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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Manchester United are running scared and Liverpool are lacking in quality


By Eros

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. I wonder if we are going to look back at them with regret or whether it will be just the tonic this young squad needed. More like the second as you will see what I mean.

Sir Alex confirms we are the best team in the league

The United game is probably the worst we had in the league this season. We did not keep the ball well enough and that made life very difficult for our midfield because if the ball is not moving at pace then the usual spaces created are not there any more.

Hargreaves had a good first half protecting his back four and constantly biting on Cesc’s heels, however the Spaniard got his own back in the second half when he made him look at best ordinary.

Clichy had the most difficult task of the afternoon. He had to balance his forward runs with keeping half an eye on Ronaldo. He did it quite well. However he was out of position and duly punished for Manchester United’s first goal. I am not saying that it’s totally his fault as that’s the risk you take when you play attacking fullbacks.

Sagna was again impressive and hopefully put to bed once and for all the notion existent only in some Mancunian eyes and blogs that Wes Brown is a better player!

Hleb was a constant pain in Utd’s backside and looked dangerous as always. The free role suits him very well.

But even though we conceded twice, Gallas and Toure were superb. Their partnership is growing with every game and Gallas looks to enjoy his role as a captain and starting to show his Chelsea form in n Arsenal shirt. Very encouraging for the future.

It was a very exciting game but the real fireworks came after the game and continued well into this week. Sir Alex started throwing everything he’s got at this Arsenal team.



First it was the referee, then it was security at the Emirates, then it was an alleged dossier that Arsenal asked his security to prepare and finally it’s all the foreign players!

Arsenal have thrown more fuel to the fire by saying that the United bench provoked the crowd repeatedly.

All this whinging from Ferguson is annoying, but complimentary at the same time.

He knows he has a real battle on his hands to retain the title. He also knows that this Arsenal team has got unbreakable spirit to go with its footballing ability. But what really got to him was that his team were not good enough to defeat a below par Arsenal.

All he is trying to do is to convince first himself and then his players that they have a chance of retaining the trophy!


We left Liverpool off the hook

As I said in my pre game post, Liverpool’s best chance of scoring was a set piece. And I was right, baring a huge hole in our wall. We could have played all day and I m sure they weren’t going to create much.

Benitez set his stall out to contain our midfield, but realistically how long can you keep players like Cesc and Hleb out of the game?


Not very long and as it proved. Bendner had a chance to become an instant hero but he fired over from 5 yards facing an open goal, Cesc did something similar earlier on in the second half.

Masherano should have been given his marching orders for a horrible challenge on Hleb, as should have Carragher for several yellow card offences, hugging the referee in one occasion to avoid a yellow card!

As I again said in the post before the game Arsenal players need to ‘be out of action for a couple of months’ for any dirty tactics to be given any merit.

For all my complaints however, we had enough chances and should have walked out of there with all three points.

Mascherano and Gerard did quite well, but other than that the Liverpool squad is severely laking in quality. My opinion on Benitez is that he is a very good coach and tactician but he is terrible in the transfer market. Kuyt, Crouch and Voronin are not going to win you much.

26 comments:

Michael said...

One must bee very sick to make this sort of article. Especially when the season is far from over.

Anonymous said...

above comment makes now sense. who said anything about the season being over? moving on.

Anonymous said...

The first anon is not making sense!I think the article is making some valid points.

Anonymous said...

please compare arsenal's history and manutd's history you will see how man utd is far better , saying that manutd are scared well you guys were up and jumping because you got a draw from manutd that makes us feel good because we know now that we were the better team, you guys were so happy like you won the league, but no matter at the end of the league will see who laughs the most

Anonymous said...

If by "compare history" you mean count trophies, then yes, Utd have won more trophies than Arsenal. If that is the only criteria by which you compare clubs, then Utd are better than Arsenal.
However, if you think that on trophy count Utd are the best, then please think again. You will find that Liverpool have won far more trophies than both Arsenal and Utd. So therefore you yourself are saying that Liverpool is better than Utd.

You muppet.

Do you not think that if Utd grab a late equaliser against Arsenal that Utd players would also celebrate like we did?

You muppet.

If Fergie didn't see something in this Arsenal team that really worried him do you think he'd be wasting his time with all the moaning and complaining? He didn't in the last 2 seasons, because we were not perceived to be a real threat. Now we are, so the moaning has started all over again.

You muppet.

Anonymous said...

Last week against man u arsenal were the better team but you always felt utd would get the goal and the did.As well as arsenal have started they`ll drop off, best way to play arsenal is to let them play just defend the area most of the time they don`t know what to do,if you got a real striker I would be more worried

Buckley said...

Think you're being very unfair in calling Rafa terrible in the transfer market. You need to remember that has had to completely take apart this Liverpool team and reassemble it on a somewhat limited budget. Whereas Wenger inherited a title winning side and could afford to just add one or two players each season.

Kuyt was bought for £9m, which is peanuts really and even at that was stretching outr budget at the time. Crouch has been value for money imo and is a much better footballer than he gets credit for. Voronin was free and ain't a half bad player!

Agger, Alonso, Mascherano, Reina, Arbeloa and Lucas, all quality players. Jury is out on Babel, but he's only a kid and the quality is there, he just needs a bit of polish. Even Momo is worth more now than what we paid for him.

Wenger's transfer record is superb but he's also made some very suspect signings. Jeffers, Reyes, Wright to name a few. All for big money too.

Anonymous said...

I am a Manchester United fan and I think it was fairly obvious which was the better team last Saturday.

We outplayed you outclassed you and played the better football. and all of this in your own back yard.

You then had to revert to abusing our coaches and bench as a way of letting out your frustration.
Oh and you got out of jail with a jammy injury time goal!

Anonymous said...

"Provides an independent, analytical and mature approach to Arsenal's games and related issues."

LOL!

Until today's article was written, presumably?

Anonymous said...

Arsenal are playing very well at the moment and good luck to you.

The question will be whether the relatively inexperienced Arsenal team will last the course, how they will react to a loss of form, injuries, suspensions etc.

Only a fool would write off Man. Utd.Ferguson is very experienced and (unfortunately) more often than not delivers when it matters, i.e after Christmas when it all starts to warm up.

Liverpool are a bit behind at the moment. They need to find some rhythm and momentum. But if they can stay in touch with the top two until Christmas then they remain in with a shout. I would expect one or two reinforcements to be brought in in January.

There's a long way to go yet!

Anonymous said...

analytical and mature approach? you obsequious buffoon. while you did indeed let liverpool off the hook, you can hardly say that man utd are running scared... after nearly beting you on your own patch. i really cant fathom why you people are treating it like a victory. senseless and reckless abandon. i noticed last night that wenger was asked if sparta prague were showing respect to arsenal by doing a lap of honour after drawing at home against them. wenger smiled. that appeared to be exactly what your mob did on saturday after snatching a last minute draw at the emirates. ronaldo had a bad game against arsenal, and he stil got an assist and a goal... thats a world class player. lastly, if you want to win the league you have to win at places like anfield, please see the man utd score there last season. warmest regards

Anonymous said...

in addition to my above point, the fact that you consider players like hleb and rosiky to even be potentially world class players renders your logic at best dubious and at worst downright pathetic

Anonymous said...

Cesc had a bad game and got a goal as well. What is your point? Both teams played within themselves, but no arsenal fan has said the season is over. On saturday we were celebrating staying top of the league (w/ a game in hand). There were goals scored on Sat. One provided a dramatic finish. Not so much on yesterday. We would not have been celebrating after a 0-0 draw and you wouldnt either.

You need to worry about why Man Utd keep leaking goals to arsenal in the dying moments of the last 3 games. Great teams score goals to get the result. Not concede them.

Anonymous said...

by the way, wasnt ronaldo's celebration just great?

Anonymous said...

Running Scarred? Running is the word' though i think you can say, we Man Ud were Running rings round the Gooner win nothing again , Our castle is made from strong foundations not sand to be blown away in a lite wind.

Anonymous said...

You rcastle keeps leaking late goals to Arsenal. Absolutely gutted old red nose Fergie as his whinge demonstrated and you know it.

Anonymous said...

i would rather be gutted in lamenting a draw away then joyous in celebrating one at home. if you are looking at the situation rationally you can't fail to agree with that sentiment. also can i please apologise for the man utd fan who was talking about 'history' above. all that matters is the here and now, and besides arsenal's recent history is pretty decent. whining about history is the domain of scouseheads

Anonymous said...

by the way, you lot have just had your biggest game of the season, ours will be in moscow in may.

Anonymous said...

so if solsjaer's attempt had gone in last year at old trafford in stoppage, the crowd would've just collectively.....wait for it... siiighed.....puuuuhhhleeeease.

You guys keep conveniently forgettnig that we were also celebrating staying top of the league (esp after the Manu fans were singing about taking first - albeit for 10 min-hahhhaah)

Anonymous said...

I know inside, ManUre fans are shitting it of the prospect of this Arsenal team getting better & better! But they are too arrogant to admit it! Arsenal were written off at the beginning of the season, and at the moment are proving everyone wrong! We celebrated like that as it shows great team spirit, never to give up and it was a goal that we at least deserved. Wrighty7

Anonymous said...

Bad winners and bad losers sums up the Gooners. I still think Arsenal are one dimensional. If they get going and are allowed to play their pretty passing game they are terrific. Yes, now they are grittier and able to grab late equalizers/winners, but check out how Utd are starting to play. Last Saturday our central midfield ahd bare 10 premiership starts between them against the alleged best midfield in Europe and theire was little between them. Big changes and another 4 against kiev - Arsensl - no Fab and its 0-0. No matter who plays the scores are pretty much the same. Be afraid, be very afraid Ifancy Utd for the Champions League this season. No one wants to play us.

Anonymous said...

i am the anon who posted about the man u winning more trophies than arsenal , answering the muppet guy.
trophies are what count if liverpool got more trophies then they are better than manu but in the last 20 years who won more? think hard! if you think that this season arsenal will do something special will see, so far 3 draws in a row for arsnela manu , that champion league match dunno with who and liverpool talk about weak show, the manu match arsenal should have won since they played ON THEIR OWN HOME. now please go dig some past fixtures to please yourself in the end we will win what matters

you muppet :)

Anonymous said...

Waaah Waah waah. Manu should've won last year at their home....but...alas...they didn't

muppet

Anonymous said...

Man United were lucky.

They were lucky when Howard Webb failed to see Vidic's shirt tug on Hleb in the box in 15 and lucky again when Evra's miskicked clearance squirted against the top of the crossbar.Their first goal was lucky. Ronaldo fizezd the cross into the six yard box at high speed and Rooney, sprinting towards the near post, tried to flick the ball across the goal, where two other United players were running in. But he missed the ball with his right foot and it hit his left ankle and flew up against the thigh of Gallas and then onto his arm and into the net.

Anonymous said...

I want you, ManU fans, to remember the last season two loses with Arsenal youngsters.

U put all your efforts to do a revenge but it needed a skill from you and you failed. This is the truth.

Anonymous said...

'i would rather be gutted in lamenting a draw away then joyous in celebrating one at home. if you are looking at the situation rationally you can't fail to agree with that sentiment.'

Blinkered bullshit. Both teams got the same amount of points. Difference is, one got a psychological boost, one has resorted (players, manager and fans) to bitching and whining.