Jack Wilshere said it after Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Swansea: The Gunners find it tough against teams who like to play with the ball at their feet too. “It’s almost like you play, we play,” he told Arsenal Player. That was the case again in the 1-1 draw against Manchester United, who dominated much of the encounter but had to settle for a share of the spoils. Yet, in that game, it also showed that the idea that there is a single, homogenised style of build-up play in football is not true: possession football is diverse, and just as long-ball vs tiki-taka can result a certain, cat-and-mouse kind of match-up, so can possession v possession. It’s just that in this case, United were...
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