As a neutral I thought Arsenal pissed it away through a severe lack of bottle. Batten down the hatches when you score, learn the lessons from Stamford Bridge and Anfield and be tight and disciplined for the next phase of the game. And then they go and concede a penalty. United were indeed shit in the first half but itâs remarkable how despite that they still always manage to create chances themselves with their fluency, pace and movement and Rooney could have scored twice in the opening 45. Of course Adebayor could have done so too and his chance before half time was another case of bottling it as he had the time - that Rooney didnât - to compose himself and dink it over the 'keeper and he scuffed it straight into him. I couldnât believe how poor Scholes and Carrick were and Anderson and Tevez made a distinct difference when they came on and although Arsenal possibly deserved a draw they have nobody to blame but themselves yesterday.
I watched most of Barca the other night and they were yet again rubbish but Messi made his return off the bench. Theyâll need to get a full 90 minutes out of him next weekend ahead of the game in 10 days or so.
[quote=âtherock67â]Shan when youâre posting links to videos from Dailymotion try and get the address of the actual video, not just the search result to point you to that video.
There are two URLs one that has /search/ and then % signs and things which is the query on the Dailymotion database. Obviously it works fine as a link. But if you just post the actual location of the video itself (without the /search and the % bits) then it will be automatically embedded on here.
Just to point it out like.[/quote]
Alright Rock. It was early in the morning.
Chelsea have the chance to draw level if they win both games this week before United play again. I think Everton can get a draw at home to them.
I saw the United team that you would play against Barca with Rooney on the left and Ronaldo down the middle. Why are you going for that? This is the same set-up as against Roma and only for a moment of brilliance for Ronaldo United would have been seriously up against it.
Ronaldo is not a centre forward. Rooney is not a left sided midfielder. So why play them there?
I saw the United team that you would play against Barca with Rooney on the left and Ronaldo down the middle. Why are you going for that? This is the same set-up as against Roma and only for a moment of brilliance for Ronaldo United would have been seriously up against it.
Ronaldo is not a centre forward. Rooney is not a left sided midfielder. So why play them there?[/quote]
Rooneys lack of finishing ability for one thing. Also Rooney tends to defend well. Ronaldos defensive ability yesterday was shocking. Let Van Persie go by too easy for the goal and when Bendter had that header near the end he pulled the shirt which could have given a penalty away.
Ronaldo looked completely out of the game though against Roma. He wasnât getting involved, was coming deep looking for the ball and as a result at times there was no one in the box.
I donât buy this whole âset the team up to counteract the opposition bullshitâ. Ferguson played Rooney on the left against Roma to stop their full back! What an absolutely ridiculous thing to do - use one of your most creative players to stop the opposition full back from creatingâŚ
Get in Heskey. Chelsea couldnt afford to drop points. The league is surely over now. United would only need to draw with Blackburn and beat Chelsea to retain. Of course if Chelsea lost against Everton on Thursday and United beat Blackburn then its all but over.
Not quite over yet. Cant be too arrogant. Still have to get the results.
If Liverpool can play like they have been the last 2 months then maybe they can challenge next year. Its the consistency in team selection which has seen the results improve so greatly.
Yeah Liverpool are fresh at the end of the season and Rafa will point to his rotation at the start but that is fook all good if you are out of it come Christmas.
I am for some rotation (you could argue that the lack of it fooked up Arsenal) but not six or seven changes every gameâŚ
Rotation is ok if you have good enough players to come in and not make the team weaker. I think Beneitz did it for the sake of it earlier in the season. Leaving Torres out against Birmingham made Liverpool much weaker that day and drew I think.
Beneitz recognised that in the absence of Agger that he needed to sign a centre back in January and signed Skertel. Wenger who was even in more need of a centre back in January as Toure was on African Cup duty and the back up Senderos is crap. He didnât and look what happened. Gallas and his lack of leadership skills. Toure playing out of position.
I felt Ronaldo could have cost United the game yesterday.When Arsenal were attacking down the right on a few occassions near the end,Ronaldo was loitering on the half way line and giving Hoyte loads of space. A decent full back could have taken advantage. I know Ferguson has given up on asking him to chase back, and rightly so if the result is 35+ goals, but just for theose last few mins he could have helped out his team defensively.
The title is Uniteds now alright and there can be no arguments. They have been the best team all season and if the squad is kept together they will be Fergusons best ever team. As an Arsenal fan, I can acknowledge that we are still one or two players/years behind but that is no shame considering the financial constraints on Wenger since 2004.
Juhniallio, Criticising Wenger for not playing the injured Almunia and Denilson and the out of his depth Senderos was one of the weirdest criticisms I have seen of Wenger. Virtually everyone in the media was giving Wenger stick for his faith in senderos so your opinion is definitely original.
Monkey - would you accept that the biggest criticism you can give Wenger is his fear of making big signings? These players are needed to win the Premiership and Champions League. He tends to stay away from them for fear of failure when he should be grabbing the bull by the hornsâŚ
Rio is close to signing a new deal that would see him earn what Ronaldo and Terry are on. I think thats great news. He is showing the attributes of a leader and I would expect him to be appointed captain of United next season. Another 5-6 seasons at the top level no problem.
[quote=âCaptainshanâ]Not quite over yet. Cant be too arrogant. Still have to get the results.
QUOTE]
Gosh no you canât be too arrogant. As the PLC in the industrial heart land of England that you are being used by and laughed at by are about the make another fortune.
[quote=âAppendage;43273][quote=Captainshanâ]Not quite over yet. Cant be too arrogant. Still have to get the results.
QUOTE]
Gosh no you canât be too arrogant. As the PLC in the industrial heart land of England that you are being used by and laughed at by are about the make another fortune.[/quote]
Weâre tired of this shite. Weâve gone over this again and again on this forum and I thought we were past it but you obviously canât just shut up. And donât be using your backward bogger words in reference to me. Kapow
Farmer, Since Arsenal last won the league in 2004 Wenger hasnât had money to spend because of the stadium. His net spending in those 4years is nil, any money he spent had to be offset by selling players. If Wenger did want a world class player he was never going to be able to compete with other clubs for him.
i donât think he can be criticised for not buying big when the club has had such financial contraints. Iâm biased but I think he has done a brilliant job to still have Arsenal in the top 4 without spending any extra money in the last 4 years. During the same period Chelsea, United and Liverpools net spending is approx 200m, 85m and 95m respectively. Even Spurs have spent about 70m in that time and Newcastle is over 50m too. I think you have to be realistic as a supporter and for Arsenal to build a new stadium to make them a bigger club they were going to have to take a hit for a few years.
Iâm not saying Wenger is above criticism, his faith in Eboue and Senderos has cost Arsenal, but people who criticise him for not spending donât see the bigger picture. This summer will be interesting, as it seems he may have big money for the first time. If he doesnât compete for top players this summer and the team doesnât improve next season, then he deserves any flack that comes his way. At the moment though, I think Arsenal fans should be thankful that he has built another good young footballing team while having little money to spend. If in two years time the potential hasnât amounted to anything then questions will be asked.
