There are days when you tend to question your loyalty to a club that’s consistent in giving heartbreak.
Judging by what I witnessed yesterday, I’m fearing for the worst. We might just go on another trophyless campaign if we keep putting up performances like this.
Sometimes its the goalie, other times its our sloppiness or lack of that killer instinct.
Both sides had a long injury list. We were without our captain, 2 goalies, most tenacious holding midfielder, best defender and fastest winger. Man Utd on the other hand fielded a weakened midfield consisting of free shooting Gibson, loyal versatile dog O’ Shea and the evil Twins.
The surprise inclusion from AW the Alchemist was Gibbsy instead of Clichy.
Early on, Man Utd’s midfield was unbalanced. Arshavin did a neat one-two with Nasri but fired a weak shot at van der Sar’s goal which went wide.
Diaby teed up Nasri who sent a good cross into Man Utd’s danger area but no predator was ready to pounce.
After another string of good passes the ball was fed to Gibbs. His cross was quite poor and went straight to their goalie.
Nasri was in the thick of things again when he linked up with Wilshere again who gave a nice back heeled pass to Arshavin put his shooting boots were not on at all.
Gibson did well to evade two players. He then passed the ball to the left evil Twin. His right found that right evil Twin but his header went wide.
There was a personal duel between Monsieur Tuck-in Evra and Nasri. He went in late on a challenge at Nasri but the ref waved play on. Sagna wasted the chance to send rVp through.
Nasri then gave Evra a cheeky nutmeg but he was intercepted by Smalling. The young bloke played well against us though. I now see why AW the Alchemist wanted to acquire his services. The £10m price tag was overrated though. The same amount was used to get Koscielny this season and Vermaelen this season before. You can’t really juxtapose between Smalling and these defenders at this point in time.
After some more neat work, rVp curled one towards Man Utd’s goal but vdS made a simple stop.
Diaby was having another of his on and off outings. He was faced with the choice of feeding rVp but he dallied on the ball.
United used that wasted opportunity to launch a counter attack that hit us hard. The right evil Twin found the left evil Twin who in turn found the rich RooThug. Rooney noticed that Chicharito was clear so he sent a beautifully weighted pass over the top. I expected Djourou to intercept the ball with a header but he decided to play the role of a ball watcher. Chicharito headed the ball across goal to bring out a fine save from Almunia but the left evil Twin was on hand to guide the ball to an unguarded net.
After all our ball possession, pressing and probing, the Red Hell Owners had the upper hand in terms of goals.
Nasri showed good movement then give a pass to rVp. They weren’t on the same wavelength so the ball rolled away from our striker.
We then had a corner that was headed away by rVp.
Rooney changed to a mexican bull and thought that Sagna was a matador. The way he charged at our right back was cynical. Even if he won the ball, he got a whole lot of Bac. He didn’t even apologize for his brutal action.
Nasri made mince meat of Evra again then teed up Arshavin who gave a simple ball to Diaby. The Frenchie killed a hawk in the sky with his effort
Nasri used his sly movement at the edge of the box then sent a nice shot through Brown’s legs. vdS made another save.
So at half time it was Red Hell Owners 1 Arsenal 0. All AW the Alchemist could do was to shake his head in disappointment.
I think I can assume what was going through his wily ol’ mind…”how can a team made up of 7 defenders be leading my own team at half time”?
At the start of the second half, Koscielny took over the libero role and surged forward. He linked up rVp well and found himself in a scoring position. vdS came to Man Utd’s rescue again. It’s always nice seeing Kos taking that libero role once in a while. It’s always good to know that there’s an extra man you can count on to join the attack. Besides, Koscielny is good with the ball at his feet.
When it seemed as if we were going to get a foothold of the game, Man Utd scored one of the scrappiest goals you would ever see from the land of scrapville. All I can say is that Almunia turned to Eustace Bagge in Courage the Cowardly dog show because he was in the middle of fucking nowhere. Modern commentators prefer to call it “No Man’s land”.
Arshavin noticed Wilshere lurking into the area so he chipped one in. Up stepped Vidic to intercept the ball acrobatically.
Nasri used his technique to shoot the ball on the ground to make it difficult for vdS but the old goalie was up to the challenge.
AW the Alchemist brought on Chamakh to replace Denilson. I actually thought that it was Diaby’s number that would come up.
Wilshere was hacked down at the edge of the box but rVp’s free kick didn’t go past the wall.
rVp curled another ball from the right hand side but it just missed by a lick of paint.
Chamakh had two chances in quick succession but nothing came from them. The first was a quick fire shot from an Arshavin pass while the next was a free header in the 6-yard box that was saved by vdS again.
AW the Alchemist brought on TR7 for Arshavin and Ramsey for Diaby. The reception Ramsey received from the Arsenal faithful was overshadowed by the events going on in the field of play. Arsenal were 2 goals down and we were in Old Strafford so our screams couldn’t be heard in the moon.
Wilshere did a neat one-two but he shot hit the side netting.
Nasri gave TR7 a simple pass at the edge of the 18-yard box. The TR7 I know would have passed the ball but he chose to rifle a ball goalwards. VdS made another stop.
Our problems worsened through a Man Utd counter attack. Hugh Giggs Hefner found Rooney with a simple ball. Rooney noticed that Chicharito was clear so he drilled one in. Djourou challenged ChiChi for the ball so he hit his arse on the deck. While all this was happening Sagna was tracking back to pick up the pieces. He then had an accidental collision with his teammate who was on the ground. This made Djourou stay on the ground and receive treatment for a very long while. It seemed as if he dislocated his shoulder.
This injury prompted the officials to give 8 minutes of stoppage time.
There was even time for TR7 to miss from inside the 6-yard box after Sagna sent it a delightful cross.
So at the end it was Red Hell Owners 2 Arsenal 0. Knocked off 3 competitions in the short space of 13 days. So much for the quad.
Almunia (6.5) made some routine stops. Gibbs (6.0) didn’t track back well enough. Sagna (6.8) sent in many good crosses. Djourou (6.7) looked assured in defence. Koscielny (6.5) did okay. Diaby (5.9) was utter shite. Denilson (6.3) did his square passing thing. Whizkhid (6.8) worked his socks off. AA23 (6.3) wasn’t too impressive. Nasri (6.7) was more than a handful for Evra and fired in some good balls. rVp (6.5) didn’t do too badly. Chamakh (6.7) had a few stings without venom. Ramsey (6.5) had some nice touches. TR7 (6.2) had no definite impact.
This result indicates that we have to give everything we have to win the Premier League.
I just hope that these crop of players vindicate AW the Alchemist because he has given his all to this club. If we go on another trophyless campaign questions will be asked.
The tweet of the day goes to @dulidubz
“@dulidubz: In as much as u r d reason why dis season and every other season has been bad,I know I don’t want u to b sacked.. U built d fortress”
I can’t hide that fact. Out of the 11 players that wore the Yellow and Maroon in Old Strafford, 8 players present in the playing squad were alchemised by AW. The only exceptions were nomadic goalie Almunia, Russian Czar Arshavin and consistent right back Sagna.
Now that Djourou’s out our 4th and 5th choice center backs will be drafted into the squad.
I just hope that his season isn’t over.
So much for the quad
Sayonara
