Won? Lost?
No way to tell just yet, as we still have a few games to play…This afternoon’s goalless draw is clearly a missed opportunity to close the gap to one point on Manchester United, as they head into tomorrow’s early afternoon kickoff at Anfield. I don’t necessarily think this will be our last opportunity, but I do not think time is on our side either.
Regardless of United’s task tomorrow, we had a difficult assignment today. While the Mackems may have lost their last four consecutive league matches, they are pushing for a Europa Cup slot this season, and won 3-0 at Stamford Bridge several weeks back. In fact, as I understand they are unbeaten in their (league) visits to London this season; unfortunately for us, that did not change this afternoon.
Our recent matches against Stoke City and Birmingham City had seen us sustain a spate of injuries, so there was no chance that Arsene would be able to select a full strength side. Koscielny recovered from his “hamstring injury” to return to the side, and there was also a return in goal for Szczesny. According to Arsene, both players were “destroyed” over Sunday’s error that handed the Carling Cup to Birmingham, so their respective performances were clearly something to watch.
We lined up Szczensy, Clichy, JD, Kos, Sagna, Diaby, Jack, Denilson, Samir (Capitaine), Nik and Arshavin.
Our bench was comprised of Al, Gibbs, Squil, Eboue, Ramsey, Rosicky and Chamakh.
Many of us hoped to see Aaron Ramsey start today, but he had to make to with a place on the bench for the first time since his leg was broken at Stoke City a year ago. Arsene may have been hoping to ease him back into action for us in a match where we were protecting a lead.
Lost in all the post-match hoopola over our lack of a cutting edge and the atrocious refereeing job is the fact that Sunderland came here with concerns and ambition of their own. Having lost four on the trot, they were unlikely to really have a go, and would almost certainly play for the point. The Europa league is a distinct possibility for them next season, so losing two rather than three points was surely the goal.
We kicked off in a rather subdued fashion. Sunderland took the early initiative and got a couple of attacks going through Malbranque, but couldn’t create a real chance. We gradually began to dominate possession, but couldn’t really fashion any good chances for ourselves.
Our play remained rather pedestrian and stifled, and the service to the forwards was poor. Our midfield passing was also not up to scratch – there was one early sequence where we won the ball from Sunderland, and Denilson passed it straight to an opposition player.
Diaby was guilty of often giving the ball away or over-elaborating. To be fair to these two players, they were certainly not the only ones; nobody in red seemed to play with an early sense of urgency.
As the match progressed, Kos often looked our best attacker, bringing the ball forward and getting into the opposition box. Not that he troubled the Sunderland defence that much, but he was willing to get forward. Our fullbacks Sagna and Clichy spent plenty of time attacking down the flanks, but their crossing was not particularly good. Not that we had players in the opposition box.
Sessengnon worked some space down the right and got a shot off which Szczesny parried, with Sagna completing the clearance. Our first good chance came after the half hour mark, when Nik tried an overhead kick from a corner, sending it directly at Mignolet in the Sunderland goal – the first of several efforts directly at the opposition keeper.
At this point, we were on top, but still not doing enough to unlock Sunderland’s defence. Just a couple of minutes before the interval, our best chance arrived, as Jack passed to Nik, who forced Mingolet to tip his fierce shot over.
Just before the halftime whistle, Denilson almost put us into severe trouble; his pass to nobody from just outside our area went straight out for a corner. Fortunately we were able to deal with it, and the whistle went shortly afterwards. We had much the better of the play, but our midfield had not created much, and other than Nik’s two chances, we never really tested Mignolet.
As usual, I did not expect Arsene to make any halftime changes and he obliged.
Sunderland kicked the second half off, and we started slowly again. Within the first ten minutes, we were treated to a sequence where each side took a turn gifting the other the ball. Muntari appeared to elbow JD – sending the latter to the deck for a few minutes– as our defender and Bramble tussled for the ball. Fortunately, JD was up and able to continue after a few minutes.
Arsene made his first change at (as usual) the hour mark, bringing Chamakh on for the ineffective Denilson. The former made a quick impact, as he burst into the area, but he rushed his pull back to Arshavin, who fired straight at Mignolet. Nevertheless, Chamakh’s introduction (read Denilson’s departure) freed Jack up to dictate more of the play, and he improved considerably.
Roughly 20 minutes into the half; Clichy took a throw-in, but was whistled for a foul throw – replays showed that Clichy did not cross the touch-line when taking the throw and I noticed nothing wrong with how he held the ball. Arsene was clearly angered by the call, and Jack was booked for dissent, setting the tone for events later in the half.
Samir began to assert himself more as the half progressed, and we began to really crank the pressure up. With just under 20 minutes remaining, Sessengnon fouled Kos to give us a free kick in a promising position, just outside the box. Samir bent a wicked, curling kick in, forcing Mignolet into an excellent one-handed save.
Barely a minute later, Chamakh met Jack’s cross from the left with a powerful header which beat Mignolet all ends up, but crashed off the crossbar. Arsene replaced Diaby – who had a poor game and (in my opinion) inhibited the midfield play for much of the match with his slack passing and indecision on the ball. – with Rosicky. Under 15 minutes of the match remained, and at this moment it was one-way traffic towards the Sunderland area.
With just under ten minutes remaining, Samir’s excellent pass sent Arshavin clean through. Bramble, trailing in his wake, first grabbed shirt and arm, then shoved Arsh in the back as he shaped to shoot. Understandably, he didn’t make proper contact, but he had been impeded and pushed – he should have been awarded a spot kick, and there may have been an argument for Bramble’s dismissal. Referee Taylor and his crew did neither, awarding a goal kick.
Our players were clearly aggrieved and allowed concentration to drop. Sunderland started to control possession and the ball spent more time in our half. With seven minutes left, Szczesny prevented us going behind, as he kept Wellbeck’s volley out with a brilliant diving save. He did it again from the resulting corner, as Henderson’s shot took a deflection, Szczesny saved it off his chest and Bramble fired the rebound well over.
A few minutes later, Bendtner’s pass sent Arshavin through again, and this time he put the ball into the net, but an offside flag chalked the goal off. At this point, Sunderland were hanging on for their point. We kept the pressure up, but could not make the breakthrough, despite five minutes stoppage time.
Nik had a chance in front of goal in the fourth minute, but could not make proper contact and the full time whistle meant that we could only move one point closer to Man United, now level with matches played (28 each heading into tomorrow’s Liverpool – United fixture at Anfield).
The major talking points were clearly the second non-call and call. Arsene said simply that he was “too disgusted” to discuss the matter – and then proceeded to discuss it. I thought Taylor and his crew did a dreadful job in the second half – the non-penalty on Arshavin was the most egregious mistake – but in my mind it should not have come to this.
While Bramble’s grab and push on Arsh clearly constituted a penalty, it is important to remember that the awarding of a penalty does not automatically constitute a goal. I say this because it is worth remembering earlier this season at the Stadium of Light we earned a penalty, which Tomas Rosicky proceeded to squander. If he had converted, that would have put us 2-0 up, and almost certainly secured three valuable points. Instead, it opened the door for Bent’s 95th minute equalizer for the Mackems. Mignolet was in inspired form, so I cannot say for certain that he would not have saved our penalty attempt. I can, however, say for certain that we should have had the opportunity to score from the spot. We need to keep in mind that getting a spot kick and scoring from spot kick are not the same thing. We should have had the former, and may or may not have cashed the latter in.
Regarding the 85th minute offside on Arsh, replays showed it was the wrong call, that he was onside when the ball was played. Nevertheless, as I saw the incident live, my first impression was that the Sunderland players saw the flag too, and allowed Arsh an easier run and score in on Mingolet. Perhaps if the flag had stayed up he would not have scored virtually uncontested – we will never know for sure. The replay showed me he was onside – close call, but clearly onside. It was close enough for me that I won’t consider it egregious. We were not the first side to have a goal disallowed due to a close, albeit incorrect, offside call; somehow, I am sure we won’t be the last…
For me, our insipid first half performance is really where we dropped these two points. If we started better with more energy and urgency, I really think the referee performance would be a moot point. Well, perhaps not moot – but not enough to deny us three points. Sunderland were there to be taken, but we spent too much of the first half in sideways-backwards passing mode. Nobody seemed willing to get into the Sunderland box and nobody really drove our side forward. It was too casual – and sloppy – for my liking.
Denilson and Diaby will no doubt be cited as the primary reasons for our poor start – while I think they contributed to our stuttering ineffective midfield, they were certainly not the only culprits. Jack struggled to make an impact, and Samir seemed peripheral out wide.
As critical as I have been of Rosicky, perhaps starting him in place of one of the “D”’s may have helped us function better early. But that is hindsight – I will also admit I would have questioned starting Rosicky….What Arsene could have done, however, is made his first change earlier than the hour mark. It was clear both “D”’s were not having good matches; perhaps an earlier change would have gotten us going earlier and we would not have run out of time.
As I said, that is all hindsight…
At the end of the day we couldn’t win, so we could only gain a point on United. The larger question is whether this is one point gained or two dropped. Opinion on this will certainly be divided among us Arsenal supporters. Those who think we gained here will most likely cite the ability to keep a clean sheet and pick up a point when not playing particularly well – and against twelve men, to boot.
Those who think it is two points dropped may cite the fact that we faced a Sunderland side which had lost four on the trot, on our patch, and that we couldn’t really capitalize on the gift from Chelsea this past Tuesday. There is something to be said for both points of view.
Personally, I fall into the latter category – I think we dropped two points today. If United win tomorrow at Anfield, we will fall to six back, albeit with a game in hand. If they draw, we’ll slip to four back (where we were just prior to this afternoon’s kickoff), a game in hand.
If Liverpool win, we will be three back (where we are now), with a game in hand. But whatever United do tomorrow, our failure to gain three points yesterday means that we cannot maximize the effect of a potential United loss. The best we can hope for is to be two points behind with a game in hand – if we won, we would be looking at a chance to draw level, with one fewer games played. Whatever it is, it will not be as good as It could have been. That is why I think this is two points dropped.
From my position, however, I concede that these two lost points may not necessarily be decisive. We will have 30 more points to play for; United will have 27 more available this time tomorrow, regardless of how their match turns out. But…At some point we will have to catch them. It won’t be today and the window is closing.
Each opportunity we let slip moves United a step closer to the title, and fuels the claims that our Arsenal side simply does not have the mental strength to go the distance. As distasteful as I find those claims, they are not entirely inaccurate, and this group of players has yet to prove they can finish a campaign with a league trophy or cup…
Another factor comes into play as well. Since the start of February, we looked ahead to this spell knowing that United had a more difficult fixture list. After today, they will have passed the most difficult stretch of their league programme. They have been outstanding at home (only two points dropped (versus W. Brom)) all season, and will have Bolton, Fulham, Everton, Chelsea and Blackpool to visit – the only potential point-dropper I see there is Chelsea, and that may depend more upon the Chelsea internal situation than anything else. Away fixtures – besides us – include West Ham, Newcastle and Blackburn. None of these are particularly easy, and with United’s unconvincing away form, they could certainly drop points in some – if not all – of these matches. Even if they do, will we be able to capitalize? I ask because besides our home fixture versus United – who have won 3-1 on their last two visits – we still have to play away at West Brom (who won at the Ems earlier this season), Blackpool, the Spuddies, Bolton,Stoke, and Fulham.
Our home fixtures are Blackburn, Liverpool, United and Villa…That’s it…It’s certainly a good thing that we are one of the best away teams in the league, but that programme still looks a bit daunting. I would argue that we are now at the point that United just may have the easier run in – for a chasing team that is never good news.
These permutations will not even matter if we cannot keep our best players fit. Jack took a couple of knocks on his ankle and Arsene revealed that his status for Barcelona – possibly beyond – is currently up in the air. We already have Tommy, Robin and Theo out for Barca and beyond, and Cesc and Song both struggling to make Tuesday’s match. We are headed to a point where we will have the strongest injured eleven the league has seen in a while…
Nevertheless, it is too soon to give up hope. Liverpool won’t play to do us a favor today – they will play to beat United because they don’t want them to win that 19th league title…Kenny Dalglish certainly will not want that to happen on his proverbial watch…They will play to beat United because it’s Man United. If they can get the result they want for themselves, we will benefit as well. If they don’t, we will still be right there – but our window of opportunity will have moved an inch or two towards the closed position…
We’ll see how this shakes out.
I personally think yesterday’s point will have more of a bearing the Champions League seeding than the race of the league title, but we’ll still be there with a chance, whatever happens at Anfield today.
Written by Oliver
great write up oliver
balanced and well executed…
if the dippers win today its a point gained..
if we start the game at wbrom in a few weeks only 3 points behind and with our big guns back we can still do it..
im afraid though that wenger will rush them in the next week and we will see a denilson diaby combo for the last 10 games..
Morning guys.
As I said yesterday, when are these decisions going to start evening themselves out?
2 points lost, no other way to look at it. If we had won, we would have been 1 point behind, with a game in hand and facing them at home. Now we are 3 points behind, might be 6 with a game in hand. Woo hooo.
As I said on yesterday’s post
Come on JJ, how many first team players are out for the next few games?
Should have strengthened in Jan? Should have strengthened in the last 3 windows and slowly built a squad that was capable to win everything.
I am no genius but if Wenger buys some top class experienced players around 27 years old, it gives us the here and now strength to win, gives the younger players players to attain to be and learn from and gives scope for the younger players to grow slowly and take the places of the older players “organically”.
I hate this “kill the youth” excuse. Would an in his prime Bergkamp/Vieira/Henry/Adams kill the youth or give them someone to learn from?
Morning all.
they’ll be back in a fortnight will if we dont risk them this week..
hey ktr
and alot of the youth is whats needed to inject some duracell bunny into the midfeild
We need steel and experience in the midfield JJ, not callow youth,
Good write up oliver.no matter how poor we were in the first 60 minutes our play in the last 30 minutes deserved the win.i hate complaining about the refs but he really gave us nothing yesterday.he even blew his whistle when nasri shielded the ball!.
Hi jj.i have now dreamt for 2 days that we’ll be awarded a penalty at the camp nou and cesc will miss it.
lansbury and rambo would do a better job than diaby and denilson..
its all about workrate
Rambo, I give you JJ but Lansbury for all his promise is an unknown.
cesc dont play for me ktr
bollox to barca..
play the stiffs dont rush anyone back for this sideshow..
all out defence pack our third long ball tactics to the big lads up top..and what will be will be
lets get everyone back fit for the pl
lansbury runs his sox off..
we can handle losing a few technical players as long as the backups come in and have the drive and urgency to compete..
id add someone like melo to replace denilson but i want those young guns in and getting a chance asap..
Morning Will,Jj and Kt..nice post oliver. Kt we have to complain about the Ref he was rubbish and failed to book sunderland players. We still in it
Off topic:it looks like Ryonaldo is doing well for Feyernood.its like a fairy tale for him.coming to Europe as a teenager and then progressing in meteoric fashion to stardom.the coach has described him as technically perfect.he is very direct and plays as if he has tunnel vision.he may seem selfish but i hope Aw doesn’t change his style.its still early but he looks promising.
Morning all,
Long Sunday morning book oliver, you must have been up all night son. But a good account of what happened. Jacks had a knock on his ankle then, another doubt for Tuesday, thats all we fffing need.
lansbury runs his sox off..
Maybe we can play Mo Farah then?
JJ as much as we’d like to win the PL Aw has an obsession with the CL.he must have been anxiously waiting for this game.
The double D boys did it again..what does Aw see in them..before the game I told a mate I would have played Rambo instead of Denilson if I was Aw
Steve I always say Oliver does a great job..hats off for him
workrate goes along way will in keeping the team flowing..
ray parlour (wath 😉 ) wasnt technical in the slightest but when there was an injury to freddie, bobby, or paddy..anyone in the midfield for that matter..he would come in run run and run some more and he got the job done..
he never gave up
players like that give you two players..
denilson and diaby is like starting with 9 men..
romford p was like starting with 12..even if we lost paddy..
and it makes a difference
Diaby and Dennilson playing like Muppets and he leaves them on forever and we have Rambo bitting at the bit, on the bench, surely you would have felt twenty minutes could have helped him feed back in for Tuesday, unless he’s not going.
then if we go into the final stretch of the pl ktr because we risked our best players fitness just for barca then the blame lies entirely with AW…
Eric, point taken.
yeah
whats the point in loaning out rambo to get him fit only to bring him back and not start him..??
I have been a supporter of diaby on this blog.on his day he can be awesome but i must admit my patience has grown thin.yesterday i saw one of the worst perfomances by a midfielder at the Emirates.it was like he was playing tennis with his feet.i nearly smashed my TV when refused to shoot in the box and one moment when he passed the ball back to nasri on the touchline.the D’s really infuriated me yesterday and id have no problems if we let them go.
I heard Rambo was not included in the CL squad Steve may be you guys can confirm eh
You could be right there Eric i never gave that a thought
Morning all
Great write up oliver…..
Morning Rico..hope all is good. Steve views on Barca sure KT has that great post he does for Europe..can’t wait (Msanii)
JJ i said it the other day that im finding it hard to get myself to write the barca preview.i feel we are in danger of blowing 4 competitions within a matter of weeks.we really need our wounded soldiers back soon for the run in.if we somehow overcome barca it will just be a bonus but i can’t see it.i see us losing at OT which will give the momentum to win the league.we’ll the collapse…i hope am wrong but things are looking bleak at the moment.
JJ, my point is, Parlour had more about him that workrate. HE had experience and he could play a bit. Vieira had workrate but also had passing/tackling etc etc.
I am sure Lansbury is a good prospect but we need experience in there, a player who can run the game.
Tough days KT tough…we can atleast try and word on Theo?
Rico i’ll try to have my barca post ready by the end of the day.i made a promise to take care of CL posts and am not about to break my promise.
Erick niko sawa kabisa.walcott is still out Aw confirmed yesterday but he did not say when he’ll be back.
Will as dirty as Van Bommel is id go for him in the summer as he’ll be a free agent.we need more grafters in the team.
KT, don’t worry i recon things cant get a lot worse, the expectations are at a bit of a low at the mo but hopefull if we give a good account of ourselves in Spain it may lift our spirits a bit , and fcuk me i could do with a lift
Will buying experienced players is not Aw’s style all we can do is hope more Jack’s come up am afraid.
Shukran KT poa kusikia uko fiti. The CC final seems to have affected the fans I agree steve not a great time to face Barca
Jack must have had a shoulder and back injury in addition to the ankle injury after carry the D’s the entire game.the kid has so much heart and grit that put the rest of the ‘experienced’ players to shame.we need more like him.landsbury’s game at the spuds showed he has a future with us.i also hope frimpong gets back soon.
KTR, even if you have to throw a few lies in on your post give us a bit of a chance eh, if it dont work out i promiss i wont moan.
KT, Van Bommel is perfect. YEs dirty but would the Barton’s of this world take the piss like he does against us knowing someone is there that will kick him into the stands?
Also, Van Bommel has been there and done it and we need a few like that in the squad.
Steve ha ha ha ha funny man
ktr..
we just need to change tactics…theres no point risking our boys..so lets go with wat we have..
theres no point playing them with wat we have cos we’ll get mashed so time to change it up
we have a lead so lets defend it..we have a 6’4 striker so lets use him
all is not lost but if we risk our boys just for noucamp it will be
will..now i agree with you
i still want lanbury in but if we sell denilson and diaby and get melo its all good
KT got to give it to Jack he runs for 90mins and yets its his first season as a 1st team player.Yet the Double D have been there for a while and have nothing to show for it
Erick/steve the funny thing is that in all my years of watching Arsenal the moment when the expectations are very low the team seems to give a big perfomance when no one expected it.i remember how bleak things were in 05/06 only for us to go to the Bernabeu and win.in 08/09 we had lost to stoke,villa and city only for us to go to Stamford bridge to produce a comeback to win.don’t give up but strap the safety belts as we are in for a bumpy ride till the end of the season.
I see the old jj is back.
I would start with Chamakh upfront against Barca and give him the ball so he can hold it up. Nik B can’t do that.
I would play AA off of Chamakh, looking for flicked passes and I would start the middle with Rambo, Jack and Cesc.
Seems to me that the games were expected to win we play like tarts and the others, they dont do bad in. Perhaps a bit of reverse psycology is the recipee if we call for all the dee dees and every wanker we have it may just be the answer. I’m liking it
Ramsey says it was hard to see the thug Shawcross after 3 games ban while he was out nine month..Hope the FA heard that got to feel it for Rambo
cos im pissed ktr
we go all season doing the biz and then in the space of a week its in danger of falling to bits
i tell ya if we dont win naff all this season with the players we have and the finances we got im going go to russia. kill a gangster, take his money, busnisess and his wives 😉 and il buy arsenal and sort this shit out myself for next year
Does anyone think Wenger gets seduced by training ground performances?
cesc and jack are doubts so i wouldnt play them at all
id go with a totally diferent formation
id play a sweeper pack our box and lump it long
Will, only in French hotels
Nasri said growing up we were poor in material stuff but rich with love..it made me smile he is very intelligent
errrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick 😉
thanks re the post kt…
sorry – i am engrossed in the cricket 😉
Steve, it is teh only reason I see why Denilson and Diaby still get games. They must be footballing gods on the training pitch.
When the oven is up and running and the heat is coming up we always cramble..why why..
JJ not a bad idea that put all our tall guys up front sod the passing game, every chance we get pump it forward and chase, drop kicks from the keeper high and as long as he can kick it probably to the halfway line and all chase, sounds a good plan, they wont be expecting that i know. We can call that plan z
You guys seen the reports that Jack could miss the Barca game??
Recon your right Will, i can’t understand it myself
yes rico
jacks done for a week
Rico seen it and you know what am not suprised at all
It has to be Steve. He must watch them every day being amazing and hopes that one day they will do it when it matters but how many chances do you give someone?
Vela has never got a chance like the double d boys have #fact
steve
we already have the lead so lets batton the hatches, sod the passing and revert to the hoof
barca will play a highline anyway and will come further and further forward the more we sit back so chances are one of those hoofs is gonna find its way to one of our lads
its all about the counter on tues..
if we get one then it makes it harder for them, they go gung ho to get three and we could nick another
i hadn’t seen it 🙁
Great game plan for Tuesday but the Boss would never abadon his philosophy.
JJ i agree, i think thats a blinding idea, they play a similar game to us, and we hate that kind of play. it wont happen of course cause Wenger will only play one way, but in a fortnights time i could be watching cricket with rico.
JJ the maths is simple:get 1 they’ll need 3 goals.score 2 they’ll need 4 goals.score 3 they’ll need 5 goals.
We can’t play the hoof game, we don’t have the players for it.
Now if we had Smudger and Wrighty upfront and Keown and Adams at the back…Yes.
KT easy Maths but the Formular is impossible eh If I make any sense
JJ i want us to play long passes too.barca hunt in packs when they lose the ball.they normally use 5-6 players.if we play long/lob/diagonal balls we’ll bypass this phase of pressure leaving us with acres of space.our 2nd goal at the Emirates in which jack took out 4 players with one pass exposed them in behind and as a result we scored.for this to work jack and cesc have to play.
If we had bendy and chammy together up on the halfway line and a long punt up field Chammy can run and Bendy can get in the way, he shouldnt have any trouble doing that eh
will
the way i see it is that if weve got 6 squad players in the team tues then we wont win playing our passing game either..
so we have to change the style…
its the lesser of two evils…we wont be able to beat barca with our squad players in anyway so lets pack the box and protect what we got..
hopefully the lads will be back for the mancs but if they aint then same again..take em to a replay if we have to
but get the big guns fit at all costs..
the pl is too important to throw away now
Picking up on Erics comment about Vela, i quite liked him who has he upset
JJ no tiki taka on Tuesday.go long and direct if we are to have any chance of progressing.i wish we had a direct and pacy winger like valencia on Tuesday.i really hope if miyaichi(ryonaldo) makes it we don’t alter his style of play.
KTR, we still hav Naz maybe not a Theo as in pace but quick enought to fcuk em last time round
all our eggs in one basket now ktr
its the Pl all the way
Thanks Steve was starting to think am talking to myself lol 4-4-2 Chamaka or Nikky with Vela
Great article!
Remember when we’d go to fortress Anfield back then,henry would step up and slalom across the pitch making the likes of carragher look like mugs.we need that brilliance on tuesday.nasri had a couple of porto-esque moments yesterday.hope he was warming up to do it at the camp nou.
Liverpool fans would give henry a standing ovation.some even had henry shirts.we need players to step up and do it.if nasri wants to really announce himself to the world this is the time to do it.
If we had Walcott, I would say go long but…
Judgeing by some of the things i have seen in the last few months i recon we may have loaned out the wrong players, i know its easy to say after the horse has bolted but a change now could be like signing a new player what do you think
I really want to see what JeT can do in the prem.
Ktr, some of them scouse fans will also be wearing a Carrol shirt, thats like asking me to wear an Eboue one, Christmas Carrol will probably play at Christmas
He’ll probably go for then Will, Bendy recons his a lot better
Bendy is shit, I can see that and I am no genius.
Will, I still have a soft spot for Chamy i think he got pushed out for Robin and although i can’t fault robin, i feel that Chamy was pushed aside, he was doing good before robin and bendy came back, even now he’s playing like a supporting player for them and he deserves better in my opinion
If AA had bendy’s confidence he would have already won a ballon d’Or.
I would but fucking Ghandi before Nik B and he is dead.
But means play in my world.
liverpool
come on liverpool…
bartley scored for rangers
How the fcuk did carrager stay on after that tackle
nani injured lol
dont care steve..
glad he did
Hi all
What a game – red cards galore in the second half will do just nicely 🙂
Dowd bottled it again…
What a blinding half that was, Liverpool harried and chased showing all the grit and guts we lack ffing good half
Theres got to be a sending off here no doubt about it, Utd dont like it up em, All liverpool need is to just reserve themselves and the Manks will go potty
utds dfending was shit lol
they’ll be a red card soon
think rooney will blow
rapheal too
Your a tough man JJ
Haress them and they buckle, why havent we got that heart
JJ i bet Scholsey animal instinct will kick in
Steve – good question, if we did, we’d be pretty awesome…
this is looking good
3 points off with a game in hand and still to play at the grove
come on you injured warriors return to the front line this isnt over we can beat these fuckers to the title
Just imagine if we had the squad to have won yesterday.
and if nanis out for a while as well 😉
hopefully steve liverpool will do the biz here and finish them off and dent their gd and then come march 19 we will have the squad to go on and win it
sorry i meant will
Dippers need one more i think….
Wilshere is fit for Barca and Puyol is out 🙂
i hope they get 2
Rico ive sent my post.
come on liverpool
Three ‘scrappy’ goals for Kuyt but how i wish we had striker who could score that kind of goal….
The mancs have been poor all season.i hope teams realise that from now on.
gd taking a humping
chokers
big game bottlers..
shit defence
I wish more of our players had his attitude:
The 19-year-old England international said on his Twitter account: “Just to let you know i am not injured and if selected will be fit to face Barca! Few kicks but nothing too bad!”
We need the mancs goal difference to be pegged back a little.Goal difference may be crucial.
Abidal and Milito in defence for barca…put ’em crosses in!!!
rico
what happend in the cricket..
rico have you got it?
Evening all, after yesterday huge disappointment we have yet another breather.
Apparently “That’s Kuyt’s first hat-trick for Liverpool, too. ”
Although still not happy. Could of been a lot better for us.
stef thats why am not overly happy right now.4-4 newcastle…0-0 Mackems…grrrr
I am so pissed off. We could have been (if it stays like this) 1 point behind, with a game in and and for them still to play Chelsea and come to us.
im more peeved about the fact we lost to newcastle wbrom and spurs at home..
if we take 7 points from them we are 1st with a game in hand
our 2011 form is good
it was 2010 that did the damage
Our game in hand is against the spuds.we’ll need all our big guns for that one.
i want 4!!!!
utd have lost two on the trot
It is said we are shit without cesc.the mancs are even shitter without vidic.
We need to make that 3 next week jj.
yeah 4
4
4
4
4
4
4
Gr8 shot from Stevie
jj – England beat South Africa 🙂 🙂
How, I just don’t know, shocking batting but super bowling at the end…
Great result….
The new jj is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
rico have you got it???
Funny how a dull sunday has just livened me up no end. Kout has run his legs out
Off for a bit, back later
KT, yes – thanks
kuyt would have scored from jack’s cross yesterday.
That first half was one of the best i have seen for ages a bit of everything the Mancs look realy uncomfortabe strong tackling plenty of grit and a very controlled second half well done you scouse B—s
Ktr he’s allways been quality just wears the wrong shirt, but not today
Fantastic from Liverpool. Yay! The Chavs and the Scousers have done us a favor… Now if only our own players would follow suit. 😉
Oliver, I marvel at your restraint!! Another good write-up, sir. 🙂
Hello, all. 🙂
Hi Agag.
I am so angry about yesterday. 1 point behind with a game in hand?
Hi agag.The mancs have conceded 3 more goals than us…you can’t make this up!
I remain likewise angry, Will. 😡 I get the feeling that our players thought Sunderland would be pushovers. The game didn’t pick up until very late on… Pass after pointless pass. Grrr.
KT, spooky. I was about to ask how the GD stood. Have they scored more??
Rvp and theo should now work their socks off to get fit.beat the spuds and the mancs and win the other games we’re champions.w.ham have been playing well lately and the mancs haven’t travelled there yet.the chavs are playing better in order to qualify for next season’s CL.we have been given a lease of life;don’t muck it up!
Agag the have 6 more goals.we need to start destroying teams.we are in for a bumpy ride.
Thanks, KT. Still a lot of goals required of us, I see. Now, I’m remembering Newcastle, and again, grrrr. 😉
i gotta feeling utd will go into freefall
come on wolves you beautys lol
More dreadful defending, please, Spuddies. 😉
Evening guys…Suarez is trouble eh nice win for pool and am not getting carried away until we take advantage
defoes a tosser
AA was honest yesterday and as a result paid for it.if he’d fallen he would’ve been called a diver.he decides to stay on his feet the ref fails to award a penalty.thats why players fall to easily nowadays because if you stay on your feet no penalty will be awarded.
Get in wolves!kevin doyle again!…im just loving it.
Anyone here think Wenger will see what the team is missing this summer and go get it?
Boo, Erick! Howdy? Long time!
Will, surely AW has to… We are eternally promising, and never any good. Sigh.
Iniesta has just said that barca have been watching wilshere.he has said they now know how important to us and will in future be our chief playmaker.
i dunno if he’ll go get it will but i think he’ll clear out a few of the dross..
weve got too many lads knocking on the door for everyone to stay so i think a few will make way
Is suarez related to nasri?he sure has flexible hips.
Why didn’t red nose sub dowd for webb?
Boo, lucky lucky Spuddies!!
C’mon wolves!
Get in there Fletcher 🙂
Get in wolves!fletcher you beauty!
yes
no matter how bad my arsenal make me feel theres nothing quite like waching a spurs game to cheer me up
JJ when we go to the lane i want us to have our best 11.we owe them a spanking.
the refs have been poor this weekend
Thank you Wolves.
i think the last time we got beat at the lane jesus was a glint in the milkmans eye…
we certainly need our best team but we need em for every match now..
We have scored 16 more goals and conceded 7 fewer than the spuds…good times.
JJ we have our work cut out.win 10 games and we’re champions.10 cup finals now.we also need to up our GD.
We should have scored 40 more.
How have the mancs scored more goals than us?its sickening…am also tired of us shooting straight at the opposition GKs then they are awarded man of the match award afterwards.aim for the corners boys.
the mancs have scored more than us cos every time fergie comes up against bruce or mcliesh they roll over and let him beat em 7 nil
I see rednose blanked the media again.they should extend his ban to 6 games.it will do us a world of good if he isn’t there to intimidate the refs.
jj add pulis to that list.
to win all 10 would seal it defo but i dont think we will and i dont think we need to..
win 8 draw 2 and its ours.. 83 points will do it i think
utd will lose a couple more and if they lose to us its a 6 pointer..
JJ nasri has had a few slalom runs since coming back from injury.yesterday i saw him go on those runs twice.he is due a porto-esque goal.hope he scores one on Tuesday.
we need nasri back firing again..
if he finishes the season like he started it it will fill a void until robin comes back
Nasri has stayed for quite a while without a goal.he needs to start scoring again.
I’m off guys and gals,
Have a good night and catch up tomorrow sometime…
Nighty night…
jj, if you pop back later, i am sure that all your comments are ‘media influenced’ 😉 😉
Couldn’t resist peeping…..
Gone now…. 🙂
Morning guys.
My facebook post this morning.
Funny, Arsenal get kicked to hell every game and it doesn’t make the news, in fact, it is condoned. A Man Utd player gets kicked and the press make it the end of the world.
Morning Will
Would you be able to re-post your comment on the new post please??
It’s up now