chamotex:

You dont get it.
There is a reason why long term absentees dont start games.
The tempo at the start of games is far too high compared to the latter stages of games.
No one knows what could have happened . . . . but you are taking a bigger risk starting a player that hasnt started for over 2 years.
And Fergie also played him at the right side of midfield rather than a DM position that wouldnt give him mich to do.
Fergie took a big risk and it failed . . . . .simple!

hargo's hamstring was inevitable. this lad hasn't played in 2 years. the chances of him getting hamstrung is 95%. michael owen missed playing for 5 weeks and got hamstrung in his first training session. i am positive hargo will play again as long as it's not his knees that got troubled. players get hamstrung every now and then. it's part and parcel of the game.

dominique:

What a save from cech!!!

he's been chelsea's best player. there's no creativity in the midfield and chelsea's strikers have lacked good service all night.

nateevs:


Don't be a chump . . . This was your earlier quote.


chelsea have failed every big test they have encountered this season. loss at city, losing at liverpool. not looking good.

i apologize for overestimating your fluency in english language, but losing at city and losing at liverpool suggest i was talking about away games. how can you lose at liverpool at stamford bridge? what is your iq if i may ask?  i simply stated chelsea have lost all their tests playing away from home and you brought arsenal game into it. nateevs, you need rehabilitation. if you don't know the difference between losing to and losing at then you are not worthy to have a football debate with.

cabali:

I think he is worse than that

worse than a fool but better than the sex cells that made you, so what does that make you? a twinkling lummox.

Yemming:


dont mind dat big fool,

the name you call everyone older than you in your household. how smart!

nateevs:

But they are not in the top six; so how on earth do they qualify as a stiff test?
You never use "top six" for Arsenal. . .More like "top four" every single season.
Yet Liverpool are a stiff test and Arsenal are not.

And Bros, last time I checked Blackpool are a newly promoted team and they beat Liverpool at home.
You've got to laugh at this guy.

stop getting confused. my claim was chelsea have failed every big test and i used city and liverpool as examples(being away games for chelsea), you charged like a ram to rubbish the claim that you have beaten arsenal. did you beat arsenal at the emirates? you thumped arsenal at stamford bridge - and a team like chelsea should be beating arsenal. chelsea have more resources - there's nothing unusual in chelsea beating arsenal at stamford bridge.


back to the game,

chelsea lack creativity in the middle. zhirkov, mikel and ramirez have 0 goals in the premier league. chelsea's gaffer should alter the formation. the 4-3-3 band system is not working at all as liverpool are sitting back and defending in numbers.

OMO IBO:

Abeg, make una ignore cougar.
It is either he knows nothing about football or the tart is trying to wind pple up.

omo ibo? by the time i slap your face with sweaty palms, you will become omo urhobo. what a loser!

cabali:

Okay, we agree; you know football so well!

Happy now?

Then get the hell off this thread and let mature minds think!!

mature mind? i hope to zeus you are not referring to your royal dumbness as a mature mind?

cabali:

He has manure mixed with water instead of brains

just like you have stale semen mixed with dog-poo instead of brains. who calls himself cabali? a sexually-frustrated black sonofawhore!

Yemming:

i think you need to have your brains checked,  mugu

and you need to replace your brain cells with bunny batteries. you think backwards.

nateevs:


Now I know you don't know what you are talking about.
Have you watched the table lately? Do you know many games Liverpool have lost? and at home as well? Liverpool are currently 12th on the table yet they are a test and Arsenal is not. . .


Go and have a rest dude.

form is temporary, class is permanent. liverpool won't be in the 12th position after tonight's match and they have not lost to 2 newly promoted teams at anfield. with a fit torres, liverpool will comfortably be in the top six.

cabali:

You must have started watching football the first time in your life last night.

and you must have started using your brains the first time today.

nateevs:


How convenient for you to use the word "Every" when you go on and say this is the second one. Even if we lose this one, it is still inappropriate to use the word "every" . .
Unless you are saying Arsenal is not a big test.

the same arsenal that have lost twice at the emirates to newly promoted teams? arsenal is not a test at all. not even a pop quiz.

duduspace:

This team has to go and sit down and really tell themselves what they want, there are no more excuses this season. This team is good enough in terms of personel. You can't win the league if the manager has rested players during the week and the team still comes out and play like this.
It is looking very bad when Wilshere starts to look better than Cesc both in terms of urgency, ball retention and passing, early days yet but it might be better to really go all out for that Carling cup.
The only good thing (if it can really be considered good) is that the usual culprits (Diaby and Denilson) are not around to carry the can so our usual golden boys can go ahead with some soul searching. Cesc had something akin to a Diaby off day today and MC29 really could do with a little bit more selfishness, Theo (what can I say?) was only being himself, while Fabianski reverted to type (I don't like players who don't learn either from their own mistakes or others).
The only players who covered themselves with any glory today were Wilshere, Nasri and maybe Song, the defence was good and Kos was unlucky with the red.
Thoroughly bad day again at the office, what has gone wrong when we play at the emirates?
And dare I forget to credit Newcastle, they got their tactics right and stuck to their defensive duties like robots, we can't complain about this loss, it was totally of our own making just like WBA.

what happened to wenger's tactical plan of generating money and being competitive in the league? isn't this season supposed to be arsenal's best season any longer? didn't wenger compare this team to his invincibles?

nateevs:

Catastrophic error by Ashley Cole and if Ivanovic has watch Torres time and again, you know that you don't show Torres the inside of your goal.

It's not impossible to come back but with way we are playing, it's not likely.

chelsea have failed every big test they have encountered this season. loss at city, losing at liverpool. not looking good.

dayokanu:

1)Did Mor0n Chamakh playin

2)Did he won penaiti?

3)Does Bendtner dropping shoulder and aim for the top corner?

4)Do Kosoro, Was a rock of Olumo in defend.

5)Is Fabianski resembling Buffon?

6)Was Calos Fela be like Menses?

7)Didnt Abu Dhabi drimbling like Sidane?

Was Flabregas boss the midfielders.

9)Should Yorubas join Benin Republican

10)Is Arseshaving not besting thing after Hands free w@nk?

11)Is Osun state more population than Bauchi.

12)Is van r@p1st not the bestest players in the world?

13)Is Seun collect bribing from Ibo on Nairaland?

14)Key questions that require an urgent ansa

Thanks You fery mush

i am having a blast at the moment so i am going to answer these questions

1) he played but remained under colocini's panties throughout enjoying the warmth of the argentine's balls.
2) chamakh didn't touch the ball more than 4 times throughout the game and tiote didn't allow him to dive let alone, win a freekick/penalty.
3) bendtner is not better than bebe with his technique. he was poor throughout and was owned by colocini.

4) kosoro is worse than gallas. i have heard he has not lost a single tackle in his ex-clubs. well, he was given a baptism of fire by newcastle strikers.
5) fabianski ruined arsenal. caroll using his head jumped higher than fabianski using his hands. it was that pathetic.
6) carlos vela is in mexico taking care of his pigs.

7) diaby is in paris delivering messages to wenger's mistress(the french rapper). more details will follow later. . . . .
fabregas got the kaita disease. he was shambolic.
9) yorubas and benin republic in the same sentence sounds like secession. it won't happen, no more biafra blues.

10) arshavin's arse was shaved by tiote.
11) osun state will need to count goats, chickens and other animals to match bauchi state in population.
12) van rapi$t is rusty and over-rated.

13) seun and omo ibo in the same sentence reeks of tribalism.
14) i have provided the answers.
15) arsenal is shyte.

duduspace:

Do you realise that this Nani yu're making noise about here is 6 months older than Cesc Fabregas and will clock 24 this month? when we refer to youngsters at Arsenal now, we are no longer referring to the set of Cesc/Song/Denilson/Diaby who apart from Diaby are all younger than Nani. We are talking about the new generation of Wilshere/Ramsey/Lansbury/JET on the fringes of the first team. Those are the ones I'm talking about not Nani's set. Nani is no longer on the fringes, he is a main man at Manure now and all due credit to him has done good but is still some way off CR9's standard of sustained success at the top level.

and yet another truckload of idiocy. do you not know the players develop at different ages in their career. so if a player x shows signs as an early developer, does it necessarily mean he is a better player than a late bloomer? is saviola better than drogba? then you talk about ronaldo's success. how many players are better than ronaldo? ronaldo is the best player in his generation. any player better than ronaldo is the best player on the planet so stop comparing ronaldo to nani.

No one knew he would become a WPOY but only dumber's bosom buddy would have doubted him becoming world class for a player representing his country in the Euros as a teenager having represented Portugal at almost all age groups, it was obvious the ability was there, the only thing you couldn't account for was off field issues and injury problems.

theo walcott has the same credentials, he even went to a world cup at 18 but he will never be a world class player. next?

ritchboy:

Rubbish. . . What Carlos Vela can do with the ball at his feet Hernandez can't even dream of. . .

ball at his feet? 9 goals in 33 for mexico and 11 goals in 3 seasons for arsenal. vela must be magical with ball at his feet. hernandez has scored 11 goals in 20 for mexico. hernandez who joined man utd few months ago is 4 goals away from equalling all vela's efforts in 3 seasons. with the ball on vela's feet, he puts them over the bar. with hernandez, he buries them in the net.

ritchboy:

Cougar, asides talking shyt, dont you have other thing to do, such as chasing after young men?

you have probably talked the same amount of shyte the whole population of the planet has been talking in the last 500 years. hernandez and vela in the same sentence? the only common factor is the word "mexico". in terms of talent, vela is the microcosm of what hernandez is with a ball.

ritchboy:

The only one disgracing himself here is you with your moronic Vela/Bebe comparison. . .

Cos Hernandez manage score a few goals some mugus think he's the best thing since sliced akara.

Hernandez is a run-of-the-mill poacher and will never amount to anything more than that, because his technique/overall ability is very limited, compared to Vela at least.

Whether current ability or potential, Vela is light years ahead of Hernandez.

I blame Wenger for playing the boy out of position, if not you wouldnt even be making such a retarded comparison.

wum alert.

wenger knows how to spot talents.

duduspace:

New name, same attitude, it is only a Saumoronic element who would call Rosicky Arsenal's best winger this season, Rozza has been good but he is getting to that state of diminishing returns that comes with age, we only hope he finds his best form again. When Bebe starts for Portugal then you can begin to compare him with Rosicky.
If you noticed the players I mentioned rather than reading your own agenda into it, you would know I picked only those on the fringes of the first team (about to break through), no one calls Nani a youngster anymore these days as he is already 23 and a first teamer. Will Keane is as good as McEachran IMO but unfortunately cannot be fast tracked by Manure cos of those ahead of him.

yet, more sterling idiocy to display to all and sundry. nani is no longer a youngster cos he's 23, but clichy was a youngster 2 years ago(at 23). arsenal fans shift the post to suit their own agenda. nani is a youngster. when wenger had a dozen of players at 23 playing in domestic cup competitions, his excuse was he was playing kids and they lost because they were kids.

bebe has started for portugal's u-21 and has scored a goal in 2 appearances for them. he's definitely reaching for the top unlike the misfits at the emirates. on a lighter note, i heard wenger has done a rooney by cheating on his wife. i can understand rooney doing it, but arsene wenger at 61, sleeping with a girl young enough to be his grand-daughter?

mbulela:

Bebe is bad but he is still better than Carlos Vela.

without a doubt, bebe is far better than vela.
bebe has scored 2 goals in as little as 2 starts, 2 sub appearances. no one is claiming he's world class yet. just like no one knew cristiano would become world class when he joined man utd as an erratic winger.

duduspace:

@A-40

I don tell dem o, it was when they were about to start abusing my family that I left them alone. You only need to watch Bebe and Obertan for 10 mins to know which one of them can make it at the top level. Like a friend of mine says, Bebe is still at least 3 years away from PL Quality performances. Of all the attacking oriented youngsters in Manure, only Hernandez and Obertan have it in them to be exceptional, Cleverly can become a starting MF. I'm not totally convinced about Diouf and Marcheda making it but they might become steady squad players but Bebe? I can only 

but bebe has outscored arsenal's best winger(rosicky) this season. only hernandez and obertan have it in them to be exceptional and yet nani is still 23, anderson is 22, welbeck 19, mame diouf 22. there is morrison, pogba, nick ajose, william keane, etc waiting in the wings.
your uncanny ability to sprout rubbish is legendary. more power to your elbow!

rafael >>> maicon, zanetti, bale

bebe strikes again.

dang, who will take care of bebe(baby) now that nani(nanny) and mame(mummy) are away?

fletcher is better than scholes in tackling and his aerial ability makes scholes look like a toddler. scholes is obviously better than fletcher with passing, vision and creativity. the most important factor however is that fletcher has an abundance of energy to burn while scholes' energy is gone. it's no brainer, fletcher is the most important united midfielder.  nicky butt left man utd because he wanted more match appearances, same as phil neville.



Wenger Praises "virtuoso" Nani

Frenchman pays tribute to winger

The form of Manchester United’s Nani so far during the current season has resulted in him earning praise from an unlikely source, as Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has described the Portugal international’s development as “extraordinary”.

Nani has been United’s standout performer this campaign, with four goals and eight assists from 10 appearances in the Premier League, and Wenger believes that the 23-year-old is worthy of comparison with his compatriot and former Red Devils team-mate, Cristiano Ronaldo.

"He has something like that (Ronaldo) about him,” the Gunners boss said. “He is a little bit less direct in his way of playing than Ronaldo is. However, he is technically a virtuoso and has remarkable speed.

"I'm very impressed by Nani. I like what he is doing. He has individual quality in one-on-ones, but he has improved a lot in his team play and in front of goal. He has started scoring goals with both feet, and is a great crosser of the ball.

“Personally I think he has developed his game in an extraordinary way.”

and to think some man utd fans wanted nani out some twelve months ago even makes this amusing. it has been reiterated here time and time again that nani is ronaldo's heir.

it doesn't - scholes is past it. he still plays for united because fergie is loyal to his fledglings.

debosky:

We've played without our top players and are doing ok - even if you discount TV, Cesc missed 5 games, RVP hasn't played at all.

vermaelen hasn't been missed - how many defenders can you play at a time? if you had him fit, you would say you have lost squillaci & koscielny.
cesc missed 5 games? which games? league games or carling cup. how many has rooney missed?
van persie? he has not been missed. without him, you have scored plenty of goals breaking european record and so so.

StarBoard:

Not so.Not in United,past or present.Fletcher can only dream of doing things Scholes has forgotten due to age.
Fletcher plays because Scholes is getting old.He's no longer the effective box-to-box,all-action midfielder he was two seasons ago.

scholes, neville and giggs get to play in man utd because of their names - not because of what they still offer. darren fletcher has been the best central midfielder in man utd for 2 seasons now. the team doesn't look the same without fletcher mowing everything down on the field.

dayokanu:

With a 6yrs contract ahead of him, Surely Benfica would milk anyone dry.

BTW market value counts for nothing when you have people like Man Citeh, Real and Barcelona throwing money around.

Citeh bought De Jong for 18m, whom they could have got for almost free 6months later

barcelona are debt ridden, real madrid are not far behind and man city cannot identify talents. surely, market value still counts.

contreao's market value is £10.6 million. i think he just signed his contracts with benfica when bayern came calling. it means bayern must buy out his new contract plus his market value which explains why he's price tag was £25 million. his present contract expires in june 30th 2016.

Coentrao's market value:

dayokanu:

What is the difference between Evra and fabio height-wise?

You want Coentrao? You have to part with 30million. Thats what Benfica says. For a club who is notorious for making ridiculous money off transfers just like Lyon I wont advise it. Check Di Maria, David Luiz and Coetrao prices.

evra has a massive spring on him a la tim cahill that allows him to outjump his opponents. fabio is not that experienced.

coentrao for 30 million? benfica will be lucky to sell him for 10 million. he's not being sought after - he's a rough diamond. no doubt, he is massively talented and i cannot believe no big team came for him after the world cup.

ozil can only flourish "in the hole". united will have to alter their formation to accommodate ozil. 4-3-1-2, 4-1-2-1-2, 4-4-1-1, etc.
players like ozil present a whole lot of problems to a team playing 4-4-2. this is what harry redknapp said about van der vaart weeks ago. . . . . . .

'he's good for us, but I can't lie, it makes balancing the team difficult. he's never going to stay wide when you play him there. in the end he only comes inside and plays where he wants to play. he wants to be involved so he is never going to stay out wide. it causes problems because if you play two up and van der vaart behind, what do you do with (gareth) bale? (benoit) assou-ekotto has been fantastic at left back so where would you put bale? when you have a special player you have to work at finding a way of getting the best out of him and finding a way that suits him but van der vaart gives me major selection headache'.

dayokanu:

Another trophyless season in the making.

Nothing different from previous seasons. Who knows how i can dig out Saurons graphical presentation of Arsenals season for the past 5 yrs?

this post should be bookmarked.

ha ha!
united's best midfielder isn't scholes. united's best midfielder is fletcher. i accept he has not been a ball of fire this season but he plays united's most important games more than any midfielder. whenever the media wants to spite ferguson, they say united's best players are giggs and scholes whereas nani is the most productive midfielder in britain. there's valencia, carrick, js park, etc also in the mix.

evra is gettting back to his groove and if evra gets crocked, i believe fabio is an adequate cover(but lacks height) when united faces long ball teams like bolton, stoke, blackburn, etc. united can do with a michel bastos or contreao of benfica in that position. get a midfield general like schweinsteiger and i am 100% certain united will compete with the best of them in europe.

tkb417:

  i dont even mind a Diarra

anderson is loads better than diarra. united's problem as we speak is the fact that their key midfielders are either injured or out of form. if everyone buckles up like i mentioned earlier, united don't need to sign any player - the fans should just keep praying rio + vidic + vds don't get injured this season.

tkb417:

^^
its quality we are talking about not some dead woods like Johny evans and the likes u listed

we shd get Hamsik and one DM

thats all

johnny evans is united's 6th best central defender. he is below rio, vidic, o'shea, brown and smalling. now name any club's 6th best defender better than evans in the whole premier league. that is how to know if man utd have depth or not.

deebsman1:

@COUGAR, well said.

seriously, i think saf is being criticized unfairly. he does not have to splash £100 million to prove he's got the ronaldo money. the squad is adequate if everyone buckles up. i wouldn't swap any player in the league with what united have got. fans have criticized him for not buying mesut ozil but the truth is ozil's deal was done before united fans heard about the german play-maker. his father met with real madrid officials shortly after the world cup and he wasn't ever going to come to england.

on top of that, ozil will not fit into man utd. he cannot play in a 4-4-2 formation(saf's default formation). he will screw up the balance of the team. so one can understand the reason fergie avoided sneijder, van der vaart, ozil and went for bebe, valencia and obertan. the only kind of player needed now is a strong midfielder that can play in a 2-man midfield: essien, schweinsteiger, xabi alonso, etc.

mojounited:

Ferguson: Manchester Utd won't buy in January
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=837714&sec=transfers&cc=5739

Na this kyn news wey tkb nor go like to hear
Valencia, the Owens and Rooney are all injured yet the gaffer still feels he has a strong squad; If Nani and Vidic both break down for up to a month, . . .we'd be glad to have our Carling Cup back

fergie is correct, united don't need to buy any players. on the top of my head, united can name:

                vds

rafael  ferdinand  vidic  evra

valencia scholes fletcher nani

       berbatov rooney



               kitkat

brown smalling evans fabio

park anderson carrick giggs

       chicharito owen



             amos

neville o'shea gill de laet

obertan gibson hargo/cleverley bebe

     macheda welbeck

there's depth in the squad, united don't need to buy any player in january. there's no other team in the league that can name 3 different teams that are capable of playing in a champions league game like united can.