Arsenality chats to 'When the Seagulls...' PART I
Top Arsenal blogger, Dave of www.Arsenality.com, has been awesome enough to talk to his fellow, yet enemy of a cockney about Sundays 3-1 defeat to us; looking at what went wrong for the Gooners; what is wrong with in general; the situation over in the England camp...and United's horrible little owners...
When the Seagulls Follow the Trawler: So quite simply, what went wrong last Sunday? From seemingly improving on last May’s non-show when you came to Old Trafford at the start of the season, to this…?
Dave: A few things went wrong. Clichy's just come back from injury, and didn't look anything like his usual self - he's usually very nippy and tidy in the challenge, but he hasn't yet regained fitness and just couldn't cope with Nani's pace. We were certainly missing a big (ie. taller than a pint glass) striker, although had Arshavin made the right decisions in the first half we would almost certainly have gone a goal up, and it might have been a different story.
We missed Robin van Persie dearly, and he is someone who has a good history against United. With Vidic out of the picture, he would have impressed. He's a great finisher and an intelligent target man, and on his day he can bring out the best in both Fabregas and Arshavin.
However, there's no doubting a few things went right for United. Fabregas was marked out of the game for long periods - which takes some doing - and Rooney was clinical as ever. Although the move for the second goal was helped along by some poor positioning on our part, his run up the pitch was pretty bloody impressive and he took his finish expertly. Also, going back to

Dave: Robin seemed to have put the fitness problems behind him and had become a massive player for us during the year or so before that injury. He is the right kind of striker for our system - aside from being one of our thousands of creative playmaking forwards, he is deceptively strong and can deal with tough centre-backs, and can play with his back to goal far more effectively than Adebarndoor ever could. Plus, he's got a true striker's eye for goal and, unlike many of our attacking players, isn't afraid to smash them in from distance.
I think his absence made a considerable difference against
WtSFtT: You claimed in your post-match report that for our opener ‘
Dave: Clichy isn't a bad player, far from it - he's actually been one of my favourites over the last few years. But he has been disappointing since he came back from injury, and I couldn't bear watching him endure such a torrid time against Ashley Young and Nani last week when I know what he's capable of. I expect him to return to form soon, because he has been a great player for us and his Mr. Reliable tag was well deserved before he started picking up injuries again.
Nani hasn't had the best time at United, and while there's no doubting he's capable of the odd moment of brilliance - ie. embarrassing us with that seal dribble a couple of years ago - at 23 he should have shown more consistency by now.
WtSFtT: How do you feel about the remainder of the season now? What are you realistic, achievable goals?
Dave: I'm still optimistic.
Fixtures against the non-elite, physical teams used to be our undoing, but it seems as though we've finally reversed the trend and have started taking these opportunities. As we have the easiest of the three run-ins on paper, I can see us at the very least making up any lost ground at the end of the season. It will be tough, but the title isn't out of our reach.
Our only other possible target now is the Champions League - a massive challenge, but we have shown promising signs in recent years. Some might think it's an unrealistic goal, but our style has become well suited to European matches and we've avoided the biggest teams in the draw for the second round.
WtSFtT: You're right about Chelsea missing their opportunity. I completely agree that the weekends result now doesn't appear so bad for you, and if you can get some points against them on Sunday, then it'll be completely open again. So on that note, who do you reckon will win the league?
Dave: Before the season started, me and some mates put together a prediction pool, and my money was on
But I think I underestimated how United would bounce back from losing Ronaldo, and they may well prove me wrong. I also thought Giggs and Scholes would finally start to fade this season and maybe the likes of
Although we have had a good season so far and have perhaps surprised a few people, the injuries could hold us back yet again. Robin van Persie was a terrible blow, and losing Gibbs and Djourou for the season could hurt us later if
I think we've still got a good chance, but out of our two rivals I will have to be a pain and pick
Also I think
I would prefer United to win any honours over
Read Part II Tomorrow...
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