Arsenal won on New Year’s Day but not before a scare that had the plastics panicking. Plus, we have more on Man Utd.
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Arsenal ‘plastics’ embarrassing themselves
I’m sick and tired of certain Arsenal plastic ‘fans’….sod troll Stewie for example. People on Arsenal slating Arteta at 1-0 down. They humiliate themselves.
Arteta has done a fine job to get Arsenal where they are. He’s been unfortunate with the Citeh machine and now this Liverpool revival. Fine performance today. My hero Raya getting slated for having an off-day (amazing recovery from his cock-up!).
Liverpool are not home and dry…1989! They were lucky to draw with us and have scraped past many teams.
Their southern fans are too smug.
Chris, Croydon
READ MORE: Arsenal go full Arsenal as Arteta hits on title-winning method in brilliant win over Brentford
Man Utd: Still pants
I know I only wrote in two days ago but after reading Wednesday’s mailbox I have to reiterate this, United fans your team is dog sh*t, literally you are lucky that you aren’t getting relegated. They aren’t downing tools, they aren’t trying to scupper the manager, they aren’t trying to do a takeover by playing bad, they are just bad, they are dog sh*t, we’ve all gone through it, “the top six teams” have had fallow periods, it’s now your turn, just fu*king deal with it.
Rich Jennings, Hull
READ: 5) Arsenal 2019, 2) Man Utd 2024 – Ranking the worst calendar years in Big Six history
Actually, the gaps are the problem
I agree that players can adapt to new systems and tactics. No question about that. But they all have specific skills that align to one of more primary position. You couldn’t train Mbappe as a defender, for example. You could shoe horn in Salah as a left back in a pinch but it’s not going to be great and you’ll lose a lot of what makes him golden.
The problem with the United squad is a mix of a number of players who simply aren’t good enough/lack the legs, and not enough who are good at the positions required.
We started the season with four wingers, two of which were two of our best players. Of those, one can play 10 well (Amad), one can play striker ok (Rashford), one could probably play LWB ok (Antony). The other, Garnacho, can’t really play anywhere bar wing. You could vision him as one of two strikers but not a solo. No amount of training will make him into a 10, and while he could play wing back at a push, you lose most of what he offers while being wildly exposed in key areas.
The problem for the squad is simple to address. A LWB – likely Alvaro; other rotation options for CM – Angel Gomes, Collyer; other options for 10 since Mount won’t be playing for a while.
With players actually playing in positions they’re natural/comfortable with, things will get back on track. But it’s long since past time that we stop trying to use players that either aren’t good enough, or don’t suit the position.
The formation is fine, the manager is fine, many of the players are fine (after all, they’ve more trophies than Arteta’s Arsenal). It’s the gaps that are the problem.
Badwolf
READ: Ten Manchester United moves for Ruben Amorim’s perfect January transfer window
Should we just accept it’s WWE?
Imagine there was a referee who had blatantly and inexplicably misused VAR to change a result just a few short weeks ago, resulting in a manager losing his job. A decision which has roundly been criticised by pundits, referees and fans alike. Imagine that same referee last season, in a moment of pique, chose to for the first and only time in his career issue two yellow cards and a red for dissent in less than 2 seconds.
Now imagine those two unprecedented, questionable-to-the-point-of-bias, high-profile decisions were made against the same team!
Surely the PGMOL would understand that it’s best to keep him out of the spotlight for the arguably the largest rivalry in the league, which features one of those teams?
Or, shall we just acknowledge narrative is king, and for the bantz get him in there?
Ryan, Bermuda
A response to Calum, Scotland
PS Had Sir Alex retired in 2002 as planned – or at any point in the early-mid ’00s – I’m quite certain Martin O’Neill would have been chosen as his successor and regardless of what Sir Alex achieved in his later years, I don’t doubt Man Utd would today be in a far stronger position had that happened.
Calum, either you are too young to remember what happened or really should do some reading/revise your position based on facts.
1) Fergie decided not to retire partly because Utd were planning on replacing him with Sven Goran Erikson who had signed a contract. I think we can safely say Utd’s current predicament would have happened 11 years previously had Fergie retired in 2002
2) Fergie was probably the greatest manager of all time. There was no one (including Oneill) who would have been as good as having Fergie for another 11 years.
Thank your lucky stars and don’t revisit history in such an obtuse way.
Rojapy
Plausible conspiracy theory?
1. Sir Jim offered to buy Man U for $5-6 bil.
Glazers rebuff, “nothing doing”.
2. Sir Jim offers to invest $2bil in return for 25% control AND manage the club affairs.
Glazers happily pocket Jim’s money.
3. Sir Jim proceeds to do an Elon-Musk-on-Twitter/X, driving Man U’s share prices to the ground. To induce the Glazers to panic sell to Sir Jim.
4. If share prices tank by 25% from 8 bil to 6 bil, Jim gets to pay 2bil (25% initial) + 75% of 6 bil = 6.5 bil.
If share prices tank by 50% from 8 bil to 4 bil, Jim gets to pay 2bil (25%) + 75% of 4 bil = 5 bil!
Voila! Sir Jim’s insidious / nefarious plan to takeover Man U on the cheap! The further Man U’s prices drop, the cheaper it is for Sir Jim to buy the club!
Either that, or he’s just another financier who s*cks at football management but thinks he knows better 🙂
Gab YNWA
Away-days ahoy
Halfway point of the season and enough has been written about Bournemouth so here’s a slightly more offbeat review of the away days I’ve had so far. I didn’t go to Liverpool, Aston Villa or Wolves.
1) Nottingham Forest. Middle of the summer holidays so made a weekend of it. The ground is in a great location but other than the Trent Bridge Inn (Wetherspoons) the pubs are a bit of a walk. Home fans arriving by boat is a wrinkle you don’t see in many other places and their pyro adds quite a bit to the day.
There is a bit of resentment between the two sets of fans so it does feel a bit hostile round the ground, but walking under the Trent End is quite atmospheric. Inside, the beer is ok and the corner allocated to away fans wraps quite a long way round so the view isn’t bad. Good acoustics and one of the relatively few grounds where home fans are in the tier above us.
Late equaliser for Bournemouth, at the time we are faintly disappointed but time has shown that an away draw at Forest is a good point. Chris Wood is as annoying as ever; I don’t really get Mull of Kintyre as entry music but the Forest fans are louder than when we’ve been before. Food after in the town, not a bad weekend away.
2) Everton. Still the holidays so stay with relatives nearby. I’ve written about Goodison before, it is crumbling and there aren’t many good views but I love it. The houses of Gwladys Street look onto the big blank blue wall of the stand, it is hard to imagine the area without the stadium. The new one down by the docks looks sensational but this place still retains some magic. Locals are very friendly and the pubs are average. Worth spending some time in the city centre beforehand if you want pubs though, loads of character here.
Food in the away end isn’t great and nor is the view. Worst loos in the league too (although Palace have been known to be big players here and we haven’t been there yet). For most of the game Everton are dominant and there’s a real noise after their second goal. But after we score the whole place flips and by the time Sinisterra heads the winner less than ten minutes later we are bouncing. No safe standing here so a bit daunting for the very young or less mobile; I end up several rows from where we started.
3) Leicester. We always go to a pub next door to the cricket ground as they let us park for free. It’s not the most visually appealing pub but very friendly. Check out the view of the cricket field from the upstairs function room. When we first came here it was the last day of the season so we watched an hour of the County Championship before going to the match.
It is one of the easier non-London games to get to from Bournemouth so we always day trip this one. Around the ground is ok, always feel they could do a bit more with the fanzone. Inside, the stadium is a bit meh. One of those identikit places like Southampton or Swansea which doesn’t really lend itself to a great atmosphere. Best described as ‘functional’. OK beer though.
View is not great from the corner, always go higher up here. Bournemouth dominate but lose to a fairly straightforward first half goal, at the time we thought it a turning point for Cooper but clearly not.
4) Brentford. I really like this stadium, if and when Cherries build a new one I hope it is like this. Just a shame the home fans are pretty quiet despite the bonkers games they have had this year. More McCartney stuff here with Hey Jude, I don’t like it.
Staff are very good here and the sausage roll was good. I drive for this one so no beer, parking in Chiswick is a good option if you want food and drink before or after. Fascinating contrasts from the away end, the ground is almost swallowed up by swanky new flats developments but at the other end of the ground four very sombre concrete tower blocks loom; a few lights on still indicating the odd tenants remain.
Bournemouth lose again; this is another low-key rivalry but unlike Forest we are definitely on the wrong side of this one. Before kickoff I categorically state that Mbeumo is the player I dislike most in the league, by the end of this one I grudgingly praise him, by the time of writing this I think he might be one of the best players outside the ‘elite’ clubs.
5) Ipswich. The only ground in the PL I hadn’t been to before this season. Loved it. A long way from anywhere but we day trip it. M25 is rubbish but better than the trains which prevent some of our fans reaching it at all. Easy to park then visit one of the few ‘away only’ pubs; the Railway Hotel. A great atmosphere here and less than ten minutes from the ground. I’ve got a supporters guide from 1996 which recommends this place for fans; nearly 30 years on and this is fully endorsed.
Inside the stadium, we are on the side which is rare. High up the view is good and the acoustics are ok. The wall to wall Ed Sheeran stuff is a bit weird frankly – surely some other businesses might also be interested in sponsorship? The whole place feels a bit like a vanity project.
Ipswich aren’t much good, I’ve seen Delap and Hutchinson previously in the England U21s game at Dean Court and I’m not too impressed with either. This persists here, Delap spends too much time diving and backchatting to be really effective. But it takes us a long time – and a goalkeeping error – to get going and while the late win is well received it is far from our best performance.
6) Manchester United. When I was a kid, this was ‘the place’. Walls of noise, vertical stands and horrendously intimidating. Now, it compares unfavourably with almost everywhere else. We are fortunate enough to meet friends in the Hotel Football next door before the game; this is worth a visit but like everything else Man U be prepared for swathes of ‘football tourists’ here. Like them or not, this is a part of the game, away supporters are often met with minor disbelief by them.
The ground itself, let’s be honest, is dated. Even Dean Court has proper screens; the scoreboard on the Stretford End is about the same size as the overpriced sausage rolls which – like everything else – they run out of before kickoff. This game is the week after Ineos have downgraded stewards’ T&Cs and they are mostly surly and unhelpful. The stadium regulations (bags etc.) have always been the most draconian and they are enforced rigorously. Don’t make a joke or you can expect a long wait to get in.
On the positive side, routine 3-0 win for Bournemouth against a team that look about as jaded as the stadium itself. The view isn’t that bad from our corner and a decent noise can be made. Aided when its bouncing off 10000 empty seats long before full time. One wag in our row ‘last time I saw this place this empty was last season….and the time before that was when we were evacuated’.
7) Fulham. A highlight. Even in the hinterland between Christmas and New Year, loads of food and drink options nearby and once you’ve negotiated the Lego flyover at the Hogarth roundabout parking is fairly easy. But you don’t need the food options nearby as the pies and hotdogs in the weird ‘mixed’ stand at the Putney End are brilliant. Loads of beer options too. The stand feels vaguely temporary when you go out onto it, the steps aren’t all the same height so someone always falls over. But the view is good and while Fulham fans are generally fairly quiet we can make a decent noise.
There is unrest among home fans about ticket prices here, the big empty areas in the new Riverside stand bear witness to this. The whole place feels a bit more ‘middle class’ than most other football grounds, the Cottage has some tasteful Christmas decorations on it and even the pies come in a holder! Dango Ouattara, the dictionary definition of a cult hero, scores an outrageous dinked late equaliser and everyone goes home happy. Not many games where we can be back in Bournemouth before 8 from a 3pm kickoff so this one is near the top of the list.
Andy J, Bournemouth
