[horse_pills]

And it's pretty obvious that Weghorst isn't the striker that's going to solve our scoring problems.

It's pretty obvious with who's available and the situation at the club that we were never going to sign "the striker that's going to solve our scoring problems"

 

[grumpyoldgit]

Yeah I wouldn’t be too critical of ETH but I can’t disagree we are well short of where Arsenal and City are. One or two key players will make a big difference to us but it’s going to take more than that to beat these teams regularly. I’m still optimistic that we can get there next season though.

Not too critical of EtH? Glad you wrote that. It's the usual OTT reaction to a loss against a team that will be champions. Half the posters on here need a brain transplant or psychiatric help. Nurse! A blind man on a galloping horse could tell you where the team/squad needs upgrading - we don't need to be told ad nauseum about the deficiencies of Scott, AWB et al.
EtH has had half a season and yet this team are the only one in all four competitions. Theoretically of course, the PL never realistic but the brain dead got all giddy, again, after beating the Gorton Globetrotters. Gentlemen, some perspective, please. Otherwise you are no better than those idiots booing at half time on Thursday.
On a lighter note Amad was MoM earlier today and scored a belter.

 

[rk4utd]

Reality check. We know that awb and McT are not good enough long term. We also know that Ericksen is a stop gap option in cm. We also know that Antony is probably 30m over priced. We also know that we can’t rely on martial and that weghorst is a Burnley failure at PM level so no surprise he isn’t pulling up trees just yet.

However, We do know that Martinez is a warrior, that casimero is immense and that rashford is a genuine threat when his heads in the game. Two steps forward one step back.

This time last year it felt like 3 steps back and nowhere forward. Tenhag is honest post match but not brutal about individuals. I trust him to sort it out and with proper backing in the market in 12 months we can be in a genuine title fight.

In the meantime we need to go for the cups and dig in for top 4.

At least it feels like I’m watching united nowadays and that the matches will be competitive. Good progress since some of the humiliations in recent years.

I trust ten hag and am looking forward to what he can do if we get a proper ownership model next season.

 

[tjb]

Xhaka, White, Gabriel, Ramsdale, Partey,Martinelli. None of them would start for us. They are just very very well coached. Arteta has done brilliant with this team and have made decent players like Partey, White and Xhaka look like quality. If given time ETH can do the same for us. ATM arsenal is just simply better coached because Arteta has had more time with his players. They ain't better than ours on paper

That's not really being honest when evaluating.
Partey would easily get into our xi, as would Martinelli. Sure their not better than Casemiro or Rashford, but wwe would definitely accommodate them. Xhaka is also very underrated. I don't think Eriksen is much better than him. White is better than Wan Bissaka.

The real flaw in your assessment is the fact that all those players mentioned are still good footballers. They may not be the best out of these two teams, but they would easily get into most teams. All of them can pass, hold on to the ball and dribble. They can do the basics of their positions really well.

At United, we have some footballers who would not start for most Premier League teams. We have some who can't beat a man in attack. Some like Mctominay and Fred who have terrible positioning and make passing look difficult. Eriksen lacks the engine or strength of Xhaka or Partey. The players they have in reserve are also decent footballers, so as a result, even with an injury, they can fill the gap knowing the drop off would be limited. At United, if Bruno goes down, we had VDB replacing him. VDB couldn't start for Everton last season. Mctominay can't start for Scotland. AWB did not even play for us for the first half of the season. Weighourst had issues at Burnley. Even the likes of Martial are pretty overrated.

I also think our fans truly underestimate the quality of this Arsenal team. Odegaard might be the best player in the league this season. Saka might be just as good as Rashford. Martinelli is a fantastic footballer and is easily better than Antony. Gabriel Jesus was better than anything we had in the centre forward position this season. Partey is likely a top 8 central midfielder in the world ( top 3 DM), whilst Xhaka is better than Fred and Mctominay combined.

 

[Nicoseth]

Genuinely pretty pleased with that, despite the loss. The progress we have made under ten hag is fantastic. Shame to lose of course but generally I feel so positive about the team.

Absolutely. Arsenal are the best team in the league right now and if we had hung on for a minute or two more we would have taken 5 points from them. We are still very much in the early stages of what ETH would like to build and he has done a phenomenal job so far. Sucks to lose how we did, but our overall performance was nothing to be ashamed of.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Thought we were overrun in the 2nd half. Hate to say it but they deserved it. I know deserve has nothing to do it! Some observations, Martinez is a fcuking legend already ! I thought he was immense. A warrior.
Apart from the first goal AWB was good, so was Varane.Shaw was roasted by Saka but it probably wasn’t his fault.
Rashford scored a great goal but in my view he’s inclined to throw the towel in a bit too easily .
Antony was poor. I would honestly prefer Garnacho.
Weghorst did his best but he’s a squad player at best.
Our midfield were wiped out.
But we have improved.

 

[sirAlexsglasses]

For the neutral I’ll bet this was an exciting game to watch, I hate losing to anyone let alone this lot, and you can bet your arse that the idiot that is Joel Beya will be will milk this dry. I think had Casemiro been available then we would have taken something from this game, it just shows how badly we are lacking squad depth. The plus side is in eight months we are massively improved and we managed to come back twice where previously we would have simply folded. We gave Arse their toughest game of the season and they know it, and we played three days ago, we dust ourselves off and onto the next game, top four must be the priority, I never believed we were in any title race unlike some delusional people.

 

[meamth]

Really hate this kind of fixture when opposition has the advantage physically.

Arsenal having the luxury to just focus on the league definitely played a major part today.

 

[Nicoseth]

We were excellent in patches today and we will play worse and win games this season. Arsenal are an excellent side. Looking ahead:

- McTominay is just not up to it. Almost invisible today. Anybody offers over 20m and he should be gone.
- We need at least one other signing before the end of the month. We just need options.
- Antony is improving, he needs more time.

 

[RuudTom83]

Pointless to say, but I wonder if a full week to prepare and Casemiro in the team would have changed the outcome tonight.

 

[Nicoseth]

Has it been confirmed that Zinchenko was onside during the build up for the third goal?

Does it matter?

 

[Glorio]

Xhaka, White, Gabriel, Ramsdale, Partey,Martinelli. None of them would start for us. They are just very very well coached. Arteta has done brilliant with this team and have made decent players like Partey, White and Xhaka look like quality. If given time ETH can do the same for us. ATM arsenal is just simply better coached because Arteta has had more time with his players. They ain't better than ours on paper

I agree with your general point but disagree with your examples somewhat - especially with Casemiro out.
Xhaka and Partey would definitely play ahead of our other midfield options. That's were the game was lost

 

[NLunited]

Probably a deserved win for Arse, but we were sloppy in defense.

Can’t stand the sight of the village idiot Legopep

 

[cpresc]

I'm looking at this positively - we just contributed to a great entertaining match and that alone beats much of the dross served up this past decade. We were in the game until the last 15-20 minutes and had Casemiro been in that team today we very much could have walked away with the 3 points.Rashford's goal was incredible and he is up there with the best in the world right now. In Martinez we finally have a new Roy Keane on the field, freaking love him.

Without a doubt we are heading in the right direction. We have Sancho coming back soon and Casemiro back next game. We're comfortably in the top 4 right now and I think we have a belter in the summer transfer window. We're be in a title fight next season without a doubt.. plenty to be optimistic about, finally..

 

[Rams]

Great game. In terms of quality the best one I’ve seen this season. Arsenal were brilliant and deserved the 3 points, but they had to be at their very best to beat us. They look like champions elect, all credits (even if their manager is an annoying cnut with they way he acts on the touch line).
We have come a long way since EtH took over and looking forward to meeting them again next season after our team has had time to develop more and the squad has hopefully been strengthened.

 

[Pronewbie]

Missed the game but loved reading the 1st few pages of this thread

 

[colombianmancunian]

To all the negative Nancys over here, do you understand Artega’s process has been longer than Ten Hag’s? They have been coached for a longer time, and we have make a serious advancement over 8 months.

I trust the manager. We are currently fourth with a good points advantage over the fifth, Casemiro is back, and we already played our two toughest league games remaining (City which we won, and Arsenal). Now time to go all out for the Carling Cup and for a top 3-4 finish.

 

[cpresc]

Oh and all the hate for Antony I think is BS.. he might not be the silkiest or the fastest but he works his @ss off for the team and in him we have another fighter. He's no Rashford but could well be our new Ji Sung Park for the next 5 years. Sancho will be back on the right side soon and if Ten Hag can improve him to the same level he's improved Rashford then we'll be in great shape there. Antony is a great character and squad member, plus the opposition fans hate him which I love. He might be a c*nt but he's our c*nt so how about showing him a little more support

I'd rather have Antony than Pogba

 

[adexkola]

Fantastic game.

We are some ways behind Arsenal, they really threw the kitchen sink at us in the final 15 minutes in a way we perfected under SAF. All credit to EtH for putting us in the best position to steal a point from the Emirates.

Rashford, what a turnaround. Every time he got the ball you felt he could make something happen. That is not even considering his goal. What a hit.

Even with Casemiro this would have been a tough challenge. McTominay isn't it. Neither is Fred. We need a playmaker who's press resistant who can help us sustain pressure on teams when we need a goal.

Can't say I'm too disappointed... Tough ground to go to. We need to be more consistent in beating Crystal Palace et al to challenge for titles. Plus we got them at our place this season. 1-1. Can imagine this will be a fierce game for years to come now.

 

[RoyH1]

Breathless after the game. Yes, they were the better team but Arteta has have a lot more time than ETH to imprint his vision and develop his team/players. We'll get there sooner than we think

 

[SirScholes]

We could have definitely scrapped our way to the same 1 point without Casemiro in that match. The bigger worry was always Arsenal. With our luck what it is, as soon as I saw Casemiro on the team sheet I had a feeling he'd be getting suspended. And the moment he did it sealed the fate of today's match.

More chance beating palace than arsenal, it was the better percentage play

 

[SirScholes]

Of course it means they are better coached. It's exactly what it means. And managers are responsible for the entire team, not just outfield players. A manager doesn't coach much themselves, the most is done by the entire setup. A the GK's are of course a part of that. Anything else would be stupid haha

No it means they’ve had time to adapt to this style, not that he coaches better the ETH
Still maintain they’re overall line up was stronger and fresher
The gk had no barring on this match, clutching at straws there

 

[McTerminator]

Read the first few posts of this thread and I’m out for the night. Some of you slagging off ETH need to have a good hard ook at yourselves.

Well done to Arsenal I hope they win the whole thing if we can’t.

 

[Il Prete Rosso]

Great game. In terms of quality the best one I’ve seen this season. Arsenal were brilliant and deserved the 3 points, but they had to be at their very best to beat us. They look like champions elect, all credits (even if their manager is an annoying cnut with they way he acts on the touch line).
We have come a long way since EtH took over and looking forward to meeting them again next season after our team has had time to develop more and the squad has hopefully been strengthened.

The only rivalry in the Premier league for me is Arsenal vs Man Utd.

 

[Il Prete Rosso]

Thanks Wan-Bissaka

Huh? He had a great game.

 

[julianfr]

Can't sit back after the goal the team has to push up the pitch.

We did the same against Palace. I honestly don't get it. FFS gents at least get a 2 goal cushion before taking the foot off!

 

[glazed]

People need to relax. We are doing really well to be in the top four and we deserved to lose that game. Our rebuild is nevertheless a year if not two ahead of schedule and that's really positive.

The fact it was evenly scored right till the end flatters us hugely. Sure if Casemiro had played we might have had a better chance. But that's about squad depth, not bad luck. Wout Workhorse is obviously just a stopgap and McT is still a journeyman. Ericson and AWB don't look good enough against the best teams either. So we have a way to go.

 

[Steve 007]

I think we are getting better and better, today we were second best but I think top 4 and a trophy or two and we’ve had a great season. We’ve beaten Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, City. After he first two games and the 3-6 at City we all would have taken this. It’s just a shame Casimero was suspended today.

 

[Isafim]

What a game we saw today at the Emirates Stadium. It is very nice to see Arsenal and Manchester United playing a game of this level, this size, this importance for the competition after so long. With the realization that clubs were going from nowhere to nowhere. At the moment they are two clubs with a very clear direction and that is good to see because we all know the stories of how this rivalry marked the heart of the history of the Premier League, the Champions League, European football as a whole, Wenger, Ferguson... .. Since the end of the 90's moving into the 2000's. I don't remember the last time these two clubs arrived with so much pomp in this confrontation.

Zero tragedy for Manchester United, honestly. It is absolutely normal for you to lose to the best team in the competition away from home and especially without Casemiro who is an absolutely essential player, proven both by his presence and by his absence. Today, the importance and completeness of Casemiro for the proper functioning of this Manchester United system has become even clearer. We know very well that McTominay is much less of a player and this is evident once again. I think it's okay, it's part of it, Manchester United's primary fight is for G4, it's for a place in the next Champions League. Fighting for the title I think is a bonus for what at least I interpreted at the beginning of the season. United have been playing so well that they skipped a few stages in my interpretation and are already fighting hard to be in the Champions League. Fighting for the title is another thing that I honestly don't think will happen.

I especially liked Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw today. They played a very interesting match, including and above all in the defensive aspect.

Antony is too negatively out of tune with the team.

I have an opinion here that is perhaps a little controversial. I think that Weghorst fulfills an interesting role in the sense of complementing the characteristics that the cast does not have. Martial is injured and is a different type of player, but without Martial there is nothing for Ten Haag to do there in that attack, except to centralize, which is to remove the protagonist of this team from the place where he has been delivering a lot. So I found the arrival of Weghorst interesting. He's not a plastically handsome player to look at, but I liked him today and I think he's going to be important for Manchester United. Holder, if Martial is available, just depending a lot on the opponent. I think that the holder in the head Ten Haag is still Martial in most cases.

Rashford scored one of those goals that mark territory in a season not only rebuilding confidence, rebuilding football itself, but also looking for the best career numbers within a single season. It's impressive what Rashford has been doing, but today I thought his overall performance wasn't as good as most recent performances. I think it was the goal, one or two plays and that was it. It's okay that the design of the game didn't help so much. Especially in the second half with Arsenal having a lot more possession of the ball, but anyway, as much as I didn't like Rashford's total performance, his goal is a goal for big people, in a big game.

I missed Garnacho a lot earlier in the game. I didn't understand why Ten Haag only put him on in the final minutes, after the 3-2 score. I think it would be very important to have Garnacho there at that end to bother Tomiyasu and to create more opportunities for Manchester United, talk more with Rashford and everything.

 

[DLE]

We were missing a key player.
We got 3 days less rest.
Arsenal played at home.

Proud of the team, unlucky not to go away with a point. Very positive about how this team is progressing. Our future is bright.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Honestly we did better than I expected given the situation we're in with a coach in his first year at the club and some important players missing. Arsenal were the better side today, they deserve to be at the top of the league at the moment and there's no shame in losing to them in their stadium.

 

[manclad1256]

tenHag needs to adress referees and VAR in his interview. This can't keep going pretty much every game.

I was annoyed with him when he didn’t want to go onabout the palace penalty. Decision. That’s exactly what the media want. ‘Oh look even the united manager said this bla bla’

 

[RedorDead21]

We could have got a draw but realistically I don’t think 1 point will make much difference for this team come the end of the season. We look a top 4 team to me pretty comfortably if our key players stay fit. We were never going to win the league unless we spent big this Jan which isn’t possible as per the manager. Given that, we are doing a lot better than I predicted afew months ago. We need Sancho back and contributing asap. Martial on form again. A settled team again. The weaknesses at right back and up top are clear.

 

[LordSpud]

This 100% - it's not like he asks the players to sit deep, or start giving the ball away for fun once we equalise or go ahead in games. Our boys were hanging on for the draw. ETH should have made a positive change to exploit the spaces though, and he didn't.

Mentality is the hardest thing to change. But we are getting there - think of the City game where we conceded 1st. Past years we would've crumbled. But we ended up fighting for the win.

These players have been advised to play a certain way for nearly 3 years. I think ETH is changing it but games like today show we arent fully there.... yet.

 

[GregM40]

Absolute Mard arses on Twitter. Stretford paddock - “it doesn’t get worse than this.” Of course it does. We were abysmal last season. United were fantastic today. Onwards and upwards.

 

[Glorio]

Absolute Mard arses on Twitter. Stretford paddock - “it doesn’t get worse than this.” Of course it does. We were abysmal last season. United were fantastic today. Onwards and upwards.

They must have been hibernating the last 8 years!

 

[OrcaFat]

That's not really being honest when evaluating.
Partey would easily get into our xi, as would Martinelli. Sure their not better than Casemiro or Rashford, but wwe would definitely accommodate them. Xhaka is also very underrated. I don't think Eriksen is much better than him. White is better than Wan Bissaka.

The real flaw in your assessment is the fact that all those players mentioned are still good footballers. They may not be the best out of these two teams, but they would easily get into most teams. All of them can pass, hold on to the ball and dribble. They can do the basics of their positions really well.

At United, we have some footballers who would not start for most Premier League teams. We have some who can't beat a man in attack. Some like Mctominay and Fred who have terrible positioning and make passing look difficult. Eriksen lacks the engine or strength of Xhaka or Partey. The players they have in reserve are also decent footballers, so as a result, even with an injury, they can fill the gap knowing the drop off would be limited. At United, if Bruno goes down, we had VDB replacing him. VDB couldn't start for Everton last season. Mctominay can't start for Scotland. AWB did not even play for us for the first half of the season. Weighourst had issues at Burnley. Even the likes of Martial are pretty overrated.

I also think our fans truly underestimate the quality of this Arsenal team. Odegaard might be the best player in the league this season. Saka might be just as good as Rashford. Martinelli is a fantastic footballer and is easily better than Antony. Gabriel Jesus was better than anything we had in the centre forward position this season. Partey is likely a top 8 central midfielder in the world ( top 3 DM), whilst Xhaka is better than Fred and Mctominay combined.

I agree with this.

Arsenal have some very good players (and Saka is exceptional) but most importantly not very many rubbish players. They have the right balance of technique, creativity, pace, stamina and defensive nous. Sure, you can single out the odd player and say he wouldn’t get in our team but the balance is where it’s at.

They have had the benefit of consistent coaching for three years as well and although it’s been up and down for them, they’ve recruited well and are settled.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I agree with this.

Arsenal have some very good players (and Saka is exceptional) but most importantly not very many rubbish players. They have the right balance of technique, creativity, pace, stamina and defensive nous. Sure, you can single out the odd player and say he wouldn’t get in our team but the balance is where it’s at.

They have had the benefit of consistent coaching for three years as well and although it’s been up and down for them, they’ve recruited well and are settled.

By the time EtH has been at United as long as Arteta has been there we’ll have fewer ‘rubbish’ players as well.

The point about the club buying average players was a dig at a lot of the people regularly making match day squads.

Bad game, bad result but 6 months in he’s doing better than most others have.

 

[Stookie]

3 points actually. No league games until 4th of February so hopefully there are rotations in 3 cups games that make us good enough to win those games but also to rest properly most of them.

Yes you’re right, my bad, we got a point against palace. It just felt like a loss

 

[OrcaFat]

By the time EtH has been at United as long as Arteta has been there we’ll have fewer ‘rubbish’ players as well.

The point about the club buying average players was a dig at a lot of the people regularly making match day squads.

Bad game, bad result but 6 months in he’s doing better than most others have.

Yeah ETH is doing really well. I’m confident we’ll finish above Arsenal next year.