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The old Man Utd Thread

ThePixelbarks

By ThePixelbarks
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oli

oli

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Strange game that one, both teams played like they knew there was nothing massive at stake and there were loads of chances. We should have had 3 or 4 by all accounts, god knows what Berbatov was playing at.

Great to see Anderson have a decent game, went off the boil a bit in the second half but he was at the center of pretty much everything decent we did in the first half. Rooney looks to be gradually returning to some form too, lovely shot off the bar and played some typical pinpoint cross field passes.

I though one of the most interesting things was the difference between Rafael and Fabio. That latter, due to lack of first team experience, is clearly a year behind. If you watched Rafael 12 or so months ago he would have probably looked like Fabio did yesterday but you could see how much (Rafael) has improved. He's starting to look really solid in defense and he made some excellent breaks through the midfield.

Anderson was really good last night, I'm hoping that this is the start of his 'Nani season' and he really pushes on and fulfils some of his potential.

Berba was infuriating last night, nothing was going right for him. I am surprised we didn't see Hernandez at any stage of the night but there you go, I guess Rio's injury forced the hand in the changes

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It's a few days to go but anybody got any thoughts on the Arsenal match?

I fully expect Berbatov to be dropped in favour of a 4-3-3 and although the press will try and make something of it I really don't see the point in playing him when the counter attacking 4-3-3 formation is practically a cheat mode against Arsenal. I'm pretty sure we'll play Park-Rooney-Nani up front and then the only question is over midfield. If Scholes is fit then I would prefer Anderson to play ahead of Carrick but Carrick-Fletcher-Scholes is what did for Arsenal last time so maybe Ferguson will stick with it.

It should be a good game though, as long as we don't go a couple of goals behind I fancy us to outscore them on the break and Rooney to get his first goal from open play in a while.

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Two weekends without football is pretty wank but here's a little stat taken from the Guardian that makes hopeful reading for tomorrow night.....

United have won nine of their past 10 meetings with Arsenal in all competitions, scoring 22 goals and conceding just five times

The game we didn't win was obviously the draw that won us the title 2 seasons ago.

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Stats don't mean shit really, do they? It's all down to how they perform on the day as I doubt either team's starting line up will be the same as in any of those matches.

I suppose it could give us the edge psychologically, but at the same time it could give Arsenal the push to go for it.

I also read this morning that Schweinsteiger has signed a new contract, so that's that out of the window. Shame as he's the kind of player we could really do with in midfield with Scholes coming to the end of his career.

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Well, I imagine the lineups will be pretty similar to the last couple of years apart from Arsenal's new signings.

Of course stats don't mean anything, I was just trying to be positive! I should have guessed you wouldn't appreciate that :hmm:.

You know me!

Seriously though, it's hard to predict. We seem to be up and down and Arsenal aren't exactly playing at their best. Hopefully it'll be a decent game and a win for us, so we can push on over Christmas and try and maintain some form.

I'm expecting te strongest line up possible, so I hope Fergie doesn't gamble and play some of the youngsters, which seems to be his way at the moment.

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Likewise I don't really know what to expect, if the our front 3 (or 4) get their shooting boots on though I do expect us to win. Arsenal still look succeptable to the quick counter and balls over the top so if we can put away our chances we should out score them.

On the flipside Nasri is on fire and Chamakh has a habit of winning penalties, if they manage to go a couple of goals up then I really think we'll struggle.

The only young player I expect we'll start with (assuming Ferdinand is fit) is Rafael and I don't have a problem with that. Against Arsenal i'd rather have him in there than any of the other options at the moment.

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Marlowe

Marlowe

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I think you're all a little over confident. Last season we won at home but we were second best for most of the match. They had a very strong penalty appeal turned down, we won a penalty ourselves, and they scored an own goal -- without that good fortune it could easily have been a draw or worse for us.

Sure, we played our best game of the season at the Emirates, but I expect Wenger to have learnt his lessons from that. In that fixture, Arsenal were behind in the title race and nothing less than a win would suit them. With Chelsea slipping up again today, Wenger would happily take a point. I expect them to play quite a deep line to avoid being caught with through-balls on the counter, and for the full backs to be quite conservative.

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Sure, we played our best game of the season at the Emirates, but I expect Wenger to have learnt his lessons from that. In that fixture, Arsenal were behind in the title race and nothing less than a win would suit them. With Chelsea slipping up again today, Wenger would happily take a point. I expect them to play quite a deep line to avoid being caught with through-balls on the counter, and for the full backs to be quite conservative.

That's a pretty big assumption. I think it's quite a big game for Wenger in that respect though, especially with them facing Chelsea soon.

i don't think anyones being over-confident in that our recent record suggests we really should win against an Arsenal team that looks no more secure or defensively mature than when we've beaten them in recent seasons.

We'll lose 4-0 now.

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bowser123

bowser123

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VDS

Rafa Ferd Vida Evra

Nani Ando Scholes Fletcher Park

Rooney

That's what I expect, mostly what I want as the midfield is crucial considering how the Arse's is coming along.

Looks spot on really, I'd normally say Giggs over Park but JSP always plays well in that formation. With it at home I'd be tempted to say 4-4-2 and Berba, but given how Anderson has improved of late and that formation works against Arse it's the correct lineup.

Just hope Ferdinand was a precaution and is back to 100%... well at least fit enough to see out the Xmas games. Evans has proved to be a fantastic replacement in the past but this season he looks shot. Infact I'd probably play Brown over Evans right now which is a concern given how bad Brown has been too.

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MojoChin

MojoChin

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Infact I'd probably play Brown over Evans right now which is a concern given how bad Brown has been too.

So, so wrong. The only defender capable of stepping up is Smalling as he is the only reserve CB that has looked half decent recently. And I'd have Carrick in CB rather than Evans or Brown at the minute.*

*Prob not really

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tonymg

tonymg

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VDS

Rafa Ferd Vida Evra

Nani Ando Scholes Fletcher Park

Rooney

That's what I expect, mostly what I want as the midfield is crucial considering how the Arse's is coming along.

I'd prefer Carrick over probably Scholes and play him as the furthest back of the 3. He was brilliant there when we won at the Emirates last year and Scholes hasn't played for a while.

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Liamness

Liamness

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I think Fletch was defensive mid in last season's game at the Emirates, and was bloody immense? I think we need to trust Carrick in the defensive mid role now though, we don't exactly have an embarrassment of riches in the position, and converting Fletch there shackles him. He has been sketchy, but he was out for a while and needs a run of games in his natural position I feel. Scholes can come on for Ando later in the game. Starting with those three in midfield should give us the energy to match Arsenal in midfield.

Brown hasn't played much, but he's been okay when he has. Evans was bafflingly shit against West Ham though, he won't figure for a while. SAF was presumably disappointed to say the least.

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tonymg

tonymg

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I think Fletch was defensive mid in last season's game at the Emirates, and was bloody immense?

I remember Scholes starting out as the deepest of the 3 and Arsenal slightly edging it, it wasn't until him and Carrick changed posistion half way through the first half that we started to dominate.

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Liamness

Liamness

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Does he mean that at all? Who cares! Great work from Nani, Clichy was left for dead. Goal didn't come from the break like I thought it would, instead we held onto the ball for a bit and it was nicely worked. Arsenal will have to come at us a bit more now, and leave gaps in the process you'd hope.

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Liamness

Liamness

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They certainly haven't gone out of their way to prove SAF wrong, though I don't think they've been overtly cynical. Fair few moments of indiscipline, but nothing calculated I don't think.

Rooney's major contribution has been to provide an outlet, with some fantastic hold up play he's really helped our possession. He's such a tremendous asset, he's won the ball and picked the right pass time and time again.

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Arsenal haven't been as bad as is being made out, Arshavin was a bit unlucky with his yellow and Webb has done a pretty good job.

Arsenal are definitely defending a little deeper and you can see the effect it has on their attack by increasing the distance from front to back. Hopefully they will start to chase the game and we can get some space in behind.

Another assist for Nani too! Not convinced that was Parks intention but he got his head to the ball so who cares!

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