I stand by that, Van Persie was wasted on the left wing and could not effect the match as he could do from a central position. It is the same with Eduardo, and Diaby.

Football is about scoring more and conceding less than your opponent. When you break the game down that is what you are left with. Everything else is just in between.

We are a team with no back or front, but we have the best middle.

For months we have not been scoring enough goals and we have been looking very shaky and fragile at the back. All the rest is pretty irrelevant.

Arsenal were the better team at Old Trafford for large periods just as they were at Anfield but did not manage to do enough in the final third. Emmanuel Adebayor has had a fantastic season for Arsenal so far, he was not bought as a goalscorer but has managed to step up his game and is our top goalscorer by far. Adebayor’s goalscoring form has dipped totally. He is not a natural finisher and was guilty of some woeful shooting and finishing at Old Trafford. Had Eduardo been on the pitch during that first half surely Arsenal would have been out of sight.

I said yesterday that:

I don’t like to see Van Persie wide left. I understand that Arsene wants to match his opposition and not get overrun in midfield but it takes alot of our attacking threat away from our side and makes Van Persie alot less threatening.

I stand by that, Van Persie was wasted on the left wing and could not effect the match as he could do from a central position. It is the same with Eduardo, and Diaby.

Watching the match yesterday was like watching our entire season in 90 minutes. Fantastic start, great creative football, missing a whole host of chances, managing to get a goal in the end then conceding an avoidable goal moments later.

From the moment I saw Hargreaves stand over the ball from that range I knew he would take it and I also knew that it would cause us problems. I was watching a game this season, the opposition has slipped my mind but he hit a similar freekick against the crossbar from roughly the same range.

It was very Beckham Esq. Up and down very quickly and unless the wall get a touch it is a certain goal. We lack many things in our side and that is another thing that we do not really have in our locker. Van Persie is a player who can smack freekicks from distance with alot of power and bend but we do not have that cute curler from close range like what Thierry Henry used to give us.

Gael Clichy was fantastic yesterday and produced a fantastic offensive display. This is the reason why I think we need a right footed left winger instead of a traditional left footer. The amount of times Clichy burst past 2 or 3 Manchester United players was sensational.

I was very surprised by the line up in defence. It shows that Arsene Wenger is not happy with something in there. The logical thing would be is to keep Toure alongside Gallas where he has played for most of the season and switch Hoyte or Eboue at right back. But instead he brought in Alex Song for his first premier league start in defence. That is a massive statement. It looks like he doesn’t trust Justin Hoyte, but maybe he does not have faith in the Gallas/Toure combination. Does this mean that Wenger will sign an experienced center half to partner either Gallas or Toure? Someone who will dominate in the air, someone who will tell his defenders to push up, someone who will put his body on the line to stop the opposition scoring 5 minutes after we take the lead.

So it is the end of the season now, the curtains were closed at Old Trafford. The remainder of the season is about cleaning up back stage, getting through the rest of the games practicing our lines for next time round.

It is very easy to look at the negatives such as..

Defensive mistakes
Lack of squad depth to cover the likes of Sagna, Rosicky etc
Lack of goals from midfield
Flamini not yet signing a contract

We have to look at the many positives that the team has brought this season.

We are no longer a one man team (Thierry Henry)
This team is capable of fighting for the league and not just trying to get into the top 4 (Liverpool)
Sagna having such a fantastic season, will get even better with a pre season and a campaign under his belt
Flamini’s super season in the engine room
Younger players have an extra years development, they will no doubt come back stronger
Theo Walcott
Surely we cannot have injuries like we did this year
Despite all the pre season talk, Spurs are still in a poor league position

There are many more positives to add to that list but that can be discussed in greater detail another time.

Click here for Squid Boy’s Match Report

Until tomorrow.

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