Manchester United Vs Arsenal

Wenger sitting there like a total idiot been getting dominated and hasn't even made a single change this half. Xhaka, Iwobi and Giroud wondering why they are on the bench being some of our best preforming players this season, don't think Ramsey has done anything offers no pace just makes us play more narrow, no movement at all in the final third.

Typical performance for Wenger vs Man United they have been using the same tactic since SAF was manager and we still losing the same way

Yanited didn't even have to play well to score

Ox at right back

We don't deserve that goal at all, but I'm glad we got it.

First attack, first goal

Extremely lucky point could of scored 4 or 5 against us.

*bleep* off Mourinho

GIROUDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Yes! this is what we wanted Giroud to be from first day
impact sub

Oxlade deserves massive credit too.

2nd choice RB after Bellerin

Can't believe we rescued a point ffs

Celebrating tonight lads

Jesus that was poor. Losing count of the amount of times Arsenal turn up to Old Trafford scared shitless. Don't know what they're scared of exactly but every time they play there they forget how to play and compete.

I'm conflicted at the moment because we've been unbeaten for so long but haven't really played well at all. It feels like a horrible result is around the corner.

Wenger deployed Mourinho tactics today

Meh dissapointed because Yanited were there for the taking but we never had the belief to win this game today. They grew in confidence and dominated the game. I think Arsene ballsed up this game with his team selection. You can get away with a striker on the wing but a striker and a central midfielder at the same time won't work. Our attack was dead, it was basically Ozil/Sanchez whilst the rest offered nothing.

Elneny was really bad today btw. Coquelin had a very good game, but Elneny was invisible. I couldn't even tell what role he was supposed to have.

Xhaka has to play these big games, since he's the only CM we have, except bar Santi, who can dictate the tempo of a game. We couldn't keep the ball at all in that 2nd half since nobody wanted it. Xhaka would want it.

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/statszone/8-2016/matches/855284/team-stats/3/1_PASS_08#tabs-wrapper-anchor

our final 3rd passes!

basically can only recall a one-two between Alexis-Theo where the latter got behind but his cut back was blocked

Cech had a very good game as keeper but compare it to city performance here ,Bravo's ball playing ability acting as eleventh outfield player was key for city to get away from man mark
but at least we didn't lose,could have had big psychological effect on the team

PSG H
-Bournemouth H
Southampton H
-West Ham A
Basel A
-Stoke H

No draws accepted for those PL matches

Not a good performance, especially in the second half. (I thought we looked good in stretches of the first half.) But subs did well, a draw away against Mourinho & Man Utd is not a bad result for us, especially when they'll have felt they should have won more decisively. A late equalizer is a good belief-builder.

Chumlum wrote: A late equalizer is a good belief-builder paper-over-the-cracks.

Sri wrote:

Chumlum wrote: A late equalizer is a good belief-builder paper-over-the-cracks.

A wild Sri quite a ways away from his natural habitat, the Dortmund section.

MJ wrote:

Sri wrote:

Chumlum wrote: A late equalizer is a good belief-builder paper-over-the-cracks.

A wild Sri quite a ways away from his natural habitat, the Dortmund section.

There is no BVB section

Wow, just wow

How the hell did you manage to not lose this game?

That was worse than terrible, that was absolutely atrocious.

Ramsey what the hell

And Wenger bought Xhaka for 50m € only to realize he doesn't actually like him? Or how do we explain Elmeny in that lineup?

And for all his considerable qualities, Alexis is in fact a very poor passer.

All in all, great point.

Worst performance of the season, maybe, bar Liverpool. We know now that Giroud needs to be involved more and, as I feared, Ramsey being shoehorned into the team is awful for us.

Our midfield pivot has a Santi-shaped hole in it that I never want to see Elneny and Coquelin trying to fill together. Just start Xhaka and Coquelin and take it from there. That's the closest we've looked to having stability in midfield since his injury.

Would have started Ox from the get-go. Iwobi has been a bit off form and possibly fatigued lately, whereas the Ox didn't play international football and has been chomping at the bit all season to play.

Alexis up front is a proven concept but now that we've played Spurs and United, both of whom killed our attack by suffocating our front line, Giroud coming back into the fold could actually give us versatility, ironically, as it was he who many people thought was holding us back by starting up front. The options we have now mean we can counter teams that set up to defend against one set-up or the other.

The only reason I can think of for Elneny starting was that Wenger wanted a high-energy team to press and unsettle United. Hilarious in hindsight considering it was an incredibly lethargic performance, but he might have thought Elneny was better suited to a pressing game than Xhaka. He might also have thought that Xhaka's tendency to dive in and commit cynical fouls would be a hindrance in such a high-stakes game (although he got through the Spurs game just fine).

At risk of beating a dead horse though, this is all about structure. Just like the Spurs game, if our attackers have poor games there's no menace in the team. This is a team far too reliant on instinct and individual quality which is why even after we signed Xhaka and Mustafi I wasn't confident about seriously challenging for the title. Players will have off days but teams can still win if they have a good structure to fall back on or if they have a clear plan of attack. When Arsenal don't play well they look clueless, like they're thinking "well, if Ozil and Alexis are playing shit what am I supposed to do?".

Also it was quite a poor decision to experiment Ramsey at LW in a huge match. Arsene probably saw Ramsey beasting at left for Wales and thought it would be the same for Arsenal.

In hindsight it's hard to say what would have worked. Anything Arsene could have done differently may have been a bad decision. Or similarly he could have played Ramsey-Xhaka and it might have made us dominant.

Tottenham game hurt us a lot more than yesterday's. If we had won against Spurs, a point at OT would have been like a win.

I'm tired of Wenger shoehorning Ramsey into the team as soon as he comes back, he's treated like a super star but hasn't performed consistently for us in 3 years.