Match 2: Arsenal (A)

[bizzle10]

massive win for us lays down a marker for the season considering this is more or else a new team getting to know each other.Only thing i would do is swap Henderson for Meireles gives us more creativity

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Great result, but lets keep it in perspective..

No, I don't think I will actually.

[The Dude Abides]

I'd play Lucas, Adam and Raul in the middle personally. Lessens the workload on Adam who doesn't look capable of playing hard and fast for 90 minutes.

 

Then i'd have Kuyt and Downing out wide with Suarez up top.

 

Pretty much the formation and personnel we ended the game with.

 

More please.

[Antynwa]

Great result

 

Promising performance

 

Downing is quality, Adam is Alonso but Scottish

 

Enrique is a fantastic signing

 

Hendo is not quite there yet, but I have hope

 

Carroll needs to pull his finger out

 

Thats all

[J-V]

Carling cup Wednesday. Fuck me that came round quick.

[TheResonator]

Lucas ineffective, though did have a hand in a goal. Back 5 played well together - especially pleased for Kelly.

 

Lucas made 16 tackles today and 4 interceptions, the former statistic equalling twice as much as any other player in our squad. It boggles my mind that people think our current midfield could survive without Lucas, nobody else comes close to doing the defensive work he does. He was ace for the second goal as well.

 

Great result for us today which should be duly celebrated... we've got the pricks on Sky to try and drag us down with caveats. Doesn't matter if they went down to ten and had injury problems, we still had to go out and win, and that's a fucking great three points to have under our belts already.

 

Enrique was ace, Downing looked quality, Meireles should start next week without a shadow of a doubt... Agger was good, Kelly was ace, hardly even knew Carra was playing which is brilliant for a defender, and I thought Kuyt's movement was really good early on. The only negatives would be that I think Adam is trying too hard at the moment, and I don't really see how Carroll fits in to the team... but fuck that for today! We're off and running. Let's enjoy it.

[Anny Road]

Hey Abs

 

Suck my balls.

[Anubis]

Carling cup Wednesday. Fuck me that came round quick.

 

No European by.

[billypilgrimnz]

Lucas ineffective

 

Bullshit. Try to pay attention to tackles from now on. He made plenty. Jesus.

[El Rojo]

Lucas made 16 tackles today and 4 interceptions, the former statistic equalling twice as much as any other player in our squad. It boggles my mind that people think our current midfield could survive without Lucas, nobody else comes close to doing the defensive work he does. He was ace for the second goal as well.

.

 

Played a quality long pass in the build-up to the first too. He bossed the midfield today and deserves great credit.

 

Franck Ribery in Sky studio - never knew he had a Manc accent.

[satansmutt]

without Suarez we look like a team of plodders no pace no imagination nothing special, put on Suarez and everything changes hopefully we will see him link up with Gerrard one day soon.

 

Enrique looks boss, about time we got a real bargain in the transfer market looks like he was born to be our leftback.

 

Downing is a lot better than I though he would be,

 

Adam is a poor man's Alonso,

 

Henderson looks neat and tidy but nothing special yet!

 

a good win but Arsenal were there for the taking and we made hard work of it

[Guest SpiderLucas]

Anybody any clue as to who Raul stuck the finger up to? Because it was blatant by his facial expression that it was aimed at somebody. Lucas ran over straight away so maybe it was just a bit of banter.

[JER]

Great result - too much graft and not enough craft until the last 20 minutes but overall tactics seemed to work just fine. Frimpong is a ridiculous character and a poor man's, slightly angrier Mr T to boot. Arsenal have no identity and no leaders, it will be a grim season for them.

 

Am wondering whether it would have been better to pay the tax than spend the money on Carroll at the moment, but I'm sure Kenny has a plan..

[billypilgrimnz]

Just reading The Guardians comments section for the game, a lot of the bellends on their quite dismissive of our team. I don't think we were great today, but I swear to God, if we actually come to believe in ourselves, and go out and take the game to every team that we face off against, we are in for a good season.

[JER]

Anybody any clue as to who Raul stuck the finger up to? Because it was blatant by his facial expression that it was aimed at somebody. Lucas ran over straight away so maybe it was just a bit of banter.

 

My 13 year old looked thoroughly bored until Raul did that - he jumped up and made me rewind the sky box to point it out. 13 year olds love the finger

[md1892]

I wondered why you were on here today, and then I realised that Stoke are playing tomorrow.

 

We fucking play like stoke whenever carroll is on the pitch, and that is probably being harsh on stoke

[usernameunknown]

Lucas made 16 tackles today and 4 interceptions, the former statistic equalling twice as much as any other player in our squad. It boggles my mind that people think our current midfield could survive without Lucas, nobody else comes close to doing the defensive work he does. He was ace for the second goal as well.

 

He's fucking class and was his usual excellent self today aswell. Love him.

[longballs]

Lucas made 16 tackles today and 4 interceptions, the former statistic equalling twice as much as any other player in our squad. It boggles my mind that people think our current midfield could survive without Lucas, nobody else comes close to doing the defensive work he does. He was ace for the second goal as well.

 

Great result for us today which should be duly celebrated... we've got the pricks on Sky to try and drag us down with caveats. Doesn't matter if they went down to ten and had injury problems, we still had to go out and win, and that's a fucking great three points to have under our belts already.

 

Enrique was ace, Downing looked quality, Meireles should start next week without a shadow of a doubt... Agger was good, Kelly was ace, hardly even knew Carra was playing which is brilliant for a defender, and I thought Kuyt's movement was really good early on. The only negatives would be that I think Adam is trying too hard at the moment, and I don't really see how Carroll fits in to the team... but fuck that for today! We're off and running. Let's enjoy it.

 

 

No one is denying that we need a Lucas type player... just that we can improve in that area. He gave the ball away far too much today and I`d have him as backup.

[stringvest]

Lucas made 16 tackles today and 4 interceptions, the former statistic equalling twice as much as any other player in our squad. It boggles my mind that people think our current midfield could survive without Lucas, nobody else comes close to doing the defensive work he does. He was ace for the second goal as well.

 

Great result for us today which should be duly celebrated... we've got the pricks on Sky to try and drag us down with caveats. Doesn't matter if they went down to ten and had injury problems, we still had to go out and win, and that's a fucking great three points to have under our belts already.

 

Enrique was ace, Downing looked quality, Meireles should start next week without a shadow of a doubt... Agger was good, Kelly was ace, hardly even knew Carra was playing which is brilliant for a defender, and I thought Kuyt's movement was really good early on. The only negatives would be that I think Adam is trying too hard at the moment, and I don't really see how Carroll fits in to the team... but fuck that for today! We're off and running. Let's enjoy it.

Arsenal walked through the centre of our midfield very easily today. Lucas is miles away from being a truly effective defensive midfielder in that team. If Adam's the other one in there, we need a stronger and more savvy player than Lucas.

 

And as for Kuyt's really good movement early on, please watch the first 20 minutes again and tell me you stick with that view. His performance was comically bad, and he set up more Arsenal attacks than their own players did.

 

Still, we won, which is after all the point. :)

[billypilgrimnz]

No one is denying that we need a Lucas type player... just that we can improve in that area. He gave the ball away far too much today and I`d have him as backup.

 

Players who gave the ball away more than Lucas today:

 

Henderson

Adam

Kuyt

Carroll

[Guest TK-421]

stringvest in full of shit shocker.

[stringvest]

Bullshit. Try to pay attention to tackles from now on. He made plenty. Jesus.

 

Saw them. Also saw that he gave the ball away and was bypassed rather too easily rather too often. If you'd remove your selective vision, you'd see it too.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Arsenal walked through the centre of our midfield very easily today.

I don't agree with that at all, to be honest. Much of their good play didn't go anywhere near the centre of the pitch, either.

[stringvest]

stringvest in full of shit shocker.

 

* whimper *

[longballs]

Players who gave the ball away more than Lucas today:

 

Henderson

Adam

Kuyt

Carroll

 

Not that I saw. The thing with Lucas is he gives the ball away in dangerous and often unnecessary positions couple with some daft tackles; usually on the edge of our own box.

 

Kuyt had a poor game today but as for Carroll, half the "balls he gave away" were punts to him. I actually thought Carroll was better than people are making out today.