Man Utd v Arsenal Champions League

yahoo_moe

Pro. F wrote: »

I think Song can be a bit of a liability for them. He seems a bit clumsy in the tackle when chasing back (what do Arsenal fans think?). I hope some Ronaldo and Giggs runs through the middle can draw some frees in good areas.

I think Song's been getting better all season and has put in some great performances in the last 2 months or so especially. In terms of the frees he gives away, he's actually pretty smart (Gilberto-style) at giving away a free at the right time without looking like he's completely clobbered someone.

I think he's maybe the equivalent of Anderson - his own fans like him but everyone else is a bit baffled by him.

Not sure this'll be a great spectacle by the way - bear in mind that not one of the many classics between them has been in Europe, which both managers approach very differently. Especially in a first leg.

Theresalwaysone

yahoo_moe wrote: »

Not sure this'll be a great spectacle by the way - bear in mind that not one of the many classics between them has been in Europe, which both managers approach very differently. Especially in a first leg.

I dont think we ever met them in Europe. Im nearly sure of it.

Headshot

Theresalwaysone wrote: »

I dont think we ever met them in Europe. Im nearly sure of it.

yap your right

gosplan

Pro. F wrote: »

I think Song can be a bit of a liability for them. He seems a bit clumsy in the tackle when chasing back (what do Arsenal fans think?).

He's very young and has had some bad days this year. However, they've been good days recently and when he's on his game (see second leg against Villareal), he's the best DMF that either of these team's have.

We should only be playing one of him and Denilson though - not both. I'm hoping that because Denilson got a full run out today, Song was rested and Diaby was given half an hour that it means Song-Fabregas-Diaby instead of Song-Denilson-Fabregas.

Podge2k7

C'mon the gunners!

Headshot

Podge2k7 wrote: »

C'mon the gunners!

I taught liverpool fans wanted us to go all the way so utd may take their eye of the PL no?

so are liverpool fans giving up

tony1kenobi

gosplan wrote: »

We should only be playing one of him and Denilson though - not both. I'm hoping that because Denilson got a full run out today, Song was rested and Diaby was given half an hour that it means Song-Fabregas-Diaby instead of Song-Denilson-Fabregas.

I agree...I think Denilson might be lacking a bit of muscle for this one....Song, in his laid back stoner way, will probably coast it....he is the business and I think he can own the midfield if he is awake while the match is on.

PHB

Gee, if Silvestre is out, what are we looking at for the Arsenal defence

--Sagna---Djouru---Toure--Gibbs--

Very little experience there.

eZe^

PHB wrote: »

Gee, if Silvestre is out, what are we looking at for the Arsenal defence

--Sagna---Djouru---Toure--Gibbs--

Very little experience there.

Not necessarily, it could be;


---Sagna----Djourou----Toure

---

Eboue---


That has plenty of experience really.

Smegball

Djourou is more reliable than Silvestre IMO.

Pepe LeFrits

Experience is overrated.

Headshot

eZe^ wrote: »

Not necessarily, it could be;


---Sagna----Djourou----Toure

---

Eboue---


That has plenty of experience really.

should be the tie of the round

Smegball

eZe^ wrote: »

Not necessarily, it could be;


---Sagna----Djourou----Toure

---

Eboue---


That has plenty of experience really.

IF Wenger played Gibbs at Anfield recently he will play him at Old Trafford aswell.

Galvasean

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Experience is overrated.

What are you talking about?
You won't win anything with kids!

Tyranax

As a Man.United fan, one word will describe this match I feel: nervous.

I will be extremely nervous watching it. Arsenal matches are always the same, there's always huge trepidation beforehand. This is because of fear, fear of what Arsenal can do to you on their day. They could tear us apart at Old Trafford, go away winning two or three nil, and comprehensive in doing it. If you lose it feels horrible, or it does to me, and that's because of the fact that they have been our major Premiership rival, the needle in the encounters, and the football that both teams try and play.


From a managerial standpoint, if not nervous, then things will be cautious, I feel. Both will probably go with one up front, three in the middle. I think that if you offered a 0-0 right now, both managers would take it. I nearly would myself.


Oh God, if we go out to Arsenal in a European semi-final, if we go out.....

Can anybody make the nerves go away?

keano_afc

Feel a whole lot better knowing there's no way Howard Webb can be the ref...

ROCKMAN

keano_afc wrote: »

Feel a whole lot better knowing there's no way Howard Webb can be the ref...

Great we need him fit for the league match,

As for the game at hand , I would like to see Anderson start this week. Fletcher would be a better choice in the second leg when abit more defending may be needed.

kida

Want to see Anderson play with a view to destroying Fabregas

Headshot

kida wrote: »

Want to see Anderson play with a view to destroying Fabregas

Headshot

ref for the match will be Claus Bo Larsen

kida

Headshot wrote: »

ref for the match will be Claus Bo Larsen

we want Webb

yahoo_moe

yahoo_moe wrote: »

not one of the many classics between them has been in Europe

Theresalwaysone wrote:

I dont think we ever met them in Europe. Im nearly sure of it.

Thanks for agreeing with me, appreciate it.

I'd much rather see Gibbs at LB (with a bit more protection than at Anfield) than Eboue - Eboue has experience, but not really playing down the left. And some of his worst moments this year came on the left wing, so I'd rather keep him away from that side.

To be fair, I'd almost rather him at RB than Sagna if Sagna's not 100%. But hopefully he'll be slightly more together after getting Sunday off.

Carroller16

VDS

O'SHEA
FERDINAND
VIDIC
EVRA

ANDERSON
CARRICK
PARK

RONALDO
ROONEY
BERBATOV

Tevez to come on in 2nd half.

We need to go with the 3 prong attack in OT get a few early goals and put this tie beyond Arsenal.

Big advantage that they have no Arshavin

thorbarry

Galvasean wrote: »

What are you talking about?
You won't win anything with kids!

lol

Didnt united win it in 95/95 with "kids"

Dave!

^
wooooooossshhhhhhh

bantee

I reckon we should win this 2-0 if Fergie doesn't start the donkeys like last Saturday. Nani should be sold off asap, what a waste of space. Fletcher should definately not start at OT as he offers very little going forward. Rafael starting on Saturday was a mistake in hindsight so O'Shea will start at RB.
Probably agree with the team above from Carroller16 but I'd love to see Tevez start more often up front with Rooney. Berba probably did enough at the weekend to start ahead of him.
Ferdinand and Vidic are beginning to look a bit more solid at the back again too so thins are looking good for Wednesday night, I hope!

itsjaybud

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Experience is overrated.

Some great words from Wenger himself!! Only Wenger could say this in an interview, brillant!!:)


As ive said in the Arsenal thread cant see Eduardo playing at all so with
trying to remain optimistic, i would like to see something like;

---

Almunia

---

Sagna---Toure---Silvestre---Gibbs

Wallcott---Song---Fabregas---Diaby

---

Nasri

---

---

Adebayor

---

deisedevil

thorbarry wrote: »

lol

Didnt united win it in 95/95 with "kids"

Sarcasm detector must be malfunctioning there thorbarry.

deisedevil

---

VDS

---

RAF

---

VIDIC----RIO

---

EVRA
----ANDERSON

---

SCHOLES---
RONALDO----TEVEZ----ROONEY

---

BERBATOV

---

That's our best team and I'd be delighted if Fergie sets it up like that.

DvB

My heart says score draw or Arsenal to nick it 1-0, my head says 2-0 to United.

gosplan

Headshot wrote: »

I'm always confused why Anderson doesn't play more for Man U. He's the only really tigerish central midfielder you have.

Trying to remember the games that Man U have lost this year and I think in all of them, the opposition had a central midfielder that basically dominated that area.

Was Anderson playing in recent Pool or Fulham games?? IIRC Gerard and Murphy were the decisive factors in those.

Mitch Connor

gosplan wrote: »

I'm always confused why Anderson doesn't play more for Man U. He's the only really tigerish central midfielder you have.

Trying to remember the games that Man U have lost this year and I think in all of them, the opposition had a central midfielder that basically dominated that area.

Was Anderson playing in recent Pool or Fulham games?? IIRC Gerard and Murphy were the decisive factors in those.

Anderson played against Liverpool, and didn't do well. I think it was his first game in a while, but it did not go well. Not sure if he played against Fulham.

PHB

Anderson has had some injury problems this year, which imo resulted in his poor form.

In the last few games he's played, he's shown to be back to his best imo, and even developing his attacking side. I still feel he'll play a major role in our run in, and this game particuarly.

Without Hargreaves, he's basically our best tackling midfielder. Him and Fletcher will imo need to do a job on Fabregas to keep him quiet.

tony1kenobi

Sky News have just reported a case of swine flu in Manchester.

I can't see Wayne Rooney escaping this one to be honest......

Frisbee

What I'd like:

---

Almunia

---

Sagna

---

Toure

---

Djourou

---

Gibbs

Walcott

---

Fab

---

Song

---

Nasri

---

Ade

---

Eduardo

---

What we'll get:

---

Almunia

---

Sagna

---

Toure

---

Djourou

---

Gibbs

Walcott

---

Diaby

---

Denilson

---

Nasri

---

Fab

---

---

Ade

---

I know he scored two goals on the weekend from there but I hate seeing Fab in that advanced position, he's so much better in a CM role.

2-1 United

Evil_Clown

I think Wenger will play Song in the middle at OT so I can see this line-up,
After scorin 2 goals from that advanced position at the weekend it will be almost certain that Cesc will play there again.
On the plus side Almunia back is good and Djourou should be more solid than Silvestre (*crosses fingers*).

---

Almunia

---

Sagna

---

Toure

---

Djourou

---

Gibbs

Walcott

---

Song

---

Denilson

---

Nasri

---

Fabregas

---

---

Ade

---

Bobalicious93

tony1kenobi wrote: »

Sky News have just reported a case of swine flu in Manchester.

And if it ends up here you can thank me for bringing it back with me

If I'm going down I'm taking you all with me!!!

ErinGoBrath

Frisbee wrote: »

What we'll get:

---

Almunia

---

Sagna

---

Toure

---

Djourou

---

Gibbs

Walcott

---

Diaby

---

Denilson

---

Nasri

---

Fab

---

---

Ade

---

I know he scored two goals on the weekend from there but I hate seeing Fab in that advanced position, he's so much better in a CM role.

Looks like Wengers going to drop Fab back into midfield and play Nasri in behind Ade. He experimented with this in the Boro match and was happy with the results. I'm not sure I like it but we'll see on Wednesday.

Would hate to see Diaby or Denilson starting but ultimately one of them will have too. I've very little faith in them and they are not up to Arsenal standards. Song on the other hand looks to be developing nicely into a defensive midfielder.

There's a lot of talk about Arsenals dodgy defence but there is one stat that is worth noting - the club record was broken (over 100 years old) on Sunday with Arsenals 9th back to back clean sheet at home.

As per all Arsenal v Man U encounters I'm sick with nerves already. This time Wednesday I'll be a complete mess!

Hoping for a good game with no controvertial dicisions/incidents.

Tyranax

ErinGoBrath wrote: »

As per all Arsenal v Man U encounters I'm sick with nerves already. This time Wednesday I'll be a complete mess!

I hear you there.


I'd absolutely love on one level to go with all of Berbatov, Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez. But Fergie willnae do that. I'd say that he'll pick this lineup:

---

Van Der Sar

---

---O'Shea

---

Ferdinand

---

Vidic

---

Eva----


--Ronaldo

---

Carrick

---

Anderson

---

Giggs--

---

Rooney

---

---

Berbatov

---

He'll stick in Giggs for the experience factor. In big games this season he's done it a few times (Inter away, Chelsea at home) albeit in the middle. I think that with Anderson and Rooney's defensive qualities, along with Evra's pace, that should be ok. This game is made for Ronaldo and Berbatov. Gibbs, who while he looks like he'll be a good left back, is inexperienced, and looked shaky at Anfield last week, where Kuyt hustled him brilliantly. Berbatov will have an Arsenal defence who are depleted through injury in the middle to compete with. I'd be happier to see Silvestre in the middle over Djourou, Silvestre has been brutal whenever he's played this season, and he's usually good for one mistake a game.

United could do worse than replicate Liverpool's gameplan last week, actually, just pressure, pressure, and pressure again Arsenal. We won't though, we'll be more measured. I'm actually happy to see Fabregas playing behind the striker. He has less influnce in terms of running the game from there. If he had Gerrard's pace or direct running ability, it'd be a different matter. United have always managed to shackle him will enough throughout the years, which is a compliment to him as much as anything else. There is an exception though: September 2006, when he ran the game, and made an assist for Adebayor. Here's hoping against a repeat.

gosplan

Nasri's our only LMF for this game so I think all that stuff in the papers about him playing centrally is just news filler.

The only question is 2 up front or three central. I'd much rather two up front for lots of reasons but the main one being that it accommodates our best players.

However if Eduardo is out then it'd have to be Bendtner and Ade up front and not so mad about that.

Spud83

Really looking forward to this game. United team is really hard to predict. Fergie has thrown up some surprises this season and I think it could continue on Wednesday. I can't see him going crazy on Wednesday and going after Arsenal early. The team will be set up with a lot of flexibility and with the ability to change it round very quickly if needs be without making subs.

---

VDS

---

Brown---Rio----Vidic---Evra
----Carrick

---

Anderson--
Ronaldo---Giggs

---

Rooney

---

Berbatov

---

Having Brown in there would probably be a surprise but I think Fergie may go with him. If not its really a toss up for O'Shea and Rafael. Though at a guess I would say O'Shea would sneak it.

Midfield is again tough to call. Harsh on Fletcher to leave him out but against Arsenal I think Carrick would be given the time to get his passing game going, and Anderson has been on form in the last few games and I think he is perfect for this game.

front four again is tough to choose. Obviously one of Tevez, Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov and Tevez have to be dropped. With Ronaldo and Rooney being undroppable IMO. There is also Park to consider here. As he may come in to help guard against Walcott. If Park comes in I would expect Berbatov to be dropped and Ronaldo/Rooney pushed central.

As for the result I think Arsenal will score yet United will win this leg. So I'll go 2-1. One or both of Uniteds goals to come from a set play off the head of Ronaldo or Vidic.

yahoo_moe

Tyranax wrote: »

This game is made for Ronaldo and Berbatov. Gibbs, who while he looks like he'll be a good left back, is inexperienced, and looked shaky at Anfield last week, where Kuyt hustled him brilliantly.

Do you really think either of them will hassle anybody though? Rooney, yes, but he'll be left side or central-ish at best so can't see him doing as much of a job on Gibbs. And Tevez probably won't start.

As for Arsenal, I think we'll most likely see Song, Denilson and Fabregas, although it's possible we might get Song, Diaby and Fabregas (preferable but still not perfect). Fabregas will be off Ade up top which could mean a quiet night for VDS if United can break things up in the midfield like Chelsea did recently.

Also, as much as I think Ronaldo could get at Gibbs, hopefully Walcott can do a job on Evra too. Walcott's been flying since he's come back, and Evra's been ordinary this year, so with Fabregas probably in that advanced role, I'm pinning a lot of my hopes on Theo.

3-0 to the Arsenal.

Yeah.

I went there.

Really

gosplan

Tyranax wrote: »

This game is made for Ronaldo and Berbatov. Gibbs, who while he looks like he'll be a good left back, is inexperienced, and looked shaky at Anfield last week, where Kuyt hustled him brilliantly.

Yeah, cause if there's two people who do hustle well, it's Ronaldo and Berbatov .

aidan24326

Fergie will approach this cautiously enough I'd say, I can't see him going all-out for goals. A 0-0 in the first leg at home isn't a terrible result by any means, though I doubt it will finish scoreless. I can definitely see Arsenal getting a goal, United defence has been strangely shaky in recent weeks. 1-1 is the most likely scoreline I think, and it should be set up for a titanic battle next week. Wouldn't be surprised to see this one go right to the wire, maybe even penalties.

RasTa

For any United fans looking to head over to this there are loads for sale atm on the Soccer Tickets forum.

A Primal Nut

I'm currently away working on a project and with time difference I will be at work during the match. Do you know if any website or sopcast/tvu streams the match later in the day? Or any channel that will show the whole match later on?

Tyranax

gosplan wrote: »

Yeah, cause if there's two people who do hustle well, it's Ronaldo and Berbatov .

Point taken with regards Ronaldo's and Berbatov's respective hustling qualities. Although Berbatov did look a bit more active against Porto and on Saturday. Only a bit mind you.


My argument that the game is there for the taking for them with regards to their direct opponents, namely a raw fullback, and either a walking disaster (Silvestre) or a young, if not inexperienced centre half(Djourou). I think that Djourou is a quality young centre half actually, and while Berbatov has class and skill I would fear the young Swiss doing a good job on him. He can read the game very well, and he's excellent in the air. Also, despite how I have United nominally laid out, obviously both teams will be more fluid than sticking rigidly to their formations. Giggs will not be spending ninety minutes blazing up and down the left touchline. Park may be a shout for that left midfield spot, or he may go with Anderson, Carrick (who I feel will definitely start) and Giggs as a central three, with Park being one of three up front with Rooney and Ronaldo. I think that I can say with certainty that Tevez will not start. I can't really argue with that, his form hasn't been great this season, he's looked a real headless chicken at times, although that could obviously be attributed to lack of game time.

Spud83

United Squad that trained today.

Training squad (24 players):

Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak;

Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Rafael, O'Shea, Evans, Brown

Ronaldo, Park, Giggs, Nani, Anderson, Scholes, Fletcher, Gibson, Carrick

Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov, Welbeck, Macheda.

So new injuries. Only Neville really missing, and Hargreaves obviously.

Headshot

back 4 picks themselves,ando,Ronaldo and Rooney are sure starters after that who knows