Football (Soccer)

[Oriphus]

lol - actually we do hold the record for the most wins in a row in the premiership, which is pretty neat. Also have a lot of other records, need i go into them

On the point of that linesman, he was useless. I was along the side of the pitch were he was and i swear he was blind. He didnt give two offsides against United when he should have and he also gave one that was clearly onside. He also somehow missed every challenge on the pitch, including RvN's and the one on Rooney and Ronaldo.

Although we did get a win, be it controversial or not, at times it was great to see the way United played, only at times though. In my opinion, Arsenal may have been the better team on the day, but thankfully we won anyway.

However, again, Rooney did not have a good match. RvN found it difficult to get on the end of the ball, and Phil Neville's only job on the pitch seemed to be to make hard tackles on Arsenals players. He made a few pretty risky ones from our point of view.

Ah well, poor Arsenal, no one will ever remember 49 games, they wouldve remembered 50 though lol

Come on United

[admin]

Ah well, poor Arsenal, no one will ever remember 49 games, they wouldve remembered 50 though lol

Just like no one remembers Nottingham Forrest's 42 game unbeaten record, I suppose

[Oriphus]

Actually no one really did until Arsenal overtook it. Arsenal should be back to winning ways in their next match though. Lets hope United can go on a winning streak now, its been a while since we've had one....

[admin]

Oh I think people remember, because when you talk about "that" forrest team, everyone knows which team you're talking about. People remember Brian Clough (RIP) as well.

And we're already back to winning ways, beating the team in Manchester that the other team in Manchester always have trouble winning against

Except for two players ('keeper Almunia because Stack is away on loan at Millwall, and Cygan), all other players were under 21, including a 16 and 17 year old. I like the line in the Independent that said "It was men against boys and the men took a hell of a beating". This "Arsenal third team" (as Keegan described them as) wasn't even the best third team we could put out, because Clichy and Aliadiere (our most experienced youth/reserve players) were both injured.

The future is bright indeed...

[Oriphus]

lol - Manchester City v Manchester United - its a whole different ball game than when they play Arsenal. Its a very heated Derby. Although in saying that, i think that the most heated Derby is not Man Utd v Liverpool or Everton v Liverpool. I think its now Man Utd v Arsenal, for all the wrong reasons though. A very competitive match is great, but with less of the agressiveness that has been displayed in recent times.

People know what you are talking about when you mention thee Forest Team, but generally, its not really something that people, bar the Forest fans, relate to.

Brian Clough, RIP, was a great footballing manager. I watched a program about him the day after he died. Remember back to the infamous time when Forest won and the fans all invaded the pitch (European match i think). Well Brian Clough went up to a couple fo fans and hit them. He actually grabbed one of them and punched him around the side of the face. Well that fan was interview and he said that after Brian Clough did that to him, he was ashamed. Later on the following day he went to the football ground to see him and apologise to him. He said Brian Clough slapping him was the best thing that happened.

Ok, he was a controversial and well outpsoken manager, but everyone always had the greatest of respect for him. Some didnt like him, but there is no doubting he was one of the greats. Roy Keane said so also (and he's the boss) lol

I wouldnt exactly call it a third team - some of those players are young and inexperienced, but they have amazing talent. United put out a reserve side, with a few big guns on the bench just in case. It was an easy victory for us alright, but that was expected.

I think the future is very bright for Arsenal. Brand new stadium on its way, amazing sponsorship deal worth £100 million (ok the stadium was over 3 times that, but hey its part funded by private investors i believe). Possibly another Premiership title on its way, unless United get into gear now, which i hope they do. Also, with the larger stadium, comes a larger immediate fan base (ticket holders etc).

I think i heard somewhere that Arsenal are expecting to have about 25,000 more season ticket holders with the new stadium. Working that out at an average, thats around £12.5 million extra a year coming in. In a quarter of a century, the stadium will have paid for itself, not bad. Well actually, with the sponsorship, shirt sales, promotions, corporate, TV fees, winners fees, CL fees, etc, i think Arsenal are in pretty good shape.

I am looking forward to the extension of Old Trafford though. It will increase our capacity from 67,600 roughly, to just over 75,000. It will be guaranteed the only stadium in Europe that fills every single game in its fixture, as it has been for the last 3 years. Maybe the chance of getting tickets might increase a bit. Do you know that over 115,000 members of United applied for a ticket allocation of only 15,000 for the Man Utd v Arsenal game. Im just glad i was there.

[Oriphus]

Here is one of 3 photos you might like from match:

[Oriphus]

Number 2:

[Oriphus]

And My Favourite one:

[admin]

Although I didn't go, I did manage to find some photos myself. They are not my favorites though...

[Oriphus]

Ha Ha, I like those ones as well

[admin]

Some photos that I like better:





I guess Arsenal weren't the only ones to suffer from the results of last Sunday's game

[Oriphus]

lol - It really is a big disappointment to win 2-0 against the quality of Arsenal and then to loose 2-0 to Portsmouth. United is in Dire Straits at the minute, needs to be sorted. I certainly hope Arsenal stay ahead of Chelsea though, after their gfirst game were they managed to score a few goals lol.

I really though Arsenal was beaten 2-1 till that late equiliser by Van Persie. Its still not a good result by either....

[admin]

The draw against Southhampton was pretty disappointing, but Man United's loss and the last minute equaliser by van Persie made it better. I guess after going unbeaten for so long, there had to be an after effect - thank goodness van Persie had the guts to shoot for goal.

I think Arsene won the mind games after the match, because RvN's ban was psychologically good for us (someone to blame for the loss), and you will miss him for the 2 league games he is banned for. Ferguson's argument about getting Henry booked (even though the ref had seen the incident, and waved it away, which makes it impossible for the FA to act) and the dossier on the tunnel incident has made United lose concentration, hence the loss at Portsmouth. I mean, you already won and stopped our unbeaten record. It seems United wants more than 3 points for the game.

Robin van Persie, I think, will be a star this season. It will be interesting to see who gets dropped to accommodate him, Bergkamp, Reyes or Pires.

[Oriphus]

It will be a pity to have Ruud out for 2 matches, but in saying that it gives us a chance to see the likes of Smith and Saha playing alongside Wayne Rooney.

Van Persie's goal was fantastic. Its a pity Arsenal got him again. Apparently he grew up playing at type of cage football, no holes barred style without referees. Only the toughest survived to be good. If so, he's probably a strong player on the pitch. I've seen him play in Holland and he does look good.

ALan Smith and Ronaldo have both said that United are by no means out of the title race. If we keep the deficit to 9 points or less at christmas time, we are well known to make psot christmas runs that are impressive. Lets hope we do one. I dont think its out of our grasp, but i think its probably unlikely we will win the premiership.

At the same time, i still dont think it is Arsenal's time to win the CL. They are impressive in the premiership, but they do falter abroad. I think Chelsea have a better chance this year than Arsenal - of course, we're gonna win it

[admin]

Based on form and experience, I don't think we'll win it this season, but then again, the best and most experienced teams don't always win the Champions League. I think a little luck is needed. I will get up at 6 in the morning tomorrow to watch the game live, the first Arsenal CL game they've shown live this season!!

I think we need to buy a defender during January, because we tried and failed to get one during the summer (Trabelsi was within minutes of signing, before changing his mind). Someone who can play right back and at the center would be good. Maybe a central midfielder as well, now that Gilberto is out for 3 month and Edu might be going to Barcelona.