Manchester United U21s 3 v Arsenal 2 - Match Reaction

[Munchies]

Soccer AM fanzone thing. BOOM!

[Niall_Quinn]

You're making excuses for Gabriel and pointing out other players failing to do the basics when Gabriel simply had to clear the ball for that first goal. There isn't anything to think about tactically, he doesn't have to worry about the positioning of Ramsey or anyone else for that matter. It's just get to the ball first and clear it. It's that simple. If everyone does their own job properly, the goal is prevented but you can't keep banging on about Ramsey and Walcott but then make excuses for Gabriel. It's nonsense. When the ball bounces right in front of you but you fuck up the clearance, regardless of what happened for that scenario to occur, you've fucked up if you can't make a simple clearance. It's bullshit to point to anyone else on the pitch. A collection of errors happen in the lead up but each man has to take responsibility for their failures and not make excuses. That applies to Ramsey and Walcott. I'm not excusing their failings in the build up but it seems as though you are for Gabriel. Honestly, he is not good and if that were Merts playing, I can't see you making the same excuses. Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say that wasn't good enough.

No, it's the other way around. I already said Gabriel (and the rest of the back four) were full of mistakes today. So that's not an excuse. You're for Merts even though he's well past his sell by date and there's no future whatsoever having him near the team. So Mert's replacement is the target for your criticism. But Kos was just as poor as Gabriel today. Certainly, Gabriel should have cleared the ball. But how can you say if he just does his job and clear it then we don't concede but then try to airbrush the obvious fact that if Theo doesn't set the move up in the first place, through his sheer laziness, we also avoid conceding? It's a catalogue of shite, not just the last act. Anyway, I'm not for Gabriel, I'm for anyone bar Merts. The season's gone now so it's even more important to get somebody else in there, what do we have left to lose? Whether it is Gabriel or Chambers or anyone. I'm hoping (stupidly) for big changes next season and there's absolutely no way players like Mertesacker and Flamini can be part of that. Giroud either, in truth. And certainly not Walcott. We can't go forward with the second tier junk (comparatively at the top level) if we want to move on. And I'm not criticising Ramsey as a player, I'm saying the old fool in charge obviously feels it's fine for Ramsey to abandon his post and wander all over the place. There's no discipline. Nobody taking Ramsey to one side and telling him what his job is - or worse, some old fool taking him aside and actively helping him fuck things up. You only mentioned some of the players I criticised, the ones that help make the point you are trying to make.

[Power n Glory]

I'll take the most stable CB partnership over some obsession to bring in someone that is not up to scratch. If Merts was having a mare of a season, i'd understand the need for a change. Also, Kos is overrated. He only started playing well once Merts was in the side.

[Munchies]

Ramsey was utter shit today

get rid in the summer.

what is his best position? Shit in CM, shit as a winger. What does he do?

13/14 Ramsey is a long way away

[Niall_Quinn]

I'll take the most stable CB partnership over some obsession to bring in someone that is not up to scratch. If Merts was having a mare of a season, i'd understand the need for a change. Also, Kos is overrated. He only started playing well once Merts was in the side.

So you'd build the defence around Merts? You can't be serious. I'm not looking to scrap wins against Bournemouth. I remember the whole point of the stadium move. A world class venue to host a world class team that is competing at the top of the game. Now while Gabriel might not be suitable for that task, we don't know yet because he's been a bit player, it would be crazy to pretend Mertesacker fits the bill. Why would we settle for a player like that if we have any serious ambitions? So he hasn't had a mare of a season. Is that the standard now? He's slow, he slows the game down and he's an accident waiting to happen against any team with a bit of pace. We can do a hell of a lot better than him can't we? We can do better than plenty of other players in the squad too. It all depends what we want. Mediocrity or excellence.

[Munchies]

So you'd build the defence around Merts? You can't be serious. I'm not looking to scrap wins against Bournemouth. I remember the whole point of the stadium move. A world class venue to host a world class team that is competing at the top of the game. Now while Gabriel might not be suitable for that task, we don't know yet because he's been a bit player, it would be crazy to pretend Mertesacker fits the bill. Why would we settle for a player like that if we have any serious ambitions? So he hasn't had a mare of a season. Is that the standard now? He's slow, he slows the game down and he's an accident waiting to happen against any team with a bit of pace. We can do a hell of a lot better than him can't we? We can do better than plenty of other players in the squad too. It all depends what we want. Mediocrity or excellence.

Having Mertesacker as a benchmark is a joke

[selassie]

Ramsey was utter shit today

get rid in the summer.

what is his best position? Shit in CM, shit as a winger. What does he do?

13/14 Ramsey is a long way away

He was lucky to stay on the field too. I'm done with him, he can't pass, can't tackle and can't finish, he offers this team nothing.

[Marc Overmars]

I don't mind Merts, he's far from perfect of course but I think he generally tends to work well with Kos. Easy to say with hindsight I know but we probably needed to keep the settled pairing for today, as it wasn't really the time to experiment. United didn't really have much to offer up front, they just profited from some dodgy defending. Their tails went up when they sensed the panic in our ranks.

We need better from everyone though, apart from Ozil and Cech not a single player has been worth a dime since Christmas. This time last year we were winning near enough every week, now we're in the title race and suddenly we can't buy a win. It's quite pathetic how textbook this all is, this club just can't deal with the pressure and expectation to achieve. Other teams thrive on it, we just bury ourselves in the sand and come out when it's over.

[Power n Glory]

So you'd build the defence around Merts? You can't be serious. I'm not looking to scrap wins against Bournemouth. I remember the whole point of the stadium move. A world class venue to host a world class team that is competing at the top of the game. Now while Gabriel might not be suitable for that task, we don't know yet because he's been a bit player, it would be crazy to pretend Mertesacker fits the bill. Why would we settle for a player like that if we have any serious ambitions? So he hasn't had a mare of a season. Is that the standard now? He's slow, he slows the game down and he's an accident waiting to happen against any team with a bit of pace. We can do a hell of a lot better than him can't we? We can do better than plenty of other players in the squad too. It all depends what we want. Mediocrity or excellence.

Terrible post. So after that shower of shite you'd start Gabriel with Kos again? I said nothing about building the defence around Merts, it just seems sensible to me to play the most in form and stable partnership until the season blows over. Now isn't the time to try and bed in a player looking out of form just because.

[Niall_Quinn]

Terrible post. So after that shower of shite you'd start Gabriel with Kos again? I said nothing about building the defence around Merts, it just seems sensible to me to play the most in form and stable partnership until the season blows over. Now isn't the time to try and bed in a player looking out of form just because.

Wrong way around again. Why go with the has-been snail until the end of the season? What then? Kick off the new season with a new partnership? Why? This season is done, the remaining games could be used to try to get something we could actually use next season into place. It should have been done months earlier. The shower of shite you refer to has been par for the course all season. There have been a handful of games where we've played well but that's it. Merts has made just as many mistakes as Gabriel and the former has had much more opportunity to sort his shit out. Mistakes aside (both are guilty and so is Kos), it's not difficult to see Gabriel is the more accomplished defender with a possible future at the club whereas the German is shot and has none. Admittedly, the turd chef Wenger has made his mark in much the same way as he stamped everything good out of Chambers, but that applies to every player at Arsenal and there's nothing that can be done about it while the old goat is here. Even if Merts was on par with Gabriel, the pace issue alone seals the deal.

http://www.squawka.com/comparison-ma...ing_to_goal#90