The infamous Giggs goal and ensuing celebration. Pizzagate. Keane giving Viera the hairdryer treatment in the tunnel for picking on Gary Neville. A 4-2 thriller that included a lovely chip shot goal from...John O'Shea? Keown attacking Ruud like a flying vampire after a missed penalty. United ending Arsenal's unbeaten run at an uneven 49 matches. Henry doing a ridiculous dance with Adebayor after a stoppage-time winner last January...
There has certainly been no shortage of drama when United and Arsenal have met in previous years, but will this weekend's FA cup tie hold? United are coming off the back of two disappointing results and will be looking to rebound - a victory on Saturday would be a huge psychological boost as they enter the final stretch of league fixtures five points behind the Gooners. Meanwhile, some Arsenal fans are preemptively rolling out the excuses by claiming that the FA cup isn't a priority.
Rooney and Evra should return to the United side but these days the recurring question is who to start in central midfield. To disrupt the free-flowing Gooners, the pairing of Anderson and Hargreaves is an extremely attractive option. Anderson was outstanding in the last meeting with Arsenal (he "wielded a small spanner in [Arsenal's] finely tuned works") and cannot be underestimated as a mere holding midfielder. He has vision and creativity going forward as well, and with Hargreaves providing cover, the two of them could present serious problems for the Gooners.
And if they knock Fabregas and Flamini around a bit, the classic Arsenal whinging and moaning will surely emerge. They'll grow frustrated, cry to the referee, and their brand of beautiful football will generally degrade into an ugly mess. Sagna and Clichy won't be able to fly forward in their usual carefree manner because they'll be responsible for marking Ronaldo and Giggs, who will be streaming in the opposite direction. It's also not the most ideal situation for Kolo Toure to return to - Rooney and Tevez will be buzzing and the atmosphere will be tense. United's back four have been shaky, and while Adebayor and Eduardo will certainly provide no respite, hopefully they'll turn in a solid performance. And then there's always those pesky set pieces - when supporters of the defending team can barely stand to watch, muttering obscenity-laden prayers under their breath.
It should be cagey and absorbing, even if there aren't that many chances on goal. 1-0 to United.
2 days ago
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4 comments:
your bias makes it diff't to take this seriously. you have to realize that the priority is the league title, not the fa cup, with that said anyone who writes off this match from arsenals side is lying. but an arsenal loss is not the end of the world. The kids are really pulling it all together and playing as a team and for that, anyone with interest in well played football must appreciate what arsenal is doing.
That one could be filed under "pre-match windup." It has definitely whetted the appetite for the match.
Wishful thinking, I'd say, predicting Arsenal to lose their stride with a few knocks.
Trying to get access to a live broadcast of this game is reminding me of what it was like in the dark ages of English-Football-broadcasting in the states (i.e., up until about two years ago), when there was so often a struggle to get access to the top games.
Evidently, the live broadcast will be exclusively on Setanta Premium, which is a service for commercial establishments. This would be no problem with the game starting just after noon Eastern, allowing me to put away a few pints of Guiness without drawing too much attention to myself (a situation that sometimes arises on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m.), but my local area has no pubs with Setanta Premium (I live in a rural area that might be referred to colloquially as 'the sticks'").
It looks like Fox Soccer Channel will have the game on tape delay on Tuesday, February 19th at 5 p.m. Eastern.
After receiving a tip that the match was available on satellite pay-per-view, I called my cable company to complain, and the guy told me that he's "pretty sure" that it will be available on cable pay-per-view, even though it's not listed on their web page for upcoming events.
Holy shite dude. You've got to be shitting me. What a rant. Take this shit down before Arsene Wenger gets his hands on it and tapes it up in the locker room before the game. This is just what the boys need to light a fire under their asses. The gauntlet's been laid down, boys! Fabregas, Flamini, Sagna, Clichy, Toure - they're saying you're soft! Are you gonna take that shit?
It'd be 3-0 to Arsenal within 10 minutes.
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