Arsene Wenger and Theo Walcott gave very different answers when asked if Spurs decision to play a back three on Sunday caught them by surprise.

Asked in his post-match press conference if he was surprised, Wenger was clear. “Not really, no” he said.

He added, “We knew how to play against a back three, we knew that they could play with a back three. You know, I felt that that was not the basic problem. There were some other areas in the game where we had a problem.”

But Theo Walcott told another tale, and if you’re going to look at Manchester United v Arsenal odds, the smart money would go on Arsene knowing what’s going on and Theo just not paying attention.

The side looked to suffer more from nerves and the pressure of expectation than anything tactically that Tottenham threw at them.

When asked if Tottenham’s back three surprised them, Theo said, “It did, completely.”

  • Theo question – on whether Spurs changing to three at the back surprised Arsenal…Answer – It did, completely
  • Arsene question – on whether he was surprised by the back three…Answer – No, not really

Good to see that we have great communication amongst the squad and that we are all on the same page.

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