Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

gosplan

How are we top of the league when our only attacking options from the bench all season have been Monreal and Bendtner.

It's kind of a rediculous miracle.

gosplan

emergingstar wrote: »

The game came at the wrong time for us, let's see how we are after the international break with everyone back

Were 2 clear missing half of our attacking options no one mentions that

Snap buddy. life is good

tayto lover

HazDanz wrote: »

You could have said the same after the Bayern Munich/spurs defeats last year, that it was a psychological blow - it wasn't.

We went on to keep our consistency up after those games and I believe we will do the same again. Win against all the lower positioned teams in the league this season and we will be up there by the end.

Third hard game on the trot - beating two super teams on the way. As meat loaf says, two out of three aint bad.

Psychologically we do not do well against the top 3 EPL teams. That's a fact.
Today was our chance to break that barrier against a poor United outfit. We again failed. Not talking about Europe at all.

I really felt we had the team and the nerve for it today as we were on a good run and playing well. But once again we failed against a team which has been struggling. There is something wrong with our mentality when playing the big 3. Why else would we keep losing to them?

tayto lover

shano_88 wrote: »

How many saves did sczeney have to make?

The only chance United really created from open play was Rooney in the second half that I can think of.

They scored, we didn't. That's all they had to do.

Quixoticelixer

Other results let us off the hook big time, but United right back in the mix now. Need two players in Jan, a centre half (can't go a full season with only 3 recognised CB's) and a Giroud alternative that isn't Nicklas Bendtner. I say Giroud alternative rather than replacement, Giroud does what he does fairly well, but he is limited. A different option would do nicely. Pod hasn't played centrally for a while, would he be effective in the middle once he returns? He'd be better than Bendtner anyway.

A disappointing defeat, but we have reacted extremely well to our last two disappointing defeats (TH+AV), no reason we can't do it again. It's going to be one of those seasons in the league, no team is standing out, there will be many more points dropped by ourselves and the other big teams/top 6 (or 8 even!). We still have a head start on the rest, I'll take that.

Ozil a bit flat recently, I know the price tag isn't his fault but for that kind of money you expect the player to hit the ground running and not look back. Not too worried though, form = temporary, class = permanent.

Marty McFly

Quixoticelixer wrote: »

Ozil a bit flat recently, I know the price tag isn't his fault but for that kind of money you expect the player to hit the ground running and not look back. Not too worried though, form = temporary, class = permanent.

Ah come on regardless of the price tag it will always take players time adapt. People need to have patience plus for his first few months his stats are still impressive.

Alfred Borden

Southampton(H), Cardiff(A), Hull(H) & Everton(H)
10-12 points is crucial and definitely manageable

If any game showed the lack of depth in our squad it was today. 3 huge games in one week where to be fair we'd have probably taken two out of three wins a week ago. Mert and Rosicky injuries decimated us to an extent as both were displaying great leadership in recent weeks. Vermaelen actually to be fair done well but Mert is far more commanding.

There is one or two players i would have my doubts about today. Gibbs just trotting back at one stage today was inexcusable and i felt perhaps he could have done better on the back post for the goal too. He seemed to move off the post before the header was aimed toward the goal. Bendtner should be nowhere near our squad full stop. He is useless and he is a waster into the bargain. Get him out of the club quick as you can Arsene.

Ozil really needs to start imposing himself in big games more. We played 42 million for him and for him to barely get on the ball today is totally unacceptable. the 2 games v Dortmund and this game has just past him by now. Considering his comments in the media about 'enjoying themselves and putting Utd out of the title race' then to follow up with that display is not good enough. Cazorla's passing was ****e and i dont think he rolls the sleeves up enough. Ramsey had a better second half but was guilty of one of his blind flicks in the first half.

Flamster lacked match fitness tbf and Jack gave us an injection of energy when he came on but you just felt that United had the defensive strength to close the game out once they got their noses in front.

emergingstar

Raf32 wrote: »

Southampton(H), Cardiff(A), Hull(H) & Everton(H)
10-12 points is crucial and definitely manageable

Manageable yes crucial I dont think so there is gonna be points dropped all over the place

dvemail

After Gnabry came on the game really opened. Shows how much we've missed Walcott.
And the fact that we are top of the league while missing Walcott and Poldi who were our 1st and 3rd top scorers last year says a lot. A lot more firepower to come back into this squad yet.

Raf32

Raf32 wrote: »

Southampton(H), Cardiff(A), Hull(H) & Everton(H)
10-12 points is crucial and definitely manageable

Is Pod nearly back? Pray that Giroud will come through the play-offs unscathed.

Quixoticelixer

Marty McFly wrote: »

Ah come on regardless of the price tag it will always take players time adapt. People need to have patience plus for his first few months his stats are still impressive.

Ah come on! I hardly said anything overly harsh, key points; bit flat recently, price tag not his fault, not worried, form temporary, class permanent! Bit harsh to say I'm being impatient!

Edit; Only said "Ah come on" by coincidence, I wasn't being an ass by throwing your words back at you or whatever!

2ndcoming

Poor performance. Seemed tired and a little bit overawed by the occasion and it's a big opportunity missed against a poor United team to put a mark down for me.
Credit to Rooney, he was superb. That Dutch cúnt though, I'd like to see him cook on a spit.

Thankfully nearly every other result went our way and we're still top. Four months ago I don't think any of us would have expected us to be having such a strong season.

Out of the three games this one mattered the least but I wanted it more than any of them! The ghosts of 8-2 have to be exorcised someday, unfortunately not yet. Bendtner's introduction reminded us we are still short in important positions. Missed Mert for the goal and also Walcott stretching things. Gnabry impressed and I thought Jack should have been on from the start.

Onwards and upwards.

Courtesy Flush

The annoying thing from Arsenals perspective is that this is one season where United are there for the taking. Its a pity maybe illness and the schedule let it down.

Quixoticelixer

Don't blame illness/virus/food poisoning or whatever, that's Tottenham's thing!

bishopmuzorewa

Quixoticelixer wrote: »

Don't blame illness/virus/food poisoning or whatever, that's Tottenham's thing!

Don't bring tottenham in to it;)

I dont want to be too hard on us because as i said we have had 3 consecutive games against 3 of the top teams in Europe in a week and i suppose you could say 4 if you consider that a few of them appeared in the Capital one cup v Chelsea. To come out with 2/3 wins in the league and cup and especially the one midweek against the CL runners up is pretty admirable.

We need to add to the squad as fatigue is playing its part. That's no excuse and United deserved the win. Once they got in front they held their nerve to their credit. The second half we done our best but once the home team had their nose in front at all you are trying to break down fort knox.

shano_88

bishopmuzorewa wrote: »

Don't bring tottenham in to it;)

Your right, Tottenham aren't in it at all!

jonneymendoza

Right lads I only saw the last 30mins as I was mad busy.

We looked all over them .so how did we lose?

gandalf

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Right lads I only saw the last 30mins as I was mad busy.

We looked all over them .so how did we lose?

Our first half performance was dreadful.

Call Me Jimmy

shano_88 wrote: »

Your right, Tottenham aren't in it at all!

BUURRRRNNN

farna_boy

AdamD wrote: »

Yes because we have fully functioning eyesight

Thanks for your contribution, that was as useful as Bendtner was today.

ironkiwi

fulmer1984 wrote: »

apparently Arteta was unwell also, i hope Ozil was as well cause he was pretty off any sort of form today

And Arteta was one of better performers, shows the quality of the man if he was actually under the weather today!

Pepe LeFrits

bad2dabone wrote: »

Maybe I was too harsh with the bottlers comment. I'm just disgusted as I've spent the week winding up United friends of mine. Silly me.

Totally understandable, losing to United is not a fun experience.

With distance though, it's easier to assess. Who here would have taken being top by 2 points after 11 games, 4 ahead of Chelsea, 5 ahead of United and 6 of City? Everyone would have.

It's easy to get carried away when you're flying and others are faltering, and you can look at the way United are playing and think we should have put them to the sword, but on the other hand, only a few months ago we barely scraped 4th. We're not going to go from that to an all conquering team that smashes our rivals on their own turf (and smashes our own personal demons) in the space of 3 months. It's just not a realistic expectation.

We're still making great progress all the same.

bad2dabone

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

We're still making great progress all the same.

I agree. On the whole, considering we've only brought in 2 players, and we've had injuries to crucial attackers, we're doing very well. Out of the 3 games this week this was the one that meant most to me, but with a few hours to cool down its still been a good week overall, beating liverpool and dortmund, and facing united in the course of 8 days is a seriously tough schedule for any team and considering how narrow the victory for utd was we're still a very good team.

Colonialboy

Id like to see Gibbs make some of the same runs other top full backs make. Coming in off the touchline at pace , into a bit of space around the back of the oppossing full back, where one of our midfielders can drop a ball . Too often yesterday he was in a very forward position but standing still on the touchline. waiting...defenders wont mind too much if he is recieving the ball , static out on the wing, they defender wont worry too much about him, but if he makes those runs, it causes the whole defensive line of the opposition to worry, and it will turn them round facing their own goal. He has the pace to recover and we have defensive midfielders who will cover. Gibbs and Sagna both get very far forward anyways they may as well be making the runs in around the back.
Making those runs will over another outlet, you see other top european teams too, Dani Alves is the master of it. Dissapointed Gibbs didnt take the shot first time , coming at pace onto a ball thats been laid across the box, 10 yards out ....

Sad to see Bendtner still getting a run, it must be a bit soul destroying for the team that he is wearing the same shirt, on the same team sheet. Couldnt Wenger give one of the reserves a chance. If only we could get our hands on that file he has on Wenger ;-) .

Has Wenger put his shackles back on the team? I was worried Wenger would stop them being direct and have them revert to keep the ball, too much of that yesterday . I think the players got us to the top of the table, by ignoring some of his instruction and giving up some possesion but being more direct when they did have it.

Thought we got kicked around the place yesterday, dissapointed to see that, Utd left the boot and carried thru on alot of tackles, our players shouldnt have let Utd get away with it.

Wengers comments pre-match were ill-advised, he wound Utd players up, not that they would have needed much, but his comments that Old Trafford was a better place for referrees now that Fegie was gone, would have added to the Utd players desire to beat us.

Giroud is knackered, he needs some support, some to come in in games already won, that gets him some rest time. Wenger seems to flog some players to the point of injury.

Gnabry should have come on alot earlier. I like Mourinhos style , if a games not going Chelseas way, he will make alot of changes early on. Wenger leaves it too late.

Starting Flamini was very risky too, just back from a groin strain, lacking match fitness. I thought it was a dangerous thing todo, especialyl for a groin strain .

Still alot of positives and in a good position, the destiny of some silverware is still in our own feets.

emergingstar

Colonialboy wrote: »

Id like to see Gibbs make some of the same runs other top full backs make. Coming in off the touchline at pace , into a bit of space around the back of the oppossing full back, where one of our midfielders can drop a ball . Too often yesterday he was in a very forward position but standing still on the touchline. waiting...defenders wont mind too much if he is recieving the ball , static out on the wing, they defender wont worry too much about him, but if he makes those runs, it causes the whole defensive line of the opposition to worry, and it will turn them round facing their own goal. He has the pace to recover and we have defensive midfielders who will cover. Gibbs and Sagna both get very far forward anyways they may as well be making the runs in around the back.
Making those runs will over another outlet, you see other top european teams too, Dani Alves is the master of it. Dissapointed Gibbs didnt take the shot first time , coming at pace onto a ball thats been laid across the box, 10 yards out ....

Sad to see Bendtner still getting a run, it must be a bit soul destroying for the team that he is wearing the same shirt, on the same team sheet. Couldnt Wenger give one of the reserves a chance. If only we could get our hands on that file he has on Wenger ;-) .

Has Wenger put his shackles back on the team? I was worried Wenger would stop them being direct and have them revert to keep the ball, too much of that yesterday . I think the players got us to the top of the table, by ignoring some of his instruction and giving up some possesion but being more direct when they did have it.

Thought we got kicked around the place yesterday, dissapointed to see that, Utd left the boot and carried thru on alot of tackles, our players shouldnt have let Utd get away with it.

Wengers comments pre-match were ill-advised, he wound Utd players up, not that they would have needed much, but his comments that Old Trafford was a better place for referrees now that Fegie was gone, would have added to the Utd players desire to beat us.

Giroud is knackered, he needs some support, some to come in in games already won, that gets him some rest time. Wenger seems to flog some players to the point of injury.

Gnabry should have come on alot earlier. I like Mourinhos style , if a games not going Chelseas way, he will make alot of changes early on. Wenger leaves it too late.

Starting Flamini was very risky too, just back from a groin strain, lacking match fitness. I thought it was a dangerous thing todo, especialyl for a groin strain .

Still alot of positives and in a good position, the destiny of some silverware is still in our own feets.

I stopped reading after "were top of the table cause the players are ignoring his instructions"

Utter tripe from you sir

gosplan

Colonialboy wrote: »

Still alot of positives and in a good position, the destiny of some silverware is still in our own feets.

I really hope that people aren't going to lose the plot if we don't win any trophies this season.

We've come on hugely and improved every aspect of our game. So trophies should follow that, but i get the feeling that some supporters will be demanding them instantly and lambasting the team if we don't win them this season. (Not you buddy, just in general)

This is a fourth place team plus Ozil. We've one very capable striker but he's not at the top level and good defenders can handle him pretty well. I feel for him too, he comes in for criticism sometimes but no-one mentions the joke of having someone like Giroud on the pitch with no wide players.

I think a rather good indicator of where we are in terms of a title challenge lies in the fact that we've conceded the first goal 4 times this season and lost three and drawn one of those. When you go ahead of Arsenal, it's not that complicated a thing to stay ahead - it all comes through the middle or 40 yard crosses from Sagna, don't think we've another route to goal.

We're basically playing with a bunch of central midfielders and a big striker and it's pretty straightforward to defend against - don't get caught forward, stop midfielders from playing 1-2's off Giroud and close down Sagna for the crosses. Defenders don't need to be that fast or that brilliant, they just need to stand in the right places. Now, of course we've got serious quality so we still score, but you can't score goals like Wilshire's every week or rely on Ramsey to bang one in from outside the box.

That might change when we get some width back but we can't say now that we should be winning the league based on a bunch of injured players or on a striker that they want us to buy in Jan.

I think we can win the league but we need a lot of things to go our way. Any sort of a sustained challenge is a successful season for me though. It'll hurt when we lose one but it's about kicking on and year-on-year improvement.

There are also some very tough tests coming our way. Two wins out of three this week was really good but we've still a double against City and Chelsea int the league and knowing our luck, they'll have sorted their **** out by then.

gandalf

emergingstar wrote: »

I stopped reading after "were top of the table cause the players are ignoring his instructions"

Utter tripe from you sir

Agreed you don't get top of the league if you ignore the manager. If that was happening we would be in disarray.

We're top because we are playing very well but players are now burning out because they are being played too much. Unfortunately our squad at the moment is threadbare and when you look at our injuries you can understand why. I mean Poldi has been out so long its going to be like having a new player available when he is back. We desperately miss Walcott as a plan B to our current try and pass through them tactic which United negated yesterday (as well as negating playing any meaningful football).

Bendtner has to be replaced in Jan he is next to useless and seeing as we are out of the Worthless Cup (sorry Capital One Cup) I see no reason for him playing at all anymore bar selling a few jerseys in Denmark. We need someone who is a different type of player than Giroud so we have an different option on the bench. Suarez would be perfect but there is no way in hell Liverpool will contemplate selling him given their position in the league. They are now challengers as well given how flakey last years top 4 have been this season.

10 days ago if someone said we were going to win 2 out of the last 3 matches I would have taken it in a heartbeat. Of course I would have loved to have beaten United but that was not to be. The Dortmund result was the biggest of the lot so delighted with that. Overall I am still extremely happy with how things are going. If we didn't have the injuries issues I think it would have been a different result yesterday. I am looking forward to their return visit at the Emirates.

jonneymendoza

emergingstar wrote: »

I stopped reading after "were top of the table cause the players are ignoring his instructions"

Utter tripe from you sir

ffs is people really talking crap like this?

we ****ing lost to the current CHAMPIONS AWAY from home for petes sake!

Some here act as if we just lost to a sunday league team and we currently sitting in the relegation zone.

We are top of the ****ing league! We have proved this season we can beat those lesser teams we use to struggle and we have beaten many top teams already!

Why do u think we are top of the league and top of the CL in what is easily the hardest CL group of the lot?

And toss in the fact we have like 4 senior players still injured and bendter, you will see we have truely been amazing so far this season.

I am not panicing. i did not expect us to beat united last night.

United will also beat the likes of liverpool and chelsea at their own ground. Does that team both liverpool and chelsea are **** too?

Sick and tired of fickle fans. Please do not bother posting here on a stupid pointless rant on how **** arsenal are just because of one loss.

Go and have a moan if we are mid table. Everyone here knows i have asked for wenger to be sacked and u al know that was because we barely managed top 4 and always **** up in the leagues but i am not stupid.

I am not daft. i realize like most of us here that we are doing well now at the moment and the only way to start being concerned is if we dont make top 4 this season.

Right now we are competing for the title nevermind thinking if we can make top 4!

keano_afc

Time for some clear heads here lads.

We lost away at United, a ground where we notoriously struggle. We've played 3 games in 8 days, with a very tough trip to Germany in the middle of playing maybe the inform team in the league (besides ourselves) last Saturday and the current champions yesterday. We were missing 4 first choice players, incuding our most dynamic midfielder and our best centre half. Our keeper didnt have a save to make, despite this. We lost to a set piece. It really isn't the end of the world. Yes it hurts to lose to them, but we can take plenty out of it. They are in no way a better team than us, and I dont think they'll be in the mix at the end of it. They are just as average as last year but missing the Ferguson factor.

We need to hope nothing happens to Giroud before January and right now we need to be lining up a striker so we can do our business early. If we get a viable option to Giroud in January there's no reason why we shouldnt be there come the business end.

jonneymendoza

United will beat 2 of these teams at Old trafford(chelsea, city, pool,spurs) and i bet those sets of losing fans would not be posting nonsense on how the world has ended after a loss at OLD TRAFFORD against the current CHAMPIONS

imtdub

I Think we all need to calm down a bit now. Even I was raging last night but you've take into consideration these same 11 players have been playing continuously without any break, I know if we had put in a bit more last night we could have won or even drawn the game but we didn't have much to bring on even from the bench, a half-fit Wilshere and that Donkey, OK Gnabry did well.

Anyway my point is we shouldn't read too much about one poor performance, we've been doing great with limited resources and once we get other lads back we should be fine after the Interlull break....

Jeez how much I hate this Interlull's ....:mad:

ugsparky

We look a bit jaded - not surprising given the amount of injuries and the pre match bug. Yet we still could have snatched a draw - we are light up front, Giroud is being asked to do a lot of work so maybe an investment on a striker in January would be a wise move. On a positive note I thought Vermaelen played well ... good to see him coming back into form.

GavRedKing

jonneymendoza wrote: »

United will beat 2 of these teams at Old trafford(chelsea, city, pool,spurs) and i bet those sets of losing fans would not be posting nonsense on how the world has ended after a loss at OLD TRAFFORD against the current CHAMPIONS

We've already been to Old Trafford and we drew 0-0 in a boring as f**k game.

Mickeroo

ugsparky wrote: »

We look a bit jaded - not surprising given the amount of injuries and the pre match bug. Yet we still could have snatched a draw - we are light up front, Giroud is being asked to do a lot of work so maybe an investment on a striker in January would be a wise move. On a positive note I thought Vermaelen played well ... good to see him coming back into form.

Yeah thought vermaelan was solid too.

Irish Aris

I can understand the frustration that some fans have about losing to that Man Utd (and by that I mean, ManUtd not being at their best atm).
I can also understand the comments about us losing to OT very often, and not being up to them and all.
I can also understand the "psychological" factor of losing a game like that (or any game that's that strong).
But I can't share any of them (well, I can probably share the first one).

I will hold to my opinion that Man Utd is just 2 games in a 38 game season. Chelsea is another 2, Man City is another 2, Liverpool is another 2, Spurs another 2 (although, I still can't see them as serious contenters). And there are another 28 games against other teams. Each of these 38 games give you 3 points if you win.
Yesterday we lost a, what I'd call, in-schedule game, meaning a game that you would expect to lose. In the same weekend some of our rivals had unscheduled losses-I'm referring to Chelsea, Man City and Tottenham.
So, no, I am not overly worried that we lost yesterday. I will be more worried if we don't beat Southampton next game or if we don't take 10 points in the next 4 games. It's all about keeping pace in the whole season and these games are equally critical for me.
As for the psychological factor of losing the game yesterday. I am going to give my favourite team some credit. We lost the CL home game to Dortmund, and yet the players had the stance to go to their home and beat them. So, I will choose to believe in my team, that they will be able to bounce back in the next game.

Have to say, I welcome the international break. It's the last we will have before a very heavy program. Hopefully we'll start having players back after the break.

Mickeroo

Are ox,pod and theo all due back after the break?

imtdub

Mickeroo wrote: »

Are ox,pod and theo all due back after the break?

I think Theo is back for definite as he has been training it seems. Not sure about Ox and Poldi...

Marty McFly

Jesus there's an awful lot of rants in here today from both sides of the coin and some as bad as each other.

Mickeroo wrote: »

Are ox,pod and theo all due back after the break?

Walcott should be back, podolski is back running so cant be to far off. Chamberlain I think is a few weeks off yet.

gandalf

Is it just me or did anyone else expect Moyes to pull off a rubber mask to revel Tony Pulis given how mediocre Uniteds play was yesterday

Hyzepher

Looks like that illness that claimed Rosicky and Mert was affecting Ozil and Gnabry as well.

Ciaran_B

Good posts from Johnnymemdoza and Keano on this page. 2 wins from the last 3 games including an away win at Dortmjnd is a great return. Still top of the league with a lot of good players coming back (can't wait to see what Theo can do with Ozil putting the ball in front of him). This over-reaction is crazy.

tayto lover

jonneymendoza wrote: »

United will beat 2 of these teams at Old trafford(chelsea, city, pool,spurs) and i bet those sets of losing fans would not be posting nonsense on how the world has ended after a loss at OLD TRAFFORD against the current CHAMPIONS

Very few moaning that we lost. Over the years we have got used to losing big games in the league.
It's the way we lost. Timid, poor passing, nervous, some pulling out of challenges and hiding on the big EPL occasions, creating very little and being bullied again at OT. Some weren't up for the challenge. Some tried very hard.
It's not that we lost, it's how we lost.
I never like to see us losing but if we lose and try hard I have no complaints.
United didn't even have to play well to win. Even their own fans are saying they played badly.

Marty McFly

tayto lover wrote: »

Very few moaning that we lost. Over the years we have got used to losing big games in the league.
It's the way we lost. Timid, poor passing, nervous, some pulling out of challenges and hiding on the big EPL occasions, creating very little and being bullied again at OT. Some weren't up for the challenge. Some tried very hard.
It's not that we lost, it's how we lost.
I never like to see us losing but if we lose and try hard I have no complaints.
United didn't even have to play well to win. Even their own fans are saying they played badly.

Spot on, No one said a word after we lost Dortmund why because we played well and gave our all.

No don't get me wrong I'm still a happy camper with this season so far top of the league just beat Dortmund but that doesn't mean we can't point out the faults from yesterday's performance.


Had a Liverpool fan say to me today we looked afraid and he was right we seem to have a big fear factor against United that we need to overcome. They were there for the taking. Well get them at the Emirates.

They were average at best yesterday we were just worse.

keano_afc

I still think fatigue was a factor. We've had a lot of tough games recently and pretty much the same 13 or 14 players are being used.

A Primal Nut

Thought we played well and people are over-reacting. Was a close game decided by an excellent header from a set-piece. Both teams defended well and not much in the way of clear cut chances.

That said we could do with Walcott back add an extra threat. Teams are slowly learning to crowd the middle and force us out wide to the full backs, away from Ozil and Ramsey.

Spanish Johnny

keano_afc wrote: »

I still think fatigue was a factor. We've had a lot of tough games recently and pretty much the same 13 or 14 players are being used.

I think mentally as well as physically too. They had to get 'up' for three massive games in the space of a week. That is hard to do. In contrast United had this one lined up from way out and I thought they were pumped - like a cup game. We didn't/weren't able to match that yesterday. And yet for all that United looked very very ordinary.

The goal was hardly something that could have been called a good chance. Rooney and Smalling aside they created little. We were similar. Ozil's failure to jump for Ramsey's ball over the top was probably the best chance of the game.

Had we come away with a 0-0 yesterday we would have been delighted, praising our resilience, defensive solidity, etc, etc.

gosplan

keano_afc wrote: »

I still think fatigue was a factor. We've had a lot of tough games recently and pretty much the same 13 or 14 players are being used.

Fatigue was absolutely a factor. It's amazing how often people rant about 'how we played' or 'attitude' after an away game following midweek CL without ever spotting the pattern.

Look at how all the CL teams did this weekend. Yes Man U won but they didn't perform that brilliantly, they just got their noses in front and we couldn't respond. Full credit to them and everything but they also had the luxury of resting some key people midweek and being at home.

Mr.Micro

tayto lover wrote: »

Very few moaning that we lost. Over the years we have got used to losing big games in the league.
It's the way we lost. Timid, poor passing, nervous, some pulling out of challenges and hiding on the big EPL occasions, creating very little and being bullied again at OT. Some weren't up for the challenge. Some tried very hard.
It's not that we lost, it's how we lost.
I never like to see us losing but if we lose and try hard I have no complaints.
United didn't even have to play well to win. Even their own fans are saying they played badly.

Its always been a psychological thing IMO, for Arsenal, when it comes to Man United, its like an inferiority thing that comes into play. We need to shake that off, and believe. Its only then, maybe, we will return to the glory days, when that belief was there in abundance