Perhaps it was because of home games, or perhaps because the attack was engraved in the bones of the "Gunners", Benitez's final list was not unexpected, but it was unexpected.

At the Emirates Stadium, Benitez arranged a 4-2-3-1 formation, and it was not the defensive formation of two back midfielders with three midfielders, but the attack formation of two midfielders and three front midfielders.

The single arrow is French shooter Lacazette, followed by three attackers who can pass and shoot well, while Zachar and Ziyech are two skilled midfielders.

After seeing this lineup, Solskjaer, like everyone else, believed that the "Gunners" would do their best to break through Manchester United's goal in this game, and they would use a strong offensive to win at the Emirates Stadium.

There is no way, after all, Arsenal's lineup is all an attacking lineup no matter how you look at it!

But after the competition began, everyone found out... everyone was wrong!

Benitez arranged an attacking lineup for Arsenal, but this group of players were not trying to avoid every offensive opportunity on the court, but instead revolving around Moroccan midfielder Ziyech's continuous passing and controlling. As long as he got the ball, he would definitely have a smooth round of ball control, waiting patiently for the attacking opportunity to appear.

slow!

After the game started, Arsenal's performance was just one word...slow!

Even when they were fighting at home, the Gunners were very patient. Even when they were passing and controlling in the middle and front court, the entire defense line did not press forward too far.

Ten minutes later, Solskjaer understood... Where is the offensive football game in this tactical style of "Gunner"?

This is nothing but Spanish transmission and control tactics!

Benitez...he actually transformed the "Gunner" into this?

Arsenal had only 2 wins and 2 losses before. Although Solskjaer had watched the Arsenal game video, the Gunners did not play such a pass-by football at that time!

Unexpectedly, in a short time, Benitez had transformed Arsenal to this point, and could even use smooth passes to control the rhythm of the game in the game. This was probably because the "Gunners" were playing smooth ground offensive football, but when they arrived at Benitez... he began to make the team pursue passes and controls frantically. Even the rhythm of this tactic was very slow, which was very similar to the "Cosmic Team" or the Spanish national team's passes and controls at its peak.

On the contrary, Guardiola, who had advanced to the extreme of passing and controlling football, is still playing this passing and controlling tactic at Manchester City, but he has already transformed his tactics, gave up his pursuit of useless passing and controlling, and began to find the perfect combination between passing and controlling and efficiency.

When Barcelona played against Manchester United, the picture of "Justice" seeing that the team could not even touch the ball, and the picture of her nervous hands clenching her fists and trembling constantly... Now it has become a classic scene!

However, it would be too difficult for passers to return to the peak height that he was back then... otherwise Guardiola would not have changed his tactics.

But no matter what, the tactic that Arsenal plays now... is very annoying!

Manchester United is not afraid of opponents' attacks in the game this season, because their counterattack success rate is too high. As long as they are given a chance to counterattack, they can basically win the game. On the contrary, when they encounter a team that focuses on defense, it will be difficult for Manchester United to break through the opponent's goal.

But today's "Gunners" style of using passes and controls instead of defense is even more annoying. Not only does it be difficult for Manchester United to get a chance to counterattack, but they also have to be careful of the opponent's offense anytime and anywhere, posing a threat to their team's goal.

After the game started, both sides seemed very cautious. Under the command of captain Herrera, Manchester United, in addition to defending with all their strength, Herrera and Aliyu also focused all their energy on defense.

Both sides kept testing me, I tested you, the game was in a stalemate from the beginning. Arsenal used passes and controls to not give the opponent any chance to attack, Manchester United also relied on the main defense line of Maguire, Varane, Wan Bisaka, Luke Shaw, plus the help of midfielder Aliyu and captain Herrera, and used strict defense not to give the opponent any chance.

10 minutes...0:0!

20 minutes...0:0!

30 minutes...0:0!

40 minutes...0:0!

45 minutes...0:0!

Forty-five minutes of the first half passed, and the score of this game was still 0:0. What made the audience most depressed was that even the number of shots on both sides was pitifully less than that...4:5!

Arsenal, who played at home, had 60% of the ball, and only completed 4 shots. Manchester United, who mainly targeted counterattack, was slightly more efficient and completed 5 shots!

The game was slow, there were no goals, and the number of shots was pitiful... The audience in this game was so depressed that they almost fell asleep.

But the audience was not satisfied, but Benitez was very satisfied with his team's performance today. During the halftime break, he also began to arrange the team's victory and defeat...

"Young guys, everyone performed very well in the first half, but... forget everything in the first half, and we will start to enter the winning and losing stage. In the second half, we must continue to maintain the pass control while also speeding up the offensive rhythm! One ball! As long as we can score one goal in the second half, we can win today's game!"

Next, Benitez began to talk about what to do in the second half to break through Manchester United’s goal: “Transfer! Horizontal large-scale transfer! In the second half, we have to concentrate the attack on one side, and then suddenly move on a large scale. The wing players on the other side should pay attention to the response. As long as we can do this well, we will have a chance to score in this game! After scoring a goal, we will definitely win!”

One goal!

This is Benitez's pursuit and the goal he sets for the team. He believes that if Arsenal can suddenly score a goal in the second half and then control the game through pass control, then... this game will definitely be won!

In the visiting team's locker room, Solskjaer also felt that something was wrong today. Arsenal did not play so steadily in the previous four games. It felt like they were not as good as before when they played against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge Stadium... wretched!

It's really because Manchester United and Arsenal are old rivals?

But that's been a matter of many years, and it has nothing to do with you, Benitez!
Chapter completed!