistake in them when on the ball and the CBs need to be worked.

If the CMs drop back to take possession up then Herrera & Blind are not the most expansive and rarely do they move the ball quickly. Utd have the glorious stat of passing back to the keeper most often in the EPL.

All this to me points to us applying the high press. Push right up on to their defence and give their CMs little time on the ball. This could frustrate them and starve service (on the ground) to the likes of Rooney/Young/Januzaj)

The danger with the approach is two fold.....if they break that line they can hurt us. But their lack of pace, no more Dimaria gives us less to be concerned about, although their forward players are always a threat.

Secondly if they go long and Fellaini is on the pitch, then this is our Achilles heel...the aerial ball into the box. This might be a time to wheel out Fazio, but his lack of pace & maneuverability is a bit alarming at times.

An effective press will see them launch it more often and we will have to defend that better than normal and be all over the second ball.

Offensively, I think we should go with Dembele for Chadli. Between him, Mason and Bentaleb we have much more power, energy and agility in this central area and we should win that battle. This pushes Eriksen out wide and you can choose between Lamela (retains possession better, no end product) and Townsend (pacey and direct, little end product).

Our wider players will need to be disciplined. We will be vulnerable from the ball crossed in to the pointy elbowed afro'd one

It is good we have a clear week to work on our tactics before this game...we need a fast start, hopefully get the OT fans on the back of their team and try and press home an advantage.

No stupid defensive errors though (yeah right).

Any thoughts?