[Inigo Montoya]

We really need to show we have.

Constantly talking about SAF suggests fans haven't

 

[Globule]

the notion we were ordinary in Second half is plain stupid. We played second half how we should have started..We imposed ourself on them

No point patting ourselves on the back for looking better in the second half. Arsenal had the game sewn up after 20 minutes so could afford to sit back and try to hit us on the counter. Even with the better second half performance we didn't really threaten. Arsenal were comfortable.

It was like the reverse of our matches against Arsenal in the final few years of Fergie's reign, when we'd end up laughing at Arsenal fans who claimed to have 'played us off the park', 'dominated possession' and said that our win was 'undeserved'.

And I don't mean to single you out by any means, just responding to the wider issue of some giving the second half performance too much weight, when really it should be given none.

Our second half performance was like a boxer who is lying flat on the canvas, blood pouring from his face, swinging an air-punch at his opponent, who by this point is already in his corner celebrating with his support team.

#overelaboratemetaphor

 

[Jazz]

We really need to show we have.

We better do that against Everton. The players need to stay positive and the manager has hopefully learned from his mistakes today.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Arsenal had something to prove. We were asleep.

That's Arsenal

Rodgers SACKED!!!!!

 

[Manchie]

Rodgers sacked saddly

 

[shivab]

Playing against Everton at home is the perfect opportunity to set things right. If this team has character they will bounce back.

 

[Bestie07]

It was a very bad half, it happens. I would like to see how the team reacts to this at Goodison.

 

[caid]

Surprised at schweinsteiger being rated as high as he is.
Suppose you can blame van gaal for presumably pushing him so far up the pitch but he should have dropped deeper to help the full backs after 5 mins.
He was miles away from the play every time they broke. Rooney offered more protection to our defence today than him.

Just think we got the tactics wrong to start the match and arsenal just stormed out of the blocks and ended the game pretty early.

 

[Nathan]

After the fast start by Arsenal it was always going to be difficult. We were overrun in the midfield & our defence was in sixes and sevens.

We had no answer & it looked like we would get massacred & in the second half it was containment by Arsenal & asking us to break them down.

Not a great result, lets regroup for Everton which will be tough.

 

[Jazz]

Rodgers sacked saddly

No way! Hope they don't get Klopp

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Playing against Everton at home is the perfect opportunity to set things right. If this team has character they will bounce back.

Yeah, just a shame the game's at Goodison Park really.

 

[Loon]

Constantly talking about SAF suggests fans haven't

I was using it as an example that we were tonked under Ferguson too. I also said let's see what a Van Gaal side can do, but whatever. It's about scoring points on a shit day? They're yours. God bless ya.

 

[DevilRed]

Maybe Memphis needs to come off the bench or play from the right wing.

Cutting inside clearly isn't working for him as every defender and their nan now knows this is what he wants to do.

Hopefully we shake things up a bit for the next away match. We have become so predictable in our attacking lineup.

 

[Sisyphus' Boulder]

Agreed, if I was an Arsenal fan I'd be celebrating that result but also asking how a team that played like that lost to Olympiakos mid-week.

Because we're Arsenal. We'll beat Barcelona 2-1 but then we'll get knocked out of the Carling Cup by Bradford. That's what we do.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Rodgers sacked saddly

Urgh. What a shit weekend.

 

[Loon]

We better do that against Everton. The players need to stay positive and the manager has hopefully learned from his mistakes today.

Let's hope so. We've been a bit ropey for a few games. Let's just have a look at what can be done.

 

[Feed Me]

Odd game.

First half was all wrong. We were set up really poorly from a tactical perspective and that's not something I expect from Van Gaal.

On top of that, we played at walking pace for the first ten minutes and then barely broke into a jog for the remainder of the half. It's as though the players weren't ready to play a game of this importance.

Our approach in the second half was where it should've been from the outset. After the start we had to the game, I'm quite happy we escaped with a 3-0 loss and a shread of dignity. We can chalk this one off as a really bad day at the office and it doesn't need to derail our season.

Arsenal deserve credit - thought they were very good today.

 

[gza the genius]

Bringing on Fellaini and Valencia to turn the game around is sad. What has Schneiderlin done to not play?

Is Herrera injured? Our bench is very light.

 

[Baxter]

Missed the game, and just home. Anybody quickly tell me what the feck happened and did we even look like getting back into it? Who were the worst performers today?

 

[RedIke]

Bad.

This was just a bad day at the office all around though. Learn from it and move on.

 

[Sisyphus' Boulder]

No way! Hope they don't get Klopp

They won't, he's too good for them. Mind you, he wouldn't be able to turn them around anyway. They're beyond repair.

 

[caid]

Let's hope so. We've been a bit ropey for a few games. Let's just have a look at what can be done.

Aye, defensively we've been a bit all over the place since shaw's injury
Think its one of a few area's that we need to rethink.

I dont think carrick should play unless schneiderlin is next to him. Or fellaini's playing as the 10.
He's a good midfielder but he needs cover next to him to put pressure on the ball and get tackles in and just break up play a bit.

Not much you can say about our front 4, they just weren't in the game really.
Ideally you'd want your right winger dropping back and supporting your rb more when they're getting murdered like that but mata just doesn't have the engine to get up and down the wing
When were under the kosh he's kind of of limited value really (hes been great going forward this season)
Memphis had another bad game. Dropping him for a week might do some good at this point. Hes struggling to play himself into form and he looks a bit predictable imo.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Bringing on Fellaini and Valencia to turn the game around is sad. What has Schneiderlin done to not play?

Is Herrera injured? Our bench is very light.

Herrera is injured.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Missed the game,

Lucky you

and just home.

Don't put on SkySportsNews

Anybody quickly tell me

Best way to talk about this game to be honest

what the feck happened

We decided to try and beat Arsenal by going to Emirates and outplaying them at football with 2 men in midfield.

We promptly got bummed into submission and were 3-0 down in 20 minutes

and did we even look like getting back into it?

Not really. Martial had a chance at the end of the first half, but then Arsenal could have scored 8 by the end of the game. Still, we passed it around a bit in the second half, so that's nice right?

Who were the worst performers today?

Darmian, Young, Smalling, Blind, Carrick, Schweinsteiger, Depay, Rooney, Mata.

 

[Gasolin]

It's not the normal Arsenal we saw today anyway. And United has been totally outplayed, especially in the first half.
Normally, Arsenal should have attacked hard, missed chances, and run tired of it. And then, in the 2nd, United could have scored.

But not in this game. Anyway, good game from Arsenal, they deserved 4 goals almost.
This game could have changed if Martial scored at the end of half time. But unfortunately, it did not occur.

The players and the manager will have to work harder now but again, this loss always comes at the worst possible timing with the international break. It's going to stay in our minds longer than usual.

 

[Baxter]

Lucky you



Don't put on SkySportsNews



Best way to talk about this game to be honest



We decided to try and beat Arsenal by going to Emirates and outplaying them at football with 2 men in midfield.

We promptly got bummed into submission and were 3-0 down in 20 minutes



Not really. Martial had a chance at the end of the first half, but then Arsenal could have scored 8 by the end of the game. Still, we passed it around a bit in the second half, so that's nice right?



Darmian, Young, Smalling, Blind, Carrick, Schweinsteiger, Depay, Rooney, Mata.

That good
Can't say I was surprised we lost when I saw the midfield pairing, but it seems like it was an absolute disgrace.

 

[Bastian]

The mega optimistic glass is half full view:

Martial looks good even when the team has a collective nightmare.
This won't paper over cracks.
Lesser teams would have imploded in the 2nd half.

Other lessons:

Our defense cannot play against strong teams without a midfield enforcer to protect the back 4.
We cannot carry 2 slow players in the team against good teams, nevermind 4.
Memphis needs time and probably competition too. But many on here are scapegoating him to fuck when our team just dropped down a few levels collectively.
Rooney was shite again, but nearing the end some of the aggression returned and it looked 1% better than what he's done so far this season.

 

[saivet]

I think Arsenal played out the second half very well. We had a few good chances but so did they. They looked pretty comfortable dealing with us, despite us improving.

 

[Nik70]

The mega optimistic glass is half full view:

Martial looks good even when the team has a collective nightmare.
This won't paper over cracks.
Lesser teams would have imploded in the 2nd half.

Other lessons:

Our defense cannot play against strong teams without a midfield enforcer to protect the back 4.
We cannot carry 2 slow players in the team against good teams, nevermind 4.
Memphis needs time and probably competition too. But many on here are scapegoating him to fuck when our team just dropped down a few levels collectively.
Rooney was shite again, but nearing the end some of the aggression returned and it looked 1% better than what he's done so far this season.

I thought he was one of our better players on a day when no one played well.

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

Not sure that the threat is really from Arsenal anyway – I'd hate to be a fan as they are so ALL or NOTHING (but that's another topic) they destroyed us in the first half of the first half and I would have liked to see someone on the sidelines issuing even "some" instructions for a small adjustment as I think a lot of the players were screaming out for some sort of change to settle the nerves. I saw BFS at least twice in the first 15 mins (around the time Neville was laying into him on the comm) waving frantic arm gestures at the bench and the camera cut to LvG who just seemed to gaze back hypnotised. Once we made some adjustments at HT it steadied the boat but it was all too little too late (Fellaini a much better option used deeper).

The worst thing is that by the time LvG gets a real grip on what the PL is all about he'll be off on his toes if he stays true to his word - I think that what he leaves will be a solid basis for a "good" manager to take forward positively but I think that if we invest so much time (and lets face it money) in LvG then he should consider, for once, going back on his word and taking this project on to something bigger!

… I digress (I started saying the PL threat is not from Arsenal as I see it) unless they get at least 4 points out of their next 2 CL games home and away to Bayern (doubt it unless they play like first 10 of today again) then they are dropping down to the EL – so after Xmas (when they traditionally fade anyway) they'll fade even faster playing Monday and Thursday. City is the big threat although they'll more than likely be joining the Arse in EL.

My main worry is that if Walcott and Sanchez can rip us apart like that Aguero will deffo get his double hatter against us at the Emirates.

 

[YouOnlyLiveTwice]

We looked so disorganized in the first half, players were leaving huge Space all over the place.
Schweini was pressing high up the pitch while our attackers were staying passive, we gave them too much Space in those first 10 mins and couldn't get our hands on the ball.

Fellaini came on and gave us some calmness, but the game was already lost at that point so that could have been why obviously.

Martial and Smalling looked good and had to do most by themselves in defence/attack, the rest was average to really bad.

I worry about us being so passive from the start, when we can't start our passing play we seem to crumble in those first minutes at the game, the same was happening against Wolfsburg.

We're still 3rd so it's not the end of the world, but going into a international break with the result and then hitting Goodison is not optimal and we could see ourselves in a bad run of form by the end of October.

 

[Roman Bellic]

Bad day at the office. We failed to contain Arsenal in the first 20 minutes, which we managed to do in our last 3 trips to the Emirates.

 

[Bastian]

I thought he was one of our better players on a day when no one played well.

Yeah, in the 2nd half of the 2nd half, he looked slightly more like the player he was. Other than Martial though I don't think we had players playing better than others really. We tidied the ship in the 2nd half and avoided further embarassment, with little intent.

 

[Wade3]

What the hell happened? I was stuck on a train that was delayed by 50 minutes and couldn't catch the game. I was pissed about it at first but when the United alert on my phone kept ringing and the score kept going up for Arsenal, I was kind of glad I missed it.

 

[marlowe78]

Not sure that the threat is really from Arsenal anyway – I'd hate to be a fan as they are so ALL or NOTHING (but that's another topic) they destroyed us in the first half of the first half and I would have liked to see someone on the sidelines issuing even "some" instructions for a small adjustment as I think a lot of the players were screaming out for some sort of change to settle the nerves. I saw BFS at least twice in the first 15 mins (around the time Neville was laying into him on the comm) waving frantic arm gestures at the bench and the camera cut to LvG who just seemed to gaze back hypnotised. Once we made some adjustments at HT it steadied the boat but it was all too little too late (Fellaini a much better option used deeper).

The worst thing is that by the time LvG gets a real grip on what the PL is all about he'll be off on his toes if he stays true to his word - I think that what he leaves will be a solid basis for a "good" manager to take forward positively but I think that if we invest so much time (and lets face it money) in LvG then he should consider, for once, going back on his word and taking this project on to something bigger!

… I digress (I started saying the PL threat is not from Arsenal as I see it) unless they get at least 4 points out of their next 2 CL games home and away to Bayern (doubt it unless they play like first 10 of today again) then they are dropping down to the EL – so after Xmas (when they traditionally fade anyway) they'll fade even faster playing Monday and Thursday. City is the big threat although they'll more than likely be joining the Arse in EL.

My main worry is that if Walcott and Sanchez can rip us apart like that Aguero will deffo get his double hatter against us at the Emirates.

We could end up in EL as well. We are by no means an automatic to move out of that group.

At 64, I find LVG's ability to adapt not just to the league, but to situations in the game, wanting. I don't think it's ever been his method to stand on the touchline and shout instructions but in situations like today there seems to be no guidance coming from anybody. Rooney, especially, has been nonexistent as a captain.

 

[OutOfTowner]

Well this was an incredibly disappointing result and performance to say the least. We were struck by two quick goals, owing largely to some slow and almost ponderous zonal covering and a fast Arsenal start. and seemed to be shell-shocked. Going in at the half two goals down had the chance to be salvageable but that third goal really killed us off. We were slightly better in the second half but to be honest, even with the possession we had, we still didn't look like getting even one back. The problem stems from the fact that the attacks were slow and sluggish and Arsenal were not likely to be too troubled by them. In the end, we never really looked at the races today and have to swallow this bitter pill and move on.

Nevertheless I'm not one to harbor on a bad result and I know there will be many more games to come after the international break. This may be one of those matches we look back to at the end of the season and say "yep, that was one of our bad days but it didn't matter in the end." We've always suffered bad results in the past and have bounced back. My only worry is based on our approach to games. I don't have any problems with possession-based football but there is nothing there to compliment, as if it's our only course of action and I'm beginning to wonder if there will be any slight deviation or addition to this approach. Possession-based football is good. It allows a team to have control, to dictate the game on their terms rather than chasing a game and hoping to exploit mistakes. A team that has possession has control and a team that has control probably has more confidence and belief. But basing your entire (gah!) "philosophy" on that system is not going to yield results. I think rather than making it your entire system, it should be merely an aspect of a teams approach. You know you control the game for the most part so use it intelligently. Speed the play up when you need a goal. Push further, utilise your full backs to compliment the wingers, push your midfielders further to create avenues to explore. Use the channels, switch the play when needs be. If you're defending a lead bring players back, keep hold of the ball, make the opposition do the running. It sounds fairly simple but it's not something we're doing. I'd enjoy it more if we were smart about our play.One thing that frustrates me is seeing players having no options on and so having to smash it up the pitch. I'd like to see players actually making the spaces, looking to offer options to tee ball carrier rather than expecting it to come to them. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to think we won't see this from LVG.

One thing though, even if LVG ends up not managing next season or beyond his current contract, I'd like to see whoever is in charge, take LVG's idea further and add some attacking intent too. There is potential to make this a viable, sustainable and ultimately rewarding approach if evolved further.

 

[Kakeru]

Arsenal used the playbook we have used against them for years while United decided to switch for Arsenal's playbook. That's how I saw this. What is worrying is how we lacked any sense of emergency after we conceded 2 quick goals. Is there no one who wants to fight? Regardless, Van Gaal sealed a big chunk of the team's fate from the moment he kept Schneiderlin on the bench. Against Arsenal, that's totally unacceptable by any stretch of the imagination.

At half-time, I wonder why he has not taken Rooney off in order to send a clear message to everyone that they better start working their asses off. I don't mind taking off Memphis, but the message is not strong enough IMHO.

At the end of the day, this is what any United fan would say to the players after that horrible match:



YOU CAN'T CLOSE THE LEADS YOU'RE GIVEN. YOU CAN'T CLOSE SHIT. YOU ARE SHIT! HIT THE BRICKS, PAL, 'CAUSE YOU ARE GOING OUT!

 

[VeevaVee]

We were dire.
Terrible organisation and looked out of our depth both attacking and particularly in defence.

Second half, we may have had more of the ball and played our usual possession based stuff, but they still looked most like scoring. Which kind of sums us up a lot of the time.

The attacked how we should attack. With pace, creativity and confidence.

Not our nonsense where we pass it around the box only to have every attempt blocked off (which we're terrible at doing in our defence).

Even if they hadn't scored a load of goals, we would've been pretty clueless.

Rooney is awful.
Martial is the only one that showed any spark.

Blah.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

No point patting ourselves on the back for looking better in the second half. Arsenal had the game sewn up after 20 minutes so could afford to sit back and try to hit us on the counter. Even with the better second half performance we didn't really threaten. Arsenal were comfortable.

It was like the reverse of our matches against Arsenal in the final few years of Fergie's reign, when we'd end up laughing at Arsenal fans who claimed to have 'played us off the park', 'dominated possession' and said that our win was 'undeserved'.

And I don't mean to single you out by any means, just responding to the wider issue of some giving the second half performance too much weight, when really it should be given none.

Our second half performance was like a boxer who is lying flat on the canvas, blood pouring from his face, swinging an air-punch at his opponent, who by this point is already in his corner celebrating with his support team.

#overelaboratemetaphor

No, no and no. 2nd half showed the difference between doing our jobs with fire in the belly and not doing our jobs like those first 20 mins

 

[Revan]

Darmian, Young, Smalling, Blind, Carrick, Schweinsteiger, Depay, Rooney, Mata.