*OFFICIAL* Match Thread - Arsenal v Manchester United 22/11/14

de gea was badly positioned for the goal, but the real problem was that smalling had moved out of the middle - carrick and mcnair looked like slow-moving clowns. arsenal should have played that ball more often. and let welbeck run at mcnair when he moved wide.

Originally Posted by saffers

Seems to be a europe wide problem. Just look at barca, with a 18 month transfer ban looming they decided to sign a 30 yr old average leftback like mathieu to be their centrehalf and the perennially injured vermaelen(thank f*** we didnt get him btw).

Its f***ing Claude Makele's fault. There's a generation of 6ft plus holding midfielders who should have been ball playing centre halves.

Originally Posted by saffers

Matched welbecks number of PL goals with that. Despite being out for 3 months. Oof.

Did he? Fair play.

Cannot believe the negativity about yesterday. I was there (Top Red) and haven't seen the highlights but

- makeshift defence with kids
- everyone played well with the exception of RVP
- classic soak up the pressure hit them on the break away performance
- Fellaini and Carrick tamed their b****/dwarf midfield
- De Gea was immense
- a real sense of defiance and fight

Needless to say, I was sweating at 2-1 as I had an exotic bet including a horse I own a leg of, a team who were 2-0 down at home to Shrewsbury having been gubbed at Warrington a couple of weeks ago and United

jammy bastard

that slow beast could be interesting come april

rouge

Originally Posted by Charlestown Rouge

Cannot believe the negativity about yesterday. I was there (Top Red) and haven't seen the highlights but

- makeshift defence with kids
- everyone played well with the exception of RVP
- classic soak up the pressure hit them on the break away performance
- Fellaini and Carrick tamed their b****/dwarf midfield
- De Gea was immense
- a real sense of defiance and fight

Needless to say, I was sweating at 2-1 as I had an exotic bet including a horse I own a leg of, a team who were 2-0 down at home to Shrewsbury having been gubbed at Warrington a couple of weeks ago and United

Fantastic .. bloody fantastic

Originally Posted by Charlestown Rouge

Cannot believe the negativity about yesterday. I was there (Top Red) and haven't seen the highlights but

- makeshift defence with kids
- everyone played well with the exception of RVP
- classic soak up the pressure hit them on the break away performance
- Fellaini and Carrick tamed their b****/dwarf midfield
- De Gea was immense
- a real sense of defiance and fight

Needless to say, I was sweating at 2-1 as I had an exotic bet including a horse I own a leg of, a team who were 2-0 down at home to Shrewsbury having been gubbed at Warrington a couple of weeks ago and United

The rich get richer. Ffs. :shakehead:

Originally Posted by Jack Duckworth

rouge

Big boy shit.

Originally Posted by Ginners

jammy bastard

that slow beast could be interesting come april

Already qualified for the Grand National according to the handicapper - TEMPTED

Baller

Just watching the game again. If I was an arsenal fan of be f***ing fuming we let that tbf. Carrick 2nd half is the best shift A few have put in for a while. RvP awful though, Di Maria was pretty f***ing poor too.

The much maligned Smalling, Young and Fellaini all having decent games tbf. Funny to see Young the sub substituted though

Originally Posted by dunk

Just watching the game again. If I was an arsenal fan of be f***ing fuming we let that tbf. Carrick 2nd half is the best shift A few have put in for a while. RvP awful though, Di Maria was pretty f***ing poor too.

How did welbeck do mate?

Originally Posted by dunk

Just watching the game again. If I was an arsenal fan of be f***ing fuming we let that tbf. Carrick 2nd half is the best shift A few have put in for a while. RvP awful though, Di Maria was pretty f***ing poor too.

Really? Thought he had a great game and was a constant threat.

Carrick was superb, loved how he went to Fellaini during the Wilshere incident and pulled him away

Originally Posted by Sparky***

How did welbeck do mate?

He played well. The only forward of Arsenal's that constantly had our defence on its toes.

Say what you want about him, but I'd much rather have him in our team than RvP and his ability to actually be on the pitch certainly places him above Falcao's influence for United thus far. Yeah, I know, goals goals blah blah f***ing blah.

Thought Di Maria had a good game. Great on the break but what the f*** him and Rooney were doing at times was beyond me. Thankfully they pulled their collective fingers out and went for the kill.

Typical game from Welbeck, nothing more. Agree with Throb regarding Arsenals chances. One clear cut and the rest were half chances or down Dave's throat.

Still buzzing tbh. Big Louis was strutting like a mother f***er in his post match presser.

Di Maria Lost the ball a lot and made some terrible decisions with his passing etc. f***ing flicks on the edge of his own area ffs, made a goal and did force Arsenal back on occasion tbf, pretty poor may have been an overstatement. Not a £60m performance though.

Edit: and that f***ing miss :shakehead:

Fitness seems to be absolutely crucial for Van Gaal. It was interesting when he spoke about taking Young off because he believed Young couldn't play 90 minutes due to lack of full fitness. Not many managers would have substituted a substitute in that situation IMO.

Everything seems to be so precise, and monitored in detail. He knew Young was a potential weak-link on that left side going deep into the last minutes of the game, so hooked him.

With that in mind, it probably explains why we haven't seen much of Herrera recently. It also makes things very interesting regarding Falcao, as he will be unleashed only when he's 110%. Compare this management with Moyes, who refused to substitute Van Persie because of what the media would have said.

World Class gamesmanship from Di Maria in stoppage time

Fair play to Ashley Young for his shift on Saturday, not a fan of the useless c*** but he did well and really helped Blackett through the game.

What the f*** was Jamie Redknapp banging on about at FT RE: United's defence. It's not f***ing great but since the Leicester game we've seen a huge improvement and that's without various defenders and a couple of stupid red cards.

3 goals conceded in the last four games (Chelsea, City (with ten men), Palace & Arsenal).