Morning all.
Old Trafford. A ground where regardless of which of the two clubs are in form, is hard to predict. Last season, a dreadful Utd team beat us 3-2 in this fixture but to this day I still don’t know how or why we left Manchester without at least a point. I know we struggled towards the end of the season but it was the game at Old Trafford along with the one at Goodison Park which really peed me off. The sad thing for Arsenal though is we go there with a lot of players missing. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Thomas Partey and Mo Elneny are definitely out and both Aaron Ramsdale and Martin Odegaard are doubts, but, both were training yesterday. What a day and venue it might be for Matt Turner if he makes his first team debut today. Same goes for Fabio Vieira if he comes in for Martin Odegaard although I think, as well as hope, it’ll be ESR if our captain doesn’t start. Rumours on Twitter yesterday suggested Ben White is also a doubt.
Erik ten Hag didn’t take long to realise that the weak link in Utd’s defence was Harry Maguire. If England want to go one better than they did at the Euros, Gareth Southgate needs to drop him too. Since EtH dropped Maguire, their results have improved, but despite winning their last three games, a 2-1 defeat of Liverpool being the first, neither 1-0 victory over Southampton and then Leicester City were convincing. New signings Antony and Casemiro are likely to make their first appearance in front of their home fans.
For Arsenal, it’s going to be about how the team copes without the presence of Partey in midfield. Can Sambi Lokonga put in another solid performance? Having been caught out moaning about not playing last season, it’s his chance to prove to the manager that the decision to not sign a midfielder this summer was the right one. By all accounts, he did well against Villa but this is Man Utd at Old Trafford. It’s a big one. It’s the one which if we don’t get at least a point, the media will go on about, saying that our perfect start to the season was/is just another false dawn. Their pencils have probably busy already, headlines already pondered over. Let’s not give them their moment of pleasure.
Mike Riley has dug deep and come up with Greater Manchester born referee Paul Tierney for this game, his two assistants: are Lee Betts and Constantine Hatzidakis. Fourth official is Wiltshire born Simon Hooper with VAR being watched by a sleeping Lee Mason, also born in Greater Manchester. Don’t worry though, Riley wouldn’t pick an official if he thought he was likely to be biased towards either club. Who am I trying to kid eh…. Tierney and Mason are in control, but only if we as a team, give them something to control. Play hard, fast, but fair. Be ruthless when the chances fall our way.
Gabriel Jesus against Raphael Varane should be a great battle. The two went head to head a couple of seasons ago when the now Utd player was at Real Madrid. Jesus pressed him hard every time he could and as a result, the defender was forced into making errors. Errors which led to goals, which ultimately knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League. David de Gea is very up and down these days, so our front men need to take pop shots at his goal early on and if possible, unsettle him. Martinez might have settled down a bit since his awful couple of early performances but he’s not come up against a front three of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus yet and if they’re on form, they can cause any defence problems.
Utd will I’m sure, cause our defence problems too. As said, new boy Anthony will want to make his mark, Rashford will probably be his usual cheating self and McTominay is likely to kick his way in and out of trouble. Sancho is the one to keep an eye on though, in my opinion anyway.
I doubt we’ll see a game as feisty as some of the clashes in the past and to be honest, I wouldn’t want to see a brawl between both sets of players on the pitch, or the behaviour which followed that infamous missed penalty although I loved the Keane v Vieira passion. I just enjoy seeing players play the game as if their world would end if they don’t give their everything for 95 minutes.
Anyway, let’s hope for a strong Arsenal performance, all eleven of Mikel Arteta’s players on the pitch at the end of the game and at the very least, a point comes back to north London.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico,
Another lovely morning here in arid Norfolk.
So it’s an away match at yet another mid-table side struggling to reach the sunny uplands of the Premiership. Their new signings will just make them less of a team, more a bunch of strangers.
Martinez gets my vote for first yellow card of the match unless, of course, McTominay starts.
We know there is either unconscious bias or just straight forward corruption in the choice of match officals but following the scandalous referring and VAR decisions yesterday they will be aware of the greater level of critical interest that will be focused on them.
I don’t expect, or look for, favours from match officials but do expect fairness and impartiality from them. I swear I saw a herd of porkers fly past the window as I typed that last sentence. 😉
Morning Cicero, all.
Yep, fairness is all we can hope for. Unlikely we’ll get it though.
Good morning Rico and everyone. Nothing to say really other than I want to see us put up a good show and hopefully luck will be on our side.
Morning Mexy. That’s all we can ask for really. 100% from everyone and see where it takes us.
Arteta on United: “When you look at the squad that they have, the players that they have signed the amount of money they have spent in the market, it is no surprise – they are going to win a lot of football matches.
“The history of Manchester United tells you this is going to happen. They are a big rival, we know that and we are going to compete with them.” – read every word from Arteta’s pre-match press conference
Ten Haag on us: “I have seen Arsenal, a tough opponent, they have started really well as we all know in the season, and you can see there is a team who are a long [time] together, with a coach who brings his philosophy in the team.
“So, this is a good test and I’m really looking forward to it. We will pick the right XI to start but as you see, it’s not only a team, we have a squad and also, [against Leicester], the subs who came on did really well so I’m happy with that. ”
Interesting that when listing the injuries, Zinchenko isn’t on it.
I fear that it will be a reffing shit show like game 49 with a brawl on the pitch and if we should win it a points deduction .
Seriously hope I’m wrong.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11176897/Hawkeye-spell-end-linesman-football-new-technology-set-used-soon.html
Interesting…
Interesting , but will it stop them from going back 5 minutes to see a foul in the build up to suit their agenda.
Morning Rico and all
I can’t see Technology replacing the ref after all it may be able to pick when the ball is out of play, but it will not be able to pick who touched the ball last
Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Erik ten Hag can repeat Sir Alex Ferguson ‘war’ tactic when Man Utd face Arsenal
Stoking the fire ????????
Apparently so Potter, I think it’s better. Will have to see what happens in the CL and WC.
Hi Geoff. No, just taking away some of the dreadful decisions VAR are making.
Unless those in the VAR overrule the technology, claiming there was a glitch in the system
They won’t be able to Geoff.
Apparently there is new system of VAR based on Hawkeye which is to be used at the World Cup Finals this year. It should be much quicker and will no longer need the operators to draw lines to define offsides etc.
It could be a big improvement…so long as Mike Riley doesn’t get his sticky fingers on it.
Sorry Rico, i didn’t see your 10.07 am.
The bit about VAR that frustrates me is not so much the offsides although I think that could be simplified by saying it’s taken from the feet only . My biggest problem with it is how they selectively inspect fouls leading up to goals . How far do they go back, also why do they not look at fouls that lead to penalties not given . i.e Mings assault on Saka.
I would like to see the offside rule dropped all together, but I can’t see it ever happening.
The thing about VAR which infuriates me is the idiots who operate it. Lol
According to breaking news on the BBC, the Premier League are to review VAR operation with PGMOL.
At last..
Marquinhos is fit?
Zinchenko looked ok when he climbed of the team bus.
sounds like the fans at BHA v’s Lei are singing parts of the song that gets played before Arsenal home match The Angel
Starting XI: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Lokonga, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Jesus
Subs: Turner, Tierney, Smith-Rowe, Nketiah, Holding, Soares, Tomiyasu, Vieira, Marquinhos
Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Lokonga, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus.
Lokonga for Partey otherwise they are all starting fully fit or not.
The first Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, perhaps our new striker has repeated his namesake’s miracle and cured a few of our walking wounded. 👍
How the heck was that not a booking for McTominay.
Odegaard doesn’t look 100% to me.
When is Varane going to get booked for his constant fouling of Jesus!
All that had gone before yet Tierney couldn’t wait to get his card out when it came to a foul by Saliba.
He has allowed much, much more fouling by the home side without sanction.
….and I was hoping for a level playing field, some hope!
Not today Rico , we will get nothing out of this.
It does my head in Potter.
Cicero, I’m surprised Gabriel got away with the foul before they scored.
Funny how no one thinks it was a foul by Odegaard barring Keane!
When does Webb take over, Is it at the end of the year or season?
He’s one of your own , Paul Tierney he’s one of your own.
I heard that too. So true..
At last!
Tierney brings the yellow card out now his team are 3-1 up.
We always get robbed on way or the other, I can bet my balls martinelli’s goal would have stood if it was the other way round.
We are never really our best when we play Man U.
It’s an unwritten law , we never get a break at the old toilet ‘Totally agree had that been Rashford it would have stood .but we were naive at the finish to let them get two breakaways .No more or less than I expected , they were allowed to manhandle Jesus and even when at the end Nketiah being held by Maguire eventually the card comes out/.
Football wise we are the better team but they were more suited to the situation .
However , All together “” We are top of the league””
Not happy, but I won’t let the result spoil this evening’s ribeye steak, chips and mushrooms or the bottle of Bordeaux that goes with it.
There has to be some consolation! 😉
I’ve just used that very word myself. Manhandled. Dreadful officiating.
And the push on Martinelli 3rd minute was worthy of a red in the first place or at least a second look but no . The die was cast then and there . Until we get someone that can take the slightly dark arts and get away with it , we will continue to get bullied out of things especially when the refs are complicit.
Agreed, McTominay clearly learned from Rashford.
Emile Smith Rowe appeared to pull up with an injury during Arsenal warm-down. 22yo attacking midfielder looked distressed as he was accompanied back to dressing room by #AFC assistant coach Carlos Cuesta, while rest of substitutes continued their session @TheAthleticUK
After a weekend in which officiating has been brought to an all time low it’s hard to see how the result of any game cannot be questioned. After a litany of wrong decisions even PGMOL admitted that errors were made that materially affected the result of more than one match over the past two days.
Two glaring incidents in our own game clearly demonstrated the level of either bias or incompetence endemic in refereeing at present. VAR told Tierney to look at the pitch side monitor to see if a foul had been committed immediately before Martinelli’s goal. Yet when Saka was dragged down in the penalty area and United broke away and scored no such action was considered.
Unless radical improvements are made in the standard of officiating football will not be worth watching anymore.
Afternoon Rico and all
Well, some bad referring but at the same time we have to take some blame, Bit Pi—d off with the loss, weaker clubs than us have held or beat Man c and Liverpool yet we lost to Man u. Now we have to refocus and put the loss behind us and get ready for the next match
Morning Geoff, all.
I get we could have been better in front of goal but once we’d scored a good goal, the game might have played out very differently. Arsenal were in full control of the game and with proper officials, could have Ben playing against 9 men.
New post up now