Man United 0-1 Arsenal player ratings and match reaction

Raya 6 - Largely an observer as was protected by defence


White 6 - Struggled a bit with Garnacho


Saliba 8.5 - Excellent interceptions, no one was getting past him


Gabriel 8 - Did well in the air


Tomiyasu 7 - Largely composed


Partey 4.5 - Struggled on the ball giving it away constantly, dropped deeper and deeper


Rice 6 - Got forward occasionally but again not aware enough of United players nipping in to win possession


Odegaard 7 - Tried to make things happen


Havertz 6.5 - A bit muted


Trossard 7.5 - Tried to be a threat, well positioned for goal but lack of pace in game which was getting stretched meant he made way for Martinelli


Saka 6 - Looks spent….be interesting to see if this is one niggle too many going into last game of season




Subs:


Jesus 7 - Could have been brought on earlier


Martinelli 7.5 - Really injected pace into our game



Jorginho + Kiwior - Simply weren’t on the pitch long enough to get a score



The objective yesterday was to win, and whilst we were a bit lucklustre we were playing a side completely bereft of confidence or belief which helped us. I said in the match thread that it would be a jittery game, the occasion would make it so and on top of that we’ve had the jitters lately. No problem with that given it hasn’t ultimately cost us.
We’ve never really had control of the title in any meaningful way, so it’s hard to say we’ve thrown it away the way we threw it away last season. There is a little bit of a season of two halves like last season, just the opposite way round…which ultimately is how you want it to be.

It’s not in our hands, it hasn’t been for four weeks. But we’ve done all we can do. And well you can’t ask for any more than that

I only saw the highlights but it didn't look as nervy as people on here made out. But obviously I'm watching in the context of knowing the end result. Utd never really created much and Onana made a few good saves (which is unlike him!), on another day we could have been out of sight by the end.

Result was the only thing that really mattered and we got it.

COYS :sick:

I think Saliba remaining fit has validated the idea that we would have won the league last year had he been around. The guy is class.

The performance was not great but we didn’t really need to get out of second gear anyway because United carried very little threat. I think it’s looking obvious that we’re nervous and probably tired, so to navigate these fixtures in the way we have done has shown great resilience and a real winning mentality that I didn’t feel we had.

It’s likely that we end the second half of this season with a record of 16-1-1. After those two disastrous defeats at Christmas which left us playing catch up, this was the only way we could get back into the mix and we’ve really given it everything. We suspected after the Villa game it had gone and to feel that way after literally one slip up in the run-in shows how stupidly fine the margins are.

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

I think Saliba remaining fit has validated the idea that we would have won the league last year had he been around. The guy is class.

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Well yes, although Arteta made the wrong call playing Holding instead of Kiwior when Saliba got injured. Kiwior's not as good as Saliba but he's clearly better than Holding.

Tomiyasu getting injured in the same game as Saliba is what really did it.

Meant the only options were an untested Kiwior or... him.

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Originally Posted by WMUG

Tomiyasu getting injured in the same game as Saliba is what really did it.

Meant the only options were an untested Kiwior or... him.

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I think if you want a snapshot of the difference between this season and last you need to look at the games at Anfield. Between when we were shaking like shitting dogs from the moment Salah got a goal back to the game just before Xmas where we looked far more composed. The results were the same, the mentality entirely different.

Now doubtless having Saliba in the latter game helped things, but even though we were going through a bit of a rough patch and not that confident in front of goal…we looked far more comfortable in possession in midfield.

The other difference is that we don't have that moron Xhaka starting fights and breaking our concentration

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Originally Posted by Mac76

The other difference is that we don't have that moron Xhaka starting fights and breaking our concentration

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Do you mean the dude who has just gone 50 games unbeaten with Leverkusen as they march towards the treble? That bloke? :unsure:

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Originally Posted by Letters

Do you mean the dude who has just gone 50 games unbeaten with Leverkusen as they march towards the treble? That bloke? :unsure:

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Yes

You get that German football isn’t the same level technically or in terms of pace, or strength as the premier league. You don’t get the time you’d get in the Bundesliga. And our failure against Bayern Munich doesn’t change that

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Originally Posted by Letters

Do you mean the dude who has just gone 50 games unbeaten with Leverkusen as they march towards the treble? That bloke? :unsure:

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Do you mean the dude who spent five seasons giving the ball away, getting sent off and being about as quick as a statue?

Yes, that one

Except that's all bullshit, isn't it?

In other news:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGCkmmfhO_c

Leakier than their defence. :pal:

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Originally Posted by Letters

Except that's all bullshit, isn't it?

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Xhaka had some talent, decent passing stats, he actually in the end formed a decent partnership with Partey. But he was a massive liability, he was so completely one footed that he’d often give the ball away getting the ball set onto his left foot. He was often guilty of playing blind passes and square passes to no one. And he absolutely could be a red card magnet.


Whether he was a net benefit or detriment to Arsenal is debatable. What isn’t debatable is that we have not missed him one jot

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Originally Posted by Letters

Except that's all bullshit, isn't it?

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No it isn't - and here I will once again call on the fact that I was at every home game, plus watching every away game on TV, seeing just how much of a liability he was on a game-by-game basis

Arteta only liked him because he was a teacher's pet and/or had some revealing photos

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Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn

Whether he was a net benefit or detriment to Arsenal is debatable. What isn’t debatable is that we have not missed him one jot

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I think that's fair. But I never felt Xhaka was as bad as some people made out. Point taken about the difference in quality in the Bundasliga.

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Originally Posted by Mac76

No it isn't - and here I will once again call on the fact that I was at every home game, plus watching every away game on TV, seeing just how much of a liability he was on a game-by-game basis

Arteta only liked him because he was a teacher's pet and/or had some revealing photos

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Oh you’re still going with that theory are you :haha:

Wow - that was a nervous last 30 mins...but we won thank God.

We were nowhere near our best - and I was unhappy that by inviting them onto us and waiting for a mistake rather than trying to control the game we made them look better than they are. I understand that this is because we were wary of their threat in transition, but our forward and MF players looked like they thought they wouldnt need to get out of second gear to secure an easy win. It was always on the cards that Manure would react to their embarassment against Palace, and (as he has such a hard on for us) that Ten Hag would plan meticulously and raise his players for this home game.

The difference was our defence - and this was a game where our system was the winner. Being able to go away to OT and get the 3 points when we were below par shows how our team has progressed.

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Originally Posted by IBK

Wow - that was a nervous last 30 mins...but we won thank God.

We were nowhere near our best - and I was unhappy that by inviting them onto us and waiting for a mistake rather than trying to control the game we made them look better than they are. I understand that this is because we were wary of their threat in transition, but our forward and MF players looked like they thought they wouldnt need to get out of second gear to secure an easy win. It was always on the cards that Manure would react to their embarassment against Palace, and (as he has such a hard on for us) that Ten Hag would plan meticulously and raise his players for this home game.

The difference was our defence - and this was a game where our system was the winner. Being able to go away to OT and get the 3 points when we were below par shows how our team has progressed.

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That and their attack was Bobbins

Hojlund’s only noticeable contribution to the game was slipping


Diallo, McTominay and Garnacho were ok but no real end product

The defence has been amazing this season. We were very nervy against Bournemouth but for all that they rarely laid a glove on us. Same at WHL - we conceded a lot of possession but Spurs couldn't do much of note with it.

Regarding Xhaka, my take is there was always a good player in there but he was being misused by managers until last season. Once he was playing in a system that highlighted his strengths and mitigated his weaknesses, he we started seeing the player we paid all that money for back in the day.

HCZ is right that we haven't missed him, though.

Yesterday was weird. There were a couple of times when they made decoy runs that completely opened us up, and a decent finisher would've punished us.

We were uncharacteristically shite in possession and Arteta keeping Partey on for as long as he did was really strange IMO. Seemed obvious to me that he was a disaster waiting to happen, especially given it was 1-0. He'd already let Hojland in 1 on 1, he was giving the ball away for fun and not tracking back at all. One of the worst individual performances I've seen from any player in a long time. Auba against Watford is the only one I can recall that was that irredeemable.

Still though, we won in the league at Old Trafford for the first time since 2006, that's worth a hell of a lot.

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Originally Posted by WMUG

Regarding Xhaka, my take is there was always a good player in there but he was being misused by managers until last season. Once he was playing in a system that highlighted his strengths and mitigated his weaknesses, he we started seeing the player we paid all that money for back in the day.

HCZ is right that we haven't missed him, though.

Yesterday was weird. There were a couple of times when they made decoy runs that completely opened us up, and a decent finisher would've punished us.

We were uncharacteristically shite in possession and Arteta keeping Partey on for as long as he did was really strange IMO. Seemed obvious to me that he was a disaster waiting to happen, especially given it was 1-0. He'd already let Hojland in 1 on 1, he was giving the ball away for fun and not tracking back at all. One of the worst individual performances I've seen from any player in a long time. Auba against Watford is the only one I can recall that was that irredeemable.

Still though, we won in the league at Old Trafford for the first time since 2006, that's worth a hell of a lot.

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We win there I. 2020 as well but point stands, it was a huge win yesterday. Performance was irrelevant, 3 points was all that matters. We took them

Wow. That was Utd's 14th league defeat of the season! :haha:

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Originally Posted by Letters

Wow. That was Utd's 14th league defeat of the season! :haha:

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Most league defeats in a season going back to 1990

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Originally Posted by Ollie the Optimist

We win there I. 2020 as well but point stands, it was a huge win yesterday. Performance was irrelevant, 3 points was all that matters. We took them

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Covid doesn't count :lol:

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Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn

Most league defeats in a season going back to 1990

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Didn't think it could get worse for them than the Moyes season but here we are.

Likely to end the season with a negative goal difference too. They’re absolutely shit.

Seriously though, I think Garnacho is good and Arteta could probably turn him into an excellent player

If Man U have a clearout I thikn Arsenal should think about it

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Originally Posted by Mac76

Seriously though, I think Garnacho is good and Arteta could probably turn him into an excellent player

If Man U have a clearout I thikn Arsenal should think about it

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I somehow doubt he’s the type of player they’ll be looking to clear out

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Originally Posted by Mac76

The other difference is that we don't have that moron Xhaka starting fights and breaking our concentration

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Breaking our concentration? That's fucking hilarious, if you meant it.

Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, Tip, tap, tip, tap, tip, tap,..

Thank fuck for Xhaka. He was a good player and a proper player too. Not his fault nobody plays proper football any more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WMUG

Regarding Xhaka, my take is there was always a good player in there but he was being misused by managers until last season. Once he was playing in a system that highlighted his strengths and mitigated his weaknesses, he we started seeing the player we paid all that money for back in the day.

HCZ is right that we haven't missed him, though.

Yesterday was weird. There were a couple of times when they made decoy runs that completely opened us up, and a decent finisher would've punished us.

We were uncharacteristically shite in possession and Arteta keeping Partey on for as long as he did was really strange IMO. Seemed obvious to me that he was a disaster waiting to happen, especially given it was 1-0. He'd already let Hojland in 1 on 1, he was giving the ball away for fun and not tracking back at all. One of the worst individual performances I've seen from any player in a long time. Auba against Watford is the only one I can recall that was that irredeemable.

Still though, we won in the league at Old Trafford for the first time since 2006, that's worth a hell of a lot.

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Cost us £110 mill not to miss him.

As for Partey, was shit yesterday and has been shit in every game he has ever played for us, except when he's been playing in the fullback role. Clearly he's a fullback and not a midfielder.

Where's Tierney, btw? Perpetually injured or sold? He's our best fullback by a country mile. WTF happened to him?

What is a country mile, btw?

Arteta doesn't like full-backs so he's been on loan all season

And the Cambridge dictionary says 'A country mile is a long way or a large amount, often used humorously or figuratively.'

I looked that up on the interweb it's quite useful for things like that :good:

The story I've heard is that people who live in the countryside will often underestimate how far away things are, so they'll just say "Oh, it's a mile down the road" and 2 hours later you're still fighting your way through the mud and cow shit cursing the friendly farmer who you happened across.

:lol: