Arsenal -v- Man Utd - Match Thread

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Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

yes Arsenal seemed to be committing too many forward and not enough back. Last chance saloon next week against Chelsea according to Hansen..

That's pretty much Hanson's analysis in a nutshell yeah.

Kirnsy

Rob113 wrote: »

Basically we were outplayed hands down

Good honest post. Arsenal still have a way to go. Could do with a bit of steel in the middle. Still too lightweight i reckon.[/QUOTE]

Yes though Song has come on in leaps and bounds and was actually decent today. He was fighting a losing battle though and had to firefight all match.

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

not like Arsenal to drop their heads as anyone who watched our 4-4 game last year will attest to. looked totally lost at the back. As Hansen said the amount of space Clichy gave for third goal was unreal. Not sure if it was the worse piece of defending in thirty years but was pretty bad.

Arshavin seems to treat Anfield as his personal playground though

Frisbee

A calamity of errors.

First goal Nani merk's Clichy and Nasri, then Denilson, then Almunlol touches the ball into his own net, Park would have scored anyway I think but the guy is a liability at this stage, he has to go, simple as.

Wtf Denilson was doing for Rooney's goal I'll never know. He's covering the exact same line as Clichy and not even trying to get into the space, rooney just breezes by him and have to say, great finish.

Third goal more silly errors. Possession lost far too cheaply Clichy can't decide whether to go to Park or cover Nani and in the end does neither, then Almunia lets Park slot it in at his near post.

Vermaelens goal, while it took a deflection, was well taken I felt, adjusted his feet really well.

Over all we really really missed Diaby it seemed, Denilson looked like a passenger for a lot of the 90, watching the game go buy him.
Having Nasri and Rosicky as our two wingers is an exercise in futility, both like to come inside and get on the ball, which means Uniteds full backs had very little to do all day and it also left our full backs far too exposed.

I never tohught we were going to even challenge for the league this year, and was a nice suprise to be in the race come February, but I can't see us finishing above third now, and even at that, two losses in our next two games is very likely which will make fourth place a realistic target to be happy with.

Having said all that, United were great, in flying form and thouroughly deserved their win, well done.

starbelgrade

Cil wrote: »

I never tohught we were going to even challenge for the league this year, and was a nice suprise to be in the race come February, but I can't see us finishing above third now, and even at that, two losses in our next two games is very likely which will make fourth place a realistic target to be happy with.

I think 3rd would be a realistic goal for Arsenal - the two big differences between them & United today were -

1. Composure in front of goal.. Arshavin & Song both had good chances which they wasted early on, which could've changed the course of the game

2. Not closing down as a team. As soon as Arsenal got into Utd's final 3rd, they had 6 or 7 players around the attacking player to win the ball back. Arsenal's midfield never did this & gave Man U way too much space.

As for the next two games, if they buckle up on their flaws today, there's no real reason why they can't take points off Chelsea & even more so off Liverpool. It'd be great if they could as it'd keep the title race as interesting as it has been this season, so far.

elius

cant find a link to the goals anywhere.. anyhelp?

Bukman13

elius wrote: »

cant find a link to the goals anywhere.. anyhelp?

http://www.101greatgoals.com/video-nani-flat-man-city-beat-pompey-manchester-uniteds-diouf-scores-another-brace-in-the-reserves-egypt-win-the-african-cup-for-a-record-3rd-time/46660/

Ush1

Man. United play an efficient English game....;)

Spiritoftheseventies

Des wrote: »

That's pretty much Hanson's analysis in a nutshell yeah.

never said it wasnt

cournioni

So who is this Nani lad that United have signed recently? Looks an absolute gem...

PHB

Just on Nani, it should be noted that in the second half he was back to his former self. While its perfectly acceptable that he can have a bad half, lets hope its not endemic of a change in attitude with recent success.

Ush1

PORNAPSTER wrote: »

So who is this Nani lad that United have signed recently? Looks an absolute gem...

Well he did play well, but for that opening goal you'd have to look at the 4 players he made fools of. Actually 3, Almunia just made a fool of himself really. Tells you more about them but fair play to the boy.

Spiritoftheseventies

Ush1 wrote: »

Well he did play well, but for that opening goal you'd have to look at the 4 players he made fools of. Actually 3, Almunia just made a fool of himself really. Tells you more about them but fair play to the boy.

havent seen much of the boy but does he tend to hit hot and cold a lot? Impression i get is that he has underperformed since arriving at old trafford

PHB

He was good in the first season, made a real contribution. **** since then, utterly inconsistant. Lately he's been linked with moves away, but Fergie has always stated there was no chance of it. Last 4 games in a row now he's been really impressive, with yesterday being the peak of it so far. If he can maintain the consistancy, we've got a real player on our hands.

Nalz

I can recall Nani playing 3 great balls in from the right in the second half, some decent corners and was in acres of space for Parks goal if he needed him (also drawing defenders out to him and making the keeper a bit more indecisive). But anyways...

He's had a decent 3 games and I'm hoping, expecting and predicting the same in the next game, should he start. He's definitely pushing for a starting place for the AC Milan game

abouttobebanned

abouttobebanned wrote: »

No. I think this is the day that Arsenal's season begins to crumble from underneath them.

I stand by this..another huge test on the way

ROCKMAN

PHB wrote: »

Just on Nani, it should be noted that in the second half he was back to his former self. While its perfectly acceptable that he can have a bad half, lets hope its not endemic of a change in attitude with recent success.

True , he went missing to a degree in the second half , but I would say the style of the game changed ,And Utd started playing deeper and deeper but if you look at it closer he was offering himself more in defence and helping out Rafeal more and more ,also he was up with all the good breaks made in the second half but was just not used or played in , Park's goal was a perfect example (He sprinted 60 yards to be involved on the right and give options to Park )

L'prof

abouttobebanned wrote: »

I stand by this..another huge test on the way

We might stutter in the next couple of games (partially because of the result yesterday) but, after that I can see us doing what we've been doing all season...beating the teams we're expected to beat and that should be enough to take 3rd and automatic qualification.