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