Gordon Strachan's chalkboard
This was the first time I've seen Arsenal change their system in many moons and you can't say playing 4-5-1 worked for them. Although they won the Cup, they were lucky.
They'll know things weren't perfect when their goalkeeper had to be brilliant, they had no shots on target from open play and Freddie Ljungberg had to clear off the line.
It was always going to be hard for Arsenal's system to work with Dennis Bergkamp as the lone striker. He doesn't have the pace to get behind a defence, so Manchester United's back four could push up and leave no gaps between themselves and their midfield for Robert Pires or José Antonio Reyes to get into.
It might have been different with a flying machine like Thierry Henry up front: he will spin a defence a couple of times early in a game and then they have to go back 10 or 15 yards to guard against him sprinting behind them. That creates room for his team-mates to play in but Arsenal never had that on Saturday, not even when Reyes went up front for a bit after Bergkamp. Reyes is quick but he likes to be free and floating, not the one right up there.
Bergkamp had a difficult time because he got no support. The hole wasn't there that Arsenal players like going into and the midfielders weren't going to make forward runs when there seemed so little chance of those coming to anything. They knew Bergkamp might not get the ball at all because of the number of defenders and, if he did, it was going to be hard for him to find them with so many people around him.
A lot of passes that reached Bergkamp were ugly balls for which he had to stretch and were hard to deal with. The only person who tried to run behind United was Ashley Cole.
The perfect way to play with one central striker is the way Chelsea do or United did on Saturday. I thought United got their shape spot-on and I think they'll persevere with that.
There was a nice balance to the team and they had lots of shots and crosses. What was important was that Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney stuck to their parts of the pitch and didn't pop up beside each other. They have done that sometimes and it unbalances the team; Ruud van Nistelrooy has to drop into one of the wide midfield positions and United lose their shape.
Rooney and Ronaldo could roam but United were still able to go back as a midfield five and if, for example, Rooney crossed, Ronaldo was in the box instead of simply Van Nistelrooy.
If those players stay fit there were some good signs for next season for United.
HOW THEY RATED
Arsenal
Jens Lehmann 8
Match-winner but got away with panicky end to normal time. Good saves, including key one in shoot-out.
Mins on pitch 120 Saves 7 Catches 2 Clearances 0 Pass completion 63.2%
Lauren 4
Struggled against speed and tricks of Ronaldo, but not helped by lack of protection from in front.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 91.5% Tackles 12 Tackle success 41.7% Fouls 5
Kolo Touré 6
Sometimes excellent, notably when sliding to intercept a cross bound for Rooney, but can still look raw.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 89.6% Tackles 3 Tackle success 66.7% Fouls 1
Philippe Senderos 7
Largely fine work, doing better than most against Rooney, but mistake almost accidentally released Giggs.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 93.1% Tackles 10 Tackle success 30% Fouls 3
Ashley Cole 5
Relentlessly exposed by Rooney until he tired and once by Van Nistelrooy. Tried to get forward.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 89.8% Tackles 14 Tackle success 42.9% Fouls 1
Jose Antonio Reyes 4
Got into decent areas but no end product. Frustration showed with bad challenges, culminating in red card.
Mins on pitch 119 Pass completion 86.7%
Assists for attempts 0 Free-kicks won 5
Cesc Fabregas 5
Neat with ball but unimposing. Looked 18 for once, such as when Ferdinand bustled past and crossed.
Mins on pitch 86 Pass completion 93.2%
Assists for attempts 0 Free-kicks won
Gilberto Silva 6
Several vital bits of tidying up but some sloppy passes and could not stem tide.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 87.8%
Assists for attempts 0 Free-kicks won 2
Patrick Vieira 5
Gave away more possession than usual until extra-time. Never dominant but scored decisive penalty.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 85.3%
Assists for attempts 0 Free-kicks won 3
Robert Pires 4
Started brightly but never a threat after that. Shot over in the second half.
Mins on pitch 104 Pass completion 80.8%
Assists for attempts 0 Free-kicks won 2
Dennis Bergkamp 4
Impossible job as a lone striker. Lacked pace to trouble United and support to help him link play.
Mins on pitch 64 Pass completion 65%
Attempts on target 0 Off target
Substitutes
Freddie Ljungberg Energetic and vital goalline stop from Van Nistelrooy. 6
Robin van Persie Free-kick tested Carroll but made no real impact in open play. 6
Edu Little time to impress on his farewell. 5
Manchester United
Roy Carroll 6 Mostly a spectator, making one save from a Van Persie free-kick. Dubious early rush from his line.
Mins on pitch 120 Saves 1 Catches 0 Clearances 0 Pass completion 65.7%
Wes Brown 6 Aggressive and kept Arsenal in check. Use of ball could have been better but made two good crosses.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 71.7% Tackles 6 Tackle success 33.3% Fouls 2
Rio Ferdinand 7 Sound and rarely stretched, reading situations well. One poor header not capitalised on by Pires.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 92.3% Tackles 5 Tackle success 60% Fouls
Mikael Silvestre 7 Snuffed out Reyes when they met, and covered well. Hit excellent crossfield passes to Rooney.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 90.7% Tackles 6 Tackle success 50% Fouls 2
John O'Shea 6 Decent, aided by opponents' tendency to run infield into traffic until Ljungberg came on.
Mins on pitch 76 Pass completion 72.5%
Tackles 8 Tackle success 62.5% Fouls 1
Darren Fletcher 7 Helped to curb Arsenal and they benefited when he went off. Also played some good passes.
Mins on pitch 90 Pass completion 84.8%
Assists for attempts 3 Free-kicks won 1
Roy Keane 7 Influential with tackles, blocks and passing but slowed down to save energy for a while.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 90%
Assists for attempts 3 Free-kicks won 3
Paul Scholes 7 Did not deserve penalty miss. Set up two chances, had a shot saved and hit some clever passes.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 77.4%
Assists for attempts 5 Free-kicks won 2
Cristiano Ronaldo 8 Continually stretched Arsenal and, if some end product was lacking, also sent over some fine crosses.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 62.2%
Assists for attempts 2 Free-kicks won 9
Wayne Rooney 8 Dangerous with his direct running and shooting until his energy dropped in extra-time. Shot struck a post.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 65.5%
Attempts on target 4 Off target 3
Ruud van Nistelrooy 6 Good movement and link-up but let down by his finishing. Should have headed in Scholes's cross.
Mins on pitch 120 Pass completion 80.8%
Attempts on target 2 Off target 2
Substitutes Quinton Fortune Steady after coming on at left-back. 6 Ryan Giggs Added to Arsenal's problems as he ran at them. 6
Jon Brodkin