Saturday 3 November 2012

Who was worse: Dean or Arsenal?


Depressing on many levels.  I shall keep it short and to the point.  Tactically we were a train wreck that had been hit by a meteor.  Arsene left a terrible defender in Santos terribly exposed in a formation which provided him with no protection.   Manu consequently destroyed us time and time again down our left side, utterly inexcusable and so very predictable.  The way we were setup was also so so toothless offensively, we had no pace and no width, Ramsey and Podolski are pointless in those wide positions.

As a result a mediocre Manu side thoroughly deserved their win, they created far more than us and were the better side.  It is just so disappointing that Vermaelen's early error and Arsene's woeful tactics gave us little chance of having a real go at their average defence.  The positives for us were the outstanding saves of Mannone and another excellent shift from big Per.  On the negative making Vermaelen skipper looks a terrible decision, his defending has been substandard this season and he is making too many basic errors.

Now to Mike Dean, he is truly the new Mike Riley.  He gave Manu a very very dodgy penalty towards the end of the first half, Cazorla's arms were raised but he was protecting his face instinctively, it was a clear accidental handball, nevertheless Dean pointed to the spot as he loves to do at Old Trafford.  Then was the rank inconsistency and apparent bias in his card decisions.

Dean let Carrick get away with murder all game long, he failed to send off Cleverley for a terrible late lunge when he has already been booked, shortly after this he sent off Wilshere for a far milder tackle on Evra, Evra's exaggerated feigning of injury did Wilshere no favours though.  Van Persie was also lucky not to receive a straight red for a terrible late potential leg breaker on Sagna, only a yellow was produced by the dodgy Dean.  Wilshere's red made it impossible to recover at a time in the game when United did look there for the taking.

I think Wenger has to be replaced this summer, he has taken the club as far as he can and he is now getting found out tactically on far far too frequent a basis.  The 4-3-3 system, the way we play it, is becoming an absolute defensive disaster and an impotent attacking joke.  We never really looked like getting anything from the game today and that is not good enough, 2-1 was flattering as well, it could have been a far more embarrassing scoreline.

The great frustration was that we have the players to beat this mediocre United side but the combination of terrible tactics combined with Dean giving all the big decisions to United made this almost impossible.  It is so painful to watch Arsene's naive tactical approach to games, because everything else he does as a manager is sublime, he develops players and coaches so well.  The problem is that this is a chronic problem that has been obvious for years now, I just cannot see us genuinely challenging unless these problems are addressed. Finally I should end by saying that Dean's biased performance today added yet more weight to the Premier League match fixing scandal, utterly scandalous officiating.


14 comments:

Jed said...

Dean was just a side show. Agreed 100% that the boss needs replacing for the reason you give. He's out of date and I am sick to death of watching these inept performances. Problem is, if we want rid of him now it will cost 10 mill. Klopp or Guardiola would be worth renewing the season ticket for.

AdamM said...

Be handy if our "fans" actually showed support for the team when we need it most. Its easy to say all that you said.

Jed said...

@AdamM - in the ground the best thing you can do to help the club is sing your heart out for the lads, but after the game the best thing you can do is be realistic about what you saw. AW has had 7 years to show he's still got what it takes, instead all we see are the same failings again and again and again. Mindlessly supporting a man who gets it wrong season after season is not helping AFC. It just delays the day when we can get back on track.

alex said...

We knew they were going to come from the wings 'cause they've got nothing in the middle of the park and we were supposed to try to dominate that middle if we wanted to control the game, I believe Wenger wanted to do that. The problem is that this team's only technically gifted, while also phisically imposing midfielder (Diaby), remember this is England where you need at least one of those),is always injured; and that's why this mediocre United midfield was able to get away with nothing more than shoving and pushing. I don't care who's right and wrong on the subject of the way the team finances are handled, but the fact is that we evidently lack depth.

In all fairness they did not hurt us much on the wings. Santos did not have a good game but so did Valencia and I think they sort of cancelled each other out.
Dean acted as expected,tough on us and easy on them (if that challenge on Sagna from RVP was not a red then I guess he'll only show that card to someone who comes with a machete).
I still believe Wenger is a good manager but I'm also sure he's not a magician. I think, at this point, the best that could happen to us is to drop out of the top four so those at the top get spanked where they don't like it, their wallets.

Uncle Mike said...

Of course Vladimir Putin, or Mike Dean as he's known when he's being even more of a dictator, was corrupt as hell. But getting rid of Wenger could cause a lot more problems than it would solve.

Pep Guardiola would be destroyed in the Premier League, because he won't have the money or the favorable officiating he got at Barca. Have you forgotten the 2011 match at Camp Nou? Okay, van Persie and Nasri retroactively deserved the throat-grabs...

As for Klopp, show me one Bundesliga manager who has shown he can manage in the Premier League. Show me one.

skezza said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
skezza said...

This article is hilarious. It reminds me that if I'm ever going insane, I can always open an Arsenal fanboy website where they talk complete shit and my own sense of insanity seems to disappear.

Mike Dean booked both Wilshere and Cleverley. Then, Wilshere and Cleverley both made late tackles. Cleverley's was a booking, so was Wilshere's. He booked neither of them (the sign of a good ref in my opinion). Ferguson took the warning and removed Cleverley. Wenger ignored the warning and left Wilshere on who was struggling with his fitness. The result, Wilsheres late tackle got him a red card. It was a naughty tackle and Evra's antics are comparable to the amount Wilshere went over the top... as in, quite a lot.

This is THE only article I've read on the Internet criticizing Mike Dean over Arsene Wenger. Well done fanboy. Another trophyless season for you.

Take the hint. You know f*ck all.

Uncle Mike said...

Mike Dean has proven time and time again that he loves Manchester United and hates Arsenal. OF COURSE you criticize him! If he had been an honest official, Arsenal would have won, and criticizing Wenger would have been completely stupid.

Instead of only mostly stupid.

skezza said...

Uncle Mike, if you actually believe that Arsenal would have won with a different ref then you are so deluded you should perhaps consider psychiatric help. Not even the author of this article suggests that Arsenal deserved anything but a well deserved loss.

Jed said...

Ha, very funny Uncle Mike. Change is scary isn't it? To see the way ahead takes vision and courage, keeping your head in the sand and your fingers in your ears wont make the bad stuff go away. Before AFC showed the vision to hire AW no foreign manager had ever succeeded in this country. Times change and you need the vision and courage to change with them.

1979gooner said...

skezza

very funny, utterly deluded and 100% wide of the mark

thanks for the laughs though

if you had bothered to read the original article properly then you may have noticed that the article does not criticise Dean more than Arsenal more than Dean, it simply says both were bad

your pathetic limp arguments that try to defend Dean's rank incompetence ignore the points made and add nothing new, they are a waste of your finger tapping, vacuous drivel

the point is Dean was poor and reduced Arsenal's chances of coming back from 1-0 down

whether Arsenal deserved anything is another matter and one that the article is actually pretty firm on, Arsenal were poor and deserved nothing

still they would have had a much better chance of an undeserved win or draw without Dean's partisan incompetence

you are an idiot!

skezza said...

1979gooner, the fact that Dean is criticized at all is a complete joke. Mike Dean was completely correct to send off Jack Wilshere when he did. He COULD have sent both Wilshere and Cleverley off, but he gave them both a second chance, something that in hindsight benefited United more because of Fergusons quick substitution. At the end of the day, Alex Ferguson correctly removed Cleverley before he got sent off. Wilshere was left on, knowing he was on his last chance and got sent off. It was Wengers mistake compounded b Wilsheres immaturity and poor fitness currently. Why does little Jack deserve more chances than anyone else? Because he's your golden boy? It doesn't work like that. Refs in this league for the most part are fairly impartial and just because you have an axe to grind against EVERYONE because of your limited success means you are blinded when given a real argument. Jack was on his last chance, he made a bad tackle (whether you think Evra milked it or not) and was sent off. Simple. Excellent decision Mike Dean (I am not a Man Utd fan btw).

Unfortunately, it is you who is 100% wide of the mark and it is why your club has stood still for the past 8 years. Sorry to say it, but delusion seems to stretch beyond Mr Wenger it seems.

Unknown said...

It's really hilarious when people who openly support other clubs read our blog and have the audacity to comment. I would say get a life but that's not gonna change u.. So have fun mate.. May Mike Dean officiate all the games ur club plays.. Cheers..

1979gooner said...

skezza

nice to see you continuing to humiliate yourself with your vacuous argument

you selectively highlight one decision by Dean in rose tinted fashion in order to claim he had a good performance

this is foolish and naive I'm afraid

you judge a referee in the context of all their decisions and the whole match, and based on this Dean was weak, inconsistent and poor

sorry, your selective jibberish convinces no one, it does amuse though!

you seem to ignore all the other points which show just how nonsensical the rest of your argument is

I am not defending Wenger or backing him, your attempt to dishonestly spin my words show the weakness of your argument

Wenger got it wrong tactically,, again, and Dean was awful

Nothing you have said really addresses anything I have said, you just seem to enjoy making yourself look like a mug by going off on bizarre incoherent tangents

if all you can say is Dean was correct to send Wilshere off, what do you make of Carrick not getting booked for his 7, yes 7, fouls?

Pathetic inconsistent incoherent refereeing, much like your useless argument