Manchester United vs Arsenal | Sun Aug 28 16:00

[Emma Lusa]

To show just how poor we were:

Ashley Young - 60 passes - 47 successful - 3 assists
Theo Walcott - 27 passes - 21 successful - 0 assits

Wayne Rooney - 52 passes - 41 successful - 1 assists
RvP - 26 passes - 21 successful - 0 assists

Cleverley - 69 passes - 62 successful - 0 assists
Ramsey - 63 passes - 51 successful - 0 assists

Smalling - 57 passes - 50 successful - 0 assists
Arshavin - 45 passes - 32 successful - 0 assists

As a team Utd completed 565 passes - 472 successful - 83.5% (below last year's average per game)
As a team we completed 446 passes - 351 successful - 78.7% (puts us in the bottom five of last year's PL teams)

For a team that's built around passing and maintaining possession this is just appalling basic crap .....

Thank christ we weren't playing City they managed over 86% against a Sp**s side who themselves managed just over 80%

 

[TheEconomist]

im still having trouble coming to terms with the fact we got beaten 8 ****ing 2....

 

[Herbas]

Right now I only think about Barca 5 - 0 RM result which did not mean that RM could not put some serious fight in the same season.

 

[HollandGooner]

It still hurts to be honest, but we need to move on

 

[outlaw_member]

Young got 3 assists?

 

[Rain Dance]

It’s ‘Kevin Davies’ Rain Dance, Nolan moved to Newcastle two seasons ago & then West Ham in which he is now captain for them in the Championship.

Thanks mate, I was in a hurry when I wrote it.

It’s not really about trophy haul, you’re right, but nor is it about age, as we well know it has been mentioned before Arsenal have had successful young captains ourselves in our history.

The United team today had a younger average age than our own squad for example. It’s the age old problem that’s blighted us for a long time now, when you lack leadership on the pitch, it needs to come from the bench, it needs to come from the manager. United have gone into the season with Ferdinand & Vidic two of their captain figures missing, Scholes and Van der Sar retired two stalwart pros of the game for decades even that twunt Neville who is now a pundit retired, yet still have the best manager for instilling a winning mentality, to get the best out of his team and even induce fear when needed to churn out results.

100% Agree

What was Wenger doing today in the second half, God knows, and what did Wenger even say at half time, what was his tactical input to restore belief we could attempt to rectify a disappointing first half of the match. He just sat there, motionless in the second half, he even subbed off our best player on the day, a debutant 19 year old, and opened the flood gates for a pummelling we’ll never live down. Hardly awe-inspiring leadership on his behalf to pull us back into the game was it.

They had more shots, more shots on target, made more passes, retained more possession, won more tackles, and even made more interceptions, without ever needing to get out of second gear.

Zonalmarking have a good little article on the game, trying to break it down.

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/08...l-wengers-heaviest-defeat-as-arsenal-manager/

IMO, what he said was probably words of "encouragement", like "we still can do this," or "it's okay, keep doing what you do", etc. in soft voice

Where any other managers would've slam the table and said "WHAT THE **** AM I SEEING OUT THERE?!!"

but well, I really don't understand why he subbed Coq, instead of Jenkinson... tactical blunder of the highest order
If Rafael has told Nani to "**** off" when he warned him of his defensive duties, you can bet Rafael will be off at half time

 

[Dave_Ja_Vu]

Btw, re: United's first goal. If the Sunday league team that I used to play for had conceded a goal like that, we would have absolutely slaughtered the defenders for it. A premiership, top 4 team with supposed international footballers conceding a goal that Sunday league defenders would have been embarrassed by.

Even people who have never played football know the basics. One of those basics being do not let the ball bounce in your own penalty area. Especially when its about 3 yards away from you.

Unbelievable.

 

[mo50]

im still having trouble coming to terms with the fact we got beaten 8 ******* 2....

Me too. It feels surreal tbh. Being destroyed like that was unbelievable.

Jenkinson, Djourou, Rosicky, Arshavin, Traore etc are players that shouldn't even be on our books. They are mid to lower level PL players who have managed to get significant playing time at our club. If I was ruthless, there is also a second wave of players who aren't good enough for a club with ambitions: Ramsey, Walcott, Koscielny to name a few.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

 

[WengerFaithful]

Shameful what this team has become - it is time for change at coaching level for two long has the coaching staff been together and they have become stale - the only one thing new players develop is on the ball tekkers and close control but that is it - they never develop a football brain, attitude to defensive duties, increasing their shot to goal ratio, leadership skills and attributes - why is this?

It is time to change up the coaching staff ****ing throw out that stale play book and but some heart into the coaching. One of our greatest Captains and DMF was snapped up as a coach at Man City, we have past greats like Adams, Keown with coaching badges, shed loads of experience and love for the club but have never been approached or brought in as it conflicts with this training regiment of one touch football.

 

[ibby]

Btw, re: United's first goal. If the Sunday league team that I used to play for had conceded a goal like that, we would have absolutely slaughtered the defenders for it. A premiership, top 4 team with supposed international footballers conceding a goal that Sunday league defenders would have been embarrassed by.

Even people who have never played football know the basics. One of those basics being do not let the ball bounce in your own penalty area. Especially when its about 3 yards away from you.

Unbelievable.

Yesterday was the worst performance I've seen by any football team.

 

[RockyRocastle]

Firstly the positives. The support.

Absolutely first class, and made me proud to be a gooner. I am avoiding all media content today, but has our support been mentioned anywhere? How did it sound on TV? If that was Portsmouth fans in similar situations they would be praised from the rooftops.

It really was fantastic. Obviously the team did not deserve such support, and the fact that only three or four of them came over to us at the end was a disgrace.

But that aside, it is not really the players fault. Jenkinson for example tries hard, but he has no business being a first team squad member of Arsenal. He is horribly out of his depth, and looks like what he is, an 18 year old league 1 reserve. How has he found his way into our squad? Amazing.

What we witnessed yesterday was the culmination of three/four years of total miss management.

We are a total shambles.

We were drinking in Piccadilly station before the game, and to a man everyone knew we would get beat. That says a lot about how we have fallen, but no one expected what we witnessed.

It has to act as a wake up call, but it is just too late in the day.

 

[Anzac]

Right now I only think about Barca 5 - 0 RM result which did not mean that RM could not put some serious fight in the same season.

The difference in squad quality between us and Real is akin to the difference between us & the top3. Real had the talent & options to work with, we don't.

 

[Herbas]

I know mate, but I still need some (false) hope

 

[AnthonyG]

Firstly the positives. The support.

Absolutely first class, and made me proud to be a gooner. I am avoiding all media content today, but has our support been mentioned anywhere? How did it sound on TV? If that was Portsmouth fans in similar situations they would be praised from the rooftops.

Yup:

Many Arsenal supporters, and to a man and woman they were magnificent in the support they gave their battered players at Old Trafford, question the support Wenger is receiving financially from his board.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2011/08/wengers_greatest_humiliation.html

 

[progman07]

Another thing that hurts about this game is that we have bought a 12m winger, Chamberlain, and we already killed his confidence with conceding 5 goals after he got subbed in. Jenkinson, Ramsey and Coquelin must have felt pretty **** after the game.

That's an absurd way of a youth policy, something that killed Denilson and will kill more players - putting unrealistic pressure on them, next to players who don't take responsibility, sometimes out of position (like Chamberlain).

 

[KY]

To show just how poor we were:

really? the numbers on the scoreboard weren't enough for you?

 

[Emma Lusa]

To show just how poor we were:

really? the numbers on the scoreboard weren't enough for you?

haha good point - what I meant was Utd didn't even reach their average level of last season whereas we fell an incredible 15% below ours.

If you get beaten by a good side playing at the top of their game (Barca over Utd CL final last year) that's one thing. To get hammered by a side playing pretty average stuff ..... what can you say ......

 

[DanDare]

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-thanks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-thanks</a>

Arsenal are refunding all the away fans

 

[KY]

Least they could do I guess. Kudos to them this time.

 

[stuart]

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-thanks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Arsenal are refunding all the away fans

There goes Cahills wages