United v Arsenal – Belated Semi-Preview

By: Taylor Rockwell | August 28th, 2009

I was on a job site all day, so I wasn’t quite able to put in the research I would have liked. However, I did have time to jot down some random thoughts. So, without further ado, my abbreviated preview (disclaimer: I’m writing this while Terminator 2 is on television, so some random references may come into play.

Who: United v Arsenal
What: Barclays Premier League Match
Where: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
When: Saturday, 29 August 2009 (17:15 BST, 12:15 EST)
Why: Because it’s been far too long since United pwned Arsenal Wenger’s kids.

Things We’ve Learned About Arsenal Thus Far:
1) Arsenal will take the Old Trafford pitch in a 4-3-3. Through four games this season (Celtic, Everton, Pompey, and Celtic), the Gooners have utilized the 4-3-3 formation each time.

2) The 4-3-3 formation has allowed Arsenal to score goals. A lot of goals. In the above four matches, the Gooners have found the back of the net 15 times.

3) The best way to prevent them from scoring IS NOT to utilize a 4-5-1 formation. Everton and Pompey (who admittedly aren’t quite as good as United) both ran out a 4-5-1, and shipped 6 goals and 5 goals respectively.

4) Arsenal’s lineup is fairly well set, which is a good thing if you’re a rested United squad. My guess is that a good amount of the players that featured this past weekend and in the game on Wednesday will get the start against United.

Things We’re Not Certain Of Thus Far Regarding Arsenal:
1) Will Rosicky ever be healthy? The Czech international is about as fragile as the T-1000 when Arnold froze him with liquid nitrogen (reference #1). The injury report seems to indicate he could be fit for this one, but I don’t see him getting the start. A position on the bench might even be a bit surprising.

2) The state of Fabregas. He sat out tonight, and Wenger is being a little too upset about his injury for me to fully believe him. I think I would put money the future Barcelona player takes the field on Saturday.

3) Will they end up regretting not finding a big name replacement for Adebayor? When the Togo international fled for the light blue section of Manchester, I was one of the first to write off Arsenal’s title hopes. Yet now they seem to be scoring at will… but can they keep up that pace? Can their squad cover any further injuries? And how will they fare against a team like Manchester United? If you were an attacker, who would you rather have marking you? A homicidal machine or Vidic? Trick question. They’re the same thing (reference #2).

4) How good is that Gooner defense? They haven’t truly been tested on a consistent basis, and it will be interesting to see if Vermalean can handle a hostile Old Trafford. More to the point, the United squad that lined up against Wigan looked like a throwback Fergie squad. Multiple attacking options. Balls flying in from the wings. Goals galore. If that form continues, Arsenal could be feeling more depressed than when Edward Furlong watched the T-100 slowly lower himself into molten lead (reference #3).

5) Upon completion of the film, I had a startling realization. Would the machine uprising be so bad? I mean yeah, humanity is wiped off the map and the world as we know it ends, but the possibility exists that a future is self-aware technology is a future where Owen Hargreaves might actually have two functioning knees. Sad thing is, a war with machines seems far more plausible than a fully fit Hargo (reference #4).

I think that’s enough crap Terminator 2 references, so I’ll wrap it up and leave you all with a prediction. I’m saying 3-1 United with Arsenal scoring first. Then Rooney puts in a more clutch performance than when Arnold knocked the evil Terminator into the afore mentioned molten lead (reference #5), and Title #19 looms larger. Come on United!