Ok, tongue in cheek with the title, well a little….
Yesterday we kind of covered the years we won the league and how this fixture played a big part in our destiny. What I did miss though and in all honesty never knew until our resident blogger Rocastle pointed out is that the number eleven shirt has also played a huge part in our Premier League success and indeed in this very same fixture..
In the 1990/91 Anders Limpar scored the only goal in the victory at Old Trafford, the same season we won the League – Limpar wore the number eleven shirt.
In the 1997/98 season, Marc Overmars scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford, he to wore the number eleven shirt.
Then, in the 2001/02 season, Sylvain Wiltord scored the only goal in a victory at Old Trafford, yep you’ve guessed it, he wore the number eleven shirt.
Each of those seasons saw us win the Premier League…..
Who will be the hero tonight? Robin van Persie who used to wear the number eleven shirt? Carlos Vela who wears it now?
I wonder what the odds are on Vela coming on with a few minutes to go and get the winning goal in his number eleven shirt? If he or even Robin, our old number eleven, win us this fixture tonight I’ll be off to the bookies that’s for sure!
Anyway, on to tonight……
We’ve all read what the Manchester United players have had to say prior to tonight, some comments have been cutting, some darn right ignorant, some just plain stupid – even Sir Alex Ferguson has felt the need to comment but now the talking stops, the game soon kicks off and the side we all follow, support and love have their chance to respond.
And respond is exactly what they will do, we are strong away from home, we were determined when we last visited Manchester, play like that again and we’ll come away with something.
That’s it for today all, have a good one, three points tonight will make my day complete….
Finally, guess which number eleven fluffed his lines yesterday, good wasn’t it?
Morning all, short one this morning….
Come on you gooners
Carried over from kelsey…
kelsey says:
December 13, 2010 at 7:27 am (Edit)
Morning all.
So if reports are true chesney will be in goal tonight as it is alleged that Fabianski has an injury.
just a word on Spurs v Chelsea last night.If gomes played for us, it would be headline news who inconsistent he is,and Essien however good a player he is, should have been red carded possibly not once but twice.
If Any of our keepers had conceded the goal Spurs scored,they would be castated for not covering their near post.
Morning kelsey, i saw some of the game, Essien on Bale was dreadful, imagine if Song had done that one, Sky Sports and the paps would be all over us too…
Morning rico, well at least matt won, but cher was not a happy bunny.
Well, i always knew the media has always being biased against us but when there was no response to Wenger’s analysis that we have only conceded 1 goal more than Man UtD this season then i knew the media just enjoy having a dig at us .
I blame nobody but the Match of the Day sofa warmers. I now understand why Ian Wright left the BBC programme
Morning kelsey, I thought Rebecca might pip him, i didn’t mind who won out of the two, they both deserved to be there 🙂
As for the sulky cher – tough 😉
Hi SD, tonight the mancs will have conceded more than us after 90 mins, let thema talk about that one…
i try and take little notice of what the BBC and Sky idiots say anymore…
Recent history gives us next to no chance,but this season is different from any other I can rember since the PL started.
Maybe three or four players will effect the outcome.For us Nasri and cesc,but there is still a doubt that he will play,so i put jack in there to mix it up with fletcher and scholes.Park usually plays well against us, but for me it is our midfield is the key,not in the attacking sense,but to get back and cover the defenders, so tonight Alex song, stay in your own half.
i think i would accept a draw now,but united though unbeaten,look far from invinsible,yet we are always vunerable to the counter attack.
I expect a free flowing game,as both sides will play attacking football.If he plays, AA needs a big game and Chamakh needs to be more selfish and bloody well shoot when given the opportunity,which will surely come to him.Off to read the post now.
Everything I can cross I have crossed in the hope Chesney starts tonight. Flappy has done better than expected but he’s never going to be the answer. I know he’s only played Carling cup games so far but things just feel so much more under control when Ches plays. He isn’t scared to yell at his defence and he has the attitude that the box is his domain so f*** off the ball is mine. I like that attitude. And never has any defence cried out for someone to direct it than our current one.
I hope we make them concede more today.
About X-factor , I don’t watch it but i always try to watch the final and i even forgot about that of yesterday so didn’t watch it, watched NCIS instead.
Which just shows how untrue and rubbish the show is , the winner always gets the biggest act to perform with .Matt and Rihanna , Alex Burke and Beyonce and JLS got Boyzone (come on)
i just think Simon Cowell is smart and laughing at fans and just loves when not too smart people actually pick up the phone and think they actually count. It just makes me laugh when people complain in the media and nothing happens and Cowell still repeats the same thing again.
He is quitting the show now because people are catching up on their tricks, like I said, he is smart. But the show is rubbish , fake and unoriginal.
kelsey, reading the post won’t take you too long 😉
Agree re this being the most crazy season in a long while, no on is firing on all cylinders and running away at the top. I know it sounds stupid and obvious but the first side to really gel and find consistancy will be the winners – if we are over our bad spell that very well could be us…
Hi Bendtner, i saw kelsey had said Fabianski is injured and for once having to play our second keeper doesn’t fill me with fear. One thing for sure, if Chesney plays it couldn’t be a better test for him…
SD, its certainly a bit cheesy, but for sat night viewing, its all good fun 😉
=D thanks Rico!!!
Morning peeps….
We’ve always had match winning number 11’s
George, Haverty, and if course the ‘original number 11 Cliff Bastin (original as it was herbert chapmans brainchild of players shirts to be numbered)
On to tonight, I think if Bilbo wilshere plays he’s gonna need 3 shinpads on each leg or some sort of bionic, titanium super injection into his ankles because scholes, fletcher and Anderson will target him. Song (don king) will have to play minder as opposed to thinking he’s Dennis bergkamp tonight and protect the back four…
But I’ve got a funny feeling about tonight. We just need to click and stick up for eachother.
Oh and Howard needs a good game……
Morning all,
Would just like to compliment Spuds and Chavs for a good game i thoughly enjoyed it and what a blinding result for us one point each and one goes missing made my day.
On Gomes’s in my opinion he should have been sent off no doubt about that,i know those mug comentators comments on the Drogba shot laid the blame on the keeper but Drogba hit that flush and it fired in with power,and it was the power that made it richochet out of his hands, i thought good goal not the keepers fault if anything bad defending.
We are in a position where we can put some space between us and the rest tonight,this game determines whether we win the league or not lose this and we are history we wont comeback again, so i believe its make or break, i recon 2.1 Arsenal
Hi Rocastle, bet you didn’t see that one coming 😉
Fergie has been bleating on about how we are more aggresive than before so to keep Webb on his toes, but like you, I think it’s more likely to be the mancs who will be on the end of a Webb decision, if of course he plays fair….
If we can play like we did at Eastlands, three points will be ours but I’m sure as anything we are gunner be up for this tonight….
Hi Steve, i didn’t understand why the red card didn’t come out for gomes either, and as for essien, he was disgraceful too, how Bale didn’t end up seriously injured i do not know…
good result for us though
I didn’t see it coming!!!
Jack will be targeted tonight, getting flashbacks of Reyes getting kicked to pieces up there by scholes and the brothers grim at OT in 2004
Problem is jack’s an old school player who will get up dust himself off and give it back to scholes and fletcher……and Ill give you 2 guesses on who Howard books!!??….
Im not a betting man, but I shall scoot into a bookies today and have a look at the odds.
Oh, and I’m working tonight so it’ll be me and talkspite I’m afraid….
Congrats to the Totts and the Chavs weekend game.It is good to see Chavs back in their playing ways and Totts still chasing the top four still with 2 less points.
I am loving the sarcasm on this blog right now 🙂 don’t stop.
Your right, they’ll be out to stop jack at all costs, just hope he keeps his head though…..
i only need one guess – webb is a manure fan so it won’t be one of them unless its a bad one…
i’ll only be down the bookies if vela comes on a scores the winner 🙂
rotten you won’t be able to watch 🙁
SD, us, sarcasm, suely not 😆
SD, and don’t forget that Citeh’s best striker wants out of Eastlands too 😆
Steve,
I don’t agree that if we lose that our title hopes have gone.Everyone is beating everyone else,though i still feel we are capable of at least a draw.
Wenger has a habit in big matches of confounding us all by suddenly changing the formation.
With regards to chesney what we need is a chesniski.The reflexes of Fab and the command of the box by chesney.he will be fine tonight.
Morning Rico,
Spuds having a good run at the mo recon they will be a threat for the remainder of the season, Chavs i dont think are as bad as the mugs think and getting better could be very tight at the top this year keep our fingers crossed
kelsey, i don’t think it’s do or die tonight either, far from it the way this league is going but three points will be great for the confidence, see us stay at the top, wreck the mancs unbeaten run, wreck their confidence and break the rotten hoodoo we seem to have when we play the them…
Fabianski didn’t look injured! Football is a dirty business.
I hope Chesney can handle a big match, he is still very young.
Rooney will fancy himself tonight but i am only worried about Fletcher, Scholes and Vidic.
We need Andrey A, to turn up hot and firing tonight. I like his performance on Wednesday.
Walcott should not be started, he is hungrier when he comes from the bench.
Do we have a left back yet ?
Things are looking good.
Chelsea is doing just fine.
Steve, they maybe but once harry gets the england job…. 😉
SD, Fletcher will be out to prove a point, i see a red card coming his way tonight and early on….
Kelsey,
Hope your right mate, but when we lose we have a tendancy to follow it with a few more the old confidence takes a big knock hopfully that wont be the case then onwards and upwards
We are talking about FiFA being corrupt but i think the Premier League officials have their own issues as well.
Why does it have to be Webb (wearing a MAn Utd underpants) to officiate Arsenal & Man utd games. It is not even near the end of the season yet.
SD, i wouldn’t have chosen him but then none of our refs seem to be first class these days, webb makes a game about him and not football and yes, he’ll be wearing his manure undies alright….
Wonder where our other regulars are, haven’t seen a few on here for ages 🙁
Winter Blues Rico, the thought of shopping has got hold of them . 🙁
SD,FIFA is corrupt.look at the new shirt sponsorship deal Barca got,the highest ever, and from where ….Qatar. I love bribery and corruption.
and poor old tevez on 285k a week net,what a joke football has become.for man city read mercenary city, it will bit them in the arsenal sooner rather than later.They can afford to offload Adebayor(which they will) and take a huge loss.
Think you must be right SD, biggest game of the season and they are nowhere to be seen 🙁
Still, it’s a busy time of year, thankfully all my Christmas shopping is done 🙂
Its a crazy situation kelsey, talk is that the Rooney debacle is behind Tevez wanting out although he denies it and says he just wants to go home… makes cesc look a saint ….
Lardy is wanted by Harry, now theres a surprise….
When i played which is many years ago we used to use a little ploy that used to work on refferees we thought was a bit dodgy, we used to make sure we were in earshot of the ref before the start of the game and chat about how other guys had talked about the ref and had said he was bent, and we would say we’ll see today, i have heared his fair we’ll see, usualy it worked maybe Wenger needs to drop a hint.
The Tevez situation just shows to tell that it is not always all about the money.
Tevez loads of wad a week, Adebayor,Shay Given just to mention a few are not happy and Nasri is smiling and playing the football of his life has just being offered £80 000 a week .
But really what can Adebayor buy with his 145k a week that Nasri cant buy? Tell me.
Tevez is definitely not enjoying his football and his heart is not in Man city anymore.
Why Macini keeps taking Tevez out baffles me (he should have at least informed him before the match)
Adebayor LOL 🙂 even JO is getting more games than him. Somebody stop me from laughing. 🙂
I know what i’d like to whisper in Webb ear Steve…. 😉
On that note, got to walk the hounds, back in a couple of hours
No SD, you carry on laughing, its always good when its at the rich kids expense…. 🙂
Come on Arsenal,No fear tonight.
Let’s go there,all guns blazing and show the world that we aint no joke,Let’s send a message out tonight Arsenal.
Ooh to,Ooh to be,Ooh to be a gooner!
morning all. kids are both unable to go to school, so i am staying home today. means i should be able to watch the match live this afternoon. unusual monday in that both arsenal and my nfl team are playing, about five hours apart…
Hi oliver, thats good news, hope your children aren’t poorly though….
Oliver ! was it because of the snow ?
Anyways i guess your Monday should be Jolly good then with your two teams playing.
Is it just me or have we looked really dangerous since RVP’s return? Those nippy passes of his are really causing opponents problems.
Loving it RVP,if you can only stay fit you are a Natural leader.
SD, Robin is the only striker we have who in my opinion would be good in a 4-3-3, i would love to see him on the right in the front three, drifting in and unleashing a shot or two on his left foot…. dreams are made of that…
Off again, back in a bit…
RICOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
bonjourno meine comrades…
interesting post today..great stats..
most interesting for me is that weve been ripping teams new arseholes away from home this season..nasris pretty much become unplayable and i think manu are in the doodoo tonight..theyve been playing average, drawing lots of games and conceeding sloppy goals..
their defence is just as crap as ours but we have too many attacking players in form at the minute their old men wont be able to handle our movement, especially if cesc players..
i hope to god wenger doesnt field song and denilson though..get jack back in with song we need to attack these bastards cos weve got no chance of keeping a clean sheet..
rvp, cesc, nasri behind chamakh with song staying back and sweeping up and let jack be the creative link between defence and attack..we’ll smash em..
fergie will be shitting himself and probably field a 5 man midfield full of old men and shit sunday league players who have alot of stamina..ie felcther and park will be told to run around really fast and kick nasri all game
Rico,
Where’s you at, girl? 🙂
after all that, now i am here at work. turns out there was nothing wrong with the kids, so i brought them to school and then came in. it did snow this morning – our front lawn was covered when i left – but not enough to stick to the roads…
i think we will get a point tonight. losing will not necessarily be the end of the world, but we do need to win, for many more reasons than just getting three points. in the last few seasons, we have played reasonably well at old trafford – in the league fixtures. last year, we were clearly the better side, losing only to a questionably rooney penalty and diaby own goal. the league fixture from the season before was a little strange – not much intensity, coming only a few days after they embarrassed us in the cl s/f at ems. they only needed a point for the title and played accordingly – if we went for it (and cesc did hit a post) we could have won that one. and then in the 07-8 season, i thought we also played better than united, going 1-0…i think adebayor handled for our goal – but lost 2-1 again.
so our recent league form at ot has been pretty good, so there should be no fear. i think united are improving from where they were earlier in this season, but we can definitely match them. take our chances and play confident, smart and responsible. we can win this.
ra, if you are still here, i imagine you heard what happened to the giants this weekend. they were supposed to play minnesota at 1pm (est) yesterday afternoon. but the snow in the twin cities area forced them to divert their saturday flight to kansas city. they were going to try and fly to minnesota – st paul yesterday for a monday evening game, but the roof on the metrodome collaspsed under the weight of snow. so both teams flew to detroit and that is where the game will be played.
vikes are a dome team, while the giants are quite used to playing in inclement weather. that should favor the giants. it is a home game for minnnesota – at the field of a division rival, so that should favor nyg as well.
brett favre is a game-time decision for minnesota. if he cannot go, his consecutive game started streak will end at 297 and tavaris jackson will start at qb. as far as i know, giant wr’s nicks and smith should be involved, and diehl should be able to return to the o-line. philadelphia won at dallas last night, so we need to win here ahead of sunday’s home game versus philly.
Boo, anyone around…
i’m here rico…
Hey oliver, work found you in the end then 🙁
Hi Oliver,
I saw pictures of the Metrodome on TV. It looked a mess, but amazingly, they are saying it will be fixed within a week. Wow!
The neutral venue will certainly even things out for the Giants. Fingers crossed. We need a good result. Not on TV here, again, so I am getting a bit frustrated. I would have stayed up tonight to watch, as my work schedule tomorrow is pretty light.
Hi RA
Any news on whether Chesney is keeping wicket tonight…
Fat Sam is no longer the manager of Blackburn
😆 😆 😆
Rico, I have only heard that Chezzer let it slip on Twitter. Apparently Flappy has a sore shoulder. My betting is on Flappy being given a steroid and playing tonight.
hi rico and ra – this will be a nervy afternoon and evening, that is for sure. hopefully both my teams can win…
since eli became the nyg starting qb, we have gone 0-4 versus the vikes, including two of his worst-ever games (2007 at the meadowlands and last season’s finale at the metrodome). i cannot put last season’s blowout loss directly on eli, as the team had, unfortunately, quit – particuarly on def coord bill sheridan. vikes have played much, much better since they fired brad childress as head coach – this will be very, very tough.
one quick thing – ford field is domed as well, so the vikes won’t be playing outdoors afterall, and this won’t be a potential advantage to nyg. we can still win, nevertheless…
Rico,
Are you serious about Fat Sam? What joy!! 🙂
Thanks Oliver.
I feel just as apprehensive about the Giants as I do about the Arsenal. But both can certainly win! 🙂
Rico, I am having a lot of “drop out” on the site. May just be my line, but I have not had problems elsewhere. [A couple of my earlier comments on HH have just disappeared into the aether]. 🙁
i imagine that fabianski will start, unless it is really serious. unless he has been confirmed fit, i think cesc will miss out. hopefully jd will come in for either koscielny or squillaci (i don’t think the latter two play that well together). and hopefully arsene will instruct song to do his job – sit back, defend, break attacks up…
we’ll know if arsene selects both song and denilson – that means the former will serve as more of an attacker. i hope this does not happen – we have plenty of players who are better attackers than song – jack, who did not play against partizan, for instance. song’s best attributes are his size, strength, and ability to screen the defense (when deployed to do such). we negate these skills and qualities when we push him so far forward.
i understand that there are many who fully support arsene’s moving song up into the attack. i do not, i think it comes as the expense of solidity and defensive confidence, but that is only my opinion. each of us see this as we do.
It’s true about Fat Sam, honestly….
Bonjour Housers!…. Big day, big big day 2day, eh?
Oliver,
I totally agree with you. Song does not have the skill or speed to be an attacking midfielder.
Anyway, it leaves the defence looking shaky without cover, and that should not be Jack’s role.
Rico, I have heard the Fat Sam news on TalkSport. Not that I doubted you anyway. 🙂
no doubt real and/or barca have already been in contact with fs! remember, he would do the double every year at either of those clubs!
Poor ol’ fat boy! Gonna miss him… & I mean tat (Any bets on Blackburn to go down end o’ the season?)
Hi oliver, no nerves, just excitement, i really believe we will get something from the game tonight…
Hello again.
Apparently Fat Sam has been lined up for west ham. backed from 33/1 to 3/1 during the day.
This might sound bizarre,but if we get walloped tonight would Wenger actually reinforce the defence sooner rather han later meaning january.i am not suggesting it will happen but we have the best home record against the equal best away record tonight.
The key for me is a fit fabregas if he plays would make all the difference,but to be honest a point would be okay in this crazy season for results there will be many twists and turns yet to come.
if vela scores i will eat my ……
Thats worrying RA, Ercik couldn’t get on yesterday and KT and agag have had a few probs recently… 🙁
i blame wenger for the song performances, he was good at what he could do, why did he give him the licence to go forward when he’s not quick enough, if he wants a box to box midfielder, play Lansbury…
No doubt reg that Rico.. We’re gonna pulverize that lot in Man-blabalot-chester! I just hope the end result reflects the same
Poor old West Ham kelsey, that should just about ensure they get relegated….
Hi Rennie, sorry i missed you sneak in 😉
Hope you are right…
Kelsey, I don’t think we should risk Cesc if he ain’t 100% yet. Every single time that Wenger gambled with his fitness, it backfired… I hope that’s a lesson learned
kelsey, even if we get thumped, i do not think arsene will change anything around regarding the defence – or the entire side, for that matter.
rico, we are focusing on song because of the void he leaves when he pushes too far forward. in reality, it can apply to just about any of our players. i really think arsene looks at the squad and sees eleven attackers as a match gets ready to kick off.
i think i understand what arsene is trying to do with this side, but i do not think he has the players or collective maturity yet to consistently successfully do it. our off-the-ball work is not yet good enough to make this work – and i am not sure it will ever be…
same here re: cesc. if he is not fit, we shouldn’t risk him. we have done so in the past, and it has almost always backfired. if a good long rest is what he needs, then we should give it to him, and hope he can come back and stay in the side without breaking down again.
Oliver, I think U just summarized Wenger’s footy philosophy in a nutshell… NEAT
Rico,
Ironically, after telling you about my HH connection probs, I had a funny one on the other site.
Must be my m/c. I will let you know if it happens again!
Anyway, see you tomorrow, hopefully with happy faces. 🙂
later ra. here is hoping for arsenal and giants wins…that will be a nice day’s work, indeed.
It’s quite clear from Cesc’s interviews that he is also of the same mindset.. He’s about to reach that age when midfielders make the step up to whole new level (hmmm since he’s already on that level, where does he take it from here!) It’s obvious that he doesn’t want to waste this time being injured on & off. ‘Let him rest & then watch him decimate opposition’ that should be the stance here (me thinks)… Must be itching to play 2night though
Rennie, i’m with you re cesc, it isn’t worth the risk and he’s not exactly shone this season…
Nite Oliver. Fingers and toes crossed! 🙂
See ya tomorrow.
Am pushing off as well… Njoy the game Housers.. I simply can’t wait
oliver, but wenger does that with so many of our players, he buys them then changes their natural game, regardless of whether they are capable of filling that role… if he wants a big strong athletic DM, then buy one. He is asking too much of Song and when his plan doesn’t always come off, that particular player gets a bashing…
See you Ra and Rennie, enjoy the game…
oliver, will you be able to write tomorrows report? Please say if you are tucked up with things…
rico, i agree completely. theo is another example of arsene’s force a square peg into a round hole approach. i was previously critical of song for venturing so far forward, but arsene himself said that he is doing this under instructions, so there are no longer any doubts as to who is responsible.
young players need structure – we lack structure here at arsenal, in so many ways…
spot on oliver, look at what happened with eboue when he played on the left of midfield – came on as a sub and had to be subbed as he was so so bad…
jeeepers, he’s no right sided midfielder let alone a left one and the fans booed him so so much and all the blogs slated him big time…
But, all he did was play where he was told, it wasn’t his fault….
rico, i should be able to get the report out tonight. i will have to watch after-the-fact, but i think i can. i will have at least one eye on the giants and vikes, but i should be able to manage…
a little bit over an hour to go before kickoff. we should have a better idea of who and what we are once this match is complete. i see a lot of optimism – i don’t think we will thrash united in any way, shape or form, but i think we can win. that said, i’ll be happy with a point – even though we owe them (and chelsea) a real pounding!
Thanks oliver, i’m so pleased you said that 😉
P10 W0 D1 L9 F5 A22, that’s our last ten against the chavs and mancs, we are due something, i don’t think we will wipe the floor with them and if i’m honest i would take a draw right now but, there is a feeling that we will sneak a late winner….
you’re braver than i am rico. i think there will be a late goal, all right – i just don’t think it will be going past van der sar…hopefully we will do enough to win, but i will gladly take a draw.
recent form should count for something – and we have arguably outplayed them in three consecutive league fixtures at their place – so there is reason to be confident. i am just concerned that we will wilt when united dominate the ball and put the pressure on – as they are bound to do at some point, here at ot.
no teamsheets yet, but the indications are more and more that szczesny may start tonight. if he does, he can draw inspiration from a certain alex manninger. although that 1997 win was built more on a solid defense to protect that particular rookie keeper. whomever starts of fabianski or szczesny will not be able to count on such a solid defense.
now i am hearing that szczesny will start. unfortunately, i am also hearing that koscielny (!!)will partner squillaci. song, jack, samir and rosicky in mf, and arshavin and chamakh further forward.
cesc named to the bench. if he is not fit enough to start, the last thing we need is for him to come on and injure himself while chasing the game…
fabianski named to the bench…hmmm…if his groin kept him out of the starting eleven, should it not keep him out of the squad? at least almunia is not on the bench – if an allegedly-carrying-a-groin-injury fabianski still makes the bench, surely al will never, ever play for us again?
sub’s bench is heavy with attackers: cesc, robin, theo, bendtner. denilson, djourou, and fabianski round it out.
i would like to have seen djourou start ahead of either koscielny or squillaci, but arsene has chosen differently, so let’s hope it works as intended.
bloomin heck oliver, thats a few comments 😉
gutted that JD isn’t starting….
Chesney is going to win this game for us, he’s talked the talk and now he’s about to show us, wenger and the world of football just how good he is…
the question is, is fabianksi really injured?
yep, so am i. but i am putting that aside now – i am going to stop pretending i know better than arsene, and trust that his reasons for picking koscielny and squillaci are more informed than mine for wanting djourou to partner one of them.
about 20 mins to go, we will see how this plays out.
oliver, that is just it, read around the football blogs and we all think we know better, reality is, we don’t…
wrighty7 did a post yesterday about how he is so glad we didn’t sign Joe Cole, yet he also admits he was one of very many who was desperate for wenger to go get him………
wenger is no saint, but….
yep…my view towards this is sometimes tainted by the closed nature of our club. conflicting statements about funds, no explanations for certain decisions. i am not julian assange and i certainly do not expect our club to be an open book. but too often, arsenal fc act as if they have something to hide.
at this moment, i am wondering if fabianski really has a groin problem? that is the kind of thing i wonder about…
bottom line is that arsene often frustrates me, but no way do i personally know better than he – nor can i do this job better than him. so i have to sometimes remind myself to tone it down a bit…
Wojciech Szczesny
Bacary Sagna
Sebastien Squillaci
Laurent Koscielny
Gael Clichy
Samir Nasri
Jack Wilshere
Tomas Rosicky
Alex Song
Andrey Arshavin
Marouane Chamakh
Substitutes
Lukasz Fabianski
Johan Djourou
Cesc Fabregas
Theo Walcott
Denilson
Robin van Persie
Nicklas Bendtner
spot on oliver, no-one wants to know the be all and end all but so many conflicting stories come out about money…..
my theory is that the board won’t spend and wenger takes the blame, saying it’s his idea, however, thats all for another day…
right now, wenger has chosen a keeper who he obviously believes has the height, presence and attitude to win this game and i can see why he has done this…
Every team sees Fabianski as a weakness on crosses, well tonight that weakness has been removed..
If it comes off, credit to wenger for making a very very bold decision….
Catch up at H/T, come on you gooners….
scheisse!!!!!!!
some players make careers scoring against other teams. park is an accomplished player in his own right, so that does not apply in this case. still, i will be glad when we never have to play him again.
we had some chances, but we were wasteful again.
has rosicky been as poor as he seems to me?
now i am worried we will see an unfit cesc after about an hour or so.
well, that just about sums up the good fortune the mancs have had this season…
rosicky is poor tonight and nasri cannot get into the game, nor can AA… big call now for the boss…
cesc will come on soon, robin and theo to follow…
get rosicky out of there, by all means. i would bring robin and theo on, probably at arshavin’s expense. i would be very, very careful about bringing cesc on. last time arsene was faced with a decision about playing an unfit cesc, it backfired.
goal may have been flukey, but our passing has been poor, rosicky does not look like he is even aware he is in a match. no real chances – we are not going to get anything from this if we don’t step it up.
this is a situation where changes are required at the half….
It’s like an ice ring out there.AA is just laughing to himself,nasri needs to come more central,Rosicky not in the game,otherwise defence looks OK and we were unlucky to concede.
Song has looked the most dangerous going forward and says a lot.At least we are getting stuck in.
oliver, i wouldn’t bring cesc on, but wenger will….
def robin and theo to put evra back….
Without Fabregas, we havn’t much chance no playmakers at all bad passing up front if he dosn’t come on soon we’ve had it
if we need to resort to a not-fit-enough-to-start cesc to pull this out of the fire, then we simply are not good enough…period.
i cannot remember the last time we came from behind to get three points at old trafford. i am going to guess and say it has never happened in a league fixture while red nose has been there.
rosicky – at a minimum – needs to stay in the dressing room for the second half. and i would seriously consider bringing both robin and theo on in at the start of the second half, not waiting for an hour to elapse. arshavin the other to make way.
the goal was admittedly flukey, but we looked absolutely toothless out there.
no changes yet. cannot say i am surprised.
ok, looking better here. rosicky should have at least hit the target and now we are starting to give united something to consider…
clichy almost put us 2-0 down…siggghh
so now cesc is on…on the surface, i don’t like this, but if we can retrieve this situation and get a point or better, then i won’t gripe…hopefully cesc won’t reinjure either.
pass, pass, pass and then pass some more.
we were garbage tonight…deserved absolutely nothing.
Not one shot on target absolutly rubbish midfielders were outplayed by the better team if they cant cross a ball higher than two feet whats the point
i don’t really want to hear about the fluke nature of their goal – or the absurd “penalty” awarded against clichy. we created nothing and deserved nothing.
desperately disappointing. we hope, and hope, and hope that once – just once – these players will rise to the occasion against the top two teams. once again, our players are found wanting.
united looked pretty poor – a shadow of the side they were just two seasons ago. not that they needed to be anything special to win tonight.
what use was cesc when he came on???
oliver, i didn’t think either team were that good, a draw would have been the fair result…
AA, Rosicky, Nasri all had average games, such a shame we were beaten by a fluke of a goal…
Fergie just knows how to beat us,though Kos and Squil played rally well.As for clichy, he really is poor.
the subs made no impact whatsoever.Poor show all in all.
not one shot on target says it all…this group of players just do not seem to have the stomach for these kinds of matches – too many in hiding. for all his talk about answering evra’s comments, nasri never got into the game. szczesny had a good game, making a couple of good saves from open play.
i think our team freezes against the likes of chelsea and man united, i really think they do…despite all the bravado about growing up and taking the next step and all, perhaps they are mentally beaten before they take to the pitch. and then spend 90 minutes passing aimlessly. did not see anyone really willing to take responsibility to shoot.
poor, just poor in every respect. perhaps we are the fools, expecting better in these spots?
rico, i think it would have been an absolute joke if we got a draw out of that. united were poor, we were dire. we had a six minute spell at the start of the second half, where we looked like we would get back in the game – chamakh had a great chance to equalize, but slow of thought and reaction, he allowed united to block his shot and that was that. once that “storm” blew itself out, united let us chase our tails – as chelsea always do – and looked to counter. that they couldn’t punish us any more says more about them than us. but they did not need to do much to win this one.
of course it was a fluke goal- they can do that routine 100 times, and park does not even make contact in sixty of them. but they got themselves in position for something fortuitous to happen – did we, even once, over 90 minutes? we had the chance chamakh wasted – and then theo should have at least forced vds into a save instead of shooting wildly over.
oliver, honestly i think a draw would have been even, they did little, we did little, parks goal was fluke and there is no denying that… however, we lacked big time up front and that makes it a bit hard to take…
time for me to depart… i honestly believed we would get three points tonight, we got none… but this season is full of surprises…..
but for us, jan needs to be a month that wenger spends a few pounds……
be good all ….
nobody did much, but they took us on, they forced szczesny to at least make saves. vds did have to make a single save – were arsenal really trying to win the match? i am not arguing that united were poor – they are not much at all. but our arsenal side froze once again, and reverted to the aimless passing and meandering about. we deserved nothing from that and that is exactly what we got. soooo disappointing.
i am sure arsene’s post-match comments will make me even more frustrated.
hopefully big blue (ny giants) can win later tonight and at least restore some of my mood.
honestly, i was afraid of a performance such as this going in. knowing united are nothing special makes it even more difficult to take. they were ripe for the taking, but we had ten players – thirteen if you want to count our three subs – hiding tonight. only szczesny deserves some credit. he deserved better, but lost because nobody took responsibility to try and score a goal.
arsene will, of course, focus on the flukey nature of the goal and bang on about how we were unlucky. united made their luck – we didn’t even try…
Rico
Agreed Fabregas was rubbish but they never scored in the second half, and at least we know now he can kick a ball!
he won’t rico – not a dime. a just-as-bad-as-united, struggling, and low on confidence chelsea will undress us at home in a couple weeks time, and we will hang around the summit for the remainder of the season. we’ll get close again, but will not be able to take that final step.
Should be fun in the AFC blog world 2moro……
Sack the manager anyone…?????
rico, i have the report. it will be later tonight, after i have had time to ponder and relook some of this. if the giants don’t play well, it may be little more than a profanity-laced tirade…
nobody wins every match, but it almost seems that our supporters are more up for these matches against united and chelsea than our players are.
i know where we are in the table and it is still 2010, but off this performance, we look a million miles away…two toothless, ineffective performances away to the top two teams and three home league losses…we have a lot more work to do than even i had thought…
Oliver, were one dimensional lack width lacked tempo tonight and then when teams allows us no space we go backwards and sideways…! we have attacking midfielders playing as wingers and it doesn’t work simple as that and when we need to grind out results all that pretty ineffective football gets us nowhere. Amazing as I’m not even that upset its just reality kicking in confirming all along that we in a false position as we’re really not good enough. Fact.
One of the most important times of the season and we desperatly missed players who are injured or not fit in my opinion Arshaven should not be on the pitch until his fully fit and can run for 90min i dont think that is possible get rid of him, we may have a big squad but the performance tonight proves we hav’nt got the right back up players Czezsney well played son but get your kicking sorted
Morning, anyone around….
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