Arsenal vs Manchester United

Feed Me said:
Almunia: Made some class stops against Liverpool, but failed to convince on crosses. By no means a top class 'keeper and is a potential weak link in the Gunners team. 5

Sagna: Haven't seen much of him, but by all accounts he has quite a robust style. Likes to get forward and provide L'Arse with width. 7
Toure: Physically terrific, but his positional play and tactical nous are always questionable. 7
Gallas: Quality if he can stay fit. Made a sensational block against against Gerrard on Sunday. 8
Clichy: one of the best full backs in the Premier League. Classy leftback who provides left sided width. Being young, is sometimes defensively questionable. 7

Flamini: I'm amazed that he is managing to keep Gilberto out of the team, so he must be doing something right. A pretty underrated footballer and he is a pest to opposition attackers. 6
Fabregas: The media coverage can become nauseating but there is no denying his supreme talent. His goal and shot against the post against Liverpool masked a mixed performance. His poor first touch and lunge gave away the free kick to Gerrard's goal whilst he was guilty of a pretty diabolical sitter. 9
Hleb: Finally seems to be living up to the £10 million billing. Intelligent footballer who can retain the ball under pressure and deliver eye of the needle passes. Perhaps the worst in the Arsenal team for continually wanting to "pass, pass, pass... pass". 8
Rosicky: A danger man especially when he finds his range from distance. Generally flattered to deceive since arriving in England. 7
Eboue: A cock of epic proportions. But he dovetails well with Sagna to the extent that one when attacks the other comfortably slots in at full back. This will be a tough duel for our winger to win. 7

Adebayor: A player who has improved immensely this season. Seems to have adopted a more prolific streak in the absence of Terry Henry. Was a handful at OT last season and notched 2 in 2 against us. 8

= 79/110.
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Good summary.

Though I'd chuck Flamini a 7, purely based on his performances so far this season.

And Toure deserves an 8 if anyone does.
 
REd FUn DevIl said:
Whats up Cesc, How you and your mates feel about saturday?
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Word up.

Yeah we pulled up alright, it's exam time down here so we couldn't really go all-out. After next wednesday though... Good times ahead mate.
 
Almunia 6
Sagna 6
Toure 9
Gallas 10
Clichy 6
Eboue (in midfield) 6
Hleb 7
Rosicky 6
Fabregas 10
Flamini 6
Adebayor 8

Maybe too harsh on Clichy and Rosicky but let be it.
 
Feed Me said:
VDS: 7. Admirably consistent, with Lehmann the best keeper in the PL excepting Cech for the last couple of years. Looked as if this could be a season too far but has been solid.

Brown: 5. Good squad player not really suited to fullback. Prone to fatal errors and offers little or nothing going forward
Rio: 9. Very, very good the last few years and seems to have banished those "Away with the fairies" moments
Vidic: 8. Formed a great partnership with Ferdinand and a menace at set pieces.
O'Shea: 5. Squad player, vulnerable defender with poor decision making and lack of pace.

Hargreaves: 6. Ordinary player runs around a lot but lacks real quality.
Anderson: 6. Shown some nice touches but has it all to prove.
Fletcher: 5. Wholehearted player not really good enough for a top 4 side.

Ronaldo: 8. Potential match winner but not quite as hot as last year.
Tevez: 6. Not that impressed so far. Bulldozes around but not the superstar some seem to think he is.
Rooney: 9. Looks back to his best. Constant danger.
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updated.
 
peterstorey said:
updated.
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For someone who usually offers credible opinions, you're astonishingly wide of the mark on Hargreaves, Tevez and Brown. Have you actually watched any United games this season?

Brown was poor at the start but has grown into the full-back role and has been excellent for the last month or so. Hargreaves has been brilliant for us, in every game he's featured in and is a top-class footballer. As for your thoughts on Tevez? WTF?!? I can only assume you're on a wind-up.

You're also wrong about Anderson, O'Shea and Fletcher but I can see why you might under-rate them.

One thing's for sure, if Wenger under-estimates United as much as you, then we're in for a cake-walk!
 
Pogue Mahone said:
For someone who usually offers credible opinions, you're astonishingly wide of the mark on Hargreaves, Tevez and Brown. Have you actually watched any United games this season?
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Well you would say that wouldn't you? Tevez scored a couple of goals last weekend but before that he had 2 to show for 12 appearances as a striker - not very good I'd say. Hargreaves I've watched for years he's a very limited player, an upmarket Robbie Savage. Brown is a useful CB though has a tendency to make a disastrous error per game, he's not my idea of a fullback.
 
peterstorey said:
Well you would say that wouldn't you? Tevez scored a couple of goals last weekend but before that he had 2 to show for 12 appearances as a striker - not very good I'd say. Hargreaves I've watched for years he's a very limited player, an upmarket Robbie Savage. Brown is a useful CB though has a tendency to make a disastrous error per game, he's not my idea of a fullback.
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I've only watched Hargreaves closely this season and he's an excellent player. So either he's improved significantly or your opinion of him is blurred by the gooner-tinted spectacles. An upmarket Robbie Savage isn't a bad description, to be fair. But I can think of a lot of teams who would kill for an upmarket Robbie Savage. The downmarket version is gonna be sorely missed by Blackburn that's for sure.

Tevez is class. He was badly affected by missing out on pre-season and being forced to play out of position but his form in recent weeks is a much better reflection of what he's gonna achieve at United. I can see him causing serious problems for your lot on Saturday.

Brown isn't my idea of a full-back either. And, like I said, he was very poor at the beginning of the season. But he's really come good in the last few games and was one of our best players against Chelsea, so I have every confidence in him as a big-game player, no matter what position he plays in.
 
peterstorey said:
updated.
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Everyone has a right to their own opinion. But I must pull you up on a few things.

It's laughable to say Lehmann is the best in the League other than Cech because Wenger doesn't seem to think so. Lehmann is too inconsistent to be given such a billing.

Brown - "prone to fatal errors" - pure fantasy. Please provide one example from this season or last.

You rate Hargreaves at the same level as Flamini? A six?

Ronaldo - hasn't been as good this season? In relative terms his season is only recently up and running for us and yet he has banged in six goals.

Tevez - a six? Laughable. He has been getting better and better and there is no doubting his talent. He's begun to link with Wayne beautifully over the last 5 games.

Your ratings are, in a word, ridiculous.
 
2-1 to Arsenal

We rarely win these big matches.And it is at the emirates.
 
Cold_Boy said:
2-1 to Arsenal

We rarely win these big matches.And it is at the emirates.
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Not really mate. Teams have cycles of good results against each other. Recently, we always seem to beat Liverpool and the results against Chelsea have been close over the past 2 years.

Arsenal have the better record last season, but generally the record against Wenger is pretty even.
 
:lol:

So he's got an opinion, if you don't like it - lump it. That's the point of this Football Forum right... To express opinions?

OR can they only be rose-tinted opinions, and thus not really opinions at all.
 
Surely 4-1, which is the new 1-0

the team should be:


---------------VDS----------------
Wes--------Rio----Vida--------Evra
Ron-------Owen--Andershow--Giggsy
-----------Roon----Teveth----------
 
cesc's_mullet said:
:lol:

So he's got an opinion, if you don't like it - lump it. That's the point of this Football Forum right... To express opinions?

OR can they only be rose-tinted opinions, and thus not really opinions at all.
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you should predict arsenal to lose then. :smirk:
 
UNITED BY TWO CLEAR GOALS!

That would piss on their parade .. hehehe
 
The guy has a point, the last few seasons, we haven't been winning games against the other top 2 (Chelsea & Arsenal)

Which is weird :confused: We beat Chelsea comfortably this season already, so hopefully we can continue that by beating Arsenal on Saturday.

I know Arsenal have only lost 1 game ever at the Emirates, but we are Manchester United, not some mid-table team that sit back and put 11 men behind the ball all game.
 
i just hope that Anderson will play and have a great game,because some wankers from arsenalmania thinks he's not good enough.
 
Classic biased post on the FoxSports website.

One of the distinct attributes of a "hater" is denial of the obvious.
The Obvious:
1. Gunners have shown the most consistent form of any PL side.
2. Gunners have displayed the most resilient form of any PL side.
3. Youthfulness serves the Gunners well during the latter stages of a fixture and will serve them well during the latter stages of the season as teams start to tire and the season takes its toll.
4. Gunners should have beaten Liverpool 3-1 based on their open goal misses. This would have given the Gunners the max points and maintained the 2 pt lead in the standings
5. With equally talented strikers, the Gunners back line is stronger than MU's back line. This will lead to more chances on goal for the Gunners on Saturday.

My response:
1- Surely the consistent form has nothing to do with the weak schedule to date, the Liverpool match showing that it's not always easy to beat a top side with the class to defend and thwart opposing attacks.
2- see above
3- United have youth in key areas too, or does the media/ABU forget about Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Nani, Evra, Anderson, etc.?
4- Coulda shoulda woulda; if your aunt had balls she'd be your uncle
5- United's back four is superior. It's clearly one of the best in Europe and that's with the best RB in football (Neville) missing. I could point out which back four has the fewest goals shipped this season as further evidence.
 
MrMarcello said:
Classic biased post on the FoxSports website.

One of the distinct attributes of a "hater" is denial of the obvious.
The Obvious:
1. Gunners have shown the most consistent form of any PL side.
2. Gunners have displayed the most resilient form of any PL side.
3. Youthfulness serves the Gunners well during the latter stages of a fixture and will serve them well during the latter stages of the season as teams start to tire and the season takes its toll.
4. Gunners should have beaten Liverpool 3-1 based on their open goal misses. This would have given the Gunners the max points and maintained the 2 pt lead in the standings
5. With equally talented strikers, the Gunners back line is stronger than MU's back line. This will lead to more chances on goal for the Gunners on Saturday.

My response:
1- Surely the consistent form has nothing to do with the weak schedule to date, the Liverpool match showing that it's not always easy to beat a top side with the class to defend and thwart opposing attacks.
2- see above
3- United have youth in key areas too, or does the media/ABU forget about Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Nani, Evra, Anderson, etc.?
4- Coulda shoulda woulda; if your aunt had balls she'd be your uncle
5- United's back four is superior. It's clearly one of the best in Europe and that's with the best RB in football (Neville) missing. I could point out which back four has the fewest goals shipped this season as further evidence.
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If Evra is youth at 26, does that make Carrick, Hargreaves, Vidic and Park youth too?
 
Just to throw a couple of stats into the game (this happens sometimes - yeah, I'm a geek) Let's try the past three years.

2004/2005
H 2-0 RvN, Rooney (Pizza-gate!)
A 2-4 Ronaldo x2, O'Shea, Giggs (The Battle of Highbury!)
3rd Vs 2nd

2005/2006
H 2-0 Rooney, Park
A 0-0
2nd Vs 4th

2006/2007
H 0-1
A 2-1 Rooney
Champions Vs 4th

My heart wants another battle, and my brain says even if we lose it won't do us much harm (whereas I do think it would hurt Arsenal)

But I still want another battle - it's time for one, I felt cheated out of a proper match against Chelsea. I'm hopeful
 
i dont know about you guys but i think that our defence against Keive and Bourough was not up to the standard.
 
Sir Alex: Ideal preparation

The loss to Coventry City in the Carling Cup third round hasn't quite faded from Sir Alex's memory, but the United boss admits the Reds' fixture-free midweek is the ideal preparation for Saturday's trip to the Emirates stadium.

United's early cup exit meant United's stars could put their feet up on Wednesday night. Arsene Wenger's troops, meanwhile, embarked on a long trip north to face Bryan Robson's Sheffield United side at Bramall Lane.

Of course, Wenger rested the majority of those players likely to turn out against the Reds on Saturday, but there will still have been disruptions within the Arsenal camp ahead of the weekend's top-of-the-table clash.

"It's good we don't have a midweek game," Ferguson told MUTV. "Owen Hargreaves played his first game for almost two months [against Middlesbrough] so this week will allow him to freshen up. I don't think there's any doubt he'll be available on Saturday.

"Anderson got a little bit of a knock but I think he'll be okay. Things are looking better."

Paul Scholes has been ruled out until the New Year with a knee injury, but United could welcome Patrice Evra back into the team on Saturday.

---------------

Sounds like the gaffer will give Anderson and Hargreaves the start, which makes sense considering Carrick's short on match fitness.

Great to have Evra back for this one too!
 
Does anyone know of any video streams or radio commentory online for tomorrow's game? I am in Sydney but don't have access to saterlite TV and can't listen to the BBC commentory as it is online available in the UK.

HELP!!!!!!!
 
Sydius said:
Does anyone know of any video streams or radio commentory online for tomorrow's game? I am in Sydney but don't have access to saterlite TV and can't listen to the BBC commentory as it is online available in the UK.

HELP!!!!!!!
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Where in Sydney are you mate?
 
Sydius said:
Does anyone know of any video streams or radio commentory online for tomorrow's game? I am in Sydney but don't have access to saterlite TV and can't listen to the BBC commentory as it is online available in the UK.

HELP!!!!!!!
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check myp2p.eu
 
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