The way that the fixture list is falling at the minute may well feel like the worst possible timing for Arsenal fans and to be fair it is far from ideal for us to have to face a north London derby with Tottenham and a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the Premier League as well as the crunch clash in the Champions League with PSG in the month of November which is well publicised as being a traditionally tough time for us.
On top of that it appears that the Gunners are suffering a slump in form after a great run at the exact same time as our next opponents Man United are on the up, but I would not be overly concerned about this if I were you. For one thing, my Gran and a bunch of her pals could have beaten Swansea City yesterday, so while it was a confidence boost for United to win I do not think it really shows them in good form.
Perhaps the most important thing that happened in this game pertaining to our visit there in two weeks was the yellow card picked up by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as it was his fifth of the season so far and that means he cannot face us. For me this severely weakens United and gives me a lot more confidence and I am sure it will be the same for the Arsenal defenders.
Just because they won this game, do not think that all is rosy at Old Trafford either, because Jose Mourinho seems determined to ruffle feathers in the dressing room and we saw how well that worked at Chelsea last season. His latest trick was to all but call Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw lazy and uncommitted after they ruled themselves out of Sunday’s game due to fitness issues.
I am sure that will make the United dressing room a happier place aren’t you? I truly believe that Arsenal do not need to worry about United as they are a bit of a shambles right now. The question is, do we need to worry about Arsenal?
Bob.
I’ve watched a fair bit of United this season and their points total is misleading IMO…
His finishing has been abysmal, but make no mistake, Zlatan’s absence is huge. The majority of their good sequences he’s been at the heart of, him and Pogba just seem to be starting to link well.. He may be lacking the lethal touch, but it will be a massive adjustment to their attack. Hopefully Roonz comes in and stinks up the place!
Old Trafford stinks enough already. Maureen is a sc*mbag
xhaka and coq just doesn’t work. I hope cazorla comes back, man i really miss what he provides to this team and it shows. Iwobi needs to be taken out of the firing line for now, i know he’s really good with his feet but he’s suffering a massive dip in form and i don’t think playing through it will work. The problem is with lucas perez injury and OX inconsistencies, who do we put up there? Move theo there and play ramsay on the right?
or move sanchez there and play giroud up front? one injury and we’re suddenly out of wack.
I agree Cazorla is everything for our midfield. Am predicting another draw in this game..our record at old trafford and against Mourinho is thoroughly depressing.
I was afraid ManU would lose against Swansea, as Mourinho would have used this as a way to lift his players and motivate them to beat a big one.
Winning at Swansea won’t put the players in this kind of mood, and with Zlatan’s suspension, I think Mourinho will come back to his usual defensive scheme, to avoid losing this game. But we will have to be careful with their quick young players on the counter. Rashford (and maybe Martial or Lingard) could surprise us, just like he did last year…
With this kind of scenario, I guess playing Giroud upfront makes sense, to shake their defence and open spaces for Sanchez, Ozil and Walcott.
We shouldn’t be overconfident like we were before Boro. We just have to play our game and it will naturally shut Mourinho’s mouth.
You are all agreeing that we need Cazorla,how many of knows his contracts expires next summer? As for the Man u game,Arsene needs to get up from his seat,be at the touch and keep encouraging the boys till the final whistle,whether we are 1-0 down or 1-0 up,the era of sitting on the bench and talking to steve is gone. Coaches change tactics as game is going on,Wenger needs to learn this. We should remember that mourinho would do everything possible to maintain his record against Arsenal so it doesn’t matter who’s leading their line,we have to be sharp in the final third and please take our chances.
Exactly! A sense of urgency is everything. We know Wenger hates to lose but even clever statistical Wenger has better win rates when his back is against the wall in May when he is desperate. In November he cruises with the attitude that we are near the top and a draw or two is fine.
Fight now Wenger!! Get urgency into this team! Be desperately passionate for the United win …. the team will see the passion and we will have a war on our hands. A war we can definitely win.
i know a lot of people will disagree with me but i don’t see ibra,s suspension as a good thing for us,i’d rather see us facing manure with a misfiring ibra than an in form rashford!!
I think we are giving United too much respect and giving ourselves far too little! Our draw against Spurs is not the end of the world, I mean they are the only undefeated team so far this season and I don’t think many teams will beat them. We are the team to beat and we need to go to old toilet with that mentality.