FA Cup | Man Utd vs Arsenal | Sat Mar 12th, 17:15 | ITV 1

[celestis]

Denilson and Diaby had good games . We dominated midfield with them.

This is what is so wrong with our thinking. SAF sent out a side which made no attempt to compete with our midfield - your verdict "Denilson and Diaby had good games, we dominated midfield" We dominated what? Utd set out to compete in the final third, the results, we failed to score in their final third, they scored twice in ours. Oh yes but remember we "dominated" the bit in the middle, the bit which makes fook all difference and exactly the same as SAF wanted .... AW you were played, again.

Mate we were camped outside their final third , Nasri and RVP , Arshavin so enough of the ball to do something . As I have said we all knew Denilson and Diaby arent great its up to supposed 'special players' like the one that is supposed to be heading for the PFA to do something but they weren't brave enough and lacked urgency .

Anyway if Diay and Denilson are so **** , why didn't they just play around them .

 

[Kain]

United played us as Emma has mentioned, we've seen it all before, Diaby ran to catch up with Fabio for that first goal then stopped then ran back again to late as Fabio received the ball further down the pitch, the man’s clueless at any defensive aspect of the game, if he'd followed his man and responsibility to begin with Fabio would never of received the pass for the initial cross.

Denilson allowed the United move to break forward for the second goal his standing off and letting players run at us was better than anything United achieved today he’s a joke.

That’s the two goals which could of been prevented by the dumb ****s, but why stop at the defensive aspects of their midfield game they played it simple all afternoon, got funnelled down the right flank time and again, slowed our attacks down, and supplied us with one chance the one time Diaby decided to break into the united box and pass it on to Sagna.

They’re an utter disaster to any team wanting to effectively play 4-3-3, everyone could of told you that pregame, and anyone with eyes watched as it once again played out that way this afternoon against one of the most random set of United players we're ever likely to see in our lifetime. They have no place at Arsenal the squarest pegs we have by some distance.

 

[Emma Lusa]

Diaby and Denilson did exactly what AW asked them to do, the problem was SAF anticipated this and was happy to allow them to pass the ball around midfield all game. When it came to forward progression that's where we failed. No blame at all for Diaby and Denilson they did what they were tasked to do.

The real sad truth is that most fans be it Arsenal, Utd or any other team could have written the synopsis for this game before a ball was even kicked: Arsenal dominate midfield, create little and fail to convert, Utd strong at the back create little and score a couple. How utterly predictable and how very very depressing ......

 

[outlaw_member]

Who's praising them, Ricky? Certainly not me.

On another note, Nasri is playing like his old self again. Dropping far too deep, and not running off the ball enough.

 

[celestis]

So Diaby and Denilson deserve little to no credit for "controlling the midfield", when it was happily given to them by United. What we needed from them was some dynamism in the final third, something to help out our badly outnumbered attack, and we certainly didn't get that. Almost goes without saying that we did get that from Wilshere though.

Jack clearly passed the man on to to Sagna, and they were both looking at each other and at Rooney. Sagna, for some unknown reason, decided to move away from Rooney and move towards the ball. Awful decision which cost us badly.

How do you blame Diaby and Denilson ?You know they're crap in the final third , am sure their team mates know that as well . They ensured we were camped outside the third it was up to the creative players to get the job done feck we had enough chances falling to the right blokes ? Did Nasri beat Evra once in his own Manure's half ? can't think of one to be honest , did Arhsavin get the better of Brown -not really . I agree Diaby and Denilson aren't very good but they did a good enoough job -to me the blame lies elsewhere .

The point is we could have had Koscelny and Squillaci playing in midfield today and still controlled it. There was no contest to win, United gave it to us, in favour of dropping deep and protecting their box.

I agree entirely that our attack looked tragically blunt today. No genuine speed, no incision, no flair - boring, slow and predictable. Doesn't change the fact that Denilson and Diaby did sod all when they got into promising positions in the final third. Playing a few sideways nothing passes under no pressure to unmarked players doesn't constitute controlling the midfield and surely isn't particularly praiseworthy? I'm not blaming those two on their own by any means, but they didn't play well and certainly played their part in our defeat.

Believe me Diaby and Denislon frustrate me but I was alarmed by the front 3's movement . I just don't want D and D to deflect that .

 

[There is light]

Diaby and Denilson did an adequate job. Clueless people would rather blame them, then the players who were really at fault today. Like Koscielny who fell asleep and allowed Fabio to sneak in behind him, or as Ricky says Sagna who failed to track Rooney for the second goal. van der Sar wasn't MOTM for no reason. We created enough chances, but Nasri, van Persie and Arshavin just didn't have the extra quality to get the better of their keeper.

Completely agree, our strength turned out to be our weakness, we were let down by our attack so really where do we go from here ?

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

On Paul Scholes’ tackles today…
The pitch was good, the referee was good and the tackles of Paul Scholes were bad.

 

[AnthonyG]

Denilson was horrific. I'm staggered anyone could think otherwise.

 

[Kraig]

Thank you Ant. Thought I was watching a diff game to others. His non performances are the true sign of this current crops failings. Rambo had more ingenuity in his brief cameo than denilson has had all season.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Quite embarrassing, that we've only scored five goals in the League at OT since 2000, and two in the FA Cup.

All in all seven goals in 15 games (three FA Cup games, one CL game, 12 League games).

That's what annoyes me the most.
We never really turn up and never are clinical enough at OT.

 

[TheCMT]

Denilson was horrific. I'm staggered anyone could think otherwise.

Agreed. Was pissed when squares the ball when we are in advantageous position and he also gave away ball while we were trying to buildup. I would rather have Lansbury than Denilson now.

 

[TheCMT]

Quite embarrassing, that we've only scored five goals in the League at OT since 2000, and two in the FA Cup.

We lost 6-1 there in 2001. TBH I have no problem if we go to a top 4 at their place and grab a draw or respectful loss (because that's the home advantage). Though I am not suggesting we have to just loose there. But the way we get out played at our stadia is not good enough if they are winning there we should do same thing. Loosing to Chelsea Manure at home is not acceptable.

 

[DOUBLE-YOU]

Who's praising them, Ricky? Certainly not me.

On another note, Nasri is playing like his old self again. Dropping far too deep, and not running off the ball enough.

Well spotted. I noticed that about Nasri as well. We badly missed Theo today as he's the one player who runs off the ball and stretches teams. Our problem is the movement off the ball isn't good enough, too many want the ball to feet. Midfielders don't run beyond the strikers and when the ball is wide, we don't get enough men in the box, which i find strange because when we defend we don't have enough men back either.

 

[fabo]

Nasri is blunt when it comes to creativity - the guy is quality, never gives the ball away but he hogs it way too much.

Seems more suited to a supporting role rather than the creative hub of the side. His best moments this season have come through off the ball runs and finishing.

Rafael, Gibson, O'Shea, Fabio...............awful.

 

[Anzac]

We're NEVER clinical enough.

 

[OohtobeaGoonerGal]

We're NEVER clinical enough.

In the big games this for me is just as disappointing as those little errors and slip-ups through lack of concerntration at the back.
Games where we are struggling for chances requires the sharpest of focus to make our opportunities count, e.g. Barca where Arshavin crucially scored and Robin was on point for the equaliser after previously missing some other chances.
Then there's the Chelsea 3-1 win type of games, where we dominate the match but make sure that in front of goal we don't mess about, Song,Cesc and Theo were all clinical in that respect.

Again yesterday we had some very good chances, clear-cut ones like Rosicky's effort and Chamakh's header should have been dealt with much better than in was, and despite what happens at the back, if we don't use our opportunities ruthlessly instead of doing shots that make GK's look like world-beaters, then we won't always find ourselves on the backfoot in games like this.

 

[celestis]

We're NEVER clinical enough.

In the big games this for me is just as disappointing as those little errors and slip-ups through lack of concerntration at the back.
Games where we are struggling for chances requires the sharpest of focus to make our opportunities count, e.g. Barca where Arshavin crucially scored and Robin was on point for the equaliser after previously missing some other chances.
Then there's the Chelsea 3-1 win type of games, where we dominate the match but make sure that in front of goal we don't mess about, Song,Cesc and Theo were all clinical in that respect.

Again yesterday we had some very good chances, clear-cut ones like Rosicky's effort and Chamakh's header should have been dealt with much better than in was, and despite what happens at the back, if we don't use our opportunities ruthlessly instead of doing shots that make GK's look like world-beaters, then we won't always find ourselves on the backfoot in games like this.

Good post . We tend to lose momentum when we are not clincal.

 

[SA Gunner]

It starts in one place celestis and GoonerGal, one place determines how we perform in front of goal. One place determines our technicality, performances, need for players, everything.

 

[celestis]

Which place is that SA ?

 

[SA Gunner]

Which place is that SA ?

The mind celestis, Im like a stuck record here mate. The mind of the majority of our squad and manager is weak, and with this serving as a foundation to all our endeavors do we then build the rest of our entire approach on shaky ground.

If we are able to rectify this, will the rest begin to fall into place. Its not even about buying a finisher or a world class DM/CM/CB, etc. Our strength as a squad would improve yes, but we will still lack the fundamental element. The element which allows a team of defenders the ability to beat us 2-0.