Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal: not great, but not critical

So, yesterday our fine away run came to an end after we've suffered a defeat at Old Trafford. Ferguson or no Ferguson, this place is cursed.

It was especially painful to lose the way we did, conceding the only goal from a set-piece, the Dutch Skunk converting his lone chance. But first things first.

Right before the whistle it became obvious, that Rosicky and Mertesacker will have no part to play in this game. Both fell prey to sickness of some kind. Arteta and Gnabry were also affected, but both were in the squad.

On the bright side, Whilshere and Flamini recovered from an ankle knock and a groin injury respectively, with the latter starting the game alongside Arteta. Vermaelen, meanwhile, filled in at centre-back.

The opening minutes saw the hosts in control, only to be denied time and again by our organized defense with Vermaelen putting in a lot of effort and not in vain. We would see just one shot on target from United before the 27th minute.

On this minute, Vermaelen would clear the ball for a corner after a dangerous run from van Persie. Rooney crossed the ball, the Dutch Skunk out-jumped Ramsey and headed the ball into the top corner. 1-0.

This changed the dynamic of the match. United stopped coming forward, content to give us the ball and let us come at them. However, we would only have one half-chance before the whistle, which saw Giroud head over from a cross.

A change was needed, and badly, but once again out bench lacked real options. This matter really needs to be addressed during the transfer window. It has already cost us points.

In the second half, Arsenal became more fluid. Ramsey`s shot was blocked, Gibbs had an effort saved and Ozil drove the ball into the side-netting. In an effort to save the game, Whilshere, Bendtner and Gnabry were introduced and our best chance came from the German.

He received a great pass down the right, cut the ball back for Giroud, but Jones was there to mop up. In the dying seconds, Bendtner failed to connect with cross, which would have snatched us a point.

United weren't completely listless during the second forty-five minutes. They had two chances of their own, first when a lucky deflection almost helped Rooney to make it 2-0 and the second when Smalling failed to get a proper head to van Persie's cross from a free-kick. But the overall feeling was that we dropped at least a point.

Arsene was understandably disappointed after the game, saying:

"It's disappointing to lose the game the way we lost it. I felt that we were a bit nervous at the start of the game and didn't play our game against a team of Manchester who was nervous, a bit insecure and we gave them a little bit of comfort by making the mistake at the first set-piece - or the second. After that we lost too many balls and we rushed our game in the first half. In the second half when we played our game we played in one half and they counter-attacked a few times but we didn't find the opportunity to equalise. We had the opportunities but we missed always a few inches to push the ball in the net and they were well focused to defend and defend and then try to catch us on the break - that happened once or twice in the game. Overall it's disappointing to lose the game like that because I think we had the opportunity at least to get a draw out of this game".

Well, he summed it up pretty nicely, but a couple of things are worth mentioning.

First of all, I think the team wasn't able to deliver because of simple exhaustion,  both physical and mental. We played a lot of games, had to grind out results and that comes at a cost. We were just unable to find our game, but thumbs up for the performance all the same. We kept going till the very end, never gave up despite the hard going and basically, dug deep.

Secondly, Ozil. His performance was poor, but the level of criticism heading his way is insulting. He's still a young man and, whatever you think, just can't be awesome in every game. Like everyone else, he can feel unwell, tired or just not in the right mood. He has already done a lot for the team, will undoubtedly do so much more, so getting harsh on him after a bad performance is just stupid.

And one last thing. I know I've already said quite a lot on the subject, but the problem was crystal clear yesterday: lack of squad depth. We know we have a great squad, when everyone's fit, but it's never the case, especially at Arsenal. Not much we can do about this situation right now, but when the time comes, we should not just sit on our bottoms and wait for a perfect footballer. We're suffering from player shortage already and I shudder to think, what it can lead to in, say, March, if we're still fighting on three fronts by then.

As the last (mercifully) Interlull is kicking into high gear, there will be less news, so I don't know, when I'll write next. Check back every new and again, though, in case anything pops up. And don't feel too down about this defeat. After all, we are still top of the league.

Until later

United preview: make it grand

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow we visit Old Trafford and for the first time in years we may be the favorites.

Ferguson's teams are usually hell-bent on beating us at their place just because it's, well, us. They were a cut above Arsenal last year, smashed us to pieces two years ago and, basically, I cannot recall when was the last time we won there. Probably in 2002.

Now, however, the landscape has changed. United is going through all sorts of problems following Ferguson's departure and I think it's the best time to capitalize on it. We're are on a strong run, have beaten two tough teams inside four days and our level of confidence is soaring to new heights all the time. So I say, go for it.

Sure, United has recovered a bit from their atrocious start in the league winning two games a row, but in no way do they seem invincible, and a blunder against Sociedad proves that. They still are finding their game, they are prone to defensive errors and we can make life very difficult for them.

Our run, on the other hand, is no luck or coincidence. Arsenal have become formidable opponents, especially away from home. 14 wins and a draw is as good as it gets. Our team finally functions as a whole, Arsene can now implement his freeflowing brand of football, eh, freely, knowing our defense will provide a decent base to build his team on.  And the number of technical players in our is enough for that aggressive attacking style to work.

Before the Liverpool game if someone had offered me six points from three games, I would have taken them. Today, there is a very real possibility to bag nine. Who would have thought it likely?

It terms of team selection, we have Flamini and maybe Whilshere back. The former is fully available, while the latter will face a late test. There is also a flip side, with Podolski facing another month out of action. Pity, but we seem to cope without him.

No word on Walcott and this may be both good and bad. The bad side is obvious: he won't make in time face United. The good side is, he WILL make it, but the manager is just keeping his comeback under wraps.

If it's the latter scenario, it'll be grand. We'll have another finisher on our hands, who have become much more clinical in the last 18 months. He will be a direct goal threat, much like Giroud.

Theo will also provide an outlet on the right, allowing players like Ozil and Cazorla to exploit his pace. In other words, we'll get ourselves a formidable weapon with his return.

Should Flamini, Whilshere and Walcott all return (and I know it's a long shot), our bench will finally start to resemble that of the league leaders. It's been somewhat discomforting to look at our options in the last couple games, realising we have no one to boost attack with in case something wrong. It was especially the case against Borussia, when things seemed to go not in our favor, to see Akpom and Hayden as our only midfield options.

Our midfield area is stretched to the limit, but not because we have few players there. It's because all our wingers are out injured and this problem looks more acute to me than our need for a striker. First thing we should do, when the transfer window re-opens in January, is buy ourselves a wide player. And then a striker. And offer a goddamn contract to Sagna. I don't care, if he wants to become the highest-paid right-back ever. Just do it.

That's it for today, back later (on Monday, most likely) with a review. In the meantime, have yourselves an enjoyable weekend.

Borussia 0-1 Arsenal: boy wonder

Yesterday we accomplished a very hard task indeed. Some likened this game to our Bayern encounter in March, but I take the manager's side here: yesterday was even harder, because more was at stake. We had to beat Bayern comprehensively to qualify and, while we came close to doing so, it was very unlikely we'd accomplish such a thing before the game. Thus the Germans (from Munich) viewed the return fixture as something they don't necessarily had to win.

Last night, however, both teams needed these three points. Badly, knowing that a loss will greatly hamper their chances, that with Napoli playing Marseille. The pressure was at the hosts to deliver at their turf, though.

Arsene made no changes from the side, that smashed the Mugmashers four days ago. Gnabry was the only new face, recovering from his ankle injury in time.

Borussia started brightly, and though they didn't have much of the ball, their constant pressing high up the pitch (in our half, to be precise), prevented us from doing anything with the ball when we had it. They were constantly trying to catch us on a mistake, but our vigorous defending made it impossible for the Germans to capitalise on mis-hit passes or lost duels.

The first chance of the game fell to Borussia. Arteta, who fouled Lewandowski out wide, conceded a free-kick. Reus (I think) swung the ball in, Bender headed it down but Subotic blasted his chance.

Before the break, Borussia spurned another great chance. Some quick work from Reus saw Mkhitaryan clean trough, only for the Armenian to curl the ball wide of the far post. Arsenal, meanwhile, didn't come up with anything of note, other than a yellow for Arteta.

After the restart, Borussia looked more dangerous. First Reus saw his header palmed away by Szczesny, then Blaszczycowski (Jacob from now on) had a low shot parried. A change was desperately needed, cause our defense looked ready to give way at any moment. And then we scored.

Rosicky passed the ball to Ozil, who held the play up, waiting for Giroud to get into a good position and then crossed it towards the Frenchman, who headed it down for onrushing Ramsey. The Welshman sent the ball home.

Suddenly, the game was alive, with chances created at both ends. We got the better ones and in the 10 minutes that followed could have scored four times.

First Weidenfeller produced a save with his legs from a Ramsey shot following some brilliant play from Giroud. Then the Frenchman himself saw his goalbound effort cleared off the line from an ensuing corner.

The other two chances fell to Mertesacker. He first failed to get his head to the ball from a cross and then fired wide from a free-kick. Had he hit the target, it would have been game over.

But he hadn't. Borussia piled up the pressure, but our brilliant defending averted all the threats. Ozil stood out in the end, winning us a throw, a free-kick and a corner in the dying seconds. In the end, we saw it out.

Here's what Arsene had to say after the game, if you're interested.

Now, a few sidenotes. I really liked how disciplined we were defensively. We were switched on from the first minute to the last and when some genius (like Reus) broke through, Szczesny shored things up. Another well-deserved clean sheet.

Arteta is another guy, who stood out. Got a yellow for a professional foul, continued to defend high and wide despite this, made some really important tackles and interceptions and generally it's his personal accomplishment, that Lewandowski was useless up front. Flamini-esque performance.

And, naturally, Lewandowski. I only have unprintable words for him. There's been a lot of talk of his possible move to the Emirates, and after watching the Pole for two games, it is my sincere hope, he doesn't make this switch. Yes, he's a good striker, he scored an important goal, but his overall cheating behaviour is beyond all rhyme and reason. The ref should have given Lewandowski a second yellow for diving, in my opinion. And his attitude around Arteta (the Pole`s) is especially disgusting. Pity I didn't see his face after the final whistle. Hope he suffered. Hope he cried his eyes out.

Anyway, a great win, hugely important three points and another step towards qualification. Well done.

United is next.

Borussia preview: lessons learnt

Good evening.

We play Borussia today and this fixture will go a long way towards deciding just who will qualify for the play-off round.

Both teams are at their peak right now, with Borussia winning eight home games in a row and Arsenal being unbeaten in 14 away games (with only one draw), so the match will be a tight one. I do hope we'll see a more open game, than the first one, but ultimately we may not. The managers know, what's at stake and both won't be looking to press for that winner, should the scores be level late in the game. Both also have a quality midfield at their disposal, so the teams just might cancel each other out.

There was a lot of talk before the game, that we've learnt from our mistakes and I do hope, we did. Overconfidence played a huge part in our late downfall last time, in my opinion. Don't dribble near your own box, track runners and we'll be a tough team to beat. When we get the basics right, we have plenty of quality in our side to deal with anybody.

I don't expect a lot of changes to our Saturday squad. Gibbs, mercifully, is all right and Gnabry has also recovered from his ankle knock and has travelled to Germany (along with Eisfeld, it seems). Whilshere, however, remains sidelined and his participation in the upcoming fixture against United is unlikely. Flamini and Walcott should both make the trip to Old Trafford and with them back, we'll finally have a strong bench.

The one we have now, though, is also not that bad. Jenkinson and Monreal (especially) have proved themselves as capable wingers, we've all seen Gnabry's potential and even Bendther is not bad. He's a bit hit-or-miss, but when he's on his game (see Norwich), he still has enough petrol left in the tank.

So, by no means will this be a walk in the park, but that's what you get, when pinned against the Europe's finest. That's what we love football for. I see no reason, however, why we can't have all the three points for ourselves. Bayern game has been mentioned on numerous occasions already, but that's really a blueprint, a defensive masterpiece. We've added some verve to our attack since that day in March, the players we have gelled together wonderfully, some of the others reached new heights (Ramsey and Giroud, for instance), so it's not unrealistic to hope for a win. Come on, you Gunners.

In other news, we seem to have agreed new terms with Wojciech Szczesny, whose contract was on course to expire at the end of this season. If press is to be believed (ha), he has become the highest paid young goalkeeper (under thirty) in the league and now earns around 100k a week. Now, I don't care, how much he earns, as long as he puts in performances like the one against Crystal Palace on a consistent basis, which he's doing just fine. Aston Villa aside, he's been consistently brilliant, pulling off crucial saves, when we needed them most. There's been a lot of talk about players not living up to their salaries, so it's nice, when someone gets the plaudits, he deserves. Now all that's left' is to offer Rosicky and Sagna brand new contracts they have been working their socks off for this year. Come on, Arsene, just do it.

That's it, back tomorrow for a review

P.S. Seen this picture this morning, it made my day. Have a look

Liverpool review: magnificent

Evening everyone.

So, we've beaten Liverpool yesterday in a convincing fashion and that made my day. Actually, it'll keep me happy until we face Borussia on Wednesday. A win of that magnitude sends out a clear message: we really are title contenders. To face runners-up with two strikers in bang form and demolish them they way we did...a thing of beauty. This win means we top the chart by five points, seeing as Chelsea lost to Newcastle and Tottenham produced a goalless draw against Everton.

Arsene Wenger made only one change to the side that has beaten Crystal Palace with the same score: Rosicky found his way into the team at the expense of the injured Flamini. It was unclear, just who the manager would play (the Czech or Whilshere), but the matter took care of itself, when Whilshere suffered an injury. The Englishman didn't even make the bench and is a major doubt for our midweek game.

Both teams started brightly enough and both had opportunities to score an early goal. A quick interplay between Cazorla and Rosicky saw the latter run into the box to produce a low shot, but Mignolet got a hand to it. Several minutes later Conor Henderson missed a brilliant chance to open the scoring. Cazorla lost the ball in midfield, Henderson picked it up and ran half the field only to shoot straight at Szczesny.

Just when the game started to calm down, Arsenal scored. Arteta fed Sagna on the right, the Frenchman crossed the ball into the box and Cazorla, of all people, headed it goalwards. His effort hit the post, but Santi was first on the rebound to smash it home. He celebrated his first goal for Arsenal with gusto.

Liverpool tried to respond, but our constant pressing (especially Rosicky's harrying) made life difficult for the Mugmashers. The closest they came was when Sturridge's low shot was easily claimed by Szczesny.

Arsenal looked like they could score another and Mignolet had to work hard to parry first Cazorla's shot, which was heading into the top corner and then Ramsey's effort, after the Welshman found his way into the box after some quick passing from Rosicky and Ozil. In the dying seconds Cazorla rolled another shot just wide.

In the second half, Liverpool came flying out of the blocks and created two real chances in the opening five minutes. First Suarez poked the ball wide after being clear and then he set Henderson up, only for the latter to (mercifully) fire over. Arsenal responded with a chance of their own, when Giroud failed to hit the target in a one-on-one situation. He then spurned another chance, this time because his shot lacked power.

On the 59th minute we finally broke the deadlock. Ozil's pass found Ramsey some 20 yards away from goal, Aaron took his time and then smashed home an absolutely gorgeous goal over a helpless Mignolet to make it 2-0.

We were then put under some pressure from Liverpool, who were desperately trying to get something out of this game. First Sturridge headed over and then Suarez hit the outside of the post after a corner. We looked most likely to concede during this period, but, luckily, we kept our goal under lock and key.

Sensing danger, the manager brought on Jenkinson, Monreal and Vermaelen, with the Belgian coming on for the injured Gibbs. Nonetheless, Liverpool was threatening and Szczesny had to work hard to prevent them from scoring. He first relieved Sturridge of the ball and then blocked Henderson's effort after some clever interplay from Gerrerd and Coutinho.

The best moment fell to Suarez, though. He was sent clean through and Sturridge waited for his pass for a tap-in, but the nasty little biter decided to score himself and in the end, he didn't. Sturridge went mental, which was as lovely to watch as Ramsey's goal.

We had the last word in this encounter, when Ozil's shot was blocked, but, overall, it was a very convincing display even without the third goal.

After the game Arsene heaped praise on our defense, which was no less than they deserved. Though Livepool had their chances, we looked in control for the duration of the game, with every player making his contribution. Cazorla has found his form, Giroud did splendidly, Ramsey was his usual self. A very neat performance from back to front, so a win well deserved.

Enjoy it