So the result wasn't great, but there are some positives that we can take from this game. We played well and moved the ball very well creating some nice chances. Unfortunately a combination of poor finishing and Edwin Van der Sar having a blinding match meant that we just didn't find the net, something we've always struggled to do at Old Trafford. There is no doubt however that Chamakh should have scored with the chance he had, a header as well supposedly his speciality.
Defensively we didn't look overly bad. We had a few shakey moments but dealt with the majority of the issues United threw at us. The first goal was one of those, right place, right time. A decent save from Almunia that fell to Fabio who slotted the ball in after 28mins. Of course he was over that side of the pitch and read the game well but the save could have gone anywhere unfortunately for us that was the boot of Fabio. The second goal I think we could have dealt with better. It could be argued that once again it fell to Rooney but if we had a strong defender there (Vermaelen) he may have got his head there but that simply illustrates our lack of presence at the back.
A worrying incident was the one that saw Djourou stretchered off with a dislocated shoulder. Wenger confirming that his season is over. This is a serious worry as we already have problems at the back. Almost the only option we have is to revert back to Squillaci and Koscielny at the back. It was also confirmed today that Song won't be fit for the match against West Brom this weekend, Walcott looks unlikely. However on a better note it was good to see Ramsey get some game time at the weekend.
I'll end on the news today that we are in talks with Jens Lehmann. Now I was never a fan of his I must say, yes he had his moments, notably the penalty save against Villareal in the Champions League. However he was also a hot head and was never predictable. More to the point I don't think he's a better keeper than Almunia. I think everyone gave Almunia a bad time and looking at the performance at the weekend and midweek, yes we lost but he showed that he can still save some impressive efforts. I do prefer Szczesny but obviously at the moment Almunia will have to do. So a rather pointless move in my opinion but who knows what Arsene is thinking.
Keep checking for the next post on Saturdays game.
