Arsenal v Manchester United - 4:30pm 22/01/2023 - Official Match Thread

It's been a crazy two game swing. Such is the game of Football. Lets do the job Wednesday and throw a few kids in against Reading.

Originally Posted by silv

So go and bloody find one whippers

im asking for solutions not problems

There are loads out there. We need the new owners . Rice, bellingham, moriba , munsah

I also think we should keep mejbri next season at the club. Bin The Scottish Player. Eriksen Casemiro NEW cm , rotate and have mejbri and Fred as 4th and 5th choice

Glad to see the Rice train is gradually filling up.

Annoying game, I thought we were crap and Ten Hag's decisions were not great.

As for De Gea and that punch. Ffs.

Originally Posted by Dasilvatwins

Ifs and buts. If zaha scored at the end of palace we would have one point less .

We are a work in progress. The palace game feels worse now but not alot you can do. They will improve. At the very least and probably looking for positives in the furthest of regions, the shit@#%&!s won’t mask their abilities and we will still sign that CM RB and ST.

AWB was looking good but probably shows why he will never be a first team footballer for this team. Great as a cover though. The Scottish Players game drops every time he plays. I think his head is already at another club and Fred has shown at his best he is a squad player.

He was in as cover and was at fault for the first and third goals, so probably not that great.

Hag will get rid as soon as he can. Guaranteed.

Originally Posted by atticusgrinch

He was in as cover and was at fault for the first and third goals, so probably not that great.

Hag will get rid as soon as he can. Guaranteed.

Whilst obviously you can’t predict. As cover you’d expect your best players playing. I get you can never predict and the situation right now he is in as cover. But there’s more chance the first team RB plays the big games.

Originally Posted by atticusgrinch

He was in as cover and was at fault for the first and third goals, so probably not that great.

Hag will get rid as soon as he can. Guaranteed.

100%

He’s a liability.

Originally Posted by MUFC One Love

Annoying game, I thought we were crap and Ten Hag's decisions were not great.

As for De Gea and that punch. Ffs.

That infuriated me. Just catch the £#%&!ing thing, diffuse the entire situation and show some authority.

I thought we were good in the first half but as we've seen far too often this season we wilt terribly in the final 15-20 mins and find ourselves hanging on time and time again. Can't keep hold of the ball, can't get up the pitch and surrender possession over and over. It's cost us 4 points this week.

Away to Arsenal who are top of the league - that can happen. But we've played vastly inferior teams than them this season and found ourselves hanging on at the end because we can't control the game.

That's the next steps for us - being ruthless enough to kill the game when we're on top and then being able to keep teams at arm's length.

It took Pep, Klopp and that #@&%! at Arsenal a season or two to get the players fit enough to go the full 90 minutes. We’re still in the early stages.

Did that punch lead up to the goal? I can’t remember.

Originally Posted by Dr Stranger

Did that punch lead up to the goal? I can’t remember.

Wasn’t long before and was part of the long spell in which we couldn’t get out. He catches it, takes the pressure off, resets etc. who knows.

Originally Posted by dunk

It took Pep, Klopp and that #@&%! at Arsenal a season or two to get the players fit enough to go the full 90 minutes. We’re still in the early stages.

Definitely. You had Keane yesterday banging on about how we’ve still got problems and how certain players are still there. Yes, Roy, because it’s been six months since the new manager came in and we were utterly shambolic last season.

People seemingly love to judge exactly where we are now like we’re the finished article: comparing us to the very top teams and then saying “they’re still some way off” - of course we £#%&!ing are. We were getting tonked 4-0 at Brighton just a few months ago. The progress and rate of it is very impressive.

Of course Keane made his bed with all his Ronaldo horseshit recently so he’ll do everything to not climb down from that one.

Originally Posted by dunk

Wasn’t long before and was part of the long spell in which we couldn’t get out. He catches it, takes the pressure off, resets etc. who knows.

We’ve had a few moments like that in the last few games where we’ve brought undue pressure on ourselves. Bruno silly flicks galore that eventually landed Camsemiro in trouble was a clear one last week. Too many set prices given away. Yesterday we were too easy to get at down the flanks and, once again, the ball just wouldn’t stick for us.

It’s an issue for us away from home. We’ve got away with it during some narrow wins this season, but it’s badly stung us this week.

Still, it’s just where we are in the process and feels more like details and finishing touches. By and large, we prepare well and play well in these games now. I said this week that I expect us to be set right and ‘turn up’ at Arsenal, even if that isn’t enough. It’s a far cry from the absolute mess we’ve been in recent years.

The biggest positive is that Erik has got the expectation levels raised for us after less than 20 league games into his first season.

We can see what he's done already for the squad, there's clear game plans, he adapted to City's half time tactical change, albeit after they'd scored, but we came out on top. We and he both know he's not got the squad he wants yet. No point moaning about the same players week in, week out, until he persists with them because he wants to. At the moment, the squad isn't good enough but he's got a very good first XI. Levels of optimism for the summer and next season will vary based on who owns the club at that point!

https://twitter.com/centredevils/status/1617525140325281795?s=46&t=bYiDuKpVTdz0ZaakQ7xeeQ

Originally Posted by AK14

https://twitter.com/centredevils/sta...Tdz0ZaakQ7xeeQ

didn't mention missing our player of the season too. £#%&!ing gooner.

I took that as a compliment....

Originally Posted by Bunker Buster

I took that as a compliment....

yes, clearly it was a very reasonable comment from henry. who generally makes reasonable comments. it wasn't serious. nothing is ever good enough. want more.

Neville and Carragher highlighting the lack of support for both our fullbacks, particularly from the front men, and Bruno completely absent for the 3rd goal leaving AWB 1v2.

Shaw and AWB hung out to dry facing 36 1v1’s over the course of the game, more than any other fullbacks in a single game all season. Proves how wel the pair of them did considering they were targeted.

Tired, lazy lunge to cut out the cross field ball by McT, instead of moving over to cover the play, Bruno thinking he’s playing upfront leaving a knackered AWB against Martinelli and Zinchecko in acres on the right.

All AWB’s fault though, obvs.

Originally Posted by dunk

Neville and Carragher highlighting the lack of support for both our fullbacks, particularly from the front men, and Bruno completely absent for the 3rd goal leaving AWB 1v2.

Shaw and AWB hung out to dry facing 36 1v1’s over the course of the game, more than any other fullbacks in a single game all season. Proves how well the pair of them did considering they were targeted.

Tired, lazy lunge to cut out the cross field ball by McT, instead of moving over to cover the play, Bruno thinking he’s playing upfront leaving a knackered AWB against Martinelli and Zinchecko in acres on the right.

All AWB’s fault though, obvs.

Originally Posted by AK14

They did, whether you like it or not tbh. Arsenal’s game plan was to overload the wide area then switch and isolate the FB, due to our midfield lacking the athleticism to get out and support, Rashford staying up top and eventually taking Antony off, they had no support.

Also one of the reasons we struggled to get out, we couldn’t get it to either FB to carry forward when we were losing it through the middle.

Saka didn’t achieve anything when up against Shaw btw, the goal came when he managed to get onto Eriksen. Similar Martinelli v AWB, got very little joy.