[TMDaines]

Rocking? Are you kidding me? The atmosphere inside Old Trafford is nothing like it once was - the fans know it, Mourinho knows it.

During the match itself, I was thinking the atmosphere was possibly the worst of the season, aside from the Europa League matches. The Stretford End was up for the high spots, but in between there was a lot of eerie, nervous quietness, surprisingly so. Both the wife and I commented on it. In fairness, the game didn't particularly draw much emotion, bar the inconsistent refereeing. It was, for the most part, two blunt attacks against two comfortable defences.

Until the weekend though, the atmosphere has been pretty good and compares well with when I last regularly attended seven or eight years ago.

 

[Jacko21]

During the match itself, I was thinking the atmosphere was possibly the worst of the season, aside from the Europa League matches. The Stretford End was up for the high spots, but in between there was a lot of eerie, nervous quietness, surprisingly so. Both the wife and I commented on it. In fairness, the game didn't particularly draw much emotion, bar the inconsistent refereeing. It was, for the most part, two blunt attacks against two comfortable defences.

Until the weekend though, the atmosphere has been pretty good and compares well with when I last regularly attended seven or eight years ago.

Aye, the lunchtime kick-off does little to help matters.

But more than anything, OT supporters have become accustomed to creating great atmospheres only on the occasions that the team itself is playing high tempo football and attacking consistently. Anything other than that, tends to see the stadium fall a little flat, because they are given little to be enthused about - which was the case against Arsenal. Our slow build up play and persistent stoppages meant that the atmosphere never really got going.

At this point, I think supporters need to be the ones to take the initiative a little more and realise that vocalising their support is often a catalyst for the team playing with more energy - which we badly need.

There is an absolute correlation between the team playing quickly and the supporters feeling enthused.

Case in point: Against Arsenal, I, like those around me, were getting agitated at the likes of Darmian taking an age to take a damn thrown-in. That stuff rarely comes across on the TV. But when you're at a game, it's easy to get frustrated about, because I for one, want the entire team do things quicker and with more purpose.

 

[TheReligion]

During the match itself, I was thinking the atmosphere was possibly the worst of the season, aside from the Europa League matches. The Stretford End was up for the high spots, but in between there was a lot of eerie, nervous quietness, surprisingly so. Both the wife and I commented on it. In fairness, the game didn't particularly draw much emotion, bar the inconsistent refereeing. It was, for the most part, two blunt attacks against two comfortable defences.

Until the weekend though, the atmosphere has been pretty good and compares well with when I last regularly attended seven or eight years ago.

Odd.

I thought the atmosphere was pretty good and I'm overly critical when it's poor.

 

[The Purist]

Arsenal will get nowhere near the title as it showed me the side is still gutless.

On the basis of this performance and others before it, I agree as stated in my post.

I do think we'll finish comfortably in the top 3 though. Just need to hope Chelsea and Spurs have a decline.

 

[Jep]

Well got in the office and guy who sits next to me (cambridge fan) asked if I had watched the game. His next words were what a boring game and that he was going to stop watching united games as we are so boring. I said a lot of that was on Arsenal who managed 1 attempt in 2nd half and 1 attempt on target all game and thought we played some good football at times, and that we should have got a penalty which could have changed things. The response was silence.

 

[Jacko21]

Well got in the office and guy who sits next to me (cambridge fan) asked if I had watched the game. His next words were what a boring game and that he was going to stop watching united games as we are so boring. I said a lot of that was on Arsenal who managed 1 attempt in 2nd half and 1 attempt on target all game and thought we played some good football at times, and that we should have got a penalty which could have changed things. The response was silence.

It was a boring game.

Arsenal were worse than useless and and we were not much better - contrary to what others are professing. Having watched the game again (for my sins), I can't contemplate how we didn't beat such a blunt Arsenal side. This was not tactical nullification on the part of Mourinho - Arsenal lacked any creativity, in part down to selection, in part down to individuals not turning up.

There are signs we're getting better, but we are nowhere near where we should be.

 

[Jazz]

Anyone seen this yet from Howard Webb? I haven't read the whole thread so apologies if already posted:

Webb told BT Sport: "I think on balance it was a penalty. Was it a cast-iron, stonewall penalty? No.

"I saw it in slow-motion and the contact was less significant than I first thought. But do I think Monreal in his attempt to get the ball impeded him? Yes I do. I think it's a penalty and I'm surprised Andre didn't give it

 

[The Purist]

This was not tactical nullification on the part of Mourinho - Arsenal lacked any creativity, in part down to selection, in part down to individuals not turning up.

There are signs we're getting better, but we are nowhere near where we should be.

You're totally right. If United had ANY significant positives, you would have beaten us. We were so bad and it wasn't anything to do with United.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

It was a boring game.

Arsenal were worse than useless and and we were not much better - contrary to what others are professing. Having watched the game again (for my sins), I can't contemplate how we didn't beat such a blunt Arsenal side. This was not tactical nullification on the part of Mourinho - Arsenal lacked any creativity, in part down to selection, in part down to individuals not turning up.

There are signs we're getting better, but we are nowhere near where we should be.

I agree to an extent, I'm not getting carried away by that performance against a very off-colour Arsenal. But you think we were not much better than useless in that second half? That seems harsh to me.

You're totally right. If United had ANY significant positives, you would have beaten us. We were so bad and it wasn't anything to do with United.

Again harsh for me. You were as bad as I've seen you this season but to say we had no significant positives is unfair. I thought you defended bravely and Cech made some good saves.

 

[Random Task]

Had a day to think about the match. It was an interesting game that told both sets of fans a lot about their teams.

Before the game, I think every Arsenal fan was hoping for the best and expecting the worse. We do seem to have a mental block at Old Trafford and we make it easy for you almost every time. From a logical perspective, many of our fans think we are the better team and therefore, should have a good chance of winning. In the end, the result was a good one for us.. mostly because of the circumstances of the game.

From an Arsenal perspective: We were utterly garbage. The worst performance I've seen from us in any competitive fixture since the 8-2 game. It's worrying for us because it shows that not only that the mental block does, indeed, exist at this ground but also that it's still alive and well even when we have been the better team for ~4 years now. I think we showed naivety and worry. The cool, competitive and pragmatic nature of an elite team continues to elude us and our title race will fall as a result of this unless we sort it out. Although some of the newer heads to our first team (Mustafi, Elneny, Coquelin) do show the fight and mettle required - even though the defending of the latter two was quite poor for your goal.

From a United perspective: I think the outlook is even more bleak than it is for us in terms of this season. This was a massive opportunity for you guys against an Arsenal team lacking in energy, commitment and belief. An opportunity to beat Arsenal doesn't come much easier than this. (we played better in all the games that you've won against us recently than we did yesterday) I'm surprised it was possible to find a way to mess it up, honestly. I think it may have been a different story should Zlatan have played.. but on the same note I could say that about Cazorla or Bellerin for ourselves.
For you guys to get Champions League football, you'll need to finish higher than 2 of Chelsea, Arsenal, City, Liverpool and Spurs. At this moment, I just can't see that happening. City and Chelsea demonstrated that they are currently a class above United in the league. You did, to be fair, get a good result against Liverpool in a disciplined performance. I don't think this was a positive result for United, though.. given simply how bad we were.

So, yeah. The game was an interesting one. Conservative. The casual, neutral fan may say 'boring' but I enjoyed it. And I don't think either set of fans can come out of it with too many positives.

Blaming your teams poor performance on a negative mental block is absolute lunacy. Or perhaps it is some form of a security blanket created in order to protect yourself from the underlying truth; the United midfield controlled the tempo of the game due to overpowering a weak Arsenal midfield. United were the better football team on the day. Looking beyond that is more about your own personal mental state than it is the Arsenal players.

It's easy to over analyze when our team performs below expectation (I've been guilty of it myself) when the simplest answer is generally the one that's closest to the truth.

 

[Jacko21]

I agree to an extent, I'm not getting carried away by that performance against a very off-colour Arsenal. But you think we were not much better than useless in that second half? That seems harsh to me.

Considering how bad Arsenal were, we should have achieved much more.

Far too many of our attacks break down. And we lack the urgency required to really stretch teams.

The Arsenal supporters I know were stunned at how badly they played at Old Trafford. Yes, they are used to them underperforming here, but not to the extent that they looked utterly toothless. That's why I think it highlights our own failings, if our performance was as good as some on here are making out, we would have put them to the sword.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Considering how bad Arsenal were, we should have achieved much more.

Far too many of our attacks break down. And we lack the urgency required to really stretch teams.

The Arsenal supporters I know were stunned at how badly they played at Old Trafford. Yes, they are used to them underperforming here, but not to the extent that they looked utterly toothless. That's why I think it highlights our own failings, if our performance was as good as some on here are making out, we would have put them to the sword.

That's fair. Just as I type West Brom have got their second of the night, our profligacy in front of goal has become farcical. For me the second half performance was a good one, in spite of Arsenal's wretchedness. All it was lacking were goals and that one bit of defensive composure for their equaliser. Of course that's all you need to throw points away.

 

[Jacko21]

Blaming your teams poor performance on a negative mental block is absolute lunacy. Or perhaps it is some form of a security blanket created in order to protect yourself from the underlying truth; the United midfield controlled the tempo of the game due to overpowering a weak Arsenal midfield.

I don't see why that is lunacy. I really don't. They are human beings, it is more than reasonable to assume that, given their failings at OT, some may not have performed to their truest potential.

And if we are talking about security blankets - how about the posters on here who are using 'tactical nullification' as the reason for our dominance against Arsenal. Personally, as I have surmised above, Arsenal were way below par and as some are refusing to accept, our football was untidy in large parts.

 

[Random Task]

I don't see why that is lunacy. I really don't. They are human beings, it is more than reasonable to assume that, given their failings at OT, some may not have performed to their truest potential.

And if we are talking about security blankets - how about the posters on here who are using 'tactical nullification' as the reason for our dominance against Arsenal. Personally, as I have surmised above, Arsenal were way below par and as some are refusing to accept, our football was untidy in large parts.

Were that the case, then every team who ever received a spanking at Old Trafford - that would be every football team in the league at some point or another - would be allowed to blame their failings on a mental block? That just doesn't sit right with me. These guys are the elite of professional football, being beaten at specific footballing venue on numerous occasions should provide them with motivation to erase that statistic, not form a mental block compounding it.

Sorry but this whole mental block thing is ludicrous.

 

[Jacko21]

Were that the case, then every team who ever received a spanking at Old Trafford - that would be every football team in the league at some point or another - would be allowed to blame their failings on a mental block? That just doesn't sit right with me. These guys are the elite of professional football, being beaten at specific footballing venue on numerous occasions should provide them with motivation to erase that statistic, not form a mental block compounding it.

Sorry but this whole mental block thing is ludicrous.

There is no point in trying to explain this, not if you can't contemplate that a footballer (or any sportsperson) may encounter and subsequently struggle with, a psychological barrier that prevents them from performing at their optimum.

There is plenty of research, records and indeed evidence to suggest that it is a very real thing.

 

[Sandikan]

Were that the case, then every team who ever received a spanking at Old Trafford - that would be every football team in the league at some point or another - would be allowed to blame their failings on a mental block? That just doesn't sit right with me. These guys are the elite of professional football, being beaten at specific footballing venue on numerous occasions should provide them with motivation to erase that statistic, not form a mental block compounding it.

Sorry but this whole mental block thing is ludicrous.

How can you possibly say that, when Arsenal, just for the very obvious relevant example, turn up here in the league every season and put in an absolutely nothing performance?
The last 4 years they've had a better team in a lot of people's opinion, so how come we either turn them over every year, or are super unlucky not to?
Even Moyes turned them over, and he lost to teams we hadn't lost to in 30 years quite a few times!

 

[Random Task]

How can you possibly say that, when Arsenal, just for the very obvious relevant example, turn up here in the league every season and put in an absolutely nothing performance?
The last 4 years they've had a better team in a lot of people's opinion, so how come we either turn them over every year, or are super unlucky not to?
Even Moyes turned them over, and he lost to teams we hadn't lost to in 30 years quite a few times!

So you're saying Arsenal, one of the biggest football teams on the planet, are incapable of defeating United at Old Trafford due to their players (even those who have never played at Old Trafford) forming a mental block? I've heard it all now.

 

[Powderfinger]

Were that the case, then every team who ever received a spanking at Old Trafford - that would be every football team in the league at some point or another - would be allowed to blame their failings on a mental block? That just doesn't sit right with me. These guys are the elite of professional football, being beaten at specific footballing venue on numerous occasions should provide them with motivation to erase that statistic, not form a mental block compounding it.

Sorry but this whole mental block thing is ludicrous.

I don't think a mental block had much to do with Arsenal's poor performance. More important were:

1. We were missing two of our four most important field players (Cazorla, Bellerin) while another was clearly not fully fit (Sanchez). I realize that United were also missing key players. So the point is not so much that our injuries were worse but that...

2. Wenger is a manager with a very limited tactical imagination. He only knows one way to play and when he doesn't have players of sufficient quality to play that way, he struggles to find alternative solutions. His response was just to set us up extremely defensively - two FBs offering little threat, two DMs, and one winger in Ramsey with a remit to play very cautiously - and hope to steal a goal somewhere. United completely nullified our attack but, in the end, that is not exactly difficult given that we were essentially attacking with three players (Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott). We weren't going to attack in numbers and you kept enough players back, particularly with both Carrick and Herrera playing deeper roles in the middle, to limit any counterattacking opportunities.

In sum, Wenger came for a draw but had a poor tactical plan that was easy to exploit. United succeeded in doing the relatively easy thing (completely nullifying the attack of a team that had no real intent on or plan for attacking) but failed to do the hard thing (translate that dominance into lots of high quality chances and multiple goals). United were clearly the better team but it was not a particularly impressive performance and to treat it as such just shows how much standards have fallen in recent years. Any of Ferguson's teams would have hammered us 3-0.

 

[Random Task]

I don't think a mental block had much to do with Arsenal's poor performance. More important were:

1. We were missing two of our four most important field players (Cazorla, Bellerin) while another was clearly not fully fit (Sanchez). I realize that United were also missing key players. So the point is not so much that our injuries were worse but that...

2. Wenger is a manager with a very limited tactical imagination. He only knows one way to play and when he doesn't have players of sufficient quality to play that way, he struggles to find alternative solutions. His response was just to set us up extremely defensively - two FBs offering little threat, two DMs, and one winger in Ramsey with a remit to play very cautiously - and hope to steal a goal somewhere. United completely nullified our attack but, in the end, that is not exactly difficult given that we were essentially attacking with three players (Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott). We weren't going to attack in numbers and you kept enough players back, particularly with both Carrick and Herrera playing deeper roles in the middle, to limit any counterattacking opportunities.

In sum, Wenger came for a draw but had a poor tactical plan that was easy to exploit. United succeeded in doing the relatively easy thing (completely nullifying the attack of a team that had no real intent on or plan for attacking) but failed to do the hard thing (translate that dominance into lots of high quality chances and multiple goals). United were clearly the better team but it was not a particularly impressive performance and to treat it as such just shows how much standards have fallen in recent years. Any of Ferguson's teams would have hammered us 3-0.

Voice of reason from an Arsenal fan no less.

Nice summary to be fair mate.

 

[TMDaines]

Odd.

I thought the atmosphere was pretty good and I'm overly critical when it's poor.

Where you sat? The biggest indicator for me was that it took a good minute for the Stretford End to make any collective noise after the second half commenced. It was really odd.

Also throughout the second half, no rolling chants really ever got going for more than a few repetitions. There was no long "Mourinho's Red Army" or United Calypso.

 

[Zebs]

Where you sat? The biggest indicator for me was that it took a good minute for the Stretford End to make any collective noise after the second half commenced. It was really odd.

Also throughout the second half, no rolling chants really ever got going for more than a few repetitions. There was no long "Mourinho's Red Army" or United Calypso.

I was in Tier 3 Stretty and there wasn't a moment's silence. Guess it didn't carry around the ground.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I was in Tier 3 Stretty and there wasn't a moment's silence. Guess it didn't carry around the ground.

Maybe they need something like they have in a lot of grounds abroad, someone who acts like a cheerleader. They lead the singing and keep it going continuously. I might seem a bit fake to some, but surely it is better than no atmosphere at all. Have one in the Stretty and one in the Scoreboard End and they can vie off against each other.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I don't think a mental block had much to do with Arsenal's poor performance. More important were:

1. We were missing two of our four most important field players (Cazorla, Bellerin) while another was clearly not fully fit (Sanchez). I realize that United were also missing key players. So the point is not so much that our injuries were worse but that...

2. Wenger is a manager with a very limited tactical imagination. He only knows one way to play and when he doesn't have players of sufficient quality to play that way, he struggles to find alternative solutions. His response was just to set us up extremely defensively - two FBs offering little threat, two DMs, and one winger in Ramsey with a remit to play very cautiously - and hope to steal a goal somewhere. United completely nullified our attack but, in the end, that is not exactly difficult given that we were essentially attacking with three players (Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott). We weren't going to attack in numbers and you kept enough players back, particularly with both Carrick and Herrera playing deeper roles in the middle, to limit any counterattacking opportunities.

In sum, Wenger came for a draw but had a poor tactical plan that was easy to exploit. United succeeded in doing the relatively easy thing (completely nullifying the attack of a team that had no real intent on or plan for attacking) but failed to do the hard thing (translate that dominance into lots of high quality chances and multiple goals). United were clearly the better team but it was not a particularly impressive performance and to treat it as such just shows how much standards have fallen in recent years. Any of Ferguson's teams would have hammered us 3-0.

The only difference between this attacking lineup and previous games was bringing back Ramsey, who Wenger clearly thinks is part of his best XI when fit. Plus he should, in theory, add some extra steel and quality to the centre of your midfield. It's nonsense to suggest that Wenger's team selection and approach was intended to cede the midfield to United the way it did and/or responsible for Arsenal creating so little.

I can guarantee the exact same team will be much more dominant and create/score a lot of goals against lesser teams than United between now and the end of the season. You'll need Ozil and Sanchez to play a lot better, though. Will be interesting if they carry this weekend's crap individual performances into the hectic schedule in the week's ahead. That would guarantee the annual Arsenal cold weather slump.

 

[WackyWengerWorld]

Blaming your teams poor performance on a negative mental block is absolute lunacy. Or perhaps it is some form of a security blanket created in order to protect yourself from the underlying truth; the United midfield controlled the tempo of the game due to overpowering a weak Arsenal midfield. United were the better football team on the day. Looking beyond that is more about your own personal mental state than it is the Arsenal players.

It's easy to over analyze when our team performs below expectation (I've been guilty of it myself) when the simplest answer is generally the one that's closest to the truth.

The reality is teams nearly always play better at home and worse away. Last year we destroyed you at The Emirates and you destroyed us at OT. The mental block and home advantage of the atmophere is definitely a thing that affects most teams and refs in turn. We see it all the time in Europe.

In the past Arsenal have attacked away from home, played good football but got hit on the break and lost. Much of Mourinho's successes against Wenger came because Wenger's teams were attacking and far more open giving counter attacking opportunities.

This time Wenger set up to defend and counter attack. Elneny and Coquelin the most defensive pairing in midfield. Ramsey on the left is another defensive tactic to try and increase defensive cover. Arsenal didn't commit men forward and sat back deep rather than pressing.

Mourinho in turn set up to play cautiously. His low block stopped our attacks as did his high press. But not enough men were commited forward to create much in the way of good chances. United didn't commit DMs/fullbacks forward until they scored. And then they dropped deep to defend all while having their weaker CBs fielded. Wenger adjusted his team, by playing Chamberlain at RB, Giroud up front with a DM off and an attacking DM on for a ball winning DM. We didn't do much until the goal, but the goal was a result of the tactical changes of both teams. Both teams scored when they overloaded the amount of men that they were commiting forward. Giroud scored when he had Koscielny, Ramsey and Theo all in the box for the cross.

In fact if you were looking at any area of the pitch for Arsenal to have success it would be Walcott and Chamberlain against Blind and Rashford because Rashford is a CF marking a winger and Blind is occupied with Walcott.

Wenger has actually gone against his own philosphy of attacking football and employed Mourinho type tactics to get a result away from home here. Mourinho's philosphy being against the big teams minimise any chance they can have and further minimimise it away from home by sitting deep behind the ball.

The only difference between this attacking lineup and previous games was bringing back Ramsey, who Wenger clearly thinks is part of his best XI when fit. Plus he should, in theory, add some extra steel and quality to the centre of your midfield. It's nonsense to suggest that Wenger's team selection and approach was intended to cede the midfield to United the way it did and/or responsible for Arsenal creating so little.

I can guarantee the exact same team will be much more dominant and create/score a lot of goals against lesser teams than United between now and the end of the season. You'll need Ozil and Sanchez to play a lot better, though. Will be interesting if they carry this weekend's crap individual performances into the hectic schedule in the week's ahead. That would guarantee the annual Arsenal cold weather slump.

It isn't though, several tactics were clearly defensive, sitting back defending tactics. Firstly the midfield pairing of Coquelin and Elneny is the most defensive. Xhaka is a far better passer than either men, if you're planning to be in possession you start Xhaka if you don't have Cazorla. The plan wasn't to be in possession it was to protect the defense.

Secondly we didn't commit men forward, we didn't until we were chasing the game. Thirdly we didn't press in order to not overstretch our defensive lines. Lastly, yes Ramsey is favoured but again it's partly to break up play and track back, something Iwobi/Chamberlain don't do. It's another defensive tactic.

Let's revisit this at Emirates and see regardless of result who has more possession and creates more chances. Do you think it will be a similar game>?

 

[Powderfinger]

The only difference between this attacking lineup and previous games was bringing back Ramsey, who Wenger clearly thinks is part of his best XI when fit. Plus he should, in theory, add some extra steel and quality to the centre of your midfield. It's nonsense to suggest that Wenger's team selection and approach was intended to cede the midfield to United the way it did and/or responsible for Arsenal creating so little.

I can guarantee the exact same team will be much more dominant and create/score a lot of goals against lesser teams than United between now and the end of the season. You'll need Ozil and Sanchez to play a lot better, though. Will be interesting if they carry this weekend's crap individual performances into the hectic schedule in the week's ahead. That would guarantee the annual Arsenal cold weather slump.

The additional difference is that we played with our most defensive possible central midfield, neither of whom contributes to the attack at all, and with a very defensively positioned RB instead of our normal RB, who is really almost a winger in our regular set up. In other words, all the difference in the world. Wenger quite literally sent out only four players who do any attacking and one was clearly given instructions to play defensively and prioritize helping his fullback (Ramsey) while another wasnt fully fit (Sanchez).

It was an ultra-defensive side with no real plan for scoring goals and I doubt we'll see Wenger set up like that very often in the future. At least I hope not.

 

[TMDaines]

I was in Tier 3 Stretty and there wasn't a moment's silence. Guess it didn't carry around the ground.

Tier 3 Stretford End? Were you sitting on the roof?

 

[Zebs]

Tier 3 Stretford End? Were you sitting on the roof?

typo.

 

[Random Task]

The reality is teams nearly always play better at home and worse away. Last year we destroyed you at The Emirates and you destroyed us at OT. The mental block and home advantage of the atmophere is definitely a thing that affects most teams and refs in turn. We see it all the time in Europe.

Would this so called "mental block" still be in place were United to field a team of under 19's rather than the squad of overpaid superstars that we had on show last sunday? Home advantage helps of course, but in no way does it dictate the outcome of the game. Tactics and player ability are substantially more important, no?

In the past Arsenal have attacked away from home, played good football but got hit on the break and lost. Much of Mourinho's successes against Wenger came because Wenger's teams were attacking and far more open giving counter attacking opportunities.

This time Wenger set up to defend and counter attack. Elneny and Coquelin the most defensive pairing in midfield. Ramsey on the left is another defensive tactic to try and increase defensive cover. Arsenal didn't commit men forward and sat back deep rather than pressing.

Mourinho in turn set up to play cautiously. His low block stopped our attacks as did his high press. But not enough men were commited forward to create much in the way of good chances. United didn't commit DMs/fullbacks forward until they scored. And then they dropped deep to defend all while having their weaker CBs fielded. Wenger adjusted his team, by playing Chamberlain at RB, Giroud up front with a DM off and an attacking DM on for a ball winning DM. We didn't do much until the goal, but the goal was a result of the tactical changes of both teams. Both teams scored when they overloaded the amount of men that they were commiting forward. Giroud scored when he had Koscielny, Ramsey and Theo all in the box for the cross.

In fact if you were looking at any area of the pitch for Arsenal to have success it would be Walcott and Chamberlain against Blind and Rashford because Rashford is a CF marking a winger and Blind is occupied with Walcott.

Wenger has actually gone against his own philosphy of attacking football and employed Mourinho type tactics to get a result away from home here. Mourinho's philosphy being against the big teams minimise any chance they can have and further minimimise it away from home by sitting deep behind the ball.

I would pretty much agree with all of that. Though I do believe you're stealing credit from the likes of Carrick, Herrera and Pogba who worked tirelessly in midfield to nullify what little attacking threat the Arsenal team posed.[/QUOTE

 

[thepolice123]

Looking back, I think its quite a disappointing result. Arsenal were pure garbage. A Fergie team would have put that Arsenal team to the sword probably 7 or 8 out of 10 times. Right now our team have much better quality, but we are really lacking in killer instinct and the ability to shut down the game when needed.

 

[Sandikan]

So you're saying Arsenal, one of the biggest football teams on the planet, are incapable of defeating United at Old Trafford due to their players (even those who have never played at Old Trafford) forming a mental block? I've heard it all now.

I think you're the one using that phrase.
But how would you explain that they never win here, or even look like doing so in the league?
Even that Moyes season, even last year, with a ridiculous league cup early rounds type lineup we eased past them. Long may it continue of course!

They won in the cup the other year, but that took a helping hand, literally from Di Maria on the ref, and an almost give away goal.

 

[ThaReaper01]

Just watch MotD and how did the referee not give that penalty on Valencia? Stonewaller.