Manchester United vs. Arsenal

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Cedric said:
I agree, however when was the last time we approached a big game positively?
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Exactly. Much as I agree that we shuold go all out to smash them, I'm 99% we'll see a disappointingly negative line-up.

I don't think Moyes does himself any favours by being conservative - he may think he's rdducing risk, but he's not.

Apart form anything else, if we were to finish the season 5th but were top scorers, having played loads of entertaining football, most supporters would be happy enough to see him carry on. Whereas if we finsih there after loads of low-scoring snooze-fests he'll be under massive pressure.
 
Kag said:
It's difficult to compare the individual players in both the United and Arsenal defence as our defence has been subject to too much injury and mindless rotation. Mertesacker and Koscielny have had the benefit of time and fitness to form a genuinely excellent partnership and Arsenal look as good defensively as they have in years. The Arsenal back line is currently far more drilled, consistent and unified than United's and I don't even think it's debatable.

However, individually, I'm a huge fan of our defenders and if two were to be selected, preferably Evans and Vidic, with Smalling and Jones as reliable back-up, and they were played in the league together for a prolonged period of time, I'd fairly confident we'd see plenty of clean sheets and some outstanding defensive performances. We just end up getting into the wider issue the team has in that, due to a myriad of reasons, we've looked disjointed and tactically strange for some time.

No defence should have had to deal with the amount of pressure that ours has over the past two seasons. Nor should De Gea.
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Kag said:
Smalling has defended excellently at centre half this season. Always does. As has Evans for well over a year, from the Bridge to the Bernabeu. Vidic has been magnificent since the turn of the year and was one of the major reasons behind our title success. A mistake against Sunderland isn't indicative of a wider problem. You've just made that up.

Your last point is valid.
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Completely agree with all of these points.

Arsenal's defence has undoubtedly been better than ours this season, the problem is we don't have anything like a set back four due to injuries and generally just having loads of defenders. I really don't know how Sunday will go, it depends on team selection, injuries (Carrick, Rafael etc), the mentalities of the two sides and just generally whether they turn up or not. None of the three results will surprise me really, Arsenal could come and tear us apart or our attack could click and just overpower them, I just hope we put in a performance.
 
ItsEssexRob said:
Anyone think Moyes may play ultra cautious? Not a good idea as despite how good/average Arsenal and United have been respectively if anyone can beat them its United.
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I can't see it personally, a draw does us no good whereas 3 points puts us right back amongst it. Obviously we don't know for sure how Moyes will approach it because this is all new ground but just applying some logic to it, there's far more to be gained than to be lost.
 
ItsEssexRob said:
The reasons I think United will win are that United seem to have this knack of turning up and winning when they are underdogs, which isn;t that often., as seen when you beat Arsenal 2-0 ending their unbeaten run before, when you had a weaker team and they had a stronger team. Then of course there was Fletchers winner vs us ending our unbeaten run.

Both wins did not matter to the destination of the title, as I dont think it will again tomorrow, but I still feel confident United will win, even though, going on form and the way the two teams are playing Arsenal should walk all over United.

Also no way is Uniteds defence better than Arsenals, whos has been fairly strong so far. As has been said earlier in the threa,d simply saying big names does not automatically make them better, this season Arsenals defence is better than Uniteds and thats all there is to it.

Still saying 2-1 United.
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I don't know if this applies post Fergie. It's true in the past we've had great success as the underdog team at times. The likes of Fletcher, P Neville, Park - the hassling players if you like - played really well in the big games and set the tone.

If Carrick is not fit I'd like to see Cleverly and Jones in the middle, bit of energy in the middle of the park could be vital.
 
walsh said:
Michael Oliver I believe.
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Thanks.

I can't recall any other matches of ours this season which he ahs officiated nor any serious controversy for in 13/14, this clash could have been handed to a lot worse.
 
Presumably because international broadcasters want it to start a little bit past the hour, so they can have a 10 minute lead-in before the first whistle.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
Thanks.

I can't recall any other matches of ours this season which he ahs officiated nor any serious controversy for in 13/14, this clash could have been handed to a lot worse.
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I wince every time I see fatty Dowd, Dean and Atkinson stroll out to ref our games. Unlike them, Oliver doesn't seem to crave the attention so there's no complaints from me - for now.
 
Twigg said:
Cazorla and Ozil are our main threats, cut them two out of the game and the feed to Giroud should be minimal. As mentioned in another thread, their fullbacks aren't the best defensively and I think that is why I think we should utilize our flair players in this match and take advantage of that, we will do them in on the flanks with Nani and Januzaj. Rooney and van Persie are both capable of winning matches on their own so if either one of them are on their game on Sunday we'll be sorted. The last thing I want to see is either one benched.
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No denying Cazorla and Ozil are massive threats of theirs, but Ramsey is obviously on fire also and Rosicky has been very impressive also. It's a bit of a disservice to their midfield to suggest nullifying Cazorla and Ozil will mean Giroud's service will be minimal.

The problem we have with playing both van Persie and Rooney - even though they are our best players - is we will be far more open, which would probably result in Arsenal easily monopolising possession. I want both to play, but to nullify Arsenal's control of the game, Rooney will have to drop deep, almost as a third midfielder and stay tight to Arteta, as that's how they get into their fluent best. If Arteta doesn't dictate possession then the likes of Cazorla, Ozil and Ramsey shouldn't be at their most effective. Arsenal's performance against Liverpool is testament to Arteta's influence and where Arsenal will really be at their rhythmic best.

And with the wingers. Januzaj should definitely be a shoe-in in my opinion, given he has been one of our best performers this season and his flair also means we have another dimension to our game instead of playing in straight lines and because he didn't play Wednesday of course. But Nani's inclusion still wouldn't fill me with confidence he will perform. Look at his performance against Stoke and up against Gibbs - who has arguably been the best LB in the league this season - I wouldn't be so sure of Nani having a field day.
 
Glanville95 said:
No denying Cazorla and Ozil are massive threats of theirs, but Ramsey is obviously on fire also and Rosicky has been very impressive also. It's a bit of a disservice to their midfield to suggest nullifying Cazorla and Ozil will mean Giroud's service will be minimal.
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I'd be very surprised if all 4 of them start on Sunday. I'm not up to date on Arsenal's injury news but if Flamini is anywhere near fit he will play, if not I can see them playing Arteta, Ramsey and Wilshere in midfield together.
 
walsh said:
I'd be very surprised if all 4 of them start on Sunday. I'm not up to date on Arsenal's injury news but if Flamini is anywhere near fit he will play, if not I can see them playing Arteta, Ramsey and Wilshere in midfield together.
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I've watched Arsenal a lot recently and they have played Rosicky, Cazorla and Ozil as a three behind Giroud with Arteta and Ramsey in midfield. Given their vein of form, I doubt they will change that on Sunday, although Flamini might start if fit, but Wilshere won't start.
 
Who or what the feck happened to that Ashley Young???
 
Upon further reflection I'm rescinding my 12-2 prediction and going for an altogether more boring and realistic 5-1 United.
 
walsh said:
Michael Oliver I believe.
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Nick 0208 Ldn said:
Thanks.

I can't recall any other matches of ours this season which he ahs officiated nor any serious controversy for in 13/14, this clash could have been handed to a lot worse.
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Best ref in the league over the last 2 calendar years IMO. Let's play go and isn't as easily conned as some.
 
alastair said:
That probably won't help you on Sunday :smirk:
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You're one of the best teams in Europe at the minute and, 8 game unbeaten run aside, we've played like absolute shit. A United win has an air of inevitability about it. Dodgy ref or not... :smirk:
 
------------DDG-------------
Valencia Evans Vidic Evra
------Carrick Cleverley---
---Januzaj Rooney Giggs-
------------RVP--------------
 
Carl said:
You're one of the best teams in Europe at the minute and, 8 game unbeaten run aside, we've played like absolute shit. A United win has an air of inevitability about it. Dodgy ref or not... :smirk:
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Oh I agree. You'll be up for it as will the crowd. I was kind of hoping we'd manage to have this game as a 12.45 like last year so the crowd was less of an influence and the players wouldn't have woken up 'til half time.
 
Why is everyone leaving Jones out btw? I think he's been rested up for a midfield role on Sunday.
 
Carl said:
Why is everyone leaving Jones out btw? I think he's been rested up for a midfield role on Sunday.
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Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I figured he must be an injury doubt or something if everyone was leaving him out, this is exactly the type of game where we're likely to use him in cm.
 
Carl said:
Why is everyone leaving Jones out btw? I think he's been rested up for a midfield role on Sunday.
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Yep, he'll be told to do the Fletcher/P.Neville 'get about them' job in the middle of the pitch. I just hope Carrick is fit to be next to him.
 
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