There is one group of players and fans that will be happier than any other tonight and they are the ones connected with Liverpool. I am not going to even try to pretend that I would have preferred Brendan Rodgers’ side to be facing the Red Devils of Old Trafford but the draw threw us up against United instead.
The worst thing about the draw, in my opinion, is the fact that we have to play away but here come the positives: First of all the Gunners seem to be playing well and hitting form and after the way we played away to beat Man City recently we should have no real fear.
Secondly, they are playing absolute rubbish! Seriously Gooners, you thought we were bad? Looking at United’s results you would think they were a good team. Look further and you will see that they are turgid, void of attacking ideas and basically awful.
Look guys, we could lose this game but if we were going to retain the FA cup trophy it was always going to mean beating at least one top side. Now Arsenal may have to do it twice. Did we really expect anything else?
‘He told us we were bench player’. The next day Welbeck proved he was a bench player. Welbeck only has one more premier league goal than Koscielny this season. I hope he proves Van Gaal wrong next time, you can’t be doing backheels against you former boss and laugh that it didn’t go in.
Still atleast he isn’t arrogant or full of himself like Walcott. That guy thinks too much of himself.
Arrogant? Which Walcott are you referring to? Keshorn Walcott?
Surely it’s someone we don’t know about since the footballer for Arsenal is nothing of the sort.
Who starts talking after we get a few good results?
Who doesn’t defend for the team, only jogging back with fists close to the chest with thumbs up. Saying we are defending better as a team, yet not contributing to the defence.
Who says Alexis Sanchez should chill out, after seeing him train hard when he first came to the club?
Doens’t even make an attempt to take players on these days, instead passing to the side and running beyond the defence.
He missed almost all of his one on ones since he returned, now had that been Giroud or Welbeck… yeah we know what would be said here.
Walcott had a good finish against Villa, and two okay finishes against Brighton and Leicester.
Difference is that Giroud and Welbeck haven’t been out for a year.
went on a spy mission to mufclatest.com: here they say “arsenal’s not know to show up on the big games”: hope that lights a fire under our butts. i also think wenger needs to get a better motivational speaker.
mufclatest.com/can-not-wait-for-arsenal-fa-cup-draw-reaction-manchester-united
Welbeck scored 7 goals in 20 starts + 3 apparitions from the bench(0 goals).
Its not too bad for a first season so far as he is only just behind Giroud’s first season’s 17 goals.
Well… Giroud also had 11 assist to his name.
But those are the statistics he got when he was at Manure and Sunderland loan. Don’t get me wrong, that guy will run and defend for us. But when he plays upfront or on the wing for that matter, he doesn’t get many chances at goal, that is because he doesn’t make himself available for passes. That is the main reason he isn’t scoring goals for us. So I think he needs to work on that a bit more.
Also under Ferguson, he used to run to get the ball back from the defenders or Goalkeeper like there is no tomorrow, that is because he had to really fight for his place. He isn’t doing that anymore. He is still running and defending but not as much as he used to under Ferguson.
most of his goals during his last season at man u when he started to score more came from when he started up front. His stats at this position were actually good, this was why united fans were upset when he got sold to us.
imo : he doesnt know where to position himself. our system is fluid. if he’s at CF, maybe the bigger positioning isnt so important?? i’ve seen him running v.fast but where he ends up is not in a useful place to the rest of the players. they’re not on the same pg as he is, currently. but i think sticking at it some more + maybe insight from his elders may help. [not sure how detailed wenger’s coaching style is]
Lol friends like you who needs enemies?
i had no idea you had such a close relationship with Theo.
For you he is the darling of the club, he can do no wrong. Even when he missed so many 1 on 1 since his return. Had that been Giroud or Welbeck it would have been another story for them
I think he has done well since he came back from such a long recovery from injury.
The stage is set and I even heard the commentator mention Giggs’ wonder goal against us. What we have here is the possibility of getting the sweetest FA Cup victory in our history. Fully confident we can do it at Old Trafford as long as we “show up”…
Sometimes it’s good to be realistic, getting aHead of ourselves is one thin I see and read on here loads of time!! can u please wake up??? It’s Manure again they play Crap but gets a win over us…… I don’t understand why They need to Match us with ManUtd Again they just want us out at all cost….. Fu*king FA!
Please don’t confuse my confidence with being unrealistic. I fully stand behind my team to the end and with the caliber of players we do possess a win at Old Trafford is very realistic to me. Like I said as long as we “show up”…
all streaks break. i think its 90% psychological v manu. lets hope AW doesnt transmit fear to his players and then we’ll be ok. like those “smaller nations” playing their hearts out vs brazil in world-cups and causing huge upsets (play the game, not the name).
I’m more worried about the fact we have to play like 8 games in thirty days! Crazy. Stay healthy everyone
Our record against man u in the FA cup is not bad with 4 wins 3 draws and 4 lost.
We won 1 of those games at old trafford and they won 1 of those games at the Emirates.
The results are from 96 when Arsene Wenger took charge of Arsenal.
Things will be different when they play us….
we cant even beat a pathetic utd last season
we didnt have sanchez then.
or coq.
or ospina.
plus: caz at b2b & ozil at cam is working real well.
United look so ordinary. Two things Wenger must avoid, playing Wilshere against United, and playing Szczesny. De Gea proves how important GK’s are. If Wenger wants to win this trophy he has to not go with the cup keeper for once.
ooooh: thats going to be huge: i 100% agree w you. but does wenger have balls to pull chesney out for the big one (all that just doesnt sound right).
We would have had to play Liver Birds or ManUre anyway to retain the FA Cup, so let’s deal with it now.
We are getting all our best players back so we have to take a positive game to Old Trafford.
They have played crap all season but won with late goals, so we have to outscore them, but stay strong in midfield and the back.
So Kos, Gabriel, LeCoq, Santi and Ozil are critical performers
COYG
if gabriel plays well enough in next few weeks, might even put him in there , rather than Per ?
A tough draw but not a totally bad one if we show up on match day…
if we show up we win, I think thats what it comes down to. Both matches last season against Moyes’ teams we just shot ourselves in the foot and didnt show up at all. maybe this being a cup game will bring out a good perfformance in us. We have every chance of winning.
I just hate reading post like “if we show up” for Christ sake that’s what we should be doing anytime we play ManU but no matter what we play with their weak defence or hard we play they always find the easiest way of winning us. Honestly I don’t know what we have to do to beat the Sh*t outta ManU.. I wish I know…
2 things :
1. hope ref isnt biased against us,
2: hope they dont have a RVP moment: u know : the kind where the WC CF does nothing all game and then just with one moment…
still, in our current form, w sanchez/ozil/caz playing as they are, with coq and ospina,
(and maybe even w gabriel replacing Per) i reckon we have a fair chance of beating them.
Two huge games at OT both of which
could decide our season. Could do with
Wilshere, Ramsey and Wellbeck to hit form.
“Form is temporay class is permanent”.
Have Ramsey and especially Wilshere and Wellbeck
ever really been “class” or just decent in small doses.?
dont want to see wilshere ramsey or welbeck for the MANU game:
ospina
bellerin gabriel koz monreal
coq
cazorla b2b
walcott, ozil, sanchez
giroud
this lineup will beat MU.
when walcott is tired, bring in ox or welbeck.
yeah rosicky instead of wilshere and aaron.
F@#k Man U. I hope we put 5 or more through them.
I actually wanted Liverpool or Man U in the next round funnily enough, although I would preferred a home fixture. Realistically it’s between ourselves and those two for the cup, and I’d rather not face them in the final as our record in tough fixtures has been very poor for the last two seasons. Losing in the quarters or semi is a lot less painful than the final.
It’s funny how many of our own fans criticize Man U this season, yet they’ve lost two less games than us, and are above us in the league. So how bad does that make us? We all need to realise that we are massive underdogs at Old Trafford.
Apologies for the negative post, but it made me laugh how many on here were saying that we were going to beat Spurs, even “stuff them”, after only one win against a big team away from home in God knows how many attempts. As we all know, normal service was resumed against Spurs. I just think we all need to be realistic about Arsenal when they’re involved in tough fixtures, especially away from home. Victory is unlikely in these tough games with our currant squad and manager, and before I get thumbed down, take note my post is based on facts.
I am still ashamed that we could not beat the weakest Man Utd defence
its totally psychological. wenger should hire a good motivational guy for our MU match: i dont believe wenger can do that kind of thing himself (well). sanchez tho is a complete wildcard: he could be that motivational guy. i dont know how loud/quiet he is in the dressing room.
Not true – what about city? I know we can beat united because we are a better team, it all depends whether we turn up with the right attitude mentally.
We usually don’t have much problem with ManCity, they are not much of a threat to us. ManU, ChelSick are always our BIGGEST problem… but Chelsick plays better than ManU against us… no matter how poor ManU play they get a win. Please do not Compare ManU and ManSity… >:O
I remember all the seasons past including last season, we are always beating Tottenham and when someone calls it a big game, fans tell them to shut up. So how come suddenly u call the game we lost to tottenham a big game?? I’m sorry mate but u re wrong, the last big game we played was against Mancity. And guess what we won and the next big one will be against UTD, I believe we can win as well. Our current team and Manager have just had two years together (Yes two years NOT 10. Forget the other spineless teams that had the primadonas like Fabregas, Nasri and RVP don’t count to me. Fans keep on slagging our players but just remember that these crop of players did more for the club in 1year than fab or RVP did in 8 years in a supposedly stronger team. And guess what, their best is yet to come. Can’t wait to see what fans will say about Wenger then.
wish i could give u 1000 thumbs up . maybe ur right: rvp/fabregas were slicker but maybe sanchez/coq/giroud/welbeck will have more success with their grit. i can also imagine gabriel/koz being quite a grim pair ; and with coquelin in front of them, we could be mean.
also: against spuds, we were coming off a gala 4:1 and i think it was too much, too quick. then we were up 1:0 going into the half. we still have a weakness of switching off. and we have a mega-weakness in last 5 mins. if we concede v manu in last 5-10 mins , thats the thing that would really kill me. we also have a weakness when we lead 2:0. thats when we switch off. the other team gets 1. then they have the momentum and so they get another one. so suddenly, in the PL, we lose 2 points . often in just 10-15 mins.
Nobody can be blame for predicting a trashing against spuds.
Dat guy Welbz for the winner. Take us back to Wembley boys…
Don’t underestimate United especially at OT
Rooney, Falcao and RVP have not been playing well but it doesn’t mean they will not play well in that match. Also Di Maria, Herrera, Mata and Fellaini are all playing better.
That said, if we have Sanchez, Ozil, Walcott, Cazorla, and Giroud we have a decent chance.
I think the defense will be key. If our defense is ,poor they have more than enough creyativity and attacking power to take advantage.
Overall, I believe we have a better defense.
In my opinion
1. GK: Ospina Smalling/Rojo/Valencia/Shaw
3. DM: Coquelin > Blind
4. Attack: Ozil/Cazorla/Sanchez/Walcott/Giroud slightly >
Fellaini/Herrera/Di Maria/Rooney/Falcao (on current form)
5. Bench: Szczesny/Gabriel/Chambers/Monreal/Rosicky/Welbeck/Ox < Lindegaard, Rafael, Jones, Evans, Carrick, Young, Mata, Janjuaz, RVP
So key will be defense (both our defense and DM are better)
Giroud is good and our best striker but Problem is Giroud in the sense that he isn't the best against top 5-6 teams or big game moments. So Sanchez, Ozil, Walcott will need to be at their absolute best.
Something to consider/ponder: Even though Giroud is better than Welbeck and Welbeck misses more chances than Giroud, would it be better to start Welbeck instead if Giroud because 1. Giroud doesn't perform well against top teams 2. Welbeck will love to score against his old team. He will really be up for it.
Made mistake above. Number 1 should be :
1. Ospina < de Gea
2. Should be:
2. Koscielny/Mertsacker/Bellerin/Gibbs > Smalling/Rojo/Valencia/Shaw
It’s not just about which team has a better attack or defence, it’s also about how much better that attack/defence is, and I’d say our defence is much stronger than theirs now that we have Koscielny and Gabriel.
Feels strange to say it, but On current form I’d take our attack all day long as well. Giroud > Falcao. Never thought I’d say that! Haha.
I will answer the same way i answered one of your last post about Giroud.
He has scored importants goals for us this season.
Scored the second at everton for the draw
Scored the only goal against man u (it was at the last minute and we lost 1-2 but only played 13 minutes)
Scored the 1st and 3rd against newcastle
Scored an equilizer against liverpool
Scored the second against city(helped securing the result)
Scored the first against villa
And finally, scored both goals against middlesbrough.
And you can’t say they were tap in goals anymore.
Lets give credits when credits are due.
we conseded 4 more goals than them in the league.
“them” being Man U.
My friend John lives in Everton and has done for the last eighty years . He hates the sight of `the red noses`, as he calls Liverpool, for their `luck`. Arsenal have to travel to Old Trafford whilst Liverpool play Blackburn in their own backyard. Think John might be right!
I don’t really see Liverpool as a ‘lucky’ side, not anymore at least. They get the odd thing in their favour every now and again but on the whole I wouldn’t say so – with any luck they’d have won the league last season.
If there’s one lucky club in the land it’s Manchester United. They don’t play good football half the time yet ‘somehow’ they always come out with results… After United it has to be Chelsea.
Its not luck , its called showing professional display. Get the results. It seems its in their DNA. Manchester united suffered more than 40+ injuries this season, no luck there.
As for liverpool getting easy draw, first no draw is easy , ask Man city and chelsea. Having said that FA may want to see gerrard lift the trophy. The self proclaimed great gerrard will get all the affection from FA and media
You are so so very correct, that’s the way I see it, they want them going to the Finals all the way with the hope Gerrard could left the Trophy, I call that FA strategy
DiMaria is flopping hard. Last time I checked he came from the same side as Ozil came from and cost a lot more. How come he is not crucified in the media
#TheJackWilshereConspiracy
Yeah, I try not to let that bug me but it does big time. Ozil’s first season for us looks spectacular compared to what AdM has offered so far. But not a peep so far from the media/pundits. And if an alien popped down to watch a few matches could he be convinced that Falcao is a guaranteed goals superstar – solely on performances this year so far who would have thought we could legitimately say Giroud > RvP and Welbz > Falcao. LOL.
The only Utd player I fear is Rooney.
Di Maria is a deadly player. Before injury he was one of the best buys and since coming back he was bad but in last some games he is starting to find the rythm. Only fools will under estimate players like Di Maria.
Honestly I would fear RVP too. He may not play whole season but will come and score against us.
It seems we have already started to underestimate our opponents again. I always say lets stay grounded.
That is the point I was making. Ozil ‘was’ a deadly player too. The point is – what about now? Is Ozil the only one that will get criticised?
That’s the problem most people do, they underestimate opponent, for me ADM is a Dangerous player Rooney seems to be the only player better than him in ManU team list. Abt Van P coming to score us!!! Well we have had Hard luck with ex players coming to put in some unforeseen ball into our net. So I wouldn’t be surprised about that… but all and all.. may I hope we can do magic with ManU at least even if it’s just this Once.
our D has potential to be quite mean:
ospina > ches,
gabriel > Per,
coq >>>>>> flam.
just dont put wilshere/ramsey in there (sorry).
and for god’s sake: dont let in that late goal.
against manu it is 90% psychological for us. objectively ,we’re playing much better than them. all streaks are meant to be broken. have u seen when a new teenage tennis player comes “out of nowhere” and upsets the current world #1?
that starts a new clock.
we need to start a new clock against MANU.
hahahahahahahahaha. dooooooooooomed .
Perfect draw.
Have scores to settle.
come summer we still need at least 3 or 4 world class players to strengthen our weak squad
we need more quality and backup…
They are playing bad and thats what worries me more. They know how to win especially against us even of they play bad. LVG is trying to find the right balance, I hope he doesnt find that before the FA cup tie.
I think this will be a tougher tie than City away. But like the author said, lets prove that we can beat big boys.
all streaks end some time.
i hope wenger outsources the motivational-speaking on this one.
They always get their goals through counter attack – when that’s stifled, for whatever reason, they suffer.
That news about Cazorla is getting more and more persistant… And I am not talking about the British newspapers as they would print any rumours… Marca and France Football have already announced that the player has agreed personal terms (around £85,000/week) with At.Madrid…!
At.Madrid have more money to spend and their debts have been halves by a Chinese investor.
I hope it is still a rumour…
I won’t be surprised, if Wenger tried to cash in (double the fees we paid) as it is a common occurrence.
At.Madrid can have Wilshere if they want to, any days…
I hope Cazorla stays as he might have finally found his true form and rhythm.
Dybala (Palermo) would be a great addition as well as a CDM and a proper 25-30 goals/season striker.
we have to play Ospie against Utd…
RVP knows Sheez weakness….
Man United was trash against Preston–Felliani with a shove in the back as he jumped and Rooney with a great dive at the end.. i really believe we will crush them as long as we dont give up an early goal
We never seem to have the mentality to beat United even if they are dog rubbish…. We have a mental and psychological problem when it comes to playing against United..
wenger! hire me . i will do a great motivational speech for only 100K (british pounds).
we still need a proper striker, DM and a 4th choice CB….