[rebelk0de]

Originally Posted by newtoneinsteinvn

I think Arsenal would be a good cure for our bad-performance sickness. After the "Old Trafford disaster", fortunately, Arsenal gives us a chance to prove our long lasting pride and class and to chase away any unfaithful notion.
Despite our deplorable performance against City, I still have a strong confidence that we're gonna beat Arse.
If not a win to United, I will ban myself from this interesting forum until next season, I SWEAR!

exactly my point mate.. there is no doubt in my mind were going to bounce back strongly against arsene ******s boys...

im sure SAF is thinking of some sort of strategy to beat them...

[carlyluvsunited]

Originally Posted by rebelk0de

exactly my point mate.. there is no doubt in my mind were going to bounce back strongly against arsene ******s boys...

im sure SAF is thinking of some sort of strategy to beat them...

I see you on RoM ...

Don't go there too often ...

They will corrupt you and make you a bad person ...

Stay here - we will take care of you ...

[Stephen]

2-0.

Rooney, Nani.

[reddwarf]

Originally Posted by versa

My line-up would thus be:

VDS
Brown---Ferdinand---Vidic---Evra
Ronaldo---Anderson---Hargreaves---Nani/Park
Rooney---Tevez

May the boys really meant what they say all season and do us proud. And first thing first, what can be better than stuffing out Arsenal.

There is no chance of Fergie dropping Giggs for the game against Arsenal. In the absence of Neville he is our captain.

I would also be very surprised if he dropped Scholes. Don't forget that it was his pass that played in Carrick for our goal on Sunday.

Against City we had Nani, Ronaldo, Anderson, Scholes and Giggs all on the pitch from the start. Where's the support for the defence in that line up?

Since our defence was weakened with the loss of Evra I really think Carrick or Hargreaves should have started the game and I was also surprised that the hard-working Park did not start in place of Nani. But then hindsight is a wonderful thing...

[versa]

Originally Posted by reddwarf

There is no chance of Fergie dropping Giggs for the game against Arsenal. In the absence of Neville he is our captain.

I would also be very surprised if he dropped Scholes. Don't forget that it was his pass that played in Carrick for our goal on Sunday.

Against City we had Nani, Ronaldo, Anderson, Scholes and Giggs all on the pitch from the start. Where's the support for the defence in that line up?

Since our defence was weakened with the loss of Evra I really think Carrick or Hargreaves should have started the game and I was also surprised that the hard-working Park did not start in place of Nani. But then hindsight is a wonderful thing...

I can agree with you it is unlikely Fergie will drop Giggs and Scholes as their experience may matter in such a tense encounter. It may be deemed too risky not to have them around for this game although I would have preferred them to come in later. Fair enough nonetheless.

But do bear in mind Anderson held more than his own against Fabregas without Scholes earlier in the season or our Keano started to impose himself only after taking over the reins from Robson or that Fabregas and Adebayor only emerged as Arsenal's best players after the departure of Henry etc.

And yes, I can't agree more with you about our defensiveness, or rather lack of, in the middle of the park in the citeh game. Hargreaves IS our only thoroughbred defensive midfielder. For those who lament Hargreaves is slow and thus slows down our game, do also appreciate the stability and solidness he gives us before our box and yes, the ball(!!). And as in my previous postings, think we really have to consider the SUITABILITY and BALANCE of the central midfield.

Finally, hindsight is not just a wonderful thing... but a perfect vision.

[reddwarf]

It's been pointed out to me that Park had played a friendly in Korea during the International break so perhaps Fergie thought he'd be too tired to last the 90 minutes so left him on the bench.

[M.Carrick]

XI 4 utd :

------- Van Der Sar
PIQUE - Rio - Vidic - Evra

Ronaldo- Carrick - Hargo- Giggs

Rooney - Tevez

subs: Cuzza - O'shea- Nani- Anderson- Scholesy

I hope 2-0 for us ,must win

[mufcjoe]

Originally Posted by versa

Think we have covered all grounds, if not, at least most grounds in the post-match thread of the Citeh game. So I shall just add, but perhaps more likely, emphasise on a few points for this still-pre-match thread...

I am still gutted over yesterday's game and extremely disappointed with our players (of course we all know we should be behind them etc) when I read Giggs' post-match comments. Infuriating. So after all the historical education in the video room, the thereafter chest-pumping, war cries and promises to win it for the Babes blah blah blah, the players simply "just didn't turn up"?!? So the question that came to my mind was if not for this occasion, when will they then actually "turn up"?!! It is not like flicking a switch at will, mind you.

Something is apparently not right somewhere with our players' psyche, mentality and attitude, I sometimes suspect. I hope it is as Queiroz claimed it is indeed the midweek internationals that is to be blamed; hopefully solely. Giggs also reminded that we can't afford to drop further points and Carrick chipped in with comfort words that we can still win the league. Right... For crying out, who doesn't know the mathematical implications? But what matters most is where were they when it mattered most; post-match resolutions are just useless, repeating the entire vicious cycle. Until this suspicion is cleared up, I fear the worst for the Arsenal game and more prominantly, for the season. Related too is the hair-tearing self-destruct phenomenon we have when taking a slender lead - the sit-back-and-defend-for-dear-life mentality - which threw away sweet victories over Arsenal in recent encounters. Let's hope it won't happen again this time.

I would also like to repeat myself here about the suitability and balance of the combination in central midfield. Scholes/Carrick/Anderson with Hargreaves should be the most viable option we have, implying that Hargreaves should always play whenever fit. He is our Makelele, unglamorous and underrated perhaps, but the one that does all the dirty, quiet work that is often not recognised unfortunately. He was England's best player in the last World Cup - tenacious in tackling and ball winning, nothing fanciful but simple distribution, boundless energy to spare, sitting back and protecting the back four nicely. I remain convinced he is doing this for us now, despite his injury-plagued first season with us, and thus not as effective as it could have been. Most important of all, we need him to sit back and allow either Scholes, Carrick or Anderson the peace of mind to join in the offence, bearing in mind that none of the 3 are natural defensive midfielders.

Now for Scholes and Giggs.

For all his footballing brain, Scholes is no longer the Scholes we knew. Decidedly slow, lacks bite and intensity, no longer pops up in the box to score as once feared, and just contented now to stay behind to spray passes. He may have marshalled the Portsmouth game well but against stiffer opposition in Spurs and Citeh, he struggled and was largely anonymous.

And Giggs cuts a forlorn figure these days with sporadic brilliance only. He has lost his pace, often guilty of giving away the ball cheaply or drift once too often into the middle of the park, causing us to lose our bite in the left flank and more importantly, to lose our shape. We hardly see him playing now as a left wing should, bursting down the flank to spread the play.

Don't get me wrong. They still have the experience and know-how, and are still capable of a moment of magic to seal the game for us. The point is perhaps it is high time for them to come in only as a late substitute when there are enough tired legs for them to flick on the switch to do the maximum damage.

Anderson and Nani? I still believe they are the natural replacements, although I feel terribly let down and embarrassed, especially the latter, after blowing their trumpets so loudly. Perhaps they were a bit overrawed by the significance of the occasion in the Citeh game or just plain off-colour. But their talents are undeniable and they will come good, given enough time and exposure.

Well said.

Also, I dont see us bouncing back, with a fantastic showing of attacking football it wont be a very exciting game in terms of the football on show, it will end 1-0 to someone imo.

VDS
Brown
Vidic
Rio
Evra
Ronaldo
Anderson
Hargreaves
Park (Giggs will come on)
Rooney
Tevez


I say start Anderson and Hargreaves as it gives us great defensinve back up and these two work hardest to close down and get into Arsenal, same reason I would have Park ahead of Giggs for the most part.

Adebayor or Rooney to score the only goal.

[Keano!]

Very, very tight game IMO. 1-0 possibly a draw......but it wont be a cracker.....when are matches between the big teams actually great games??

----------------------------------------Van Der Sar------------------------------------
-
---O'Shea------------------Ferdinand-------------Vidic-------------------Evra-----
-
-----Park-------------------Scholes---------------Hargreaves----------Giggs-----
-
-----------------------------Rooney-----------------Ronaldo-------------------------


Bench: Kusczazk, Brown, Anderson, Tevez, Carrick


Start Tevez on the bench and see how it goes. We need pace and power upfront. No Nani, because his performances of late have been nothing short of shambolic! Park deserves a start because he's got something about him, and if it doesn't work out........move Ronny out right and pu Tevez on upfront alongside Wazza. It's between O'Shea and Brown for right back but I'd give it to O'Shea, just.

[rooneyNo10]

Hopefully starting XI will be:
- - - - - - - - - - - Vds - - - - - - - - -
Brown - Ferdinand - Vidic - Evra
Ronaldo - Hargo - Scholes - Nani
- - - - - - -Tevez - Rooney - - - - -

Subs: Giggs, Kuz, Anderson, O'shea, Park