Well that was a weird game, Fergie was right, that wasn't like a United Arsenal game. It didn't help the quality of the game that visitors were so poor, but that doesn't really excuse United's sloppy display.
I have seen Arsenal a couple of times on the box this season and for all the hype i hadn't seen anything to suggest they would be challenging the top three any time soon. As usual it seems to me, a couple of decent reults and the southern press try to big them up. Arsenal seemed to improve defensively at the beginning of the season, but without playing anybody at all.
They were poor on Saturday, they saw plenty of possession but possessed absolutley no threat where it mattered. I like Wilshere, he is going to be a good player, he had a bit of a weird game during this game, culminating with the red card. Other than him though, there is no real class there as far as i'm concerned.
However poor Arsenal were, it was no excuse for the lethargic display United conspired to produce. It was one of those games where you wonder if the early goal settled down United too much. What a gift it was as well, Vermaelen mishitting the clearance straight to his ex team mate, Van Persie made no mistake and if he has ever had a flicker of doubt about whether he made the right move, this game must have quashed it.
But instead of United kicking on and putting the game to bed, we got sloppy, our passing and our movement to a lesser extent, were far from what we've got used to over the last few weeks. What made the half even worse, was the fact that we still made some great chances and should have gone in at the break at least two goals to the good. I suppose the penalty miss from Rooney just about summed the half up.
United came back out looking for the second and it had to arrive with the chances we created. We should have scored almost immediately, but Valencia couldn't convert Van Persie's cross, oh for that to have been the other way around. He's going through a bit of an iffy spell, the Ecuadorian at the moment, why he has become reluctant to take his man on the outside all of a sudden, is mystifying. That said, even when nowhere near his best, he still manages to create goals. All the same, if Nani was anywhere near his best, he would probably be struggling to be first choice in our starting eleven.
When the second goal did come, it was from an unlikely source, with Evra getting a second headed goal of the season, not direct from a corner this time, but from a short corner and cross from Rooney. What's happened to us scoring so many goals from set pieces all of a sudden.
Unfortunately United took the foot off the pedal after that, and even more so after the dismissal of Wilshere. I didn't see the funny side of their last minute consolation goal, after watching us play out time for the last twenty minutes when we could have improved our goal difference, to then see us unable to even keep a clean sheet just left me with a sense of satisfaction with result, but not particularly with our performance.
Still events later on in the day, made the ale taste all the better. I fancied West Ham to get something against the bitters, but the late equaliser from Swansea was a real bonus. Given the run of games we have, we should stay top until the end of November at least.
I have seen Arsenal a couple of times on the box this season and for all the hype i hadn't seen anything to suggest they would be challenging the top three any time soon. As usual it seems to me, a couple of decent reults and the southern press try to big them up. Arsenal seemed to improve defensively at the beginning of the season, but without playing anybody at all.
They were poor on Saturday, they saw plenty of possession but possessed absolutley no threat where it mattered. I like Wilshere, he is going to be a good player, he had a bit of a weird game during this game, culminating with the red card. Other than him though, there is no real class there as far as i'm concerned.
However poor Arsenal were, it was no excuse for the lethargic display United conspired to produce. It was one of those games where you wonder if the early goal settled down United too much. What a gift it was as well, Vermaelen mishitting the clearance straight to his ex team mate, Van Persie made no mistake and if he has ever had a flicker of doubt about whether he made the right move, this game must have quashed it.
But instead of United kicking on and putting the game to bed, we got sloppy, our passing and our movement to a lesser extent, were far from what we've got used to over the last few weeks. What made the half even worse, was the fact that we still made some great chances and should have gone in at the break at least two goals to the good. I suppose the penalty miss from Rooney just about summed the half up.
United came back out looking for the second and it had to arrive with the chances we created. We should have scored almost immediately, but Valencia couldn't convert Van Persie's cross, oh for that to have been the other way around. He's going through a bit of an iffy spell, the Ecuadorian at the moment, why he has become reluctant to take his man on the outside all of a sudden, is mystifying. That said, even when nowhere near his best, he still manages to create goals. All the same, if Nani was anywhere near his best, he would probably be struggling to be first choice in our starting eleven.
When the second goal did come, it was from an unlikely source, with Evra getting a second headed goal of the season, not direct from a corner this time, but from a short corner and cross from Rooney. What's happened to us scoring so many goals from set pieces all of a sudden.
Unfortunately United took the foot off the pedal after that, and even more so after the dismissal of Wilshere. I didn't see the funny side of their last minute consolation goal, after watching us play out time for the last twenty minutes when we could have improved our goal difference, to then see us unable to even keep a clean sheet just left me with a sense of satisfaction with result, but not particularly with our performance.
Still events later on in the day, made the ale taste all the better. I fancied West Ham to get something against the bitters, but the late equaliser from Swansea was a real bonus. Given the run of games we have, we should stay top until the end of November at least.
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