More shots on target, more shots off target, more blocked shots, greater possession, better passing completion rate, better tackling completion rate, superior territorial advantage, away from home… yet we left with nothing.
It’s the small details that make all the difference in these games and unfortunately for United, it was Arsenal who got the rub of the green today.
Had Gary Neville been stood one yard to his right, Nasri’s shot would have hit him square on and would have rebounded out of the penalty area. As it was, the ball hit Neville awkwardly, leading it to fire past Edwin Van der Sar.
At 1-0 down, just before the half time whistle was blown, Gael Clichy handballed in the box. The French defender look horror-stricken, convinced his side’s lead would now be taken away. The referee missed it though. More blatant than the penalty given against Michael Carrick at Stamford Bridge last season, yet somehow, both Howard Webb and the linesman were none the wiser. With the score at 1-1 leading in to the second half, it would have been game on.
At the moment, these small details don’t seem to be falling in United’s favour. We aren’t getting the lucky deflections, we aren’t getting the nailed on penalty decisions away from home, but more importantly, when these small details fall in to our hands, we aren’t making the most of them.
Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were all presented with goalscoring opportunities they should finish every day of the week, yet today, failed to make anything of them. Ronaldo dragged a shot just wide of the post, Rooney didn’t hit the target from positions where he could bury the ball, and on occasion, Berbatov didn’t even make contact on chances he could have rolled in to the back of the net.
Both teams created good chances, both teams had spells of brilliant football… yet only one team seemed to get the rub of the green. On other days, that team will be United, but unfortunately today wasn’t one of those days.
Diaby should have had a freekick outside the area after Carrick made no contact on the ball, yet Carrick should NOT have been booked for going after a ball that was there to be won and Almunia should have been booked for picking up the ball in the area following a pass-back from Clichy, which denied Rooney a goal-scoring opportunity. Dimitar Berbatov’s goal on 7 minutes was rightly ruled out for offside, and Arsenal’s appeals for a penalty for a Neville ‘handball’ were rightly turned down.
It was interesting to see nasty lunges from both Clichy and William Gallas after Wenger’s protests in the week. I don’t expect Ferguson to rant about the opposition intentionally trying to injure our players though.
The positives
Rafael Da Silva is a class act. For the half an hour he was on the pitch, he worked his bollocks off. He chased every ball down, was keen on the attack, and scored the goal of the match. Brilliant performance from the youngster.
Nicklas Bendtner is not a Manchester United player. Christ, that lad is shit. He could have taken the match ball home with him today if he had anything about him. Two chances early on which he somehow managed to fuck up, as well as screwing up a one on one towards the end. Arsenal fans will be praying for the return of Adebayor.
Anderson still shits on Fabregas. You wouldn’t have known Fabregas was on the pitch today for all the part he played. By all accounts, this season is a fall from grace for the young Spaniard, who will no doubt is already imagining the sunshine he’ll enjoy playing in La Liga next season. On several occasions Anderson got the better of him, bursting through the centre of the park and leaving Cesc for dead.
United made Arsenal look like the away team at the Emirates. There won’t be many teams who dominate a game in such a way on Arsenal’s turf this season, although I imagine there will be several who leave with a better result than ours. Whilst Arsenal clearly created chances, they were forced in to committing 10 more fouls than United, enjoyed a passing success of 77% to our 82%, spent more of the game in their own half, and were successful in just over half the tackles they attempted. United had a go at shooting 23 times in contrast to Arsenal’s 15.
Points win prizes though and whilst deflections and penalty decisions may go against us, we need to make our own luck and take our chances when they come. We failed to do that today and paid the price. The performance was encouraging though, nevertheless, and that is all of the top teams we’ve now played away from home. Roll on next weekend.
Man Utd News 24/7
Now you know how it felt for us at old trafford last season…We should have won that game, and you should have won this. But thats football for ya.
It was a good game of football and I’d agree with your assessment. Both teams played well but the detail made the difference. However stats can be misleading, Bendtner had two great chances early on and I would of backed Rooney to score any day.
I still don’t see us back in the title race though, we beat you home and away the season before last and weren’t even close to the title. Last season, we never beat you and were far closer………
bendtner is shit, sorry but its true but he wouldnt of played if adeboyor wasnt injured so that doesnt really matter.
Our tactics were all wrong today, Neville was shocking all match, Rafael came on and proved he should always start ahead of gary but it showed we missed Brown. Carrick was fucking shit today made no chances at all, kept trying impossible passes and just fucking stood still instead of running forward with the ball. We miss Scholes’s creativity and experience. Berbatov shouldnt of started this game it should of been Tevez and Rooney, with arsenals CB’s both having injuries what better way to make them work than having Rooney and Tevez running at them constantly with there work rate. Maybe Berba on at the end with his first touch vs tired defenders it would of worked alot better.
Yes arsenal were lucky not to have at least 1 penalty given against them, and yes their first goal was lucky, but that is no excuse at all we had enough chances to make them two details not matter. It was a good game to watch but we came out with nothing so it turned out to be frustrating.
But still we’re,
CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND, CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE
Poor performance today. Poor passing didn`t help. I think its time for Van der Sar to be dropped. He brings unnecessary pressure on the defence with poor kick-outs and punches, this gives the other teams supporters a huge lift. Against Liverpool he brought the crowd back into the game after we where comfortable this gave the team a lift and we faded badly. Why did it take so long to bring Tevez on? Rooney and Berbatov were poor. Not much point in bringing him on with 15 minutes to go, at least give him 25 minutes
Scott, you sum it up perfectly. In large periods of the game we totally dominated, making Arsenal look like the away team. As the game went on we were always going to be more and more exposed at the back as we were chasing the game. There were chances both ways, but we should be very disappointed at not getting at least one point today. Rooney misses at least one sitter, Carrick puts it wide umarked from 15 metres out, at least one clear penalty (granted, arse should have had ONE too), Ronaldo´s miss, and generally every bounce of the ball seemed to land at Arsenal´s feet. Just not our day. BTW, Silvestre smiling and celebrating and waving like an idiot after the match, what´s that about?
Naive football. If Carlos Q were still about then I don’t think the game would of played out the way it did. Utd would have imposed their game. Not a good sign for the rest of the season. Utd now need to take 9 out 9 from the 3 home games against CFC, LFC and AFC.
As for the ref, well most are incompetent and inconsistent. If Gale Clichy’s handball is given then a different game altogether.
silvestre is a shit player and an arrogant french man, thats what its about
wont be long till he bags a couple of goals… own goals that is.
all round shit performance! the story of the season an absolute abundance of missed chances. anderson should never be allowed to shoot again!
You fail to mention the penalty claim that Arsenal should have had when Vidic tugged and prevented Samir Nasri from claiming the 3rd. In truth the referee had a bad game and yes, Man U missed that bit of luck which could have seen their chances being converted. Though I would recommend that you watch the 2nd goal again and just admire the sheet beauty of patient passing and cool finishing. I dont agree with Anderson getting one over Fabregas though – it happened once during the first half when he stole the ball from him, but otherwise Fabregas had one of his better games this season. Bendtner and Theo made some poor decisions for the final ball as did Rooney I thought. Ronaldo blew hot and cold, though his one mazy run was brilliant and it was surprising he didnt find the net.
But I daresay there has been a better high tempo game played this season. Loved every minute of it.
I doubt you represent all United fans but you certainly are a bitter one. Arsenal have suffered the brunt of poor refereeing this season, with two goals ruled offside which would have left us 2 points off the leaders.
The referee was poor. To both sides. We deserved a penalty for Vidic’s tug on Nasri even more than you did for the Clichy one so shut your fanny and stop whinging.
It was an incredible game, game of the season probably so appreciate that.
Anderson shits all over fabregas!!!! Hilarious. I knew fabregas was on the pitch cos he set up the second goal. Your ‘analysis’ is all full of ifs buts and maybes. If the referee was decent he would have booked Ronaldo for deliberate handball. Neville handles in the box (admittedly he was too close to the ball to get away), Clichy handles (a clearer peno), and a stonewall peno is not given on NAsri and no card (perhaps a red) for Vidic. Yes you had chances but if you take away wild shots from way out by Rooney, Neville and Anderson it was closer. You had more possession cos you were chasing the game. You didn’t play your usual coy tactics against us. Normally we have all the possession and you lot sit deep. Your problem is that instead of previous seasons when your gameplan was either to nullify us or kick lumps out of us you fancied yourselves to go toe to toe with us- as ferguson says ‘fanstasy football’. Against THE fanstasy football team your tactics were your undoing.
Da Silva looks good (offensively and defensively) and scored a wondergoal. My main observation is that I was surprised that you lot looked as dodgy at the back as we did. Your keeper is living on his reputation- he’s been worse than Almunia this season but no one will say it cos he’s Edwin Van der Saar.
If you want to talk about ifs buts and maybes- if we were a bit more savvy in the last ten mins of non fergie time we would have made it 4 or 5 while you chased the game. if we had a first choice striker to choose from Bendtner wouldn’t have played.
Bottom line – we needed it more than you today.
Had Ronaldo done what Nasri did in the box, Arsenal fans would call it a dive. He threw himself to the floor. Every penalty Ronaldo has ever won was deserved if you believe Nasri was owed one today.
Silly assessment. Fabregas was one of the best players on the pitch, it was probably his best performance of the season so far. ManU had a fair few goal attempts, but many were from outside the box – hit-and-hope stuff. Given our recent dip in form it’s only natural that we didn’t enjoy as much possession as usual, but we still had numerous chances to extend the lead.
This was just what Arsenal needed. Cheers guys.
For the record I agree that Ronaldo can’t buy a peno any more cos of his reputation. He had a chance to go down in the second half but didn’t (Sky nearly gave him a medal- how dare Arsenal players attempt to tackle him) Regardless of what Nasri did Vidic was trying to pull his jersey off. Steven Gerrard would’ve got the peno……
Anderson held the ball well and made some good passes but Fabregas was better in my biased opinion. His set pieces were nothing special but he set up Nasri’s second and should’ve had a second assist with that outside of the boot ball to Bendtner in the second half but unfortunately your assessment of Bendtner is more accurate, bit of a donkey this season. I’m not sure that us putting the ball in the net twice compared to your once is a ‘small detail’. Clichy and Nasri played their best games of the season, Almunia and Fabianski were solid, Gallas and Silvestre looked a little shaky. Sagna hoofed it a little too much for my liking but still a good performance. Denilson and Diaby showed no fear.
If Rooney had his shooting boots on we would’ve had a problem but luckily he was inaccurate. Berbatov was absent in the second half but caused some panic in the first, and I have to say you’re right about Da Silva, he looks like quite a player.
I think they just wanted it more, simple as that. The second goal sums it up, where was any pressure on their men with the ball? Everyone stood off them and walked around and allowed them time and space to look up. And that shit happened all fucking game.
God…it feels sickening.
Jonny, that outside of the boot pass was very nice, but Bedtner was a good yard offside!
yes, Vidic did tug Nasri’s shirt. but man, you should see how he lifted his feet of the ground!
Gerry – I agree Gerrard would have got the pen, as he would have dived like Nasri did. A dive is still a dive. Had Nasri chosen to stay on his feet, he probably would have scored.
i gree with the most of your assessment, but didn’t you something we used to this season?! manchester are playing with their individual abilities characters not with team spirit they lack commitment and desire to hold on their possession and attack..
our midfialders lack the appropriate distribution throughout the midfield, when you have two wingers tend to attack our midfielders should be playing beside each other, but they insist to play away from each other, Ronaldo’s side should have one of them while the other one play in the center, all their attacks come from our right side with our captain struggle to meet Nasri’s pace and speed which lead to frustration in the defence and lack of confidence.. Rio was the most stable player in our squad this season i think he has to improve his fitness and speed..
Berbatov is not that lazy the media had claimed he is but he needs to improve hiss acceleration because while he is running he can match the fastest “defenders” but he can’t generate that speed from the standing..
Finally, the most important thing we missed in united this season the the “Die Hard” player. our player do not fight for the ball they are so relaxed even when we are losing and they have no problem to see the opponent run at our goal instead they enjoy the match (watching)..
Rooney in his best would be our “die hard” player, but i don’t know what happens to him recently i think ferguson should apply the rotation more seriously between our forwards, more specifically he should starts with Tevez two or three games in a raw..
back to die hard issue, i think our playing style will be enhanced with the return of Scholes or Hargreaves to our midfield we are missing a consistent player throughout 90 minutes..
Not here to gloat, but just to say well done to Man Utd for a great game of football, and also to sir Alex for the way he conducted himself before and after the match. Up the Gunners.
Scott I cant believe that you are calling Nasri a diver. Look at the whole thing in the MOTD today. He kept going even when Vidic had fouled him outside the box . The final shirt tug made him fall. Admit it – it wasnt Gerrard like by a mile.
f**k all u cockney tw*ts, champions of europe! champions of england! full stop!
We sorely miss Carlos Querioz. Something is wrong. Our free flowing football aint there. Rio and Vida are not as solid as they were last year. Rooneys finishing was awful. Ronaldo was positive today, seems like he’s no longer on an ego trip. Viva Ronaldo. However, when he aint, he dosen’t do those amazing things.
Anderson and Rooney off was totally wrong, should’ve been Park and Berb for Giggs and Tevez.
Sir Alex made the right choice with starting Neville on right back. Rafael is excellent in attack, but his posisitioning defensivly is awful. He cost us against Celtic, and he might aswell had cost us today. He’s one to watch though, an excellent prospect, and Sir Alex used him correct today.
I can’t see us winning the Premiership this year. We don’t have the look of Champions, not as of yet.
Scott he took a tumble on feeling contact- and was tugged back once already as PG said and didn’t go down. A dive in the truest sense would be Rooney when Sol Campbell actually moved his foot out of the way or Pires against Pompey or Gerrard being ‘a clever player’ every second week!
@Hakkon: are you kidding??? Our football have even been free- flowing this year than it ever was under CQ, we only look unstable defensively and our strikers are missing chances. Watch the Celtic game again, he didn’t cost us that goal, though i agree he didn’t have a good match(defense wise) all true the match, but it wasn’t his fault for the goal.
To be absolutely honest, Neville had a ‘mare of a game. Id point my finger at him for the second gone tbh. He let Fabregas turn him far too easy that led to the killer pass. Take nothing away from the strike though.
A lot of Arsenal’s crosses came from his end as well.
Only silver lining – Rafael Da Silva.
*goal. oopsie :p
I have never seen a United so shaky at the back, Arsenal looked like they were going to score from every attack! Rio was as bad as I can ever remember, and as for Gary Neville he just cant play in these types of games no more, he couldnt keep up with the pace of the game and Nasri tore him to shreds when he was there. Gary Neville should know better and it was mainly his fault for Arsenal’s second goal, he tried to win a ball of Fabregas that he couldnt, and Fabregas turned him easily and found Nasri, 2-0 game over.
I have heard alot of people banging on after this game how brilliant United were, I certainly didnt see this great performance, I thought it was a poor performance, Berbatov was very quiet aswel, to think I saw someone in the press claim he is a better player than Eric Cantona was! FUCK OFF!
I know Wes Brown was injured today, but as soon as hes fit he should be straight back in the side, he is United’s number 1 at right back now!
I absolutely love Gary Neville, hes arguably the greatest right back in the clubs history and his passion and commitment to the club is second to none, but he clearly isnt the same player after his long spell on the side lines. He really struggled today, it was sad to see such a great player for United to look out of his depth, age and injuries catch up with everyone and Gary is no exception.
Scott, excellent assessment of the game and how its just not quite happening for Utd at the moment. Yet another game in which we dominated but left with nothing. In spite of that, i firmly believe we are a mere fraction away from clicking into place, with goals-a-plenty to follow. The down side is of course we have failed yet again to take points from our supposed title rivals, something we did so well last season. Whilst Berbatovs arrival is certainly welcome, it HAS changed our style of play somewhat with our midfield seeming a little more hesitant in making those supporting runs. Rotation yes, but no one player should be safe from that and at the moment Berby seems to be. I’d like to see Roo and Tevez making a few more starts together. In defence Vidics’ not quite himself at the moment, Neville wasn’t up to it today and is struggling to recapture his pre injury level. All in all, disappointing! It seems that match after match we’re left saying “playing well, we just didn’t get the breaks.”
shit 3rd kit. hate it so much.
i think wenger overplayed SAF as simple as that.
and of course it wasn’t our day.
but 1-1 everton, 4-3 hull, 1-1 celtic and so one.
not good signs.
tevez on 78th minute ? bullshit.
and of course the turning point, the 2nd arsenal goal. who would have thought. they beat us deservingly.
I think we played fine going foward but our finishing was shocking. The back was average except for Neville, he was hopelessly out of his depth. Starting da silva against nasri would make more sense. Neville has been a united player thru and thru but it’s over. All in all it was a top notch game and arsenal just came out on top today. Fair play to them, they wanted it more.
Some intresting comments on here. Just one thing to pick up on, what was wrong with Silvestre celebrating at the end, and whats the difference in him celebrating a win against his former team and rooney doing the same thing at Everton. I didnt see Silvestre kissing his badge in front of your fans, i dint see him kicking players off the park and generally being a disrespectful shit like rooney is.
kissing his badge when he’s been there what a few months now? disgusts me really how players are these days, i dont mean all arsenal players btw if a player kisses their badge after being there a couple of years and puts their heart and soul into that club then fair enough let them celebrate in that way. silvestre has done fuck all for arsenal yet the disrepectfull little shit has the cheek to kiss a badge that can’t mean anything to him yet.He’s done nothing for arsenal and they have done nothing to him. silvestre= ungratefull poser.
we were piss poor today so arsenal deserved to win. we gifted that result to them, but thats not their fault though so they deserve all the credit.
we miss Quieroz.
OTRed: Look at their goal once more. When the corner is cleared he is all gung-ho towards a counter-attack. He is, however, miles away from the the Celtic-player who picks up the loose ball, and puts it right were Rafael should’ve been. Except from tackles, that boy has few defensive fibres in his body. That will come with time though. He’s only 17.
Free flowing football builds on the fundament of a great defence. I’ve lost count of the times when Rio and Vida have been in no mans land when the ball is knocked into the box. Eg Bendtners header. Or maybe our shaky defence is a result of a lazy striker up front, and not Tevez who runs his socks off in every game. Excellent vision and skill, but no one should ever again compare Berbatov to the King!
neville mite aswel retire now, hes fockin useless!!! no pace, no cross, just about tackles, cant head, mark or track, fabregas is slow and turned neville like he had cruyff on his back! rafael looks the business, how long till mr calderon comes sniffin round!
wazza cant finish to save his life, never confident wen i see the ball approaching him wen we hav a chance, hes only in the team cos hes english imo, tevez shud be upfront with dimitar before he decides to up and leave.
van der sar is shit but so are kuszcak n foster is injury prone, so i dnt quite kno wat fergie can do about that one.
lay off berba aswel, hes class, hes not tevez or rooney, running round for 90mins, he likes the ball at him and he makes things happen, why is nobody blaming ronaldo for letting nasri go free for their 2nd goal, or is he forgiven now for sucking a madrid cock!!???
its only 3points tho, and we should destroy the teams we have coming up, 5points behind is nothing in nov/dec.
Alex Is God
Divedivedive – I didn’t hear United fans singing “Die die, Micky Micky, Die” either. Silvestre had no reason to celebrate in that way as we are respectful of the players that move on. We sing their songs and support them. Shame Everton fans don’t show the same class.
Points to be noted from todays game -
- The match was amazing . football was the eventual winner
- Neville was not so bad . he was just not as good as rafael . also, rafael should not be first choice based on this performance itself . could count at least three occasions where carrick had to fill in for him at right back and he was way upfield . no excuse! brown is our best right back as of now. rafael is amazing backup/impact player. rednev should only be used as backup.
- Tevez is tremendously underused/underrated
- Wazza’s golden phase for the season is over
- We’re just 8 pts behind the leaders with a game in hand . its not the end of the world! (remember its only november)
- Arsenal versus Man United matches are like no other .produce the best football in the world
- Our defence is nothing like last season . we’ve been pathetic at the back for the past 4 games
- We really miss the ginger ninja
- i’m really sceptical about ando n nani living upto the hype in the long run . although, i hope they prove me wrong
- Our best player at the moment is Patrice Evra
also – what the fuck is up with oour finishing of late ?!
On the Nasri Penalty claim. To me it seemed like there was a foul committed outside the box with his shirt being grabbed. He stayed on his feet, Vidic then let go, Nasri then seemed to decide he was going nowhere and threw himself to the ground.
So freekick on the edge of the box, or yellow card for Nasri for diving if the ref missed the foul. The fact it was neither summed the refs day up perfectly
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/3407741/Arsene-Wenger-finds-his-new-Robert-Pires-in-dazzling-Samir-Nasri-Football.html
Fabregas had no impact eh? I do agree with a lot of the points you made here, but to suggest that Anderson is, ever has been, or ever will be a better player than Cesc is delusional.
i just somehow don,t think utd are upto the mark this season..for all your analysis of how we did well in all departments its the goals that count and we needed an 18yr old youngster to do it says it all about us.also lets not forget the fact that we let in 2 goals which just isn’t good enough.also i think the reason why we looked so aggressive is because arsenal allowed us to be after scoring twice.our defence is looking nowhere as good as it was in last 2 seasons.also after boasting how rooney has finally delivering upto his full potential its really not the case.he still is a guy who scores in patches and not consistently and should be rested for tevez as tevez is a big game player who thrives on such opportunities.i must say we missed fletcher.all in all for all the dominence we still aren’t good enough to win the league this year.
Overall a great game and an even greater result for us. Well done to Man U for helping to show how football should be played. It could have been a win for either team but in the end Arsenal showed more desire, scored the first goal and got the vital second. Am not sure about some of your comments Scott especially about Anderson shitting on Fabregas. I was there and didnt see that at all. I saw him largely being ineffective, the Arsenal midfielders passed around him and then he was substituted off due to lack of contribution. Plus the boy couldnt score in a free brothel. Fabregas pulled the strings, dictated the pace, set up a goal so dont understand where you get that strange idea from. Nevertheless, great game and a true advert for football. Your manager was gracious in defeat so please try and do the same.
Swapnil: Its not a case that were not good enough to win the league, its more the case that the fa have done their utmost to make sure we dont win the league!
The fixture list this season has been a joke for United, I was worried before the season started and I had good reason to worry. People may say thats not an excuse because everyone plays the same 38 games, but giving us a start playing our first 10 away games to virtually all of last seasons top 10, and playing away after every single champions league game seems a bit suspicious to me! The fa dont want United to win the league again, you can be sure of that! I mean you would think we would have had enough tough away games already, but after Stoke at home next week, we follow that up with another 3 straight away games to Aston Villa, Villarreal and Man City! You can be sure we will drop points in one of those games! Giving us a start like that allows the others to pull away from us and build some momentum, and what with United having to go away to Japan in December were going to have to play more catch up, and its another oppurtunity for our rivals to pull away.
The title is gone as far im concerned.
I always wonder why the Arsenal fans struggle with the ‘shitting on Fabregas’ remarks. It’s not about who is a better player or who contributes more for their team over the course of the season. You would obviously expect Fabregas to come out better there as he has been playing Prem football for far longer than Anderson.
The point is whenever the two face each other, Anderson gets one over on Fabregas. He’ll beat him for pace and skill. He’ll win the ball off him. He’ll charge right past him. I don’t recall seeing Fabregas get one over on Anderson yesterday even once, regardless of what else he might have done in the game.
It was an great match to watch and either side could have won it. I don’t think the referee influenced the match as decisions went both ways. Poor finishing cost us today but Arsenal could have had 4 or 5 themselves. If we win our game in hand then we will be above Arsenal again and just 5 points off Liverpool. Its not these two i’m worried about but Chelsea, who were probably delighted with the result yesterday.
I think Tevez should have come on much earlier – probably should have started.
You said “you wouldnt know Fabregas was in the game for all the part he played”. What about the sixteen pass move that Fabregas orchestrated and then slipped through Nasri to score his second? Anderson does give Fabregas a game, and whilst he might win the ball of him or leave him for dead in one or two occasions (Is that your definition for shits all over?) Fabregas always comes on top and he was yesterday. If I was a Man Utd fan I would be worried over the progress of Anderson and Nani.
Ash – instead worry about the fact your side loses to Fulham and Stoke. Both Anderson and Nani scored penalties in the European Cup final in their first season with the club. I’m not worried, ta.
Gracious in victory as ever, well played.
I’d rather have Fabregas’ 10+ goals and 10+ assists than have him ‘do one over’ on Anderson in 2 games of the season. Anderson is pacier and more techincally gifted, but he doesn’t contribute a huge amount for an ‘attacking’ midfielder.
Ash, you are a helmet. This is Anderson and Nani’s second season in the Premiership, and they have more medals than wanker Fabregas, who has been playing Premiership football for 4 and a half seasons now. Anderson also has a Copa America winners medal to his name. I know you will mention Fabregas winning a European Championship medal, but the key thing is, Anderson and Nani have club winners medals, something Fabregas doesn’t possess. I’ll give it two more years and he’ll be off. In Moscow we made it…….3 Que sera sera.
To each his own but tbh, Anderson and Nani are top prospects. Its just their second year in English Football so the simple fact that theyr managing to more than cope up with the rest seems like a lot of development to me.
Id prefer to see Anderson start more often. Love the way he sticks into tackles. Nani has show flashes of what he is capable of and seems like he needs more time on the pitch to gain a lot more confidence in his ability.
You may rant as you wish, but please, do not conveniently forget the foul on Nasri towards the end which should’ve sealed the game.
It was a good game, good fight but not all decisions went against ManU. Everybody got their fair share of luck or bad luck for that matter.
Another game to add to the collection. The 2005 cup final and the 3 games at the emirates how have we failed to win?? Letting Arsenal off the hook seems to be what we’re all about these days. I wasn’t dissapointed with the game yesterday more confused to how we didn’t win, we played well and created some good chances without needing any decisions and arsenal could have had their penalty for Nasri Pires’ dive and we’d still have won. It was just one of them games where every deflection, header or clearence went to an arsenal shirt. We’re playing well enough to win our next 5 games before going to Japan, and hopefully going into the new year we can be 5 points (or less) behind the top as we have a good run-in which should see us strining together a couple of undefeated runs.
in reference to anderson… i don’t think he is worth £20 odd million. he’s a player who is energetic but he doesn’t seem to do much in the final third. for that price you’d want a bit more creative talent. also how inaccurate is his shooting? where was he when cesc was stringing together passes left, right and centre for the second goal? chasing his shadow?
rio seems to have lost his recovery pace, it happened to sol around that age. bendtner got by him a fair few times, he just messed up the finish. and nick isn’t particularly fast.
rafael looks top quality tho. what’s the crack with his bro?
Anderson and Fabgregas are both class players, but both different players so they cant be compared. ‘He shits on fabgregas’ is true though as he owns him in midfield everytime they play each other.
Rafeal is quality, his brother is injured aint he atm? but apparently he’s a top player but not as good as Rafeal. people have said he only got to a top level because of his brother. kind of like Gary and Phil Neville, both were good but Gary was always better.
Kings plz keep your low insults out of here. Think I was wrong to post in this place at the first place. Trying to have a debate with opposite club supporters always doesnt work
Anyways I think Anderson and Nani will come good at the end. I am not sure they will justify the £20m fee though(esp Anderson). I think the fees paid means theyre not looked at as “prospects” in their progression.
See you later guys
Red-Manc, the word is that Fabio is meant to be the better of the two. Fabio was Brazil’s captain at the under 17′s world cup, and he ended up being top scorer in the tournament from left back!
Neville was poor, EVDS was poor, this in turn affected Rio n Vidic. The game was a cracker, the result could have swing for both side so there’s no point commenting about it. Finishing really ought to be better.. And i though Park was excellent in the game!
btw, someone mentioned that rafael is better? The fact is, his brother Fabio is the better player between them before this. Fabio is captain of Brazil youth and also MVP in the world youth cup if i’m not mistaken. apparently he’s a game maker (from the LB position!!!???) for the team. However with Evra being the best left back in the world right now… tough luck on Fabio.
Gary: Fabio played left wing.
Ash – I will say as I please as this is a United site and United is my team, how dare you tell me what to say and what not to say. I’m a staunch United fan and will defend my players especially when I hear such nonsensical comments from idiotic opposing fans who get carried away over one result, and have the audacity the pass judgement on our players who have achieved so much in such a short space of time. Anderson and Nani’s fees turned out to be justified, as both players played a huge contribution to our double success last season, that’s how you determine whether or not they are a waste of money or too much was paid to acquire their services. So based on last season, it is most definitely money well spent, and that money was recouped on winning the Premiership and the European Cup. I do agree with you on one thing though, you are right not to post anything on this site.
Can’t really agree with the assessment that Anderson shone brightly over Fabregas. Fabregas hadn’t an outstanding game but neither did Anderson, he floated in and out of the game far too much. I’m v. worried about his casual attitude, there were a number of times that the game passed him by out wide and he didn’t make the effort to track back and make up numbers.
I thought Utd were poor all round regardless of their possession and shots on/off goal. They looked dangerous in the first 10-15 minutes but then fell off the pace, I never thought they looked like getting back into it.
VDS is playing so bad it’s ridiculous and the Ferd/Vida partnership is looking a long-way off last season, it’s very possible VDS’s indecision is contributing hugely to this. Ronaldo had a lot of ball but wasn’t convincing, he had no ideas when he came to a dead-end so just took a wild lash at goal, inevitably bouncing off the defenders.
It’s time for the team to realize that they will not retain the championship with these kind of performances and stand up to the challenge with determination and confidence. We need hard work, concentration, dedication and a will to win, I’m not seeing that at the moment but have no doubt that the team can do it.
Here’s hoping.
It was just one of them days. If the game was played the exact same way, same possessions, chances, penalty claims and the rest, but we had of taken one or two of our great chances early on, we could of went on to win 2-0 or 3-1, and it would of been considered one of our best ever away performances in a long time. We didnt take our chances (neither did Bedtner to be fair) and paid the price. The game is always assessed by the final score, so instead of winning and looking at the positives, when we lose we look at the negatives.
Rafeal is still too raw and naive as a defender to be considered a starter in a big game. I like him alot, and have high hopes for him, but the amount of times he gets caught up the pitch is scary. But its something he can work on.
As for us not getting a penalty, cancelled out by Nasris foul? Not the same. Rooneys claim would of sent us in at half time 1-1, totally different game, and the gooners would of been rattled. They grew in confidence when they saw they were getting the rub of the green, on top of our missed chances. Nasris was late in the game at 2-0, wouldnt of made a difference to the outcome, whereas it would of been a different game completely if we’d of got level.
Saying that, it was a game that could of gone either way. Fair play to the gooners, they went toe to toe with us and came out on top, on another day we could have taken it, but they had a few of decent chances too.
It is a bit worrying though that things dont really seem to be going for us, and we’re not getting the luck that teams need when going for the league.
Add in the World Club Championships which will give us another game in hand, add extra hassle on the players, and basically hinder our attempt at retaining the league, and im not filled with confidence that we can reel back in Chelski. Dont want to sound negative, or get on the teams back, its just a gut feeling i have, and i hope im wrong.
Perhaps now you understand what it was like for the Gooners who were backing a title-winning team last season but had nothing to show for it.
It seems that Manchester United might be a little mentally fatigued. The amount of concentration needed to win back- to- back titles is staggering. Having said that, it is only natural that it will take us a little longer to start performing at our peek potential-so what if it takes us longer than last year (it is still only Nov.). What should be frightening to the opposition is that although we haven’t reached out full potential yet, Manchester United are still only a hand full of point away( with a game still to be played). To Arsenal Fans: yes you won a tough game with moments of brilliance played by both teams. But, how do you plan to better yourselves when have already lost 3 ? To My Brethren-let us be patient.
whoever thinks that Anderson shits all over Fabregas is a total moron. Fabregas not even at his best but still better and more effective than Anderson. The real player than been shitted all over is that wanker, Ronaldo as Clinchy makes him his bitch for the full 90 mnts