Comments on: Déjà Vu As Manchester United Rip Us Apart. Again.

by: The Big Red

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:09:57 +0000

Utd fan here, i come in peace. i can understand the frustration of not having the right players when theres a dying need for some gaping holes to be filled up.for the longest time, we have been moaning about the lack of a dynamic midfielder and able support for rooney.scholes and giggs aint gonna last forever. i personally feel our midfield lacks the dynamism, control and creativity when up against the likes of barcelona and maybe madrid and fergie still needs to pay top dollar for a marquee signing.

despite having good promising players, arsenal today seem a far cry from the likes of bergkamp, henry, viera, pires. if this continues, it might be tough to hang on to the likes of fabregas who by far is ur best player. unearthing gems and buying raw talent is one thing, buying the ready impact players is totally another and thats where arsenal need reinforcements.

by: GOOONER

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:30:15 +0000

To see the highlights from the game:

http://www.goals.se/2010/02/01/ny-311-arsenal-manchester-united-1-3/

Cmon gunners, lets win next game against chelsea!

by: Donnyfan1

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:19:23 +0000

Selfish Arshavin- poor goalkeeping and a lack of bottle, patience and composure from some and desire from a few. If you spurn 6 good chances against Manure and fail to mark the runners- even their headless chickens will do you!! Arsenal’s players are better generally but Manure do exacly what Fergie tells them. Eboue has the potential to mark Nani or Rooney out of a game!! Arshavin could have played Fab or Nas in for a tap in twice or more. Cesc was great but there wasn’t enough PACE in midfield to play in that sloppy manner. Even headless chickens can raid an empty giftshop. Why isn’t Pat Rice up and at the defenders before they go awol and why isn’t Almunia screaming to keep cover and get the runners marked? Finally we never have in-to-out runners into corners and never mark all the other teams who do!!. Are Arsenal practicing on a lillypad? WE ARE BETTER THAN THEM INDIVIDUALLY BUT YOU CAN’T PLAY MANURE AND CHELSKI LIKE OTHER TEAMS!! Come-on guys fulfill your potential.

by: Danish Gooner

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:43:29 +0000

Dont worry we will receive 60 mil quid for Cesc in the summer then Wenger will stick them in the bank claim that Ramsey is the new Cesc and that Sol can play as a second striker.

by: roybaggio

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:31:35 +0000

Browny - Excellent point about the counter attacking game against us, Man u do try this tactic away from home against the other top 4 teams but seem to have amazing success against us. there are 2 reasons for this IMHO.

1. Our midfielders can’t cope with counter attacking football. Apart from Song the oters don’t have defensive responsibilities in their DNA to hold when our full backs push on. The 2nd goal proved everything that is wrong with our system when we play teams that counter attack. Villa, Everton, Bolton and Man u set up the same way. To get 10 men in front of the ball, win it and supply th forward. In Man u’s case once Rooney got the ball their midfielders attacked ran beynd him full expecting to recieve a pass into space(incl Rooney, Park, Nani and Scholes).

2. Our full backs push on to support the midfield but they aren’t as effective as chelsea’s or Man uniteds. Our full backs aren’t fantastic crossers of the ball, and we hardly ever score goal from crosses into the box, this means that in effect when we attack we have the full backs overlapping the wingers and fabregas support the fron 3. We attack with 6 in effect Arshavin, nasri, rosicky, fabregas, clichy or sagna and denilson, which leaves our back four immensly exposed the counter attack.

To beat Man u I personally think you have to play a certain which stops them from distributing the ball to the strikers. Other teams in the EPL have adopted a similar system of getting the striker to hold it up and let the midfielders run beyond him to support and attack the space, think Bolton, Villa, Everton and Chelsea. Once the ball is held up the wide players can whip crosses in or pick off 1-2s in around the box.

Man U have had little success against quick forwards and when teams hit them on the counter attack. Liverpool is a classic example Torres can handle both their centre backs so they (and Chelsea) both defend deep and hit the balls long over the top making their defenders face their keeper, or up to the loan striker.

The other way is simply to play like barcelona and keep possesion of he ball in the final third, knocking the ball aroud and shifting their players out of position. Thats what Wenger wants to do but needs to find the right balance of players to achieve that, I prefer it when Cesc sits deep and dictates from deep, as he can deliver the killer pass and then support the play.

But I guess we’ve been complaining about when arsenal got kicked out of games today was a footballing lesson, lets hope the players try and take a litte pride to stamford bridge and try to get a result.

by: Goerge

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:56:29 +0000

Its very sad, but every manager has his day and Wengers is past.

He has revolutionised our club but he must see that he can do no more..

The waiter & denilson are just not good enough to wear the shirt. The more I think about it the more I feel we should be trying to get Hiddink in.

Very f*****g frustrated…….

by: Darren

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:52:07 +0000

I have to agree with most of the comments so far. Denilson just has not developed into the kind of player we thought he would, like a Gilberto Silva type. On the third goal Man U scored where are the centre backs. We panicked too much at 2-0 a bit kamikaze really !. I think Chelsea and Man U enjoy playing us these days, they can come off the pitch with hardly a bruise. I felt really sorry for the fans in the stadium because it was over after the first goal, its always that way against Man U. Time for changes..

by: Robert

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:32:38 +0000

mentuza, the reason why Gallas and Vermaelen were bombing forward was because our attacking players were inadequate. They hardly threatened the United defence and if Gallas did score his big chance then it really wouldn’t have been surprising. The two central defenders were our biggest chance of scoring today.

Theo Walcott is beyond a joke. He is a sprinter with no skill or football intelligence. Nani has improved over the last 4 seasons and looks like he could become a player. He’s got skill, pace and is intelligent. Deserved his goal and put Rooney’s on a plate for him. Walcott on the other hand makes the same mistakes time and time again. Instead of going out wide and pulling out the fullback he ALWAYS looks to go inside! Use the width for fucks sake Theo! And his crossing is atrocious.

And the crossing of the team in general is awful. How hard can it be to hit a space where you have time to pick out a pass? EVERY cross is OVER HIT. EVERY SINGLE TIME, it’s ridiculous! Why cross if the delivery is that bad?

Manchester United can adapt, and Red Nose is tactically superior. Arsene Wenger plays the same way EVERY TIME. No variation, no intelligent substitutions… We’re as bad as Liverpool. And Pat Rice just sits there gormless while Wenger moans on the bench. The management team are full of yes men, and Wenger is as stubborn as they come.

It’s no coincidence that Chelsea and United smashed 3 goals against us with ease. Even Manchester City scored 4! Manual Almunia is shockingly bad, and if Arsene Wenger doesn’t replace him in the summer I’m going to stop watching Arsenal.

by: gooner

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:18:37 +0000

Sad, very sad but predictable. The team as currently constituted is far too light weight, small, lacking power and pace. The Wenger blueprint for any new player over the past number of years had been that of being two footed, comfortable on the ball, with good vision. All very well but when you end up with a team that has nothing else well you end up with an unbalanced side. There is little pace, power, heading ability and Rooney like clinical finishing. In short we have become an eefete, poofy team that when it is put up to us by imposing strong physical teams like Chelsea and Manure we literally fall apart. It’s not rocket science. Every fan that has been paying top dollar for the past five years can see it. We just don’t have the power and passion and I never thought that i would call my beloved team poofy. But I just can’t forgive a team and management that puts on a performance like that.

by: browny

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:14:21 +0000

Man Utd have mostly won all their games in the last 2 years against us with good counter-attacking football. Fergie has obviously worked out this is the way to beat us and is probably baffled that we have not caught on yet. Counter attacking football requires a quick break through one player carrying the ball upfield quickly but most importantly it is the 2-3 support players that sprint at full pace to get in the box. If the one player doesn’t get this support he is isolated which the defenders quickly realise and double up on him and stop the quick attack. This is what happened with Arsenal when, most often, Arshavin broke quickly and got isolated. If you watch the Utd counter attacks they always got others forward at pace and this causes the defenders to have more things to deal with so they cannot just go and isolate the one player. Once Utd realised we were not dangerous on the counter, and that Arshavin would have to go it alone they could commit more players forward. The way to reign in their counter attack is by making them worried about ours. Nani, who has raw talent, was quick and direct but has often flattered to deceive before in games, much like our Theo. Theo is not the finished player but can worry a team, with his pace, on the counter either as the player carrying the ball or in support of that player. Playing Arshavin, nasri and Rosicky as the top 3 is like playing a back 4 with 6 midfielders and no recognised striker, and this was not great for counter attacking football. This used to be our forte so why have we abandoned it, especially in big games where that quick break can win the game? Even if individually Nasri and Rosicky are ahead of Walcott in their all round game, it is not always the best 11 individuals that win the game. I feel Theo’s pace through the middle would not only have given us more potency on the break but would also have stopped Utd from bombing players forward at will.