What Ruben Amorim said about Arsenal speaks volumes and Mikel Arteta completely disagrees

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim suggested his squad rattled Arsenal, who needed to rely on set-pieces, despite losing 2-0 in north London.

Amorim saw merit in his team’s performance. The Red Devils were expected to fall to the Gunners but put up a staunch defence through vigilant pressing and staying compact when without the ball during the first half, which ended 0-0.

However, Arsenal turned the tide post-interval with emphatic corners, as Jurrien Timber and William Saliba pierced through United’s resistance.

With an air of frustration evident in the dugout, Amorim, although disappointed, pointed out the positives, remarking that the home team and supporters felt the heat from United’s assertive play early on.

“I make the evaluation of the game regardless of the result,2 Amorim said. “Like I said, the 4-0 [vs Everton], you can take positive things but we have to improve and we already knew that.

“But you can feel it in the stadium in the first half, especially at the end of the first half, you can feel that they were not comfortable. So you can take that.

“I think the difference today was set-pieces. Because, in set-pieces, you see a goal, then the momentum changes. It’s really hard for us to take full control of the game, but we tried.”

Amorim suggested Arsenal have a tactical ploy, aiming to win corners by pushing opposition full-backs towards their own flag. He explained: “On every occasion Saka and Martinelli has one against one, they go outside, they cross. They know if the cross is going well, they can score. If it is a corner, they can score.”

Mikel Arteta quickly rebutted this analysis, emphasising Arsenal’s varied attacking strategies.

The Gunners boss highlighted: “Last year we scored the most goals in the history of this football club,” noting it wasn’t just due to set-pieces but also thanks to “a lot of things that we have. We want to create individual and magic moments.

“A lot of players can create their own goals. We can create goals from short counters and long counters, slow build-ups, restarts and the opportunity to open up the opposition. Every single phase of play let’s maximise it, keep working on it, keep improving.

“No, we play with inverted wingers. They develop a lot inside so there’s not a lot of space inside. When they leave there is a lot of space for the full-back or for the six, if not then for the nine, if not you can go outside. We need to look at every angle. What they do, where they can be weak and where we can exploit the weakness of the opposition.”

Despite Amorim’s remarks, United posed little attacking threat during the match, managing only five shots compared to Arsenal’s 14, with just two on target.

Following their latest victory, Arsenal have now netted more set-piece goals (22) than any other Premier League team since the start of the previous season.