Match Reaction vs United

[Ollie the Optimist]

Not sure what you are after. Prior to the season I didn't think we'd win the league. A (hopeful) change in position having seen us get to the top come November is a perfectly reasonable thing. And now the Manure game has demonstrated our team's shortcomings. You know as well as I do that this game was not an average league defeat. My position may change again after a few more games. Because that's what football is. Each weekend can cause perceptions to change.

Don't confuse pointing out issues with the team with being reactionary rather than reacting.

in the league and champions league this season, we have played spurs, liverpool, united, dortmund x2 and napoli. conceding 2 goals. our defence has kept out some of the best striker partnerships. we've lost 2 and won 4. the four wins were some of the best performances from this team in a long way, the two defeats were to an extent unlucky, the winners on both occasions were not better then us on the day. the fact is, that was united's best performance of the season. says everything you need to know about their season.

these shortcomings you talk of, look at the big games this season, not only have we won 4 of them, we won all 4 by being the best team, being resilient in defence and explosive in attack. superb performances, and we won those games with a huge injury list too. you can prepare for injuries by adding cover, you can't prepare though for extremes, such as all 4 wingers being out at once. while we may not win the league, yesterdays game shows how fall united have fallen. that was their best performance of the season, it was probably our worst one, and we almost got a point and perhaps that was the least we deserved.

[Bumble]

in the league and champions league this season, we have played spurs, liverpool, united, dortmund x2 and napoli. conceding 2 goals. our defence has kept out some of the best striker partnerships. we've lost 2 and won 4. the four wins were some of the best performances from this team in a long way, the two defeats were to an extent unlucky, the winners on both occasions were not better then us on the day. the fact is, that was united's best performance of the season. says everything you need to know about their season.

these shortcomings you talk of, look at the big games this season, not only have we won 4 of them, we won all 4 by being the best team, being resilient in defence and explosive in attack. superb performances, and we won those games with a huge injury list too. you can prepare for injuries by adding cover, you can't prepare though for extremes, such as all 4 wingers being out at once. while we may not win the league, yesterdays game shows how fall united have fallen. that was their best performance of the season, it was probably our worst one, and we almost got a point and perhaps that was the least we deserved.

We weren't the best team in Dortmund, that was a real smash and grab. We won those four games because we scored first, the two we lost were because we conceded first. In games against the top sides, it is very important who can score first. We aren't very good at chasing the game but are very good at keeping a lead. Had Spurs or Liverpool scored first I am not sure we would have won either game, likewise had we scored first against United I am sure we would have won.

The best teams absorb pressure and hit on the break. I doubt that was Uniteds best performance because they didn't play that well but didn't really need to.

[fakeyank]

Looks like he is out till December and Theo is the only one coming back

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/...ror-hamstring-

[JonasTC]

We weren't the best team in Dortmund, that was a real smash and grab. We won those four games because we scored first, the two we lost were because we conceded first. In games against the top sides, it is very important who can score first. We aren't very good at chasing the game but are very good at keeping a lead. Had Spurs or Liverpool scored first I am not sure we would have won either game, likewise had we scored first against United I am sure we would have won.

The best teams absorb pressure and hit on the break. I doubt that was Uniteds best performance because they didn't play that well but didn't really need to.

We werent the best team!? Just because Dortmund plays super direct football, doesnt mean they were the better team, we were milimeters from scoring 3-4 more goals, Dortmund didnt really have any dangerous chances. People like you dont even consider defence to be a part of a team and therefor you think Dortmund are better because they play the more direct football...

[IBK]

in the league and champions league this season, we have played spurs, liverpool, united, dortmund x2 and napoli. conceding 2 goals. our defence has kept out some of the best striker partnerships. we've lost 2 and won 4. the four wins were some of the best performances from this team in a long way, the two defeats were to an extent unlucky, the winners on both occasions were not better then us on the day. the fact is, that was united's best performance of the season. says everything you need to know about their season.

these shortcomings you talk of, look at the big games this season, not only have we won 4 of them, we won all 4 by being the best team, being resilient in defence and explosive in attack. superb performances, and we won those games with a huge injury list too. you can prepare for injuries by adding cover, you can't prepare though for extremes, such as all 4 wingers being out at once. while we may not win the league, yesterdays game shows how fall united have fallen. that was their best performance of the season, it was probably our worst one, and we almost got a point and perhaps that was the least we deserved.

But Ollie - noone's underplaying our achievements. What is being focused on is the problems that we continue to suffer regardless - namely:

- Ongoing debilitating injury situation that we need to start taking into account with our transfer dealings if we want to be champions
- Overplaying our match winners. Whether or not we have a capable squad on paper - we all know that the reality is that there are at least 8 first team players who need to be on the pitch if we are to be confident of winning games.
- Predictability. Our players need to be 100% every game to counter the fact that teams know how to stop us play. We have done exceptionally well to maintain this so far this season - but there seems so little room for error.

If we are honest, these issues are nothing new. The improvement in our defence, not in our attacking ability as a team is why we are where we are.

[JonasTC]

But Ollie - noone's underplaying our achievements. What is being focused on is the problems that we continue to suffer regardless - namely:

- Ongoing debilitating injury situation that we need to start taking into account with our transfer dealings if we want to be champions
- Overplaying our match winners. Whether or not we have a capable squad on paper - we all know that the reality is that there are at least 8 first team players who need to be on the pitch if we are to be confident of winning games.
- Predictability. Our players need to be 100% every game to counter the fact that teams know how to stop us play. We have done exceptionally well to maintain this so far this season - but there seems so little room for error.

If we are honest, these issues are nothing new. The improvement in our defence, not in our attacking ability as a team is why we are where we are.

You are being unrealistic if you expect arsenal to have more squad depth than silly money clubs like chelsea and city, we cant have 3-4 quality players on every position just because we've been unlucky with injuries in the same area the last couple of months. All we really need is a 2. quality striker.

[IBK]

You are being unrealistic if you expect arsenal to have more squad depth than silly money clubs like chelsea and city, we cant have 3-4 quality players on every position just because we've been unlucky with injuries in the same area the last couple of months. All we really need is a 2. quality striker.

Noone is expecting us to trump the billionaires. But I see that you agree emphatically that short of this we need more cover.

[IBK]

Saw this post on Arseblog and liked it....

Whenever United think they might not be technically superior to their opposition, they compensate with energy, pressing and harrying, winning most of the 50-50 balls, forcing mistakes from the opposition. Rooney was a one-man disruption machine yesterday, and the rest weren't far behind.

These tactics are not a surprise, we've seen them many times before. Assuming you don't have the players to go face-to-face in a slugging match and hope for a points victory, then the only way to win in such circumstances is to make the ball do the work.

You need to be like Jackie Chan in a fight scene, moving so fast every punch misses its target. If you pass the ball before every onrushing United player gets to you then you suck the wind out of their sails. Even Rooney would give up after an hour of chasing shadows.

Arsenal have the players to do that, but Wenger bottled it, and in the first half there was only one team at the races and it wasn't Arsenal. They were better in the second, playing at a higher tempo, and the introduction of Wilshire added energy, though he seems to be a bit of a loose canon these days.

[Özim]

United do us regularly it should come as no surprise they beat us again, everytime we play them it's largely the same, they seem to want it more. Maybe Wenger should try something different it's been a long time since we've beaten them. I can still remember how great it felt winning games against them in the Henry days when we always felt we had a great chance, these days it's almost like we're beaten before we even start.

I thought we could get a result last weekend but was still tentative despite their awful start, our great form and the fact they have a new manager who hasn't managed to stamp his authority or style yet. If we ever had a great chance of winning it was last Sunday, we're not going to get such a good opportunity for a while I don't think, next time we play them I reckon they'll be a much more settled/confident side.

[Letters]

Often we've gone to OT of late they were clearly a lot better than us and it was more a matter of pride than anything. We've generally raised our game and dominated possession but to little effect and they've caught us on the counter-attack. It happened with wearying regularity and predictability. This time I think we're more than a match for them, the first half performance was baffling, we just didn't turn up. It does seem to be a mental thing. We were better in the 2nd half but still not good enough. Very disappointing because we're good enough to get something. The important thing is how we react, the international break has come at a good time on this occasion, we've got 3 winnable games in the rest of November.