BoxRec

Will be the first team to end the gunners unbeaten record

Arsenal will fall short at No.50.

It isnt even the end of September and Fergies lads are getting wrote off-unbelievable. Every top team normally has a blip in the season and it must be better at the start of the season for united as they now have a lot of there big game players back and i can see them creaping back into contetion sooner than people think.

Never write off Alex Ferguson.

Man Utd fans should just bear a few things in mind.

This Arsenal team is not Newcastle or Blackburn, they won't dramatically fall away. They'll obviously suffer defeats, but they're not going to be caught if they get a distance in front.

Man Utd don't have the team they once had. Keane is in the twilight of his career, as is Giggs, and maybe Scholes. The squad players aren't good enough. Djemba, Kleberson, Fortune, and Phil Neville shouldn't be playing for a club that has title ambitions.

Fergie is on his last legs. It sticks in my throat to say it, but he has been a truely great manager. He's built two fantastic sides, but i think it's a bridge too far to build a third. Over the last few years mistakes have crept in, with increasing regularity. Both in the transfer market, and tactically. I'm not saying the guy is finished, he's just coming to the end.

Yes, it's too early to write a team off, especially one that has so many top class players, but seven points is already starting to look ominous.

I think Man Utd will push Arsenal very close.

Howard
Neville
Heinz
Silvestre
Ferdinand
Keane
Ronaldo
Scholes
Van Nistel
Rooney
Giggs

Looks pretty damn impressive to me.

And lets judge Kleberson adn Djemba Djemba this season, remember Edu and Gilberto took two years to settle.

It does look impressive, but there is more to football than the first eleven. A few injuries and Utd could be back to playing Fortune at full back, or Phil Neville in the centre midfield.

I could be wrong, but wasn't Kleberson signed part way through Gilberto's first season. So he's had as amost as long as Gilberto to settle. Kleberson's just not the player he was reputed to be.

Howard/Carroll
Neville/Neville
Heinz
Silvestre
Ferdinand
Keane/Miller/DjembaDjemba
Ronaldo/Fletcher
Scholes/Kleberson
Van Nistel/Smith
Rooney/Saha
Giggs/Fortune

Looks OK to me.

DavidPayne wrote:Howard/Carroll
Neville/Neville
Heinz
Silvestre
Ferdinand
Keane/Miller/DjembaDjemba
Ronaldo/Fletcher
Scholes/Kleberson
Van Nistel/Smith
Rooney/Saha
Giggs/Fortune

Looks OK to me.

Keepers are both mistake prone, particularly Howard, who seems to be a confidence player.
Defence looks solid, especially with Brown, and O'Shea as cover. Not much else there if there's injuries and suspensions though.
Midfield. Problems, problems, problems. Keane isn't the player he was, and will suffer should he play two games a week. The cover for him is not good enough for a title challenge. Fletcher has lots to learn, Miller isn't that good, and i've already given my thoughts on Djemba and Kleberson.
Strikers are excellent, although i still have concerns about Smith's goal getting, and Rooney still has something to prove in the premiership.

Another problem is Fergie doesn't see it like you. It's Fortune at full back and Phil Neville in midfield for him. Neither are good enough to play in either position.

ManU has the biggest problems in midfield, where a creative player with the skills of Mrs. Beckham is missing most. this is the main reason why they are no top team anymore in England and Europe. Chelsea and Arsenal have done a lot for their midfield the last years.

Keepers are both mistake prone, particularly Howard, who seems to be a confidence player.

Not sure if you've noticed but all keepers are confidence players....

007 wrote:

Keepers are both mistake prone, particularly Howard, who seems to be a confidence player.

Not sure if you've noticed but all keepers are confidence players....

No, they're not. Howard makes a mistake and you can see it worry him for the whole match, causing him to make even more mistakes, and generally look quite shakey. The really good keepers make the one mistake and are able to put it behind them. Schmeichal was a good example of this, if he made one error he wouldn't go to pieces, and you could put your money on him playing a blinder for the rest of the game.

Bur Schmiechal was one of the best five goalkeepers of all time!

1 - Shilton
2 - Schmiechal
3 - Banks
4 - Jennings
5 - Dasaev

glittermonkey wrote:

007 wrote:

Keepers are both mistake prone, particularly Howard, who seems to be a confidence player.

Not sure if you've noticed but all keepers are confidence players....

No, they're not. Howard makes a mistake and you can see it worry him for the whole match, causing him to make even more mistakes, and generally look quite shakey. The really good keepers make the one mistake and are able to put it behind them. Schmeichal was a good example of this, if he made one error he wouldn't go to pieces, and you could put your money on him playing a blinder for the rest of the game.

Trust me all keepers are confidence players, having been one myself can vouch for that.

I see what you're getting at but thats mental weakness on Howards part as much as confidence. The best keepers are the mentally strong ones who can block out mistakes, Schmeichel was one of the best at that.

Thats why keepers go through the crisis', Dudek last season, Barthez went through it at Man Utd. Once a keepers confidence goes its very hard to get out of hence why they go through bad patches.

I didnt explain that very well but I know what I mean. ;)

DavidPayne wrote:Bur Schmiechal was one of the best five goalkeepers of all time!

1 - Shilton
2 - Schmiechal
3 - Banks
4 - Jennings
5 - Dasaev

Good list.

Banks
Yashin
Zoff
Shilton
Schmiechal

... for me. Then again, Shilton's legacy is irrevocably damage for any Argyle fan (the fat, gambling-addicted pudendum... )

Ronaldo is the best player in the premiership.

dont pick on howard, (f*ck, p*ss w*nk,) he has tourettes, (p*ss arse bum), its not his f*cking fault

jonhs not mad, funniest thing Ive ever seen on tv, I had to tape over it (after Id watched it 17 times.)

poor bloke but funny all the same, I love the way they put a bloke with tourettes in the most difficult of circumstances and film him, like a bloody library.

i mean if that aint a a set up i dunno what was.

J wrote:jonhs not mad, funniest thing Ive ever seen on tv, I had to tape over it (after Id watched it 17 times.)

poor bloke but funny all the same, I love the way they put a bloke with tourettes in the most difficult of circumstances and film him, like a bloody library.

That was on just a few months after I'd met my fiancee. She wanted to watch it, so I made excuses to stay out of the room. I knew I'd laugh despite myself, and I didn't want to ruin my sensative, caring image. I walked into the room to find her laughing like a drain an knew I'd found 'the one'!

indeed, tho deep down it must be terrible for the lad, the happy ending is he seems to hsave made a decent go of his life and had a job and decent mates around him.

Credit to him it cant have been easy. Not only that he is a hero to schoolkids and purile minded folk like myself around the world!!!


big for John.

he also had a decent sense of humour and learned to have a laugh at himself as I recall, doubel

Maybe West Bromwich Albion will end Arsenals run? That I'd like to see.

I thought Man U`s new signing played well last night...Graham Poll...nothing changes....