Arsenal couldn't find a goal. They looked like coming close a few times, but Wigan did enough to earn the draw. Arsenal looked like fairly-typical Arsenal, although Gilberto and Bendtner, who started, and were subbed off early, were anonymous. Kolo Toure looks like a promising right midfielder. Van Persie hardly got involved in the time he was on.
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22 deflections:
I actually disagree about van Persie. I think the little time he was on, he did enough to show why we have missed him so much. His ball possession, his intelligence on the ball, his vision, his movement, his striking in general. He went by the wigan midfield with seeming ease. As well he picked out some really good pinpoint passes. His corner kicks were hard and low enough. All that was need was a firm head to the ball. I like how he made space for himself on the 18 and had the courage to shoot. Sure, at the moment he is rusty, but in a week, he will be hitting the target again. With the pace he puts on the ball, he's always likely to score. Then he brought his freekick threat. The one he took was high, but the trajectory (the bend on the ball) was encouraging. He just needs to keep it down. Also when Fabregas missed that late chance, van Persie was free to his right. All in all, I think we have a rusty RVP on our hands, but he is still the same great striker he was before the injury. I believe by the Chelsea game, he will be giving us reason to doubt that Adebayor is our 1st striker.
The game was disappointing but our destiny is still in our own hands. I think the return of Van Persie and Rosicky will give us the boost we need. I am little disappointed in Gilberto, though; if he really wants to stay and fight for his place, then he's got to give much better performances than we've seen so far. I think his mind is already out of here.
United is less than three points back with a game in hand. By definition, destiny is no longer in your hands.
the red scare, I think you have over-looked the game we (and I don't mean you) have against United. When we beat you, we will win the league, assuming neither of us drops any other points.
I think you're confusing controlling your own destiny with wishful thinking. Admirable attitude, though...
Van Persie's great because he's really good on the ball and a very good finisher. I know what you mean about his corners - they do look dangerous.
When he was down injured, I was worried, so I was glad to see he had just been hit in the face.
The expectation for him is very high because Arsenal Supporters have seen him playing at such a high level, and want to see more of the same.
I can't say that we've seen him at his best, because I don't think he's peaked yet. If he could go through a few seasons without injury, I think we would see a good goal return.
Red Scare - United's expulsion from the FA Cup hasn't made you less bullish on your side? What happened there?
kdat-
1. you are not going to beat united at the theater of dreams.
2. after dropping points in your last three games, you are not in any position to 'assume' that arsenal will not drop any more points.
3. between the match at stamford bridge and the liverpool fixture, arsenal will drop at least 4 points. i will give my thanks to fernando torres now.
433-
no, united's 'expulsion' hasn't made us less bullish. if anything, getting demolished 4-0 in the same competition to the team that you are supposedly going to beat to win the league should make YOU less bullish. then again, there is the arsenal pattern of complaining about the condition of the pitch after every loss, so i'm sure that will be your response.
Getting demolished 4-0 in the FA Cup made me considerably less bullish.
There have been some encouraging signs since then, so I don't consider it outside the realm of possibility that Arsenal could win their remaining 9 games. I remember a few seasons ago when Arsenal won the title, they won their last 13 games, I think. United have had similar winning streaks to close out title-winning seasons.
I do agree that it doesn't look good to make too many complaints about the condition of the pitch after dropping points.
Let's hope Torres has an off day against Arsenal, or a stomach bug. Maybe we can get him some dodgy lasagna the night before the match.
Santos,
The last EPL tie between Arsenal and United at Old Trafford ended 1 nil to the Arsenal. There's no reason to believe that will not happen again. So far United has been as unconvincing as Arsenal. Let's not forget 2 wks ago, United had picked up only 1 pt in 2 games. I have every confidence United will fare no better than Arsenal in the remaining games. So beating United might well win Arsenal the tittle. Now that RVP is back, we should feel even more sure of this. Imagine loosing Rooney for half the season--not to mention Ronaldo.
"Past performances are not guarantees of future results"
One cannot judge a top team on one (or a few) performance alone. Yes, the Milan result was fantastic but look what we got at Wigan. If one can, then what does losing to Portsmouth say about MU's chances in the PL? Are you going to blame it on referee's decision this time?
Being two points up is still two points up. Who can guarantee Derby County cannot hold MU in the next game?
"The last EPL tie between Arsenal and United at Old Trafford ended 1 nil to the Arsenal. There's no reason to believe that will not happen again."
are you serious? that tie was september 17, 2006! united, as well as arsenal, are completely different teams. cristiano ronaldo is clearly the best player in the world right now and united's midfield is the deepest, most versatile in the EPL, if not the entire world. anderson? hargreaves? nani? tevez? none of these players were involved last time. to use your cohort's own line, "past performances are not guarantees of future results," especially performances from nearly two years ago.
"I have every confidence United will fare no better than Arsenal in the remaining games."
i actually have every confidence that united will fare better than arsenal.
glancingheader- i will be the one to tell you that derby will not hold united. i will also be the one to tell you that united will score at least 4 goals.
Santos, knowing SAF, you're probably right (still may not be 100% right) about the Derby game. He probably is really upset at the FA Cup loss to Portsmouth and so he'll have them on their toes this week. But 10 weeks (which is what we have til the end of the season) is a long time and no one can know what the teams will do over those 10 weeks. I understand your optimism about MU because I am the same about Arsenal.
I normally would respond to Santos, but I get the feeling this is not that kind of discussin board where fans get all emotional and sing about their teams with no objectivity. For the sake of maitaining that spirit, I will keep this response short. The fact of the matter is that Arsenal are 2 pts atop the EPL. Arsenal has won 2 out of the 3 last EPL meetings. So yes, the past says very little about what will happen next in football, but if past performances are anything to go by, Santos will be briefly absent from this forum following the April 13th encounter.
Wow. Someone call the Laughable Contradiction Police...
"...yes, the past has very little to say about what will happen next, but if the past has anything to say about what will happen next then [I predict an Arsenal victory]."
Not to mention starting off all high and mighty, talking about how this is an objective message board, and then concluding by essentially guaranteeing an Arsenal victory and taking a shot at Santos.
Nice one.
Yeah, but Santos is made of strong stuff, you don't have to worry about him.
kdat, if you were a betting man, would you put money on Arsenal to win the league?
I tend to be more in the I-hope-they'll-win-the-league camp than the I-think-they'll-win-the-league camp.
Now if we could get you a run out up front, and maybe bring in Johnny Centerback for defensive cover; we've already got Flamini in there - with that kind fighting spirit I just might wager a pound note.
the red scare,
in all fairness, I said I would keep it short--never said anything about keeping quiet. Of course my analysis will always be tainted by my allegiance, but I would bet money on Arsenal winning the league (that is if I were a betting man).
As for C Ronaldo, he has been in inspirational form...against the likes of Derby and Newcastle. That never wins anybody WPOY.
433, of course, we would have to return Almunia to the bench for the all-conquering team.
arsenal fans are unbelievable. support your team as much as you want, but saying cristiano ronaldo has been in inspirational form against the likes of derby and newcastle is plain ridiculous. apparently, you have forgotten about the most prestigious club competition in europe:
september 19, 2007: game winning goal against sporting lisbon
october 23, 2007: 2 goals against dynamo kiev
november 7, 2007: goal against dynamo kiev
march 4, 2008: game winning goal against lyon to send united to the quarterfinals
....now that is 5 goals just in the champions league group stages and the first elimination round. oh, and by the way, he is tied with the likes of gerrard, ibrahimovic, and inzaghi for top scorer. maybe if muffin-topped adebayor could finish like ronaldo, he would be up there, too.
and as for your comment about derby, he converted a penalty in the 90th minute, so i don't even know what you're trying to say there. at least make sure your ludicrous statements are somewhat true before you make them.
scoring 30 goals in 33 games wins you WPOY (as a midfielder) and trust me, he is not even close to done. maybe when he hits 40 you can come up with another lame excuse.
link
I will be the first to admit Christiano has been in fine form. But the fact still remains that unless he shows up against big oposition the likes of Kaka and Messi will forever be ahead of him. Dynamo Kiev? Sporting Lisbon? Seriously? Those are his credentials? Or you mean that gifted goal against Lyon? You remember how Kaka single-handedly beat your entire defence last year? You remember how Messi single-handedly matched Madrid (RVN) for goals last year? The great players show up big time against other great teams, not the likes of Sporting Lisbon or Kiev. Or Newcastle or Derby for that matter. I will be the first to say it--unless Ronaldo does a few things special against a big team, he will just be his usual DOST (destroyer of small teams) self.
See a comparison of Adebayor's and C. Ronaldo's EPL stats this season at the beginning of the article; the author's conclusion is that their stats are roughly equal:
http://aculturedleftfoot.wordpress.com/
The whole idea that Cristiano doesn't show up against big opposition is just plain silly.
First of all, if he hadn't chipped in with an extremely impressive 30 goals from the midfield, those "big" games wouldn't even be important - United would be languishing mid-table in the league and ousted from the other competitions.
And have you paused for a moment to consider that players may not shine their brightest against better opposition because...er, the opposition is better? Star players get marked closely by high quality defenders, and the team as a whole cannot operate with as much ease. Your exaggerated theory suggests that Cristiano alone fails his team by playing poorly.
As for your examples, what happened to Messi against Liverpool last year? And Kaka against Arsenal last week?
It's an especially stupid argument when you look at the flip side. What does it say about your beloved Fabregas that he couldn't engineer victories against Villa and Birmingham? And are those games not considered "big" because of the opposition?
Crowing about our star player not showing up in big matches, while your lead at the top of table has evaporated as a result of stumbling against lesser teams, is pretty amusing. You really could have used a DOST...
If I were United, I would be more concerned about United than Arsenal. Being of Arsenal, I have no fears. Fabregas has scored against Liverpool and AC Milan (# 2 and 3 most successful teams in Europe). He has dominated in games against Patrick Viera, Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka, Nedved, Gerrard, so on and so forth in Midfield. He does not score 30 goals a season, but he defends (something Ronaldo has no idea how to do) and runs the show. He shows up against opposition big or small.
As for Birmingham and Villa, we will take what we got. Afterall it's not everyday you see your teammate pick up a career threatening injury. Villa deserved their luck--the same with Man City, West Ham (times 2), Bolton. Apparently your DOST cannot even help against the small teams all the time. We need no such DOST who cannot even be a DOST all the time...and who has gone anonimous against the big boys all too often.
As for the point you made about the big teams actually being good--I liked it. That is the point I'm making, the very best players are soooooo good that even when they play against the big teams, they STILL show up. Ala Kaka last year. This year, he will not be wining WPOY. Zidane thrilled be it against Brazil or some less fancied side. Ronaldinho excelled against, Chelsea, Madrid, AC Milan etc. Which big side has Ronaldo excelled against? Stepovers may confuse a modest Derby defender, but if you cannot get past a Gattuso when it matters, you do not belong alongside Zidane, Weah, Kaka or the one and only Ronaldo ( and I don't mean the DOST one).
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