Football (Soccer)

[DAFT]

thanks the other one was driving me crazy

[MPS]

the MU sweatshirt look ok, but the damn prices... they are not equal to polish reality at all...

[MPS]

speaking of polish reality it's Austria-Poland today in the Qualis, then Wales-Poland on Wednesday. Our coach would be happy with 4 points, and over the moon with 6, but 2 is the minimum. i hope the Poles will show some good game and scoring and at least bring draw to the Welsh game. Krzynowek of Bayer L., who so beautifully scored and played in the Real Madrid 3-0 CL defeat, wont be playing probably, cause of a stupid injury he got in a friendly match with some 3rd or 4th bundesliga team... hope he'll be substituted wisely. come one white&red!!!

[admin]

A good weekend of results for Arsenal, with Man United stalling and Chelsea finally get the result they deserve.

Can't wait until next weekend's match, should be a cracker!!

[Oriphus]

Well, I still havent managed to see the match yet, I was playing football for my University (sadly beaten 2-1 - disgraceful penalty given against us) while the United match was on. It is disappointing to know that with £75 million of a strikeforce playing, along with an expensive midfield with an attacking mind, that we still can manage to score a goal against Birmingham. When oh When are we gonna start playing like we should????

Arsenal are now 49 games unbeaten in the Premiership, we'll see how well they od this Champions League When they come from Old trafford they will be resetting their figure back to 0 and starting all over, I hope. Although, in saying that, i feel that a 1-1 scoreline is probably the most accurate.

I do remember back to the First game this season, when we were very failry destroyed by Arsenal in all sense of the word. However, i feel with the team we have now, there should be a lot more pressure on the Arsenal. We have the likes of RvN, Saha and Rooney and Ronaldo who we didnt have in that match. We also have the important figure of Rio Ferdinand, and the less, but still important Gabriel Heinze, so i am hopeful for a sturdy defence if we include the usual suspects around the park.

My prediction, as mentioned, 1-1, however i do believe that a 2-1 or 3-1 are also possible. I don't think Arsenal will be getting a win at Old Trafford.

As usual for the Man United v Arsenal games, ill be making the trip across the water to go and see them live from Trafford. Last two times there i have gotten a draw, its about time i see a win

Also, i think that United should forget about the Premiership as a title, and just concentrate on getting either automatic qualification, or the way we did it this year, for the Champions League. We should also concentrate a lot of our focus on the CL and winning it as its well over due.

Come on the Reds.........

[admin]

Still unbeaten in the Champions League (and a better start than last season, for sure)

We missed Vieira and Bergkamp in Greece, hopefully the home games (we've played 1 home game so far and won it) will mean some victories. Otherwise, the UEFA Cup's nice too

As for Arsenal's match against some mid table team this weekend , I think a draw is the most likely, although a narrow win for *either* side is very possible. Arsenal losing would be bad, but strangely, will have little effect on the league campaign (would still be 2 points ahead, if Chelsea manages to score a goal). If someone gave me money to bet on, I would bet on a 2-1 victory for Arsenal, Henry, Ljungberg and Smith the scorers.

[Oriphus]

lol - mid-table team that you have failed to beat in the last 5/6 games you have played us. It does have all the hype this match. I hope for my sake we will win, but the odds offered by the bookies for both sides are exactly the same for win/loose abd draw as well as for predicted scorelines. This usually is the sign of a good match to come. I, however, anticipate a 2-1 or 3-2 defeat in favour of United.

Im hoping for a strong line-up for United:

Roy Carroll in goal pulling off amazing saves.

Heinze at left back and G. Neville at right back sweeping up the Arsenal attack down the sides. Rio Ferdinand and Silvestre holding up the central attacks.

Ryan Giggs out on the wide left (he'll be playing a lot better now that he will be over his virus), Roy Keane in the middle (hopefully he is over his virus) and Ronaldo out on the right. The either Scholes or Smith playing in front of the midfield.

Up front, a combination of Rooney and RvN will go down well, but either one of them or Scholes/Smith can be interchanged with Saha if we arent getting anywhere.

If that team turns up, we are going to win.

[admin]

Bolton and Blackburn are two other mid table teams we have trouble beating, and it's certainly possible. We did beat you in the Community Shield though

The problem I see with Arsenal (including Arsene Wenger) is that we seemed to be afraid of Man United. Arsene's strange and overly cautions substitutions last season at home (which cost us a win) and the way we play differently says alot. It's important to note that the only time we have beaten you recently (the previously mentioned CS match and the FA Cup match two seasons ago), we have done so with reserves and youth players, players that aren't afraid of what might happen if we lose and are able to play to their full ability. It's almost the same with the Champions League. With this in mind, I think the best Arsenal players on Sunday will be Reyes and Cesc (if he plays), because they have absolutely no fear of anybody. Henry will probably score a wonder goal again (seems to do that quite often against your lot), and Ljungberg is in good scoring form at the moment so he has a good chance to score.

A draw would be a good result for us. Anything but a win for you guys would be bad.

[Oriphus]

Yeah, I certainly would like a win at Old trafford. I agree with the way Arsenal tend to play against United. However, in recent years, the Arsenal v United games have had some truely spectacular performances, and it really is a clash of the giants in the premier league. I cant think of another match that is as eagerly anticipated by all fans as the Arsenal v United games.

But....i feel both sides will air on the cautious side of things for a while anyway. Roy Carroll is performing exceptionally well in goal at the minute. He made a couple of fantastic saves for us mid-week.

Our fate lies with the ability of our attacking midfielders and our highly expensive strike force who are turning up dry at the minute. I would love to see Wayne Rooney getting the chance to start again, the way Leihman is playing, it shouldnt be too difficult for him to get in the back of the net with one of his trade-mark long range powerful shots.

If i had the money to bet, id put £5 on United winning 3-1 at 33-1 odds. Come one the Reds.....

[admin]

Disappointing game, but here are some things that I take from this game:

* Arsenal have done what no other team have ever done, with a 49 game unbeaten streak. Simply amazing, and this loss takes nothing away from that. I think it's time to take a step back and applaud this wonderful team for doing something unimaginable in the modern game.

* The record was ended by a big team with Arsenal away from home, so I guess this would be the best way to end it. Would not have wanted to lose the record to Chelsea (because that would hurt our title challange) or Tottenham (because that would hurt, period).

* The game changed with two poor decisions. The first was when Ljungberg and Ferdinand clashed, which should have seen Ferdinand sent off for being the last man. The second was the dive by Rooney, of course. Both the commentators and the 3 Australian TV analysts that watched the game agree with me on both decisions, and these guys usually don't agree on much. The fact that only a game with really bad ref decisions ended Arsenal's unbeaten run, and not that Arsenal were totally outplayed, is something to note.

* We're still 2 points ahead at the top of the league, the same position we were two games ago, so not a big deal. At least losing to Manchester United is better than losing to Manchester City. United are still 8 points behind

* The "fear factor" I mentioned in an earlier post was why we couldn't win the game today, because we were playing for a draw, and we never do that (except in the Champions League). It just didn't look like Arsenal out there today. I think the unbeaten run played heavily on the minds of the players, and no one wanted to take the risk and be responsible for ending it.

It should be interesting to see what response Arsenal will have for the next game...

[MPS]

oh yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! finally Arsenal ends the winning streak, and who ends it? MU of course. 2-0, and tell me Rooney is not a pro already

[admin]

Actually it wasn't a winning streak (although a 49 game winning streak would be a good target to set for our next record).

Rooney showed that he learned a few new tricks at Man U, from the master of divers RvN. I think Rooney has lost a lot of respect from fans everywhere, and to end something so beautiful like an unbeaten run, with something so ugly like a dive, is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life. Arsenal, on the other hand, rightly feel a sense of injustice, and this is exactly what we need now to keep up our challange for the title. Without the injustice (sending off of Vieira, the big fuss over a few pushes and shoves) suffered last season at OT, we wouldn't have gone the whole season unbeaten. Without this injustice, we might get complacent and not win the league, so in this respect (and also to get the unbeaten run off our backs), the loss was a good one (at least as good as any loss can be).

[Oriphus]

I'll make two quick comments, ill post fully tomorrow. Firstly, the clash with Ferdinand was very risky for United. However, because the ball had been played too far in front of Ljunberg, and that Roy Carroll was going to make it ahead of him, i think thats why Mike Riley gave that decision. I think it was the right one to do, but then i would

Secondly, the penalty decision against Arsenal, well it wasnt a penalty. But, it was a bad challenge that could have easily been a penalty. Rooney was cute enough to pick up on it. Was he getting out of the way of what eh thought was about to be a hard tackle? Could have been because it was dangerous.

On that point also i dont think Arsenal can complain much. Ronaldo was definitely brought down in the box and that SHOULD have been a penalty. So, justice was done. Arsenal arent the best of loosers by any stretch of the imagination, ok they dont have to be since they dont loose much.

I was on Skysports news again 3 times on Sunday. If anyone was watching, they showed my interview from the year before at the United v Arsenal match. They also showed me sitting in the stadium with my Flag, Red/Blac/White hair wig on and with my similarly dressed mate. Then i also did pre and post match comments. I think only the pre-match ones were shown at about 2.30pm. How do i do it lol

[gchester]

he shoots he scores !!!!!!!!!!!

havent been to these pages for ages but all i can say is rooooneyyyyy!!!! 2-0 is exactly what we need if we beat them again at the end of the season it will be even better come on you

[admin]

That Ronaldo tackcle wouldn't have happened if we weren't behind, chasing the game leaving our defense exposed, and desparate not to concede again. The second goal wouldn't have happened either if we didn't need an equaliser. Either way, the penalty changed the game (at which point, we had the better chances), and in this kind of game (and when "ref" Riley has the record of giving 8 penalties to United in 8 consecutive Man U games he's officiated), this is exactly what isn't needed.

The Ferdinand tackle may or may not have deserved a red (but under the rules about denying an opportunity, not a clear goal, it should have been red), but a yellow card should have been given at least, since he didn't get the ball at all. Sol Campbell have been sent off for far less in the past (a good tackle against Southhampton two seasons ago, also first game of last season at Everton), and in a game so closely watched at this one, it just fuels the "biased ref" debate. And let's not even get started on all the fouls on Reyes (at least a red card there somewhere).

Which is why the media has eaten this up. The good thing is that they have mostly been on Arsenal's side this time (I like The Sun's "Roo Dirty Rat" headline), but I would rather there are no stories about any controversies, even if it was still an Arsenal loss (like two seasons ago when we also lost 2-0, I don't remember us complaining all that about it, as we were beaten by a better team on that day). All this means is that next time both teams play, there is going to be more hatred, and that's not really necessary.

But it's good to see RvN being charged with what should have been at least a yellow, and probably a red card offence. My question is if the FA thinks it's worth charging, why didn't the linesman (who was less than a meter away) see it? Shouldn't they get some sort of punishment for it as well?

As for United stopping our record, it hurts and in return, we would like to stop your record, but unfortunately you don't have any

And it's sad to see United celebrating the win like a world cup final or something. Has your whole season come down to just beating us (much like Tottenham)? Is resorting to violence and diving the only way you can beat us now?

But at least we're fired up now, and there is no more room for any complacency, which is probably the most danger to us in terms of retaining the title.