Official Premier League 2009/10 thread

[Lord Nibbler]

Darren Fletcher is awesome, who would have thought he'd go on to be such a crucial player when he first started out here?.

I think he's won everyone round. Wasn't that long ago fans used to refer to him as "The Scottish Player" rather than speak his name.

He's improved a lot physically, too. Which is good, because there are a couple of young players at the club now that could do with bulking up.

[Sam]

Certainly rode our luck today, it seemed like we couldn't string a good passing sequence together for most of the match. Also am I the only one that noticed Giggs had a really poor game? I was surprised he wasn't subbed as nothing seemed to stick with him today. Hoping that we go 4-4-2 against Spurs with Berba and Rooney up top, I think they could be a fantastic pairing but they need more playing time. I can understand why Fergie went for 3 in midfield, 2 out wide and one up top but let's be honest it really didn't work just like it didn't in the CL final against Barca. Would rather see us switch to 4-4-2 and adapt it to our needs ala Chelsea who are playing well albeit against Burnley at the Bridge. Nonetheless you can't help but be happy at 3 points off Arsenal even if we didn't play anywhere near our best.

[Lord Nibbler]

Giggs was shocking right up until he created both goals. So I guess it's a good job that he didn't get subbed off.

I can understand the 4-3-3 against top teams with dominant midfields, but at home, against an Arsenal midfield missing Fabregas, we should have stuck with 4-4-2.

And if we are going to play with three in the middle, it needs to be Fletcher, Carrick and Anderson. And they all need to be on form.

EDIT:

Edited August 29, 2009 by Lord Nibbler

[Dynamite]

Delighted with the three points today even if the performance wasn't very encouraging. I am still worried about how our midfield will cope against the stronger opposition this season. Carrick was completely anonymous today and Giggs was also pretty terrible with the exception of the two touches of the ball that lead to the goals. Fletcher, however, was outstanding today and was the real bright spot of the performance. A 4-3-3, especially without Ronaldo anymore, does leave us without a big enough goal threat and we will get found out sooner or later if we persist with it in the big games especially since the three in the middle don't stamp their authority on the game enough. These upcoming matches against Spurs and City are arguably going to be bigger tests than Arsenal and should provide answers as to how prepared the team is to defend the title. Hopefully Anderson will get a chance in the middle during one of these games. He was the player the midfield was really missing today.

[Darloboy]

Wenger standing up there with the fans near the end was brilliant.

[Pesci]

Agreed. Rebellious Wenger made my day

[Big Red Fury]

Rooney was definitely fouled but I wonder what all of your opinions are on penalty calls when the ball is never going to be reached if the player doesn't go down? We've all seen instances in the past when a player just hammers the ball right before coming into contact, which had it been avoided would have seen a goal kick. What do you all make of that?

[RatedR]

Arsenal were clearly the better team,but got ass raped by that effin referee c*nt!No foul against Arshavin,6 yellow cards and Fletcher got none,Rooney clearly dived and then the disallowed goal(yeah it was an offside but we were so badly raped the whole game we deserved that goal).That's why the whole world hates Man United-the champions of England.Yeah Evra, it was clearly "men against boys"....And respect to Wenger,he was a GIANT!

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Oooooh I know, let's send O'Hara on loan to Portsmouth until January because Modric is so awesome that we surely don't need cover....

....Oh wait, Modric got injured the day after the deal and will be out with a broken leg until January. Hmmm.

[Baddar]

Rooney was definitely fouled but I wonder what all of your opinions are on penalty calls when the ball is never going to be reached if the player doesn't go down? We've all seen instances in the past when a player just hammers the ball right before coming into contact, which had it been avoided would have seen a goal kick. What do you all make of that?

I guess in most cases, the penalty will be given, simply because all the attacking player is doing is drawing the foul, just like he would if he was running past a defender in the box, knocking the ball forward. There was no way Rooney was scoring after he knocked it past Almunia, which is why it was a yellow card, not a red.

Fletcher was lucky not to give away a penalty. He did get the ball, but one angle showed him getting a significant chunk of Arshavin as well. And despite the fact Foster should've saved the shot for said player's goal, which to be honest looked better than it was, I still love me some Arshavin.

It's not often United play badly for most of the game and still win a "grand slam" match, so all is good. I just hope we can follow it up with wins against Spurs and City. Not going to be easy at all. Spurs at WHL is normally an easy 3 points for United, but that won't be the case this time around, and any team will find it tough beating City this season.

[Scott McFly]

God almighty, I cannot stand Sky pundits. Jamie Redknapp thinks Joleon Lescott is getting on a bit being 28 when he's actually literally just turned 27 and Andy Gray thinks Man City finished 6th last season. They were 10th.

[Baddar]

Andy Gray is so over-rated by Sky Sports.

Can't stand the bloke.

[Turbo Yannis]

28 is apparently old?

These people have obviously never met Davie Weir.

[IAceI]

My opinion the Arsenal/Man Utd match;

- It was a good game, but neither was particularly good to their own standards - but still enjoyable to watch.

- Rooney went down far too easily, knew exactly what he was doing but the minimal contact will still mean it was a penalty, but a very very soft one. Bold move given whats happened the past week but at the end of the day it was a penalty, just.

- Arshavin is amazing. He's phenomenal. And good on him to turn around after being turned down a clear penalty, just get the ball and thump it into the goal, made it all right in the end and he's just a great player.

- Arsenal deserved to win more than Man Utd, my opinion but I think a draw would have also been fair - didn't particularly think Man Utd deserved to win but that's football and they got out with the win in the end.

- Arsene Wenger was quality for what he did at the end and fair play to the majority of Man Utd fans who laughed and applauded it. The fat bitch trying to insult him just looked like a fat bitch, and if Man Utd fans see that and still think "Ugh what a twat" and can't just laugh and smile at it, then you're pretty blinkered. All the Man Utd fans around me laughed at it so it seemed to go down quite well.

- Nani's one ball to Berbatov at the end seems to have saved him from a lynching from most fans around me. Despite it's brilliance I still laughed off his particularly poor ability to cross a ball so it actually gets passed the first player.

Was an enjoyable match without either team being particularly good, a surprise when any of the big four play each other. Hopefully another couple of entertaining matches today during bank holiday.

[Hobo]

I've pretty much accepted that the Sky pundits on the whole are somewhat retarded. The BBC pundits are boring, and the RTE pundits are bitter old men and the occasional Kenny Cunningham.

[alldaws1]

Oooooh I know, let's send O'Hara on loan to Portsmouth until January because Modric is so awesome that we surely don't need cover....

....Oh wait, Modric got injured the day after the deal and will be out with a broken leg until January. Hmmm.

Spurs website says Luka can be back in training in six weeks. It's not one of those bad leg breaks, doesn't need surgery or anything. If he can be back as quickly as that then maybe Keane/Bentley/Dos Santos will be fine covering there but we're going to miss his creativity, that's for sure.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Hmmm Tevez just showed how a true "pro" dives. Michael Brown goes in with a solid foot, Tevez cuts over his leg and falls over. Wins the freekick and it was only in slow motion that it showed that Brown made no contact. Of course Howard Webb fell for it but Brown was awesome just telling him "You know it was a dive...."

Basically I agree with any hard stance with regards to diving. It's a big girlie thing to do and even worse is cheating - girlie cheating that does nothing positive for how people see the modern game.

[Adam]

feel sorry for Wigan, but at the same time am delighted that Everton got the win. Wigan really messed up that counter-attack moments before, I think they could've done better when it was essentially 5-on-2. Ah well.

[Darloboy]

God almighty, I cannot stand Sky pundits. Jamie Redknapp thinks Joleon Lescott is getting on a bit being 28 when he's actually literally just turned 27 and Andy Gray thinks Man City finished 6th last season. They were 10th.

Sky pundits in talking absolute shite SHOCKA. They're laughable at times.

And I hate this "Grand Slam" match rubbish as well.

[Dont Fear The Reaper]