Smalling: We're All In It Together

Manchester United's players were understandably jubilant as they left the Emirates Stadium on Saturday after a smash-and-grab win over Arsenal, and Chris Smalling says the morale-boosting first victory on the road this season will fuel a focused, positive atmosphere in training this week.

The 2-1 triumph, capped by Wayne Rooney's brilliant breakaway goal late on, was a cocktail of nerves, David De Gea brilliance and a little luck, but there was more than a pinch of persistence to put the team's pre-match plans into action too.

Smalling admits it was by no means a perfect performance and the post-game video analysis work will signal areas for improvement, but he says United's players are in it together and wins like Saturday's will only help the team go from strength to strength.

"It was a massive win," he told ManUtd.com. "We've played better than that away from home actually and not picked up the three points. So, analysing the game at the training ground, we'll see lots of things we could have done better, but we'll also look back and say it's an important three points. It's all positive for us and we want to take that into a positive week of training to improve even further."

The underlying story to United's display was a tactical discipline, according to the Reds defender, but even that required defensive heroism, at the hands of De Gea, or from yet another combination of centre-backs in front him, of which Smalling was the most experienced, flanked by youngsters Paddy McNair and Tyler Blackett.

"I think the key to the win was our shape," adds Smalling. "We had to stay compact and keep our shape, but also a lot of people threw their bodies on the line for the team. There was real strength and solidarity in our commitment as a team because Arsenal had a lot of shots and they play the ball quickly around the penalty box. Time after time we put a block in and we really wanted to make sure we came away with a win."

The personnel changes, particularly in defence, can hardly come as a settling influence, but Smalling says it's been a case of make do and mend. "It's been our story this season," he says, "that we have had to change the team and the formation quite a lot. It's not ideal but we've had to make do. Against Arsenal, just as we have tried to do all season, we stuck together to get the result."

After the Reds moved up to fourth place in the Barclays Premier League table, the pertinent question is: what could United achieve with a fully fit squad?

"Each team thrives on a settled side," says Chris. "I think if you look at the teams towards the top of the table that's something they have benefitted from, maybe making just one or two changes each week. We don't have that luxury at the moment. But we'll stick together – all the players are in it as a group – and when we do get a settled side I think you'll start to see the consistency we're all striving for."