Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has identified the Red Devils’ vulnerability from set-pieces as an issue Ruben Amorim needs to urgently address, following Wednesday’s defeat at the hands of Arsenal.
United slipped to a 2-0 loss at the Emirates courtesy of second-half goals from defensive duo Jurrien Timber and William Saliba.
Both Arsenal’s goals came from corners. The hosts’ strikes took their goals-from-corners tally to 22 since the start of last season – a statistic that is unmatched by any other team in the Premier League.
During his post-match press conference, Amorim admitted that United’s failure to defend set-pieces was the main reason why they lost the match.
This was reiterated by Berbatov who said on Amazon Prime Video [via Manchester World], “I admit that in the second half, the storm was there for Manchester United.”
“Ruben Amorim said earlier that a storm was going to come for his team and it came tonight. The set-pieces were a big problem for them and Arsenal scored twice from them.”
“Now it’s back to the training ground to fix the mistakes.”
Berbatov jokingly likened Arsenal to Tony Pulis’ Stoke City from a number of years ago, due to their reliance on dead-ball situations.
The former Bulgaria international remarked, “Probably the Premier League is the only league in the world where there are so many players around the goalkeeper who are pushing and shoving…making chaos.”
“Normally it’s a foul, but not here. You need to be strong and that’s why probably he [Amorim] was watching from the side and he was like ‘what is going on with my team.’”
“So you need to work on that because obviously, as we joke, Arsenal is the new Stoke City – depending on set pieces which can give you the win, like it happened today.”
“Arsenal are the new Stoke City!” 😂
Dimitar Berbatov on the Gunners’ threat from set-pieces and Man Utd’s inability to adapt to the threat…#PLonPrime #ARSMUN pic.twitter.com/lRLHqOzs9D
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 4, 2024
United will undoubtedly be keen to get back to winning ways when they host Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
