*Official* English Football Season 2013-14

[grecian]

Obviously Aaron Davies goal is brilliant, but the first one is pretty good, for this level too.

 

[Cevno]

Think, i read somewhere Arsenal have the same number of points or 1 less from the same set of fixtures as they did last season.

Though, tbf they did go on a pretty good run 2nd half of last season too.

 

[Cevno]

Southampton pressed and passed much better than United but they weren't creating much with all the pressure. Their goal was pure Sunday league stuff, it's really embarrassing for the coaching staff that the team keeps conceding like that. Good example of the flaw with man marking too.

Didn't think their Passing was much better. Pressing yes and it really troubled the 2 of Fellaini and Rooney particularly and to a lesser extent Carrick.

They play such a high tempo game, that i thought United's tactics and starting lineup was pretty good trying to pick them up on counters and getting behind their high line. Though possession play could have been better, despite that United had pretty much 80-90% of the highlight moments.

Substitutions and finishing really let us down though when they were tiring and limiting the pressing in the 2nd half. Really should have brought on players to hit them on the counter better with pace with the game stretched even more instead of Smalling, Giggs and Welbeck (who is pacy but lacks composure when countering quickly.)

 

[Uppercut]

I think that's too reactive. At home you generally want to play to your own strengths rather than worrying about adjusting for the other team, especially when they're Southampton. Playing on the counter means withstanding a lot of pressure and we already knew from every other time we've tried it this season that our defence isn't good enough to do that.

We did create much better chances but still not as much as you would like in a game like Southampton at home, and the one goal we did score was offside. In no way did we deserve the win and I think Moyes's tactics once again have to take a lot of the blame for a bad result.

 

[GIMH]

Arsenal goals have been uploaded to a popular video Site:

 

[Furball]

I think that's too reactive. At home you generally want to play to your own strengths rather than worrying about adjusting for the other team, especially when they're Southampton. Playing on the counter means withstanding a lot of pressure and we already knew from every other time we've tried it this season that our defence isn't good enough to do that.

We did create much better chances but still not as much as you would like in a game like Southampton at home, and the one goal we did score was offside. In no way did we deserve the win and I think Moyes's tactics once again have to take a lot of the blame for a bad result.

I think come the end of the season a draw at home to Southampton is going to look better than it does right now.

 

[Furball]

Yeah Arsenal's fixtures haven't been the toughest. Chelsea might actually be in slightly better shape on two points less but having already gone to United, Spurs and Everton.

Yeah, Chelsea look ominous given their fixture list and the fact that they haven't been playing that brilliantly.

 

[grecian]

Looked a decent match, fiorentina-Juve, particularly for ex man-u players.

I was watching Annika Becks nipples at the time, because I haven't got BTsport.

 

[Furball]

**** me Spurs are spawny gits.

 

[Cevno]

I think that's too reactive. At home you generally want to play to your own strengths rather than worrying about adjusting for the other team, especially when they're Southampton. Playing on the counter means withstanding a lot of pressure and we already knew from every other time we've tried it this season that our defence isn't good enough to do that.

We did create much better chances but still not as much as you would like in a game like Southampton at home, and the one goal we did score was offside. In no way did we deserve the win and I think Moyes's tactics once again have to take a lot of the blame for a bad result.

I disagree that you have to go gung ho every game, especially when in a slump after the International break. Southampton are a good side and they just had conceded 2 goals before yesterday. Also they play a certain pressing system against which we usually struggle against.

Thought the tactics worked pretty well for the first 60 minutes given the poor performances by Rooney and Fellaini. Control and passing could have been better but we created decent number of chances.

As for the goal it was a 50-50 decision. Very marginal, if he was offside really. Beyond that there was a red card appeal similar to Suarez vs Newcastle when Nani was pulled back by Shaw. Many chances including the 2 shots that hit the bar. And also a penalty shout late on Rafael in terms of marginal decisions.


Seemed to me that they had tired out after the 60th/65th minute mark and the game was stretched. The substitutions then invited them on by dropping deep instead of bringing on more pace and attacking options to exploit them on the counter.

I think that was the mistake by Moyes that cost us more than the starting 11 or Initial tactics. (Rooney's role being more roaming is the only thing that could have been different in the starting lineup.)

Was a better performance overall than last season at Home against Southampton anyway.

 

[Cevno]

Spurs hit Villa with a sucker punch on the Counter.

Good work by Paulinho again.

 

[sledger]

Not beating a team like Southampton at home is a bad result for a team that has title serious ambitions, whichever way you slice it. Southampton are by no means a bad side, but in my opinion a top 4 side should always aim to win all of their home matches. Drawing at home against a side that will probably finish mid-table somewhere is definitely a case of 2 points dropped rather than 1 point gained in my view.

 

[Cevno]

Yeah, definitely 2 points dropped. Especially at Home.

 

[sledger]

As for Arsenal not playing anyone good, it's worth bearing in mind that they made mincemeat of Napoli and won away to Marseille, as well as beating Spurs.

Neither Spurs or Marseille are particularly strong teams, one might argue, but the pressure on Arsenal when going into these games was considerable. That they performed well and won both matches says a lot about the team's character at least.

 

[Furball]

Not beating a team like Southampton at home is a bad result for a team that has title serious ambitions, whichever way you slice it. Southampton are by no means a bad side, but in my opinion a top 4 side should always aim to win all of their home matches. Drawing at home against a side that will probably finish mid-table somewhere is definitely a case of 2 points dropped rather than 1 point gained in my view.

A draw with Spurs or Liverpool wouldn't be viewed as a disaster and I think Southampton will definitely be in the mix with them come the end of the season.

I'm not saying it's a good result or anything, just that it won't seem as bad as it does now.

 

[sledger]

I suppose it's the context of the result that makes it look (probably) worse than it is. If Utd were top of the league then this would be put down as just one of those things, but as this was a game they really could have done with winning, it's looks like a bad one.

A draw with Liverpool or Spurs wouldn't be a disaster, I agree. But I still think these are games that any title-challenging team would be be looking to win.

 

[Uppercut]

I disagree that you have to go gung ho every game, especially when in a slump after the International break. Southampton are a good side and they just had conceded 2 goals before yesterday. Also they play a certain pressing system against which we usually struggle against.

Playing your own game doesn't mean "going gung ho", whatever that is. It just means playing to your own strengths rather than trying to negate your opponents'. United have two excellent but not particularly fast strikers, quality attacking full backs, good distribution from Carrick and a bit of creativity from the wings. On the other hand, they've been making a lot of mistakes in their own box, getting overrun in midfield and struggling to defend set pieces. The problem with Moyes's tactics was that by trying so hard to play to Southampton's weaknesses, he also played to our own.

 

[sledger]

Bad Luck For Harry Redknapp - Hit In The Head With The Ball & Goes On To Concede Immediately - YouTube

 

[Pothas]

What a goal that was.

 

[Nate]

Yeah, wow Fulham.