FA L FA Cup Quarter-Final

Manchester United 1:2 Arsenal

Post-match discussion


Mon, 09 March 2015

Everyone is blaming LVG but when you look at the players how many would you pick to be in our all-time prem 11? De gea would be our 3rd string gk, Rooney on the bench along with RVP. Our players are just not good enough.
 
Everyone is blaming LVG but when you look at the players how many would you pick to be in our all-time prem 11? De gea would be our 3rd string gk, Rooney on the bench along with RVP. Our players are just not good enough.

And how many of players playing for Arsenal yesterday would get into their all-time XI? Not that it's any argument at all.
 
And how many of players playing for Arsenal yesterday would get into their all-time XI? Not that it's any argument at all.
I do not care about them. I would like us to regain our position as one of the top teams in Europe and that can only happen with better players.
 
My ten point analysis:

1. Excellent first half. We edged it slightly and both teams had a fair go. We should have snatched 1 of our other chances created.
2. What was Valencia doing between the CBs for the 1st Arsenal goal and AdM was busy day dreaming.
3. Herrera was rather quiet in that first half. My friends and I actually noted this simultaneously. Like oh where's Ander? I suspect this cost him a sub at HT.
4. Shaw, whilst not being gash, was being overrun on his side. Which is probably why he got subbed unless he was injured, again.
5. Arsenal came back in the 2nd half and pressed us hard. We didn't like it and couldn't keep the ball. Their pressing led to Valencia's mistake which cost us the 2nd goal.
6. How daft can AdM be? And can our players stop diving, it pisses me off.
7. Major positive: Despite being down to 10 men, we dominated Arsenal in the last 15-20 mins but by then the match was already 'lost' per se
8. Carrick looked way off the pace and it would probably have been better to keep Herrera on but I think the openness of our defence concerned LvG which prompted his changes.
9. Fellaini actually did well. The only thing that irked me about him was his slowness to release the ball at times, but then again that seems a common trait from our players nowadays
10. Cheer up lads, there were lots of positives. We actually played some nice stuff in the first half. And clearly if we get some decent CBs and a RB with a box to box CM then we will tough to beat and a joy to watch
 
Deciding to shut the game down at 1-1, aim to keep it tight and win it 2-1 might seem a good idea but not when you have Valencia and Jones in your team.
 
Decent first half.....that's where it ended. Do we know if there were injuries or were they tactical subs at half time? Carrick and Blind holding at the same time? FFS. As for the diving.....ADM should know better and Januzaj......how many times and chances is this guy going to get? Fine them both heavily. I was ashamed of them both. Arsenal weren't even that good last night. Welbeck's goal was given to him on a plate. He wasn't doing anything particularly special all evening. Tough, tough run in. 6th if we are being realistic. All down to the manager I'm afraid and his dinosaur tactics.
 
1) Blind and Carrick can´t play at the same time
2) Fellaini needs to be sold asap
3) Keep DDG at all costs
4) Juan Mata might not be pacey but atleast he´s got a football brain and is the best passer of the ball in this club so wtf is he doing on the bench
5) The matchgoing fans are brilliant
 
Not really sure how you can blame the manager for last night, we had chances and the players ruined it for themselves and us. Valencia isn't a RB, although he should be able to properly kick a ball, but as soon as Phil Jones came on, I said we've lost this. He didn't disappoint, lot of players to get rid of this summer. How Ashley Young has proved he's worth his place more than some of the other players we have, sums it up for me.
 
I'm sorry, but this has to be on LVG surely? United played the best half of football they've played in a long time and he goes and makes not one but two(!) subs at half time...

:lol: You couldn't make this shit up.
Agree there, I was shocked that he was making two subs. Not only the subs themselves (I said elsewhere I would've kept Ander on, and taken Blind off, if really he wanted to mix the midfield up), but making 2 subs in itself is a huge decision. Had we totally controlled the tempo and destroyed them through the middle, it would've appeared clever, but it didn't actually shake up our style that much. We actually played worse in the second half.

Ancelotti might be available next year.
 
my 2 cents:
the result was a total gift which is why its so frustrating, theres wasnt much in it but we shaded it overall imo even with 10 men for a portion of the game
despite tighening up significantly compared to early season (the goals-against doesnt lie) we're still prone to defensive brainfarts and more often than not we get punished for them, both goals were laughable from our POV
ADM was growing into the game and looked quite threatening till he suddently lost it, i guess thats sort of a positive?
Im undecided on fella, he actually did a lot of good but also hesitated at key moments wasting the oportunities. its not saying much but i think him and Rooney are probably our best pairing up top
The diving was shameful, and on both occasions they could have retained possesion in a dangerous area.
Januzaj needs to smarten up, he's such a talent and roasted the full back a few times despite only playing a short while sadly he seems more interested in then winning a free kick rather than putting in a quality pass/shot after gaining said space. needs a proper bollocking imo he could be a big player for us if he gets his shit together
so much of the reffing was inconsistant its incredibly frustrating, oliver always looks shit scared to me - would he have sent Rooney off if he'd done what ADM did? i seriously doubt it
DDG should have taken Welbeck out imo theres a good chance we'd still be in the cup if he had
having said that DDG made a superb save late on, what a season this boys having
Sanchez aside Arsenal are no great shakes, the amount of whining in various threads banging on about them and their supposed 'technical ability' is all nonsense, most people seem to think we're garbage and yet they did pretty much f-all against us last night, a couple of pretty triangles and everyone loses their shit it seems. same ol arsenal for me
 
Everyone is blaming LVG but when you look at the players how many would you pick to be in our all-time prem 11? De gea would be our 3rd string gk, Rooney on the bench along with RVP. Our players are just not good enough.

Well not many players currently plying their trade in Premier League would get into their teams all time XI, you could have a case for several Liverpool and City players but that's largely because they didn't have very good sides in the past. I'm not sure there are more than three players in the league right now that would make United's all time XI - Silva, Aguero and Hazard spring to mind as the ones that might have a case but I'm not certain about any of them. Certainly no one at Liverpool or Arsenal.
 
We looked pretty average last night. The lead up to the game was quite over blown and few took on board that Arsenal might be on for a bit of revenge. The fact that it was delivered cold by Wlebeck sums up our season and was in some ways predictable. ADM's qualities that made him an attractive acquisition have deserted him, last night was embarrassing to watch. Once Welbeck scored we were all over the place, as we were for their first goal.

The selection was a bit strange with Fellaini again preferred to Mata and no Falcao. This decision was further undermined by the madness of two substitutions at half time. Not content to bemuse everyone, when we desperately needed a goal he subbed on AJ. We don't score goals because we don't give our top striker any supply and then don't play him. How is this team ever to get goals when the whole concept of a striker is turned into a farce.

LVG likes to imagine he has the scientific theory of football in his pocket, and if we were to compare it to Einstein's theory of relativity, it's utterly impractical for everyday use. Last night the theories were proven nonsense and we limped out of a competition thanks to poor selection, poor substitutions and the release of a player who was accused of not scoring goals. The theories have barely worked against poor opposition and have now utterly failed against a top side at a crucial time of the season. If we don't make 4th, the causes will come down to this confusing scientific nonsense and last night's impact on squad confidence.
 
Of course not but we definitely need to get better payers in key positions. In the history of the prem we have never had such poor centre backs and central midfielders.
We had a poorer cm under Fergusons last few years. And I'm sure the plan is to get a couple of defenders in.
 
I blame Fellaini for EVERYTHING.

1) he's here

2) we look better with him playing

It's not good.
 
Main points from the match.

1. Bellerin should have been gone before the meltdown. (my main issue with the match)
2. Our defence has to go. Jones and Smalling start sauntering back once Valencia under hits it. Only start sprinting when Welbeck went around DDG. Amateur defending and no commitment. Jones also should have been clearing that away.
3. How can a ref book someone for something he didn't see? Rooney could easily have pulled his shirt. (straw clutching here)
4. Overall we were pretty decent for 60mins.
5. I am pissed off.
 
Pretty shitty all round really. Decent in the first half and the tempo looked a million times faster than what we've seen recently. Managed to get into good position and create some decent half chances and scored a great goal from a what seemed resurgent Di Maria. Subs at half time really did seam to make us lose something for whatever reason. Unless injured you have to question those subs for sure. Seemed pointless after a promising first half.

The less said about the second half the better really, sloppyness and miss placed passes galore. Di Maria sending off was a real shitter too. I don't think he deserved the first yellow. Sure he went down soft but they were a few of those on the night that went unpunished/won free kicks. feck knows what he was doing man handling the referee though, I mean I can't stand Oliver either the petulant little shit but you know you're getting sent off for that reaction. Shame too as Di Maria looked much better and more dangerous than he has done in recent months.

So yeah overall pretty shit. Not sure about anyone else but I've got mixed feelings about Fellaini playing up front too. Always seems to be involved but too many players play the long ball as a get a jail free card and it isn't pretty. Long term I don't want to see that.

Also, feck you Welbeck! :P
 
I thought the atmosphere was fantastic last night, reminded me in some ways of the Madrid match 2 years ago.

Thought it was all going to kick off after the game, letting all the Arsenal fans out at the same time was almost asking for a riot, surprised I only saw one guy take a few shots - 1st time in a while my arse was twitching a bit getting back to the car.
 
Agree there, I was shocked that he was making two subs. Not only the subs themselves (I said elsewhere I would've kept Ander on, and taken Blind off, if really he wanted to mix the midfield up), but making 2 subs in itself is a huge decision. Had we totally controlled the tempo and destroyed them through the middle, it would've appeared clever, but it didn't actually shake up our style that much. We actually played worse in the second half.

Ancelotti might be available next year.
That is what they were saying on MUTV last night, that why two subs when we weren't in any desperate trouble. He tinkered for the sake of it and it backfired.
 
Though I heard there may have been injury scares?
Only Shaw I believe. They are saying in the media that Herrera was tactical. There was no need at that time to take Herrera off. He did the same thing with Herrera in the first game of the season and ended up regretting it. If we started to struggle fine make a change. Half time wasn't right in this case.
 
He said he was his best player so that should guarantee him playing against Spurs and an actual RB being left on the bench.

And here was me hoping that this would lead to Rafa getting a run of games. Valencia was the worst player on the pitch.
 
Only Shaw I believe. They are saying in the media that Herrera was tactical. There was no need at that time to take Herrera off. He did the same thing with Herrera in the first game of the season and ended up regretting it. If we started to struggle fine make a change. Half time wasn't right in this case.
Totally agree about Herrera. He wasn't have an amazing game, but it was stupid taking him off.
 
Given that we actually played well in the first half and looked the more likely winner, why didn't we just LEAVE THINGS AS THEY WERE???
 
Meh, time to move on from last night's shite. Their forward was gifted a goal by Valencia, feck it. I'd rather lose the cup than the league tie in May.
 
We were great in the first half and looked set to win the game I thought, subs were very poor I do wonder what the thought process was but they lost us the game. Having two sitting cms just looks so terrible

Still we can take some heart from a good performance from the go, we do seem to be a lot better vs bigger teams
 
Actually it's interesting because herrera was absolutely anonymous but we gave up so much territory with that sub, maybe mata for herrera would have been the better change?
 
I thought we looked good attacking and awufull defending in the first half which is why he made those 2 subs. Carrick to stop the ball from reaching our defence so easily and Jones as CB with Rojo LB beeing more defensive. We were still better than them and looking to score it just all went wrong with that back pass.
 

Player Ratings

5.2 Total Average Rating

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Compiled from 467 ratings.

Score Predictions

396,68,50
  • Man Utd win
  • Arsenal win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 38% Man Utd 2:1 Arsenal
  • 13% Man Utd 2:0 Arsenal
  • 8% Man Utd 1:0 Arsenal
  • 7% Man Utd 3:1 Arsenal
  • 7% Man Utd 1:2 Arsenal
  • 6% Man Utd 1:1 Arsenal
  • 3% Man Utd 3:0 Arsenal
  • 3% Man Utd 3:2 Arsenal
  • 2% Man Utd 0:2 Arsenal
  • 2% Man Utd 5:0 Arsenal
  • 2% Man Utd 2:2 Arsenal
  • 2% Man Utd 1:3 Arsenal
  • 2% Man Utd 0:0 Arsenal
  • 1% Man Utd 0:3 Arsenal
  • 1% Man Utd 0:5 Arsenal
  • 1% Man Utd 4:0 Arsenal
  • 1% Man Utd 4:1 Arsenal
  • 1% Man Utd 5:2 Arsenal
  • 0% Man Utd 0:1 Arsenal
  • 0% Man Utd 1:4 Arsenal
  • 0% Man Utd 4:2 Arsenal
  • 0% Man Utd 2:3 Arsenal
  • 0% Man Utd 4:3 Arsenal
  • 0% Man Utd 5:1 Arsenal
  • 0% Man Utd 5:4 Arsenal
Compiled from 514 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. Arsenal
Possession
58% 42%
Shots
10 11
Shots on Target
5 8
Corners
3 3
Fouls
22 11

Referee

Michael Oliver