Man Utd (H) Wednesday 12th February

[goonersid]

Fulham defender says he's never seen so many crosses come in from Man Utd and they knew that and were ready for it.
Wonder if The Great One has noticed?

I guarantee you right now, no matter what the result, we will concede at least one (maybe two) from a corner or a whipped in cross/free kick. Arsene will not look at the fact they bombed in 80+ crosses in 90 minutes against Fulham and try to set up to defend against that - no, he will persist with the shite static zonal crap and cross his fingers and hope we can outscore them with tippy tappy passy pass pass.

Also, if perma-crock, glass-ankles Gibbs has any reaction to actually having to step onto a football pitch last Saturday (bless ) and Arsene sticks Nacho back in there... we will get brutally Cell Block D type thunder-raped right up the old shitter down our left. Even someone as limited as Moyes will spot it and tell his players to go at Nacho every chance.

So what are you saying? You don't fancy us for the win?

[DB10GOONER]

Fulham defender says he's never seen so many crosses come in from Man Utd and they knew that and were ready for it.
Wonder if The Great One has noticed?

I guarantee you right now, no matter what the result, we will concede at least one (maybe two) from a corner or a whipped in cross/free kick. Arsene will not look at the fact they bombed in 80+ crosses in 90 minutes against Fulham and try to set up to defend against that - no, he will persist with the shite static zonal crap and cross his fingers and hope we can outscore them with tippy tappy passy pass pass.

Also, if perma-crock, glass-ankles Gibbs has any reaction to actually having to step onto a football pitch last Saturday (bless ) and Arsene sticks Nacho back in there... we will get brutally Cell Block D type thunder-raped right up the old shitter down our left. Even someone as limited as Moyes will spot it and tell his players to go at Nacho every chance.

So what are you saying? You don't fancy us for the win?

TBH sid, mad as it sounds I think this game could go either way. I don't believe it is even physically possible for us to turn up as shite as we were on Saturday against the Victims. We might well bounce back and beat what is by far the worst Manure team of the last 25 (125? ) years or we might (again) show them way too much respect and lose 1-0 to a VanCunt goal...

[LeftfootlegendGooner]

Would be nice if we could beat them 9-2

[DB10GOONER]

Would be nice if we could beat them 9-2

I hope and pray we will better that 8-2 at some point. Just to shut the fucking armchair Manure fans in Dublin up! The 6-1 was bad enough.

[Its Up 4 Grabs Now]

I have a worry about Bayern away, it seems to be a catylst for everything so far - its always mentioned in interviews about the belief they got from that game....for all our positive attributes i do think we are a bit weak mentally - a pumping there could really push the wheels off.

Dont disagree with the idea that a(nother) "pumping" against Bayern could do terminal damage but I've always thought the effect of the win in Munich was slightly overstated tbh. Personally I think that result itself was more effect than cause - the cause being what happened beforehand in the aftermath of the defeat at the hole.

In a roundabout way being knocked out of the cup by Blackburn maybe did us a bit of a favour there - and (for steveo's benefit ) no, that's not a justification of that result or performance. But having that next weekend free after the NLD gave us 10 days until Bayern to dissect the carcus and clearly things came to a head. Whether it was Bould stepping in & telling Wenger enough was enough, or the players speaking up (a la Adams etc after Blackburn in 97/98) clearly something made Wenger finally relent and let Bould do some work with the defence.

Obviously the fact Bayern were coasting was a huge factor but you could see the difference in our approach from the off. The high line that cost us at sperz suddenly disappeared (only to remerge spectacularly this weekend, of all times) and it was noticeable how much more communication & organisation there was at set-pieces in that game too. It was the first time I'd really seen Mertesacker step up in a vocal leadership role, as if he'd either decided or been told he needed to take charge. And that change in our defensive approach has been the foundation of everything we've done since, more so than any confidence gained from one good, but ultimately fruitless, win.

[Its Up 4 Grabs Now]

Nacho is a good defender, but he has shown in the last few games he is found wanting badly against pace

Not convinced yet he is a good defender. Any time I think he might be he goes and turns in a shocking performance, and then when I write him off he steps up and has a good game. Thought he was very good, to my surprise, in the cup win against the totts.

Agree on the second part, obviously. The roasting he took from Townsend against QPR last season was horrific. Which only makes it even more ridiculous he was picked ahead of Gibbs on Saturday. It could have been even worse if Sterling had spent more time on the right directly against him.

[foxinthebox2001]

Nacho is only here because Gibbs got a knock last January, and the thought of our season resting on the shoulders of the fat Brazilian shirt monger had Wenger flapping.
He is average at best.

[northbank123]

I thought Monreal did okay last season when he came in, he seemed solid other than the horror show at QPR.

Is he good enough as a back-up LB? Possibly imo - although I don't massively rate him some people are obsessed with this idea that you have to have 2 or 3 quality players in every position to succeed which isn't the case. I mean I would certainly like a better option than him but he's hardly likely to be decisive either.

Although obviously you are likely to get shown up if your first-choice gets injured for a while (as Gibbs has a habit of doing) or if your manager makes dubious selection choices and gives them too much playing time (as Wenger has a habit of doing). No way should Monreal be playing ahead of Gibbs, the more game time he has got the more he has looked like a bit of a rabbit in the headlights, playing every week (especially in the blockbuster games) is too much for him. Gibbs still has a lot to work on but has made good strides and actually seems incredibly composed compared to the impulsive player he used to be.

[I Hate Hleb]

Gibbs has improved and is the better of the two options but I'm afraid that isn't saying much. Neither are of the quality we need and were used to having for more then 4 decades. As for Monreal, it only took a couple of performances for me to realise this guy just wasn't a good enough defender. Add his signing to the Santos debacle and it makes you wonder what the hell our scouting team have been doing to earn their money!

[wibble]

Nacho is a good defender, but he has shown in the last few games he is found wanting badly against pace

Not convinced yet he is a good defender. Any time I think he might be he goes and turns in a shocking performance, and then when I write him off he steps up and has a good game. Thought he was very good, to my surprise, in the cup win against the totts.

Agree on the second part, obviously. The roasting he took from Townsend against QPR last season was horrific. Which only makes it even more ridiculous he was picked ahead of Gibbs on Saturday. It could have been even worse if Sterling had spent more time on the right directly against him.

If you could please write him off for Wednesdays game it would be much appreciated then, just in case wenger chooses him ahead of Gibbs again!

[Chippy]

No-one's asking him to invent a new formation inspired by the wrinkle pattern on a reverse merman's ballbag and spend 72 hours briefing the team on how it works through the medium of interpretative dance.

I just peed a bit!

[clockender1]

this shouldn't be much of a test. i'm more worried about another thumping at the weekend.

i think we'll win or lose by an odd goal.

[GranadaJoe]

In defence of Nacho, who I think is OK, can you imagine hearing you're in the team, being all happy and then hearing that you'll be relying on Santi to provide the cover for you as Sterling, Sturridge, Suarez, Johnson et al come flying at you.

[the playing mantis]

we wont lose, we cant lose.

rosicky must play his energy this season has been a huge plus.

arteta cannot play alone his legs have gone and he is never a title challenging midfielder.

gnabry too, we have no one else who can run at someone and scare them, the ox used too when he first arrived and looked a superstar in the making, despite his double the other week, imo hes no where near the player he was when he first arrived, and its not just cos he has been injured, when he was last fully fit he looked meh. its as if his fearless running at people has been coached out of him.

gnabry still ahs that in him.

i still think we will sneak 3rd. the victims are too inconsistent, and the scums luck will surely run out soon.

[BFG4]

This may well be the worse United team in 20 years, but they are meeting a team, coached by a guy, who has no clue about tactics, or a game plan. We all know what is going to happen on Wednesday, we will play one up front, which means, that no through balls can be played, because of Giroud having zero pace, and so we will pass it sideways, until we lose it, and with RVP and Rooney up front, they will punish us. If wenger played Podolski up front with Giroud, I would give us a big chance, as they have a shit defence, but of course he wont, playing Giroud on his own up front, only plays into their hands.