Manchester United
The 56-year-old Skysport pundit Paul Merson angrily blast Manchester United formation vs Arsenal that caused their defeat
The defense duo of Casemiro and Jonny Evans was one combination Manchester United supporters fervently hoped to avoid seeing against Arsenal.
Despite returning to training, Lisandro Martinez will not be put at risk just yet, according to Erik ten Hag’s statement late last week.
Manchester United was thus forced to continue with the Casemiro and Evans combination.
Willy Kambwala, a youthful center back, was the only one who caught us off guard.
Willy Kambwala arrived late to the game.
A defensive crisis appeared to be forcing Willy Kambwala to come off the bench, but he was injured in training.
The type of his injury was not disclosed by United, so it came as a bit of a surprise to see him back on the bench.
However, this raised concerns about why he wasn’t chosen to start the game even if he was prepared to be one of the substitutes.
After the game, Paul Merson spoke with Sky Sports about his own playing experiences, saying, “I wanted to play football. I wasn’t gonna listen to someone else [medical professionals] tell me that I can’t play, I’m gonna play.” And this is the issue.
“What is the purpose of being here, Willy Kambwala, if I’m the center-half and I can’t play today, if I’m a sub and I’m playing behind Jonny Evans and Casemiro?”
Given that he would not have been permitted to play if unfit, the decision to not choose Kambwala seems to have been made by the manager rather than a medical one.
When Kambwala did enter the game for the last fifteen minutes along with stoppage time, he looked strong and made one particularly outstanding crunching tackle.