Tactics rather than individuals.

Looking at our board since the Sunday defeat, I think we have been guilty of over-analysing individuals and their limitations, rather than looking at the bigger picture.

To me, the reason we lost on Sunday was obvious. I shuddered when I saw that line up. Arsenal have a very quick and technical attack and we decided to field a majorly slow team and a makeshift defence when it wasn't necessary to do so.

The template to beat Arsenal has been known for years and we foolishly deviated from it by trying to go toe to toe with them. I'm sorry, but this was only ever going to end in disaster. Not many teams can go and 'out football' Arsenal. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern could go and do a number on them without having to adopt their tactics too much, if at all, but every other side should not be naïve.

The blueprint for success against Arsenal is to cede possession, unsettle them with aggression and to counter attack swiftly. We attempted NONE of this Sun and that's why we lost in my opinion, it was the fault of the team and not collective individuals.

Van Gaal was incredibly misguided or high when he put that team out and I hope he has learnt from this.

Schneiderlin should've been a shoe in for this game, he's tailor made for these matches and leaving him out was criminal. Even Fellaini could've been useful. I know Coquelin marshalled him well when we met at OT in the cup, but generally speaking, Arsenal detest playing against physical players like him and always will under Wenger.

I think too many of us are too knee jerk in writing individuals off after one performance. We seem to see more activity on the Utd board after a defeat and a good 75 per cent of it is over dramatic and emotional tosh.

Darmian has made a few mistakes, PSV particularly, but the early signs are that he will be a cracking addition for us and the majority of the games he has played, he has impressed and slotted in seamlessly.

Blind has been very good and very poor in equal measure at centre back. My take on him is that he is a useful tactical ploy for the games in which we play stubborn defences, as his ball playing skillset is ideal from defence. For tougher matches, he should be in midfield or left back, especially now Shaw is injured and it is where I'd like to see him play most. Long term, I think his tactical intelligence will see him replace Carrick as the deep lying midfielder. He is one of the closest players to him in style and ability.

Schneiderlin, a player who I've wanted us to go for and gone on record saying so, has admittedly had a slow start. He has gone about his business quietly and somewhat unnoticed sometimes, but he has to improve his decision making on the ball and bring that steely and confident presence to the midfield like he did at Southampton. Eventually I think he will, but for the time being, I wouldn't start him in every match but would still give him a fair few games to allow him to find his feet.

Depay has been a bit underwhelming, BUT he has been involved and has not been scared to try things which most of all has impressed me about him. Once he accustoms himself to the rigours of the Premier League, and sharpens up his decision making, I feel we will have a very good attacker on our hands. He has the raw tools, he just needs to wise up a little and be a bit more mature in his play.

Martial, well, what can I say that hasn't been said. He's taken everyone by surprise and plays the game like a striker in his prime. Very excited to see how he develops and progresses.

All in all, the crux of my article is to declare that we have a very capable squad, and that Sunday's tactical decisions and line up was what cost us, rather than individuals. Being schooled by Arsenal was a bitter pill to swallow, but it's one you have to ingest if you are ignorant to what they can do to you and do nothing about it.