They should dismiss Forest with ease.
Arsenal 22/23 - go to new thread
- Thread starter horsechoker
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Let's hope Jesse forgets his dancing shoes
Chugging along. Looked much better than the last few games, although Forest*.
If we can try and secure top 4 by March and focus on the Europa post, that'd be about par.
If we can try and secure top 4 by March and focus on the Europa post, that'd be about par.
If they're still top end of Jan, reckon they might just do a Leicester and win the league
If KDB gets injured for any extended duration, I can definitely see Arsenal win it. They're nothing great but they're better than the rest (apart from City) right now.
I really don't think Arsenal are better than us. Their next tie vs Chelsea will be interesting.
They are clearly better than us.
Not really. They should have lost to Leeds, weren't convincing vs Southampton and outplayed to PSV.
Thrashing the bottom side of the league doesn't override their dip in performances up to that point. They still have to play Chelsea, City, Brighton and Newcastle compared to us, who have a nice run of very winnable fixtures.
Im not comparing results. They are currently a better team. They are functioning very well, yes they had a dip in form 9 games in a month can do that (have we not at times?)
Their attack is clearly better and functioning much better than ours. They don’t have a massive gap at CF and a bunch of underperforming attackers.
Their defence and midfield are doing pretty well but its mainly the attack that gives them the edge over us.
I don't think so either. United should be top and competing with City.
It's easy to point to this with the run they had. While we were squaring off to City, Chelsea, Newcastle they had Leeds, Southampton etc.
If we agree our first 2 games were not reflective of what we were since that point, we aren't too different to them and that too with much difficult fixtures.
Im not saying they aren't very good, because they are. But I don't back their midfield or defence ahead of ours. I think the more physical yet technical sides who have good organization will cause them issues. I want to see them against Chelsea, Brighton, Newcastle, West Ham before calling anything. We've played all these tougher sides and City on top. They haven't.
They got absolutely murdered by PSV who had the ball in the net 5 times. It wasn't even a particularly weak side, just no Partey really.
I know most of our fans although have been impressed by what these lot have done, are looking at the fixture list and the table, thinking we could catch them. Especially since we are currently at very different stages of our developments.
They have been impressive. The fixture list has been kind to them but what they have done, they have done excellently. Still think they will finish second.
Don’t think they win the league unless they spend in January. Arsenal are just the new Spurs.
So they lost a game and played poorly against PSV so everything else they have done this season is null and void. Makes sense.
They aren't really. They're much improved from last season but the drop off is inevitable.
We've also played just about every tough game there is to play while Arsenal still have to face Chelsea, Man City and Newcastle. Even Brighton might give them a game when they have to face them.
If we improve the squad in Jan we have a chance. If not forget it, we clearly need a striker to replace Ronaldo or a miracle in Martials fitness
Our attack is not functioning and theres clearly is. Thats the big difference. Doesn’t mean we can’t improve over the season but right now they are better than us thats just clear.
Eh? Par for what? Arsenal have been nowhere near the top of the league for a couple of decades and not even definites for Top 4 in that time either. This is definitely an anomaly of a season for Arsenal rather than a "par" season.
We've been playing the majority of the season without a proper striker. Our attack has been functioning fine, if Martial had been fit we'd look a lot better in that regard.
They're scoring more goals than us but we're playing at a pretty similar level. I don't think it's impossible for us to finish above them either.
I think you said all those things and I said none of them tbf.
What do you mean the fixture list has been kind? We have played 12 of the 19 teams in the league.
How is the second half of the fixture list going to be worse than the first half?
Hate them for their antics, however it has to be said that their football has been a joy to watch - Odegaard mostly the reason so. Simply a talented talented footballer. If you love football, you just cannot dislike the lad. Without a doubt kdb is the best playmaker in the league, no contest there. Odeegard is a good shout for second.
Definately, the league table shows they are.
Not really rocket science - you still have yet to play 4 of the top 8.
The Chelsea game is massive
After 12 games you can about now say the easy fixture list narrative is over. After 5 games it was a strentch. but 12 games in its now a comical argument.
Omitting Liverpool who are ninth. They are clearly in a false position and most teams would consider Liverpool a quality team.
After 12 games you can about now say the easy fixture list narrative is over. After 5 games it was a strentch. but 12 games in its now a comical argument.
I don’t think it’s comical when it’s factual but I do think Arsenal can only play what’s in front of them so not your fault. Especially when you consider the City and Everton postponements.
I guess the poster is comparing it to United’s fixtures which has seen us play everyone in the top 9 already and all of the traditional top 6.
I mean comparatively Arsenal have played 3 against the traditional top 6 plus Newcastle, City have played 3, Chelsea 2, Spurs 4, but United have played 5. So while our start has been as touch as City and Chelsea, United have had a tougher fixture start than ourselves. So in theory United may gain points on us.
Chelsea away will be very interesting. In theory it should be a good time to play them.
To be fair you’ve kind of answered your own question.
You’ve not played Man City, Newcastle or Chelsea yet. 3 out of 5 teams closest to you is pretty significant.
Nevertheless, Arsenal have still done very well so far this season. Like many have said, the true test will be how well the depth of the squad can hold up for a whole season.
I actually do agree with you, I don't think there isnt that much between the teams, the main difference is Utd struggling to score goals at times to put teams away.
I also agree with you about the fixtures, the next 2 league games will be big for Arsenal, away at Chelsea and away at Wolves before the World Cup. If we can come away with 4 out of 6 from them we'll be in a good place at the break, we'll have also have played 2 more away games than home games as well.
What I would say though is it's dangerous in this league to label certain games as easier games, as we all know anyone can beat anyone in this league. Games like Palace away, Leeds away, Villa away are potential banana skins on any given day as they can raise their game at any given moment and if you aren't on it you can suffer defeat.
I mean... we beat them. And it's not like they dominated us in that match or anything. To say that they are better at the moment is arguable since we've faced some pretty stiff opposition so far unlike them. Don't get me wrong, Arsenal are performing great and I fully expect them to be in the top 4 provided they don't collapse, but to say that they are "clearly" better than us is overexaggeration.
Leeds and Southampton away from home. Leeds are a different animal at Elland Road. If you think Leeds away is an easier game than Newcastle at home, your wrong.
As your our defence and midfield. I couldnt comprehend Dalot playing ahead of White or Tomiyasu, or Shaw ahead of Teirney and Zinchenko. Our wingback options are absolutely lit. We also play as a unit, one of the reasons we have scored 30 goals in 12 matches is because the backline carries a heavy burden with our high line. We press high and look to play the game in the opponents third. The more ball we get to the forward players and forward midfielders, the more chances we have to score which translates to a higher goal output.
Yes mate, just no Partey like you say...
and Saka, Gabriel, White, ZInchenko, or Jesus either from our strongest 11, but don't let that get in the way of your facts
The fixture debate is stupid. United fans acting like they are playing the bottom team at home for the next 10 games. Do you really think Villa away followed by Fulham away is easy? I believe both of those games will be arm wrestles with Villa and Fulham more than capable of nicking the win let alone tacking a point.
Its the PL, there is no reprieve, you cant just look at the league table and assume because you have played the teams in the top half that a sequence of free lunches is coming.
Its the PL, there is no reprieve, you cant just look at the league table and assume because you have played the teams in the top half that a sequence of free lunches is coming.
I literally just watched you cling on at Old Trafford against West Ham, with a heroic performance by your keeper. How you won that game is a mystery, and even Forest beat West Ham. I watched you score a 94th minute equalizer to snatch a point at Chelsea, I saw Newcastle hitting posts/crossbars and missing open goals in a 0-0, heck even Eveerton matched you for goal attempts in a very narrow recent win. It only counts when Arsenal 'are not convincing' though. Makes me chuckle.
A real youtube comment vibe to this post.
Heroic? He made one blinder save sure and the other was a save hes expected to make.
The XG still favoured us over West Ham. I know for 20 mins we were under the cosh, lets not rewrite the entire game though.
Arsenals fixtures have been bloody fantastic, I thought you should be taken seriously after Brentford but then Southampton and Leeds showed the cracks.
Theres a fixture swing due on Arsenal soon enough and we'll see what comes out of that. For now let's see how convincing you look against Brighton, Chelsea, Newcastle etc.
Your point about Chelsea is just lunacy, it's a game we were unlucky not to win if you actually saw the 90.
Well Rashford headed the ball from a great cross by Eriksen, this made the score 1-0. When you have a higher score than the opposition after 90 minutes and extra time, that means you win the game.
The goalkeeper is part of the team, both sides get to have a goalkeeper and their job is to keep the ball out of the net. In this game, their goalkeeper didn't, and ours did. We also put on a defensive masterclass. Still a mystery?
Did you also watch the referee miss a blatant second yellow against West Ham and us hitting the post? Did you watch us dominate most of the game against Chelsea, who didn't have any real chances outside of set pieces? Did you watch Fred and Rashford miss sitters against Newcastle in the dying stages of the game? In none of those games did we get anything we didn't deserve. If you are looking for nuance, perhaps it would be good to apply some of it yourself.
I will give Arsenal a lot of credit for being top of the table at this stage. You can only beat what's in front of you, any game in the PL can be tricky and winning is a habit no matter if it's convincing or not. I still don't believe they will win the title, but it's been impressive so far.