Weekend Prem Fixtures

Necronomicon

5 minutes added time!

I take back my earlier post, taken by surprise with the United line-up. Carrick on the bench? Was he struggling with any injuries?

Aquos76

Carrick out JOS in

mike65

Well thats a pisser, all the rotation for I presumed this game and we still come up short with a decent starting 11 but apart from Crouch nothing on the bench. Why no Gonzo or Garica?

Liverpool have to put chances away.

Mike

Aquos76

Necromomicon wrote:

Carrick on the bench? Was he struggling with any injuries?

Na, Id say fergie is just preparing for a battle and has gone with experience. John O Shea usally plays quite well against Le Arse.

Necronomicon

Full time. Liverpool can't complain after missing some of the chances they had.
Blackburn leading Man City 1-0, the other games goalless.

Nalz

VD Saar injured?

Necronomicon

Trilla wrote:

VD Saar injured?

Feeling unwell afaik.

kinaldo

Martins and Duff hit West Ham on the counter attack with Duff finishing to put Newcastle 1-0 up

kinaldo

Martins makes it 2 for the toon! Get in!

Necronomicon

Crikey we've been let off the hook a few times. The penalty, well, I may seem biased but it looked to me like Kuszack took his hands away and Adebayor let his leg go across the keeper's chest. He recovered well though, fair play for holding his nerve on his debut. Made a good save against Rosicky as well.

Might be a bit premature right now, but I'd like to see Carrick on to pull the strings in midfield. Arsenal have kept United relatively quiet.

Most satisfying moment...Lehmann getting whacked in the face by Ronaldo's volley?

Pepe LeFrits

Arsenal have played quite well so far when they've had the ball (which was a lot of the time), so no doubt United will go on to win it. Story of our season so far really.

Senderos and Clichy really need to get fit asap (as do the strikers).

Aquos76

Arsenal take the lead with 5 mins to go.

kinaldo

Arsenal have been terrific today. Man Utd have been poor and I don't see how Ferguson can leave Carrick out of a game like this after investing so much money in him.

GuanYin

No more than they deserve, United looked shakey at the best of time and Arsenal defended well on the whole. The goal was all about Fabregas, what an exceptional player for such a young lad, the pass was perfect (ok he got a lucky bounce to get in that position). Arsenal still playing good football right til the end.

Pacifico

Oh yeah!!

kinaldo

kinaldo wrote:

Super Sunday

Blackburn v Man City, 15:00

---

Home
Chelsea v Liverpool, 13:30

---

Away
Man Utd v Arsenal, 16:00

---

Away
Tottenham v Fulham, 15:00

---

Home
West Ham v Newcastle, 15:00

---

Away

So close to a Sunday Grand Slam! Fcuking Chelsea and I can never predict Spurs results.

Necronomicon

Can't argue too much unfortunately. United couldn't string enough passes together at any point today. I can see why Fergie opted for O' Shea but really, Carrick's creativity was missed. Rooney is still taking time to get back to his sharp best after the 3-game suspension.
Ah well, hardly the end of the story. Too early in the season to start predicting the consequences of today's results.

Aquos76

Necromomicon wrote:

Ah well, hardly the end of the story. Too early in the season to start predicting the consequences of today's results.

Agreed, but an excellent way for Arsenal to kick start their season

kinaldo

I think Arsenal will go from strength to strength now. With Toure and Gallas at the back I couldn't see them conceding tbh, they look much more solid now, and Baptista looked good coming on. Rosicky was very dangerous and they still have Henry to come back. I'd be very happy and optimistic if I was an Arsenal fan, and very worried if I was a Man Utd fan.

tdv

United deserved to loose. Thats what u get for having faith in over-rated **** like Ferdinand, O'Shea, Silvestre , Brown, Ronaldo etc... who couldnt give a **** if they won or not & only care when there next pay-check is & Rooney aswell today didnt do **** all, he's ****ing over-rated aswell, Solskjaer should have been playing from the start. Its what they ****ing get.

MisterAnarchy

Yet again United were atrocious.
No cutting edge ,they never looked like scoring.
Midfield is bereft of creativity,it they were there for 10 hours today they wouldnt have scored.

GrumPy

MisterAnarchy wrote:

Yet again United were atrocious.
No cutting edge ,they never looked like scoring.
Midfield is bereft of creativity,it they were there for 10 hours today they wouldnt have scored.

It was Ronaldo's fault they conceeded too He was trying to do his little tricks, and fell over, lol. :rolleyes:

Pepe LeFrits

Fuppin delighted, finally United's hoodoo over Arsenal is broken!

It's only 3 points though, but hopefully it can kick-start Arsenal's season. The next 6 games look very winnable if they take their chances, fingers crossed this will give them the belief to do so. The team is still very much a work in progress, but this should give it a shot in the arm.

Necronomicon

Lol, looks like the doom-crew is out in full.

kinaldo wrote:

I'd be very happy and optimistic if I was an Arsenal fan, and very worried if I was a Man Utd fan.

Yeah I'm really worried. 4 out of 5 wins at the start of the season, we could be in for a relegation scrap.

MisterAnarchy wrote:

Yet again United were atrocious.

Yet again I point to United's start to the season. Sure they were nothing like their best today, but that's hardly the end of the world.
I'm not trying to ignore defeat today, but even the most hardened ABU can't really think today means the end of United's title challenge. Get real.

kinaldo

Necromomicon wrote:

Lol, looks like the doom-crew is out in full.


Yeah I'm really worried. 4 out of 5 wins at the start of the season, we could be in for a relegation scrap.

4 wins out of 5 just papers over the cracks imo and it's not just this game I'm basing that opinion on. Average defence, average midfiled, decent attack but no replacement for RVN. I predict a repeat of the last 3 season's mediocrity (by ManU standards tbf).

tvnutz

Necromomicon wrote:

Lol, looks like the doom-crew is out in full.


Yeah I'm really worried. 4 out of 5 wins at the start of the season, we could be in for a relegation scrap.


Yet again I point to United's start to the season. Sure they were nothing like their best today, but that's hardly the end of the world.
I'm not trying to ignore defeat today, but even the most hardened ABU can't really think today means the end of United's title challenge. Get real.

The results to the start of our season mean nothing in terms of playing well. We have played well only once this season,against Fulham on the opening day. Every other game since then we have played between average and downright poor. The only reason we have 4 out of 5 wins is because we have played useless teams,or teams not playing well (Spurs). It doesn't take much to beat these teams,we played poor,still beat them all.

However I knew that once we came up against good opposition we would be screwed. And we were. That match was a joke,we couldn't string a pass together,useless players like O Shea and Fletcher manage to get a full game and overrated and over priced players like Ferdinand, Ronaldo and Carrick just show that we don't have what it takes to win the league this season. I'd put money on that.

Those results mean nothing when you are playing bad,and at the moment,we are playing very very bad.

smemon

poor display by utd, lacking creativity and the steel in midfield.

o'shea and fletcher were useless, ferdinand rattled and rooney unfit.

why was carrick (almost £20m) left on the bench and o'shea in before him? :rolleyes: it's ridiculous.

o'shea is not a utd 1st team player, he's a substitute as is fletcher.

fair play to arsenal though, coming to OT under a lot of pressure, without their main man Henry and managing to put on a good display.

The 5 man midfield worked for them, but not surprising really as when you outnumber the likes of o'shea and fletcher, you're pretty much guaranteed possession.

Running Bing

United are badly let down by their poorer players. Silvestre, brown, oshea and fletcher are not premiership winning players while rio ferdinand is a player with good ability(at times) but one id never want in my team in a million years. The sheer quality of players such as Rooney, Giggs, Scholes and RVN in the past has made up somewhat for the bad players but uniteds lack of success(by their standars of course) in recent years is down to too many weak links in the squad.

Guy:Incognito

I'd have to disagree on Brown, I think he's a bit of an unsung hero (hero might be a bit strong ) but I think he covers for ferdinand and does a lot of his donkey work, which makes him looks better than he is.

He's the type of player that just quietly goes about his business, never grabbing headlines and who people assume is not much use becaus they dont hear much of him, when in reality he's a very important part of the defence.

Mossy Monk

i am obviously delighted by todays win. Fabregas is really going to be something special in years to come. i think Baptista did well when he came on and Rosicky is going to be great this season as soon as people lay the ball to him outside the box

jank

Great win for arsenal. Totally deserved.

This will kick start the season now and loads of players to come back from injuries this look a bit brighter. Next game is a must win to get some momentium going.

Fighting Irish

Ole should get in before Saha, Saha doesn't really like to run at people and try get the ball back he sits and waits for a chance to come his way.

Also Gary Neville should stay back, he comes forward and does sweet fu(k all.

kinaldo

this followed by this

The pure disbelief on his face and the mirror reaction is absolutely priceless!

gandalf

Those pictures are class. Just as an aside as a football fan its great to see a player as loyal as Solskjaer get back playing after the nightmare of injuries he has had over the last few years.

Good result and as all the other Gooners say I think we have kick started our season

iregk

Didn't see the united game (she dragged me to b&q!), that said I did get the Chelsea game out of her first!

Great win for Chelsea, cracking goal from a player who is gradually starting to grow on me now. Preseaon I said to a mate that Liverpool are 3rd place at best and he took the head of me then. He is now agreeing with me. No imagination, average purchases and at the moment I dont think even the manager knows who is starting a match!

MrJoeSoap

Fighting Irish wrote:

Ole should get in before Saha, Saha doesn't really like to run at people and try get the ball back he sits and waits for a chance to come his way.

Also Gary Neville should stay back, he comes forward and does sweet fu(k all.

?

Saha is in the form of his life! Olé is a legend, and an amazing player, but his impact is best when he comes off the bench. I'd definitely start Rooney (who isn't in the best of form but should always start when available) and Saha, with Olé waiting in the wings for when needed.

Made the breakthrough vs Celtic and almost against Arsenal yesterday.

Mad Dog

kinaldo wrote:

this followed by this

The pure disbelief on his face and the mirror reaction is absolutely priceless!

Brilliant stuff............:D

Flights to Manchester €100
ManUre jersey €55
Match ticket €40
Pre match drinks €30
Halftime refreshments €20
The look on Solskjaers face when Arsenal score winning goal
Absolutely F**kin Priceless

BaZmO*

Mad Dog wrote:

The look on Solskjaers face when Arsenal score winning goal
Absolutely F**kin Priceless

His reaction was to Lehman making an amazing save from his shot that was heading for the bottom lefthand corner.

Mad Dog

BaZmO* wrote:

His reaction was to Lehman making an amazing save from his shot that was heading for the bottom lefthand corner.

smemon

is it just me, or is this place dying a bit

5 pages on the weekend's games, including 2 MASSIVE head to heads. Arsenal -v- Utd which in the past has resulted in bannings, high tempers and abuse..... Chelsea -v- Liverpool which would normally have gained a lot more attention.....

i guess just like arsenal and utd on the field, people have moved on and things have settled down... but just like Keano said on sunday, it's nice to see a bit of fire, a bit of nastiness

boards.ie soccer forum has lost it's fizz imo.

jank

Kinda agree with that. Maybe people have gotten more mature about their football. They can see things from both sides.Too much coverage about the premiership anyway!
Maybe it is the Chelsea effect.
Maybe United fans know that they do not have a god give right to win the league year in year out...opps;)

Anyway, hopefully Arsenal and Liverpool can push on and give Chelsea and United a real go. I think if the top 4 were within 4 points of each other with 4 games to go you would see this place hoping!

GuanYin

I'm quite happy with the level of maturity here. Personally I think the issue is that with the main guilty parties being Man Utd and Arsenal fans not being title contenders, thereis no real rivalry. Both sets of fans have accepted Chelsea's dominance and sure everyone hates Chelsea anyway :rolleyes:

Give it another year when all the new Chelsea fans start coming through and the other teams catch up a bit

BaZmO*

OMG! You know times have changed when smemon and jank are agreeing with each other.

I think the problem with the Soccer Forum at the moment is that nowadays there doesn't seem to be individual threads for individual matches. Everything now seems to be lumped inbto one general "Week (whatever)" thread and it just meanders all the place.

Another factor is that there's too many General rumours threads clogging up the forum imo (a sub forum perhaps?). Coupled with the stickies there doesn't seem to very much to browse through on the first page.

Well that's my 2 cents on why the Soccer board is losing it's edge.

Necronomicon

I thought the same about the weekend fixtures, 5 pages is a little short.

Don't worry, wait until the season starts to take shape, we'll all be at each other's throats again

smemon

i remember (back in the day ) when i actually couldn't keep up with threads because they were getting so big (like 10+ pages on 1 match).

so in a way, it's better that it's calmer now as people can read through threads pretty quickly.

however i for one, am less inclined to come on here nowdays as there's no real bite or fire about the place, i could now slam a player with no-one reacting, in the past i'd be ganged up on and verbally knifed by opposition fans but i miss that in a way now:(

hopefully, the top 4 will be battling it out for 1st place come may and we'll have the old spark and appetite back

Necronomicon

What I should've said is, just wait for the first United vs Pool fixture. Feckin hell, do a search on last season's encounters if you can't remember. Many bannings iirc!

jank

'd be ganged up on and verbally knifed by opposition fans but i miss that in a way now

Awww group hug!:)

BaZmO*

smemon wrote:

in the past i'd be ganged up on and verbally knifed by opposition fans

Yeah, that's right. It was only the opposition fans that ganged up on you.