Man United v Arsenal – Monreal, Welbeck and Wenger star in breaking Old Trafford voodoo!

Arsenal finally win at Old Trafford with dat guy Welbz scoring! by KM

Well we saw an Arsenal victory at Old Trafford! Something which took 9 years to happen. Would you imagine it would take this long after the way Arsene was introduced into the Premier League and the contest he gave to Fergie in his first 10 years at the club?

Times changed for Arsenal after 2006 and game after game we were beaten by United, sometimes so hard, that we developed a mental problem with them. Yesterdays game saw the better team win the game, although we displayed some typical errors in defense.

For me, Arsenals Man of the Match can be no other than Monreal! Nacho was the only player with any idea what’s going on in our defense. He’s been sensational since Wenger finally dropped Gibbs to the bench. Bar one bad game vs Palace, Nacho has given us a lot more defensive stability, and yesterday he popped up with a fantastic goal.

His goal was a result of the Ox showing some great footwork and some terrible united defending. Valencia was in the middle laying on the ground while Nacho popped into empty space and scored. Brilliant! And then we give away a silly goal.

We really need to learn how to keep the advantage. Put United under pressure to attack and hit ’em on the counter. Instead, Di Maria, who can use only his left foot, was so easily left to cut inside, whip in a cross, and Rooney was there in oceans of space to slot home. Mertesacker and Koscielny had one job – to block Rooney – and the free header was shocking.

Anyway with 1:1 at half time, Van Gaal showed his “brilliance” by bringing on Carrick and Jones. How the hell would i feel threatened if those two players come in. I thought it was a ridiculous change – and so it proved to be with Jones giving Valencia something to think about and the Ecuadorians back pass to De Gea was terrible.

So up popped Danny Welbeck who managed to brush the ball past their keeper and slot home. Excellent stuff! After seeing Adebayor run the whole pitch to celebrate and Van Persie scoring against us, this was a relief. I thought Danny didn’t offer too much in the game, but his desire to prove it in Van Gaal’s face was enough to grab a winner.

Credit to Wenger for leaving an in-form Giroud on the bench for Danny. I often criticize the boss, but when he gets it right, I have to give him credit. We nearly managed to kill the game with a Cazorla volley which I thought was in, but there was De Gea. If United qualify for the CL they have all to thank for to De Gea. That save made it nervy for us, although Di Maria popped with an amazing dive that eventually got him sent off.

The ref was spot on. Try to wrestle Di Maria like that into the ground! – Not in an FA cup quarter final. Shameful for the biggest priced player in the league. But Januzaj was there to eclipse that a few minutes later with falling to the ground out of no contact at all, and actually appealing for a penalty! The ref was terrific again. We did get lucky with Bellerin, who could’ve been sent off – but Wenger for once did the right thing by subbing him for Chambers.

That meant Walcott didn’t feature, after the Ox got injured. Which is sad because the Ox for me gives us directness which outside of Sanchez we lack. On the other hand Theo can’t get into the side, because he doesn’t work enough in defense, and that’s where we really have problems. It’s sad that we have the worst keepers of the top clubs (except Liverpool maybe ? ).

Imagine if we had a keeper making saves like De Gea or a Lloris. We’d be 5 to 10 points up in the table. The center backs situation is a real mess. Mertesacker and Koscielny had such a good partnership we sold our captain – Vermaelen. Now they are underperforming and with Gabriel pushing them for a spot, i hope we bring out the best of them but i feel it could be the curtains for our BFG.

With Debuchy out we have two largely inexperienced right backs, who do pretty good for their age and experience so far, but they are still young and easy to expose. Monreal for me has been the best defender we have had this season. Another thing I noticed from yesterday was the lack of height and power in the squad. Coquelin has been immense, but he was never winning a high ball vs Fellaini.

We had not a single player who could wrestle Fellaini and win first balls from him, which made our life difficult. Overall attacking midfield is what Arsenal is all about and Alexis Sanchez had a fantastic game once again. I thought his quick feet caused them trouble, but the Chilean has been praised enough this season so I’ll leave it there. He and the Ox were a real pain for United and I think that with Walcott and Welbeck, we really can be speed demons for other teams.

Overall it’s a fantastic win. Not only because Welbeck scored the winner and the fact we broke the Old Trafford vodoo, but it’s a massive blow for United in the Top Four race. They face tough fixtures and coming off the back of a defeat to one of your direct rivals will hurt. And they have no easy games to recover easily.

Enjoy the moment and have a happy week!

Konstantin

Tags De Gea Di Maria Monreal

22 Comments

  1. Check the match again dude. Le Coq held his own very well against Fellaini. He didn’t let his lack of height stop him from climbing all over Felliani and putting off his game, as well as winning ground duels.
    Sad to see Per not being able to compete in the air with”anybody”…

    1. I would say Manure were…… controlled by the Coq until they were welbecked….. and the whole team lived up to the expectations ….. as the travelling Gooners showed their worth…..COYG!!!

      1. @MK3-welback-ed… spot on tat cracked me up tho… plus this is what u re lookin for ha ha :: !

        Man United LUKE SHAW of Winning last night, we were almost ROONEYed again. Thank GOD VALENCIA was so BLIND even ANGEL was missing the only one that got sent off was DIVE MARIA, but in the end it does not MATA. Hello fellow Gunners we just took that HIGH WAY TO WEMBLEY all tha way. Classic say so!! COYG***

    2. Was thinking the exact same thing, NY_Gunner. While we may not have had the height, we had the power, right there. And is it just me, or was that cross by di Maria just a clear sign of how much class that guy has? I mean, it couldn’t have been more perfectly placed for Rooney and between the CBs. Not only that, but Mert was hanging to the back post to prevent a tricky flick on or parry from the keeper, in the event the play unfolded that way. And Kos was just not tall enough to head that well placed ball (the height thing again). If anything, di Maria should’ve been forced off that cross on the wing. But to your point, KM, Arsenal does seem to get nervy when we go up one, in many games, rather than killing teams off like they can, i.e., Villa.

      Other thing I wanted to mention, don’t forget that we also have Rosicky as another very direct player we have to utilize. So, while the loss of Ox definitely hurts, thankfully we have Super Tom as well. But I really want to see the Ox play a stint of games.

      Also, to say you criticize Wenger is an understatement, KM. You murder him and the archives are there for the record. Nuff said about that. Great game. Great week. And the next week or so is going to remain equally entertaining! COYG!!!

      1. I should be clear. By calling di Maria class, I definitely did not mean that to reflect on his horrendous Argentinian sportsmanship. Especially as he clearly rubbed off on his Belgium colleague.

  2. Nacho should be the first name on the sheet in that position.

    Would like to see Wellbeck be as calm and as good a finisher as him;)

    S

  3. Hey, which match were you watching? Le Coq won over 90% duel with Fellaini. Ask Fellaini which Arsenal player he was trying to avoid on the pitch that night he will put you to light. He never made a good pass with Le Coq around him.

    1. Agreed!! Le Coq was like a Jack Russell on a Great Dane, never gave Fellaini a moments peace.
      If you watch the match again you’llsee how many times Le Coq’s positioning blocked the pass to Fellaini who was ManUre’s midfield hub. Just the same as the way he blocked out David Silva in City game.
      And a good word too for Santi and Ozil who both put in good shifts
      COYG

  4. Not to put a downer on procedures but again there was moments where our keepers distribution causes a sudden attack on us which resulted on a shot on goal. Also Mertisacker had a few but not as many error prone moments when he was out of position and lured to try and win a ball he can’t. There is still signs for Wenger to look at why he should be looking to move on our keeper and resolve the Mertisacker situation.

  5. One key change that has gone under the radar was Wenger’s reaction to the changes at halftime (which LVG got terribly wrong). Moving Rojo to the left, when Shaw came off (which was a terrible sub considering Bellerin was booked and they should’ve doubled up on him), seemed to be because he was struggling with the movement of Ozil in the middle, and kept being drawn playing out of the line, (which was evident in our first goal where he drifted forward towards OX but didnt try to tackle). So when OX got injured Ozil was moved to the right to face Rojo again, despite Walcott being available (even the commentators were scratching their heads). But this essentially played Rojo out of the game, he didn’t have the pace to get up and down to attack and mark Ozil, who had the better of him throughout the game.

  6. A player with Giroud’s link up play and touch, and Welbeck’s speed and pressing would make Arsenal a very dangerous team!

  7. For me there’s plenty more voodoo’s to break like not winning the Champions League but start with the Chelsea sh*t 1st. Good luck from here onwards Arsenal Fc

  8. Mertesacker had one of his best games this season. Which game were you watching? And Sanchez I thought was our poorest player on the night (apart from Sczcesny).

    1. @twig which match were u watching?? I took the liberty of checking on Man U-Diver Comment about the game against their team and guess what?? Sanchez happens to be the most feared in Arsenal against their own team.. plus u know what? They actually acknowledged the fact that Sanchez ran out Valencia (Battery) energy that made him so unstable of any chance to go forward like he does with other teams or in their previous games.

      1. Sanchez was poor. I don’t know what game you were watching… He kept losing the ball time and time again, his passing poor, link up, an over dwelling on the ball..

        His work rate is what saved him. He has become one dimensional now that every defender knows that once he is on the ball he is cutting inside. He kept cutting inside into traffic and losing at every opportunity..

        As I keep saying for Sanchez to be world class he has got to work on his passing and link up, it is so poor, he will try 8 passes and only get 1 or 2 right, that’s poor. He need to work on his passing and over dwelling on the ball..

        But he is the most dangerous in our team. Could be even more dangerous if he can work in those aspects.

        1. I agree sanchez didnt have his greatest game, I personally think his best games have come playing through the middle sort of in the cam role, where he’s able to pick up the ball in more space and because he can actually provided a few assists in that position as well, he has become predictable but I don’t think its because he only has one dimension to his play, he’s scored lots of different goals and provided assists in different areas but I think he needs a break as well as he looks tired atm.

  9. In my opinion it happens, The STONE (Danny Boy) that the BUILDER-(Van Gaal) refused shall be the head CORNERSTONE- (DANNY WELBECK) All the way to WEMBLEY!!! Sorry Man U-Dive you have to wait till next season!! Classic say so……… Coyg***.

  10. Well, in my old post :: Man United LUKE SHAW of Winning last night, we were almost ROONEYed again. Thank GOD VALENCIA was so BLIND even ANGEL was missing but in the end it does not MATA.

    It just wasn’t about 1 player, they all made Man U-Diver looks more shitty cause with our game which their last aim was to dive and get either free kicks or penalty just to get over us.. our beloved Arsenal made the below average team for the rest smaller teams out there to be confident in their self and be watchful of how bad they can go just to win a game… Man U-Dive lost their ground now for good… Guess what….??? The lads made that Happen. COYG..

  11. Welbeck had a terrible first half, bad touches, bad movement, couldn’t control. I m just reminding everyone of dis because he scored one goal and we forgot all his weaknesses. Welbeck sure has d desire and work rate a manager dreams of but he lacks qualities such as gud first touch, movement off d ball and finishing. Dese qualities don’t come in overnight. I still prefer giroud or Walcott as d main striker. Walcott I think was about to some on for welbeck against utd but just den ox got injured and we had to change tactics.

  12. I was most pleased with ozil, he was robbed twiced and chased back to regain possession. He even made a sliding tackle and constantly pressed the opposition. He seemed to have a point to prove, best game defensively so far. I think he won all his tackles, now we need to see more of that desire to win the ball back in the biggest matches.

  13. I commented before the match that I was worried about Szczesny and Mertsacker. Mertsacker proved me wrong. He was a pro.

    Szczesny had one big fumble after the Rooney goal where he dropped a crodd I believe. That scared the crap out of me but he played the rest of the match well.

    I still consider Ospina to be our best Keeper, but Szczesny will play the remaining matches so hope he regains his confidence and form.

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