Match Day Thread Arsenal vs Manchester United (FA Cup) - Matchday Thread

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Venue: The Emirates
Date: Friday 25th January 2019
Time: 19:55


Head to Head Record:

All: 228
Won: 82
Draws: 48
Lost: 98


Last six meetings:

Manchester United 2-2 Arsenal
Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United
Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United
Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal
Manchester United 3-2 Arsenal

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Team News:

More to follow...
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Gutted for Bellerin as he would have relished this game and I think Emery will field a strong team. Would love to beat Utd and upset the Ole love in. But tbh I'd much rather we beat them at home when we play them in the league.

 

Cech has been ****ing horrible today. We would be better off playing Martinez - he should be nowhere near this side. Why Emery keeps playing him I have no idea.

Mustafi back in the side and our defence has been all over the place. Gutted Sokratis got inured.

In Many ways this felt like a Wenger 2007-2014 era game. We dominated, had more chances but are just ridiculously open at the back.

 

You really have it in for Mustafi, I honestly have no idea how you read that he was somehow a problem in the game.

 

Pitiful performance against what is a mediocre United side.

 

Called a United goal 10 minutes before they scored their third. We continually commit too many men forward and United were sitting comfortably in their shape, all they need is 2 passes and they're in. And 10 minutes later they score. We are so predictable.

 

United's defense (which isnt really that good) looks much better than ours.

Theyve had to defend quite a lot this second half, and managed to keep us out very well.

On the flip side, we conceded what seems to be United only 3 chances the entire game.

 

****e performance that tbh. We looked scared going forward and soft as **** at the back.

 

That was exactly how we used to get suckered in under Wenger vs Ferguson. Throwback to the old days where we would have all the possession and the opposition would score with their only 2 shots on target.

 

Yep I think he's a terrible defender.

 

As soon as he came on, we conceded twice out of nowhere and that was the game basically.

 

That isn't a really compelling case - You realize that right?

 

United have the Indian sign over you. Hope you can break that cycle son!!!

 

Didn't post last night as I didn't want to be reactive emotionally to the result.

I'm still quite pissed off, but what can you do?

The main reason why I'm pissed off is because that game was a throwback to Wenger against Fergie.
Dominate the ball, create chances, have a few shots, then they get a goal out of nowhere and score again on the counter in quick succession. At that point, the game is pretty much over. Aubameyang got one back, but in the second half, we didn't test their defence at all. Which was frustrating as we'd brought it back to 2-1.

I honestly didn't think we were going to be as naive as we were last season, but clearly I was wrong.

Also - anyone who doesn't rate Sokratis should acknowledge that, after yesterday, he is our best CB. When he went off injured, we lost all communication and composure in defence.

United exploited Kolasinac's vulnerabilities defensively by putting Lukaku on the flank. His brute strength and power, in the acres of space he found himself in, caused us so many problems.

For the first goal, our defensive line was shambolic. We tried to play an offside trap when Mustafi and Maitland-Niles were far too deep.

The second goal was just classic United countering. Kolasinac was out of position, midfield had overcommitted and at that point, Lingard was free in the box as Lukaku had all the time in the world.

In the second half, we didn't probe enough. All our attacking players, bar Lacazette, were too static. There was very little intelligent movement. No-one was willing to take players on or make darting runs to create space. We were monopolising possession in areas of the pitch that United were comfortable in defending against. Because they knew we wouldn't hurt them. And they killed us off with the 3rd when we overcommitted again.

The truth is we have too many players that are simply not up to the required standard and need flogging off.

Summer can't come soon enough.

 

On the plus side, I'm kind of glad we are out of it as it means Europa and league have our full attention. The priority is to get CL football. Always has been. We have to do that through top 4 (which I don't think we will personally) or winning the Europa.

The FA Cup has been good to us over the last 5 years, but it is way down the pecking order this season. Also, I don't think our squad can handle playing in 3 competitions, especially with the injuries we seem to be getting virtually every game.

We go again on Tuesday and let's hope the players turn up against Cardiff.

 

I really want to give emery time but I'm starting to get a bit sad at how little difference he seems to have made. Even a managerial nobody like Solksjaer has won away at spurs and arsenal.

 

We were left in a far worse position squad-wise than United. And we have a fraction of their budget. Their main issue was their manager. Ours is a bit more complicated.

 

That's why I am being a bit lenient. However Klopp had Liverpool showing flashes of what he wanted immediately with a Liverpool squad no better than ours when he took them over. Taken him years to get where they are now but you could see the promise in what he brought. I'm not really sure what I see from Emery yet.

 

We've certainly improved this season in the bigger games. League form against the top 6 at home is good. 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat. We still have a lot of deadwood that needs to be jettisoned if we're going to go anywhere.

 

Maybe. But Wenger, every now and then, all pulled off impressive results against the big teams at home. Emery needs to do it a bit consistently and do something away from home too before I give him that one.