Here we are again. At the moment I feel like it's groundhog day. If you read my previous posts for a number of weeks now I've been saying the same thing. Need a win, sooner rather than later blah blah. And this is it all over again following yesterdays defeat.
Going into the game I was strangely confident of getting a result, foolish me. We started well and for the first half an hour we were all over them, we played well and looked dangerous. United were at sixes and sevens and it looked like this would be the time where finally we were going to beat them. But individual short comings yesterday cost us anything.
Danny Welbeck was trying way too hard to score against his old club and prove a point. That selfishness was his undoing. There were a number of chances where his finishing was piss poor frankly and another where he should have squared it for a team mate. But the worst finish of the day came from Wilshere who quite frankly could have been shot for missing one-on-one from all of 8 yards. What was even worse was that Sanchez was in acres of space to his left for a tap in.
From there the sense of inevitability was overwhelming and despite Fellaini was offside and fouled Gibbs for the 800th time in the match a shot heading wide was deflected in off Gibbs who you have to feel for. We pressed very hard and even though we were losing by only one goal it was poor management. We needed to clear our heads and get back in possession but it seemed like we have every player on the edge of the United and box and it was blindingly obvious we were gonna get caught on the break and low and behold thats what happened.
When Di Maria found Rooney it was obvious he would score against Martinez who came on for the injured SZCZ. Not his fault, it was Rooney one-on-one how do you deal with that. From there whatever we did it we were going to lose. The only silver lining was a cracking goal from Giroud on his return from injury deep into stoppage time.
We're in a bad way at the minute and we need a point against Dortmund to get through the CL group this week and I'm so far from confidence its unreal. Thankfully I'm out on Wednesday so I won't be subject to it.
Wenger in? Wenger out? At the moment I don't know, but something needs to change and immediately.
Showing posts with label man u. Show all posts
Showing posts with label man u. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 November 2014
Thursday, 20 November 2014
Manchester United (H)
We appear to have escaped the break unscathed before we host an out of sorts United this weekend. We've been boosted by the news that Olivier Giroud and Mikel Arteta are back and available. Whilst they aren't the defenders we so desperately need it's nice to have them back to offer something different. We are in desperate need of confidence after shipping two leads in the same week. A win is needed this weekend and we're taking on one of the most top heavy sides in the league.
In terms of our team news those are the only returns from the squad and Welbeck is a slight doubt but is expected to make it. Quite who will line up at the back in anybody's guess but against a team with Rooney, rvp and Di Maria they will need to be on the ball to deal with them. United are without Falcao and more importantly in my opinion Daley Blind who gave them some sort of defensive stability. If we go forward with pace and quality that we all know we have there are goals to be got against this side and quite a few at that.
This weekends match could be an absolute goal fest the way both teams have been defending recently or it could be a cagey 1-0. It's a hard one to judge because both teams have had time to regroup after the international break so mentally they should all be focused. Make no mistake, although this match might not be the title decided that it once was it's still a huge game and it still carries huge importance for both sets of fans.
With confidence at a real low and just 4 wins to our name out of 11 league matches this season we need to buck our ideas up and sharpish. We still have a mountain of games to complete before we have to face before we can even attempt to address our problems at the back in January and if we're already out of the running by then it will be insignificant.
Onwards. Up the Arsenal.
In terms of our team news those are the only returns from the squad and Welbeck is a slight doubt but is expected to make it. Quite who will line up at the back in anybody's guess but against a team with Rooney, rvp and Di Maria they will need to be on the ball to deal with them. United are without Falcao and more importantly in my opinion Daley Blind who gave them some sort of defensive stability. If we go forward with pace and quality that we all know we have there are goals to be got against this side and quite a few at that.
This weekends match could be an absolute goal fest the way both teams have been defending recently or it could be a cagey 1-0. It's a hard one to judge because both teams have had time to regroup after the international break so mentally they should all be focused. Make no mistake, although this match might not be the title decided that it once was it's still a huge game and it still carries huge importance for both sets of fans.
With confidence at a real low and just 4 wins to our name out of 11 league matches this season we need to buck our ideas up and sharpish. We still have a mountain of games to complete before we have to face before we can even attempt to address our problems at the back in January and if we're already out of the running by then it will be insignificant.
Onwards. Up the Arsenal.
Sunday, 17 November 2013
International Break
Apologies for missing our disappointing defeat to United last weekend. I'm going to admit I was hopeful that we'd take something from there especially after the bizarre results which included Chelsea, Tottenham and City all dropping points in games they all should have won. But in football you can't win everything and eventually something had to give just annoyingly it had to give there.
We all knew that eventually we'd overplay or it just wouldn't click or whatever. But the most important thing about losing is how we respond. In football every teams loses, it's just a fact but the best teams, the title contending teams, respond by putting in a real performance. Players have left for internationals which may or may not be at the best time following the defeat but when they return we face Southampton at Home which would normally be a match we'd expect to win. However Southampton sit 3 points behind us in 3rd which is just ridiculous and I expect they will eventually drop away but while they're playing the way they are it's dangerous.
The second best attack (due to City's 7-0) vs. the best defence in the league. Should be interesting but on our day we have more than enough to break them down with the quality we have in our ranks. Reports suggest that Walcott may be back which will give us pace down the flanks, something we have lacked in one or two games this season but how he will perform after a decent spell on the sidelines is anybody's guess. It'll be tough but first we have a number of players that need to come through internationals.
In other good news SZCZ has signed a new deal at the club and although it has not been disclosed it is a long-term one. For a goalkeeper 23 is nothing and he's career has a long way to go yet and the fact that he's happy to spend them with us is fantastic. He's had problems but as a keeper that's to be expected and he has learnt from them and become a better player because of them and being a keeper that's the most important thing. He has an advantage over his counterparts in that he might get another 17 years out of football if he has a very, very good poke and that gives him a long time to become the polished article which I think he can be.
Anyway that's about it, I'll be back Friday with all the news and build up to the Southampton game. Till then.
We all knew that eventually we'd overplay or it just wouldn't click or whatever. But the most important thing about losing is how we respond. In football every teams loses, it's just a fact but the best teams, the title contending teams, respond by putting in a real performance. Players have left for internationals which may or may not be at the best time following the defeat but when they return we face Southampton at Home which would normally be a match we'd expect to win. However Southampton sit 3 points behind us in 3rd which is just ridiculous and I expect they will eventually drop away but while they're playing the way they are it's dangerous.
The second best attack (due to City's 7-0) vs. the best defence in the league. Should be interesting but on our day we have more than enough to break them down with the quality we have in our ranks. Reports suggest that Walcott may be back which will give us pace down the flanks, something we have lacked in one or two games this season but how he will perform after a decent spell on the sidelines is anybody's guess. It'll be tough but first we have a number of players that need to come through internationals.
In other good news SZCZ has signed a new deal at the club and although it has not been disclosed it is a long-term one. For a goalkeeper 23 is nothing and he's career has a long way to go yet and the fact that he's happy to spend them with us is fantastic. He's had problems but as a keeper that's to be expected and he has learnt from them and become a better player because of them and being a keeper that's the most important thing. He has an advantage over his counterparts in that he might get another 17 years out of football if he has a very, very good poke and that gives him a long time to become the polished article which I think he can be.
Anyway that's about it, I'll be back Friday with all the news and build up to the Southampton game. Till then.
Friday, 2 November 2012
Manchester United (A)
I didn't actually think I'd have time to do this post but due an unforeseen change of plans I do so here it is. I don't need to remind any of you, about the mauling we suffered at Old Trafford last season, it's one that we will all have to hear about for some time from annoying, London-based Man United fans which makes up about 95% of their fan base, but there is no doubt that turning up tomorrow and turning it on would certainly help.
I think overall the side that we're taking there this season, is stronger than the side we put out last season obviously with the notable exception of a certain Dutch striker. Whether this side will be enough for us to turn around our quite frankly terrible record up there is another question all together. That said United I don't think are playing well at all this season, they're annoyingly grinding out results but they aren't doing it convincingly. That said, neither are we, but I just get the feeling that if the side that played Southampton or West Ham turns up we have a slight chance.
The team that we will field looks to be similar to that which took on QPR last weekend, with the exception of Gervinho who is now injured. Wilshere and Sagna should retain their places and that is encouraging as I thought both of them played well. Watching Wilshere link up with Cazorla and Arteta was very encouraging and I thought they both looked sharper. I have been saying all season that Walcott should start on the right and I still think he should start. Ramsey clearly doesn't enjoy playing the wing, nor is his style suited for wing play so it seems stupid to me to play him ahead of Walcott who is obviously lightening fast and can take on players. My real worry this weekend is Santos who will have to on his ball to deal with Valencia and Rafael who will be charging forward. I'm hoping Poldi and others will give him the support he will need.
United look set to start basically the same team as that which beat Chelsea last weekend. With that in mind obviously we need to watch RvP who make no mistake, will celebrate is he scores and quite frankly I couldn't care what our supporters chant about him. It would make my weekend if we injured him, it really would. It would also make my weekend if we beat them. With United's defence leaking goals all over the place I do think we'll score I just don't have the faith in our defence to keep them out.
This is a game I absolutely dread because even before last season I worry about us getting embarrassed, lets hope tomorrow we'll do the embarrassing. COYG!
Prediction: Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal
I think overall the side that we're taking there this season, is stronger than the side we put out last season obviously with the notable exception of a certain Dutch striker. Whether this side will be enough for us to turn around our quite frankly terrible record up there is another question all together. That said United I don't think are playing well at all this season, they're annoyingly grinding out results but they aren't doing it convincingly. That said, neither are we, but I just get the feeling that if the side that played Southampton or West Ham turns up we have a slight chance.
The team that we will field looks to be similar to that which took on QPR last weekend, with the exception of Gervinho who is now injured. Wilshere and Sagna should retain their places and that is encouraging as I thought both of them played well. Watching Wilshere link up with Cazorla and Arteta was very encouraging and I thought they both looked sharper. I have been saying all season that Walcott should start on the right and I still think he should start. Ramsey clearly doesn't enjoy playing the wing, nor is his style suited for wing play so it seems stupid to me to play him ahead of Walcott who is obviously lightening fast and can take on players. My real worry this weekend is Santos who will have to on his ball to deal with Valencia and Rafael who will be charging forward. I'm hoping Poldi and others will give him the support he will need.
United look set to start basically the same team as that which beat Chelsea last weekend. With that in mind obviously we need to watch RvP who make no mistake, will celebrate is he scores and quite frankly I couldn't care what our supporters chant about him. It would make my weekend if we injured him, it really would. It would also make my weekend if we beat them. With United's defence leaking goals all over the place I do think we'll score I just don't have the faith in our defence to keep them out.
This is a game I absolutely dread because even before last season I worry about us getting embarrassed, lets hope tomorrow we'll do the embarrassing. COYG!
Prediction: Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal
Thursday, 16 August 2012
The Saga Concludes
Well there you have it, in a way we all knew it was inevitable. The destination wasn't inevitable however and I can completely understand all the bitterness that followed and all the hatred. That's just football...
Where to begin? OK those who know me personally and follow me on twitter
(https://twitter.com/fisher_mr) will know that last night, far from being hurt and disappointed I was actually in a rather cheery mood. I'll explain. £24m for a 29 year old, injury prone player with one year left on his contract, to me is brilliant business. As always we've made an enormous profit and I think United have taken a huge gamble for a number of reasons.
Firstly, with a injury sheet longer than the Olympics bill, there is always that question mark over RVP and his fitness. With his many injuries over the years every time he goes down there is always that fear that he might stay down. At 29, one more big injury could spell real trouble for him. I don't want to wish injury or anything like that upon him, even when a player moves to sp*rs you still don't think like that. But I do have a niggling feeling he may be seeing a lot of the United physio.
Secondly I have real reservations about how he will work with Rooney. I can't see them working together, he won't score 20+ goals I will put money on that. Can he feed Rooney as a Shadow Striker? Is that worth £24m? I don't think so. I'm sure Ferguson will play them side-by-side upfront, but considering they have problems in centre midfield will they get the support they need?
So it's a big risk. In terms of my personal feelings, I don't feel betrayed or angry. Just a little disappointed that he could have been up there with Henry, Wright, Bergkamp and now he'll just be that dutch bloke that scored some good goals for us. He won't be remembered as a legend and I'm sure that one day he'll look back and regret it. But he engineered this move himself and now he has to deal with whatever it brings.
We need to continue our build up to the new season now and re-invest the money that we will get from the deal. A striker should be right at the top of the list, I worry about Giroud coming from Ligue 1, yes he looks promising and he certainly knows how to find the net but it's a big step for him. Podolski I'm less worried about but I don't really think Wenger wants to play his as another striker as such more as a versatile attacker. I'd like to see us buy Llorente but I can't see it, Wenger now surely knows that we need to bring in some players and it's just a case of waiting and seeing what happens.
As I'm jetting off to the USA tomorrow posts will be limited, but I will do my pre-match posts as the new season FINALLY kicks off! In the words of Thomas Vermaelen "Life go's on".
Where to begin? OK those who know me personally and follow me on twitter
(https://twitter.com/fisher_mr) will know that last night, far from being hurt and disappointed I was actually in a rather cheery mood. I'll explain. £24m for a 29 year old, injury prone player with one year left on his contract, to me is brilliant business. As always we've made an enormous profit and I think United have taken a huge gamble for a number of reasons.
Firstly, with a injury sheet longer than the Olympics bill, there is always that question mark over RVP and his fitness. With his many injuries over the years every time he goes down there is always that fear that he might stay down. At 29, one more big injury could spell real trouble for him. I don't want to wish injury or anything like that upon him, even when a player moves to sp*rs you still don't think like that. But I do have a niggling feeling he may be seeing a lot of the United physio.
Secondly I have real reservations about how he will work with Rooney. I can't see them working together, he won't score 20+ goals I will put money on that. Can he feed Rooney as a Shadow Striker? Is that worth £24m? I don't think so. I'm sure Ferguson will play them side-by-side upfront, but considering they have problems in centre midfield will they get the support they need?
So it's a big risk. In terms of my personal feelings, I don't feel betrayed or angry. Just a little disappointed that he could have been up there with Henry, Wright, Bergkamp and now he'll just be that dutch bloke that scored some good goals for us. He won't be remembered as a legend and I'm sure that one day he'll look back and regret it. But he engineered this move himself and now he has to deal with whatever it brings.
We need to continue our build up to the new season now and re-invest the money that we will get from the deal. A striker should be right at the top of the list, I worry about Giroud coming from Ligue 1, yes he looks promising and he certainly knows how to find the net but it's a big step for him. Podolski I'm less worried about but I don't really think Wenger wants to play his as another striker as such more as a versatile attacker. I'd like to see us buy Llorente but I can't see it, Wenger now surely knows that we need to bring in some players and it's just a case of waiting and seeing what happens.
As I'm jetting off to the USA tomorrow posts will be limited, but I will do my pre-match posts as the new season FINALLY kicks off! In the words of Thomas Vermaelen "Life go's on".
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Manchester United (A)
Well we pulled it off against Udinese, after a few shakey moments in the first half. In fact to be totally honest we were shit in the first half and I was preparing to be watching us play on Channel 5. Then in the second half we played really really well, after a typical Arsenal goal from RVP, Szczesny pulled off probably the best penalty save I've ever seen and proceeded to get mobbed by our squad. A well worked second from Walcott and Udinese were beat.
However today we go to a place where no team won last season. Manchester United v Arsenal not long ago was a hotly contested game with either side having equal chance of coming out on top. Nowadays however it's almost certain that at Old Trafford we'll lose and to be honest looking at the squad we're likely to field today I'm not at all surprised. More on that in a minute. Arsenal fans everywhere are sick and tired of being taken to pieces by United and everyone would like to us giving them a good run, or at least scoring a 93rd minute winner after Vermaelen has broken Rooney in two when clearing a corner.
So to the teams likey to play today. We lost Nasri to City during the week to nobodies surprise, but it was a complete piss take when he says that we have no passion since moving to the Emirates when he never fucking played at Highbury. He's right in my opinion but he can't make that call. Anyway along with Nasri fucking off and just flicking it in to Dzeko, 2-0 city against spurs, we also face the loss of Song due to his ban. Vermaelen and Kosciely are both touch and go. I would expect to see Sanga and Jenkinson on the wings, I do feel for the young lad whose really been thrown in at the deep end. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Rosicky start after playing really well when he came on against Udinese. RVP will be upfront on his own as usual and Gervinho is also serving his ban. So who to watch for, that Shrek-faced piece of shit obviously as well as Danny Welbeck who has been lethal so far. Young and Nani on the wings are always dangerous and of course its a given that if Park plays he'll score, the little prick.
I really do worry about us being embarassed today. I think they'll just take us apart, and we could face a drumming, that said I'm not right about much these days, lets all pray I'm wrong. Even with the likes of Welbeck and Cleverly on the pitch they are still an incredibly good team. To show the confidence that some people have in us one of that larger betting companies is refunding all losing bets if we win. Yet on the other hand the Telegraph seems to think we're gonna draw 2-2 (I'd take that right now). But somehow I can't see it.
A win today would be tremendous but I just can't see it, a loss means we'd be 8 points behind United after just 3 games. Good luck lads.
Prediction: Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal
However today we go to a place where no team won last season. Manchester United v Arsenal not long ago was a hotly contested game with either side having equal chance of coming out on top. Nowadays however it's almost certain that at Old Trafford we'll lose and to be honest looking at the squad we're likely to field today I'm not at all surprised. More on that in a minute. Arsenal fans everywhere are sick and tired of being taken to pieces by United and everyone would like to us giving them a good run, or at least scoring a 93rd minute winner after Vermaelen has broken Rooney in two when clearing a corner.
So to the teams likey to play today. We lost Nasri to City during the week to nobodies surprise, but it was a complete piss take when he says that we have no passion since moving to the Emirates when he never fucking played at Highbury. He's right in my opinion but he can't make that call. Anyway along with Nasri fucking off and just flicking it in to Dzeko, 2-0 city against spurs, we also face the loss of Song due to his ban. Vermaelen and Kosciely are both touch and go. I would expect to see Sanga and Jenkinson on the wings, I do feel for the young lad whose really been thrown in at the deep end. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Rosicky start after playing really well when he came on against Udinese. RVP will be upfront on his own as usual and Gervinho is also serving his ban. So who to watch for, that Shrek-faced piece of shit obviously as well as Danny Welbeck who has been lethal so far. Young and Nani on the wings are always dangerous and of course its a given that if Park plays he'll score, the little prick.
I really do worry about us being embarassed today. I think they'll just take us apart, and we could face a drumming, that said I'm not right about much these days, lets all pray I'm wrong. Even with the likes of Welbeck and Cleverly on the pitch they are still an incredibly good team. To show the confidence that some people have in us one of that larger betting companies is refunding all losing bets if we win. Yet on the other hand the Telegraph seems to think we're gonna draw 2-2 (I'd take that right now). But somehow I can't see it.
A win today would be tremendous but I just can't see it, a loss means we'd be 8 points behind United after just 3 games. Good luck lads.
Prediction: Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal
Monday, 14 March 2011
Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal analysis
I apologise for not posting before this match, I had a busy weekend, so I decided to do a bit of a post match analysis.
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.
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.
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