[Kounan]

So are Southampton.

I'm not saying we should be playing great football all the time or winning every game or anything. But in this specific game, a bad lineup led to a bad performance when it didn't have to. So people have the right to point out that there was no reason that we couldn't have put in a much better performance today with the players available.

Southampton doesn't have the injury problems we do. If that would happen it would probably massively change everything for them.

But I would say that we should have at least 6-7 points more, but we don't and it's not all because of injuries.

 

[CassiusClaymore]

Makes it even better.

Exactly. I literally had to stifle a laugh when half the pub cleared out after Rooney scored. Heard some guy say "I'm going before this ruins my night" as he stormed off. Turned and gave a fist bump to a random red on the way out after the final whistle. Classic night.

We were awful though. I mean really bad.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

I can't be bothered to go and have a look but I bet Arsenal messageboards are hilarious right now. Wenger must walk etc

 

[2 man midfield]

After trying our hardest all season to win away and failing due to bad luck and injuries, we did everything in our power to lose that game and somehow came out with 3 points.

I think Van Gaal has stumbled upon a formula.

 

[iBoss]

Fellaini offside was marginal. You cannot really blame the linesman for not calling it. The Rooney one on the other hand...

Wilshere should have been sent off. Maybe di Maria as well, but that one was less obvious. That was at the end of the game anyway.

The Shaw penalty is not stonewall either. That would be harsh to give.


Give Wilshere the red card, and we win anyway. Arsenal are shite.

 

[Sarni]

It was a fluly win that took the attention off of an otherwise terrible performance. Arsenal outplayed us but since they cannot score these days and cannot defend either they basically beat themselves out there. To think it could have ended 0-3 if Di Maria converted that golden opportunity when all we had done for 90% of the game was to make competition for the most silly defensive error we can make.

 

[Roboc7]

Great result but not a great performance, we got lucky because if arsenal had of scored first we would have struggled. First half an hour was a shambles but after that fairly even and considering the circumstances it was never likely to be a great performance. If we can get some players back and win the next two games we should be in good position.

 

[Winrar]

Classic smash and grab. Feels good despite the fluky nature of the win.

 

[NoPace]

If there's a single game not to judge LVG and the team based on the quality of football we play it's surely Arsenal away.

It would be irresponsible not to try to smash and grab the points against them while Wenger is there and we're not a proper brilliant side.



Stock up - De Gea, Fellaini, Young, Valencia, Smalling, McNair, Blackett
Same - Rooney, Di Maria, Shaw, Carrick, Wilson
Down - RVP

 

[Henrik Larsson]

Don't know if it has been mentioned a lot, but I think my favourite moment of tonight was when Giroud was celebrating his goal. From what I recall, he made a Messi-like celebration? Yeah it was a brilliant goal, but surely you can't do that when you're 2-1 behind at home, looking like losing to a rival with only a couple minutes left to play?

He is one cocky French mofo

 

[Jammydodger7]

We weren't as shit as some people are making out, we were in the first 20 minutes but we played well in the second half, though Fellaini had a great game again

 

[Dylan94]

I keep saying to people for the reasons I've mentioned in this thread already that the performance in this game was irrelevant. Start judging our performances when we have a fit squad and a back 4 that has played more than 1 game together. Today was only and all about getting a result. We got one. And I couldn't be happier. Let's move on.

 

[Kakeru]

We weren't as shit as some people are making out, we were in the first 20 minutes but we played well in the second half, though Fellaini had a great game again

I agree. We basically weathered the storm before we went for it in due time.

The only thing I was particularly mad about at was when Di Maria missed the opportunity to bury it all alone. He's lucky Arsenal didn't pull off a second goal after they scored their first.

 

[Gannicus]

A fully deserved win. I need to go get me a good looksee on what gooners be saying on de forums!

 

[CLARiiON]

I feel United were very lucky to win the game. They didn't do much to actually grab 3 points, 1 point may have been fair result. But these things happen in football, though I think United being the 'luckier' team in most occasions.

Not a great game for neutrals to watch in terms of quality. Both teams lacked quality to make it a interesting games, most of the debate was because of non-footballing reasons.

Arsenal (Wenger) have some sort of mental issues against United, that's obvious.

 

[Ixion]

Revenge for the 2005 Cup final.

 

[legball]

Yeah, we got lucky, played badly and all that bullshit. Give it a rest, I would have killed to have us play badly and still win the games against Leicester and City [2 games I thought we should have won]. We are not the best team in the country any more, and so, I'm happy we won the game against a marginally better team away from home. There's need for improvement but am happy the manager was clear about that after the game. Instead of moaning that we played badly [aside from the first 30 minutes, we were fine] - we should be happy with how the team dug in, and got the win. The players showed fight and spirit, it was one thing we lacked last season, thankfully that problem seems to have followed Moyes out of the door.

 

[legball]

I feel United were very lucky to win the game. They didn't do much to actually grab 3 points, 1 point may have been fair result. But these things happen in football, though I think United being the 'luckier' team in most occasions.

Not a great game for neutrals to watch in terms of quality. Both teams lacked quality to make it a interesting games, most of the debate was because of non-footballing reasons.

Arsenal (Wenger) have some sort of mental issues against United, that's obvious.

You're wrong, we deserved to win. It's not luck that De Gea made the saves he did, he's one of the best GKs in the world. He made the saves!

 

[antsmithmk]

That Carrick block near the end. He was flying out!

 

[legball]

Great result but not a great performance, we got lucky because if arsenal had of scored first we would have struggled. First half an hour was a shambles but after that fairly even and considering the circumstances it was never likely to be a great performance. If we can get some players back and win the next two games we should be in good position.

How was it lucky? I saw a world class keeper make saves after saves. They were not hitting the bar/post or something like that. Good GK was making saves, i think the word luck is so often missused these days. De Gea is part of the team, he is good at his job, it's not luck haha.

 

[BennyBlanco]

1 shot on target, won 2-1, says enough.

 

[Roboc7]

How was it lucky? I saw a world class keeper make saves after saves. They were not hitting the bar/post or something like that. Good GK was making saves, i think the word luck is so often missused these days. De Gea is part of the team, he is good at his job, it's not luck haha.

When you are a complete shambles for half an hour and the other team don't make it count then you have been lucky to get away with such a poor performance. When the keeper keeps having to make saves it shows something is wrong, Wilshere should have scored de gea did well but no excuse for missing from there really.

 

[celia]

I really like this match, with this hilarious result. Though without this own goal, the number of shot on target wouldn't be seen funny. So lot of luck, and a great De Gea.

I am so used to expect no goals from Welbeck, that I wasn't afraid when he was going to get the ball.

 

[KM]

1 shot on target, won 2-1, says enough.

Two shots on target. Fellaini had one from the long range which Martinez saved.

 

[CLARiiON]

You're wrong, we deserved to win. It's not luck that De Gea made the saves he did, he's one of the best GKs in the world. He made the saves!

ok

 

[Lawman]

When you are a complete shambles for half an hour and the other team don't make it count then you have been lucky to get away with such a poor performance. When the keeper keeps having to make saves it shows something is wrong, Wilshere should have scored de gea did well but no excuse for missing from there really.

Yep agree we were shambolic today for 30 mins and as much as DDG did well poor finishing played its part. But we were down to the bare bones with McNair and Blacket starting in a back three due to our horrendous injury list.

 

[KM]

Us with full defense would've defeated this Arsenal team without any luck.
I'd like to see how the likes of Barcelona, Liverpool would do with with both of their first choice fullbacks out, three centerbacks out and their main defensive midfielder out.

 

[legball]

When you are a complete shambles for half an hour and the other team don't make it count then you have been lucky to get away with such a poor performance. When the keeper keeps having to make saves it shows something is wrong, Wilshere should have scored de gea did well but no excuse for missing from there really.

That's one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is that the GK did his job, something he's very good at. When the GK keeps making those saves, it shows something is wrong [defending] and something is right [you have a damn good GK]. If we had a poor GK and defended that poorly, we'd have been 2 goals down. So, while defending was bad, GK was good. It goes both ways, De Gea was not lucky to be making those saves, it's what he does and he does it pretty well.

 

[Mark_GrumpyLion]

Thoughs:
-David de Gea needs a statue.
-Blackett can't handle the pressure yet.
-Rooney is on fire
-tiny man fighting with Fellaini was the best moment of my week.
-Di Maria suits the playmaker/Robben role
-we did not deserve this win, which makes it feel so much better.
-Di Maria miss
-Smalling, Valencia and Young were good too.

 

[POF]

This was an absolutely huge win. With home games to come United have a great chance to open a gap in 4th and build some momentum and confidence. First 25 minutes was probably the most shambolic I have seen United in a big game for years. The chances Arsenal had were either handed to them (Wilshere) or exposing some amazingly naive defending (Ox). After that Initial spell I think United handled them quite comfortably and Rooney and Di Maria were excellent in their withdrawn forward roles.

De Gea was certainly man of the match. Smalling, Carrick, Rooney and Di Maria were excellent too. That was Rooney's best game of the season in my opinion. After that game I would be very worried if I was an Arsenal fan. They absolutely folded after going 1-0 down. Ox and Sanchez were quality but the rest produced very little.

My biggest worry coming out of this game is midfield. Fellaini just continually trots forward so the only option the defenders have is to go long to him. When they lose the ball the midfield is wide open with Carrick there on his own and there is nobody tracking midfield runners. It's been this way for a few games now and it is absolutely bizarre.

Great result though. What summed it up for me was after Rooney scored he was mobbed by Young, Blackett, McNair, Smalling & Fellaini (amongst others). At the start of the season, Smalling is about the only one of those players you would expect to play vs Arsenal away.

 

[CLARiiON]

What summed it up for me was after Rooney scored he was mobbed by Young, Blackett, McNair, Smalling & Fellaini (amongst others).

What does this mean?

 

[bishblaize]

I have to say that while our football was not good yesterday for most of the match, once again we saw players show that they had a pair of balls after all. For anyone that believes that LVG is doing no better than Moyes did based solely on the points total, the defending in that last half an hour is a clear riposte. It wasn't particularly organised or elegant, and it certainly didnt make for comfortable watching. Indeed it took a lot of luck to keep them out for as long as we needed to. But it was gutsy & 100% committed, so very different from the regular white flags we saw last year. LVG has many more problems to solve, but he's got them fighting for the club again.

Beyond that, we're picking at bones to find good things to take away. De Gea was great. Fellaini was probably our best outfield player again. I'd call him our best outfield player overall in the last four games, which given the opposition is pretty decent going. Rooney carried on his arsenal voodoo. The back three got there in the end.

Lots to worry about though. The first half an hour, Carrick was well off the pace and we really lacked Blind's presence in front of that back four. He got up to speed by the end but it could have been all over by then. Our passing out of defense was terrible. Blackett had a decent game when he was defending the box, but his distribution is so bad as to affect the entire team. Having got used to watching the defenders feed the ball through Blind, who would keep the ball on the floor and focus on retaining possession, to go back to watching our defenders choose between hoofing it long or passing back to the keeper to hoof it long was really depressing.

RvP deserves a special mention. MOTD reckon he touched the ball 12 times, 3 of which were corner kicks. He's clearly not got the mobility he had a couple of seasons ago, which makes playing him from the right a daft decision. I still think he'll score plenty of goals given decent service into the box, but he can't play that intense game where you attack the box from the wing & press defenders too. And its not like we had no options. Wilson would have been a high energy like for like replacement, and Mata, Januzaj & Herrera could all have been accommodated with a small tactical reshuffle. It was like having a man less yesterday. LVG has trusted his old captain so far this season and that's fine up to a point. But yesterday was the tipping point for me. If the game doesn't suit RVP's strength then he really shouldn't be starting.

Still, we've gotten through that difficult run of games where we faced 4 of last seasons top 5 in 6 games. We only got the bare minimum number of points on the board that we wanted, but our only defeat was away to City with 10 men for an hour, in a game we probably deserved to draw. Indeed, looking at the results, ever since our season "started" properly against QPR, the Leicester result remains the only really poor one. We've either won, or played well in, every other game (though we haven't played well and won for a while...). So things are coming together, albeit slowly.

 

[Mister_Stubbs]

Not one bit of praise this morning from any "experts" on the supplement, on sky sports news nothing. Also no mention of Jack Wilshere antics, if that was Wayne Rooney imagine the uproar!

 

[POF]

What does this mean?

The next sentence.

 

[CLARiiON]

The next sentence.

 

[OneUnited24]

I'll say this one more time in case you haven't got it yet. Today, we have beaten Arsenal, who were unbeaten for 15 games at home, with less than half of a first team squad. That is nothing short of a fantastic and a massive result. The performance today is completely irrelevant. Completely. Now there have plenty of games this season where you have every right to be p*ssed off with our performance when we have had a fit squad. I have been too. But today is not one of those days. Not.

I think it was in 15 months

 

[villain]

Did people complain this much when we played terribly under Fergie but still won?

Bizarre reactions.

We won away to Arsenal with a back line of Smalling, McNair & Blackett.
We won.
And now we're in the top 4.

But crucially, we won and now we've taken 4 points out of 9 from Chelsea, City & Arsenal - it could be better, but it could've been a lot worse.

 

[Moonred]

Not the first time a team wins based on taking their chances when the other bottles it. Talking about arsenal should have taken their chances is the same as saying if we had better midfielders and defenders they wouldn't be creating those chances. It was a fair match and the team who takes their chances wins, fair and square. We need to improve yes but that's required if we aim to reach the heights we aspire to be and not to beat arsenal.

 

[noodlehair]

I'm really disappointed with a lot of the comments on here. People need to realign their expectations and take the results in context - we are in massive transition. A disciplined performance, coupled with a high level of profligacy. Rome wasn't rebuilt in a day, but it took a season and a manager to tear it down. Bear that in mind.

We weren't really very disciplined though. For the entire first half Fellaini was the only player who looked like he had a clue what he'd been told to do. We AGAIN for some unknown fecking reason played an entire game with no one playing in midfield. Arsenal could have got in down our right hand side about 10 times due to the fact no one on our team seemed to think it was their job to cover that area of the pitch. Wilson, a youth team striker, was then brought on to play there, then ended up on the other side of the pitch 10 minutes later. We didn't play particularly as a team...all of our chances or dangerous play involved players solo running up the pitch, our actual tactics seemed akin to England whenever Andy Carroll was on the pitch.

Then we scored because two Arsenal players managed to foul each other and then one of them kicked the balll into their own goal for us, and yet somehow this was still arguably offside and a foul.

It was awful, to be honest. Again people will paint it as progress, but most weeks that level of performance would result in being soundly defeated. It wasn't grinding out a win anywhere near as much as it was Arsenal grinding out a defeat. It was funny to watch though.

 

[marukomu]

I had a wank at half time.