Elneny simply lacks the skills to play in our midfield

Bruno Fernandes is such a Man Utd player, mostly for the fact that he's completely unlikeable in every aspect

Martinelli is a winger not a striker. He’s been great on the right but not up front

I’m at the point where maybe we should just play Lacazette though.

We really should not have lost this game. Very poor really.

But Aubameyang isn’t really a striker either as he is proving repeatedly. Martinelli is dangerous offensively and does make things happen.

It's not a disatrous performance or result by any means, but I agree that it feels like we should've been able to grind out a draw here.

Echoing others, really disappointed to come away with nothing here.

They are a poor team. We should be winning. A distinct lack of composure and hurried passing cost us. Maybe its inexperience but they need to learn fast.

It was a patchy performance with some players doing well and some not.

I have come away thinking how did we not get at least a draw there.

So frustrating. They are not a good team and we weren’t brave enough to kick on. 2nd goal we left our left back area unguarded and the penalty was a stupid decision by Ødegaard to slide in from behind.
Of course there is the obligatory non penalty for us for the clear pull back on Tomiyasu but we’ve always had to beat the ref as well as Man U at old Trafford.
We can’t keep saying we weren’t bad but still lost.

No he didn’t do well at all. No appearance in the first half, scored but a mis hit and then gave away that. Not good enough at every level today. He needs to improve by a large amount.

It’s clear we have a problem up front at the moment. Aubameyang isn’t just missing chances he’s not really contributing to the game at all. I think about other strikers that hold up the ball, run the channels, cause problems etc etc and Aubameyang just isn’t really doing any of it.

Inexperience - the 2 worst performances by a country mile were Aubameyang and Partey.

The lines are very thin. Ødegaard doesn’t do that brain fart and we draw. Ref uses var for us and we win.

You just can’t make errors in these games

Positives were white, martinelli and Ødegaard who played very well

Feel Arteta contributed to the defeats in our recent games by playing Tavares but there you go.


Not all doom and gloom, for me we lack a bit of experience and quality on the ball. We miss a genuine playmaker

You must have watched a different game. Class assist that almost set up martinelli

Don’t forget Tomiyasu. Yet another good game from him.

The problem is that we lost control of the game. We had them by the goolies and totally lost it. Man U are not very good.

Arteta will never get an easier game at Man U. On to Everton and if we don’t win easily we have to ask some questions.

He is simply there to disrupt and defend. Zero creativity. Lost when players are not within his passing zone. The way he keeps waiting on the ball slows us down. Wonder why he was fielded in place of Lokonga. Is Lonkonga injured?

Still, he did better than our very poor captain. We were 10 against 11 with Aubameyang on the field.

Thought Tomiyasu was top class again tonight, had Sancho in his pocket all game. Sancho kept trying to knock it and run past him and Tomiyasu was just as quick and far too strong every time.

No I didn’t watch a different game- he just does not ever impose himself and was missing for most of the match.

Oh dear, losing to that shower of managerless, in crisis s***e. After leading! Aubamayang is finished, he's a bit of a disgrace really. Send him off to play with his Teslas and Lamborghinis. Tavares hopeless. Partey a liability. Struggling to see any progress under this manager.

Mate not very good? They have Ronaldo AND Fernandez in their side.

They may have had bad results recently but they are a threat and we have a very inexperienced side

I agree with you Gaz, Ødegaard is lightweight. Not someone who will bring us up a notch. Good squad player at best.

I am so aggravated. I’m sick of getting f all at OT. We didn’t deserve to lose. I don’t know how the ref can stop the game and then give a pen for them
If that is so how comes it didn’t happen when Maguire fouled Tomiyasu in the box.
On the US TV feed I watched Graeme Le Saux called it a stonewall penalty.

On a separate note I thought Partey was diabolical. Gave the ball away too often and completely lost Fernandes for their equalizer right on ht
Watch it again Elneny covers Fred who has to lay the ball off to a totally unmarked Fernandes. Awful. He’s been a terrible disappointment since he arrived I don’t expect anything from Elneny tonight….he’s a water carrier but Partey….he should be dominating Fred and McT

One last thing. I think our conditioning coaches need to work on Emile Smith Rowe’s stamina and speed work. He looked knackered and his half hearted challenge before their second goal was a joke
Final final last thing. I’m 67 and the years have not matured me. I f..ing hate Utd and their scummy self important fans so much and I hate us going to that piss hole every year and getting nothing
This is a bang average Utd and any half decent Arsenal team would’ve battered them.

You must be joking. Disappointing result aside we are headed in the right direction and if you swapped ronaldo for Aubameyang things would be different.

Having a couple of stars doesn’t make them a good side.

Tomiyasu is fearless and very driven. Always gives his all. Very good player.

Let's hope Arteta play more of Martinelli after the last 2 games.

A classic Uncle Sally post.

They have quality and experience in the right parts of their team. We however are the youngest side in the league and sometimes look it.

I think if you gave us a cavani or ronaldo we would be very different. It’s a young team without a talisman

It’s not there for us yet. We are still a couple or key players short. There’s no point losing it as frustrating as it is

Agree with those that criticized Partey at half time, but I actually thought he had a pretty decent second half. Feel like we're asking him to do too much with the partners he's getting in midfield. Lokonga is talented, but young and inconsistent, and Elneny offers nothing but running. I would try to sign another midfielder in January, because even with Xhaka back we need more quality there.

Arsenal have now been to the Etihad, Anfield, the King Power and Old Trafford and we’re fifth above united and spurs in the league. Arteta would have took this scenario at the start of the season and so would our more rational fans. Internet agenda freaks won’t get it but there you go.

Disappointing to lose a game in that manner.

Partey is a massive frustration because for all the brilliant things he can do there is so much carelessness about his game, too many misplaced misdirected passes, too many caught in possession moments, too many failures to track runners or anticipate danger.

Aubameyang when not scoring is just a passenger and I don't think at this stage in our development we can carry passengers. Not sure what the answer is without buying another no 9.

Martinelli had an excellent 2nd half but was very quiet 1st half. He needs to find a way to get impose himself more on games.

Tomiyasu was excellent.

I actually thought Elneny was ok in the context of what his job was.

We always, always look so much better with the higher tempo and high press. We’ve got a back 4 who are quick and can defend high and 1v1. It’s frustrating that we can’t or don’t keep the press up more consistently

Easy to see from the clips of him play why Arsenal are interested in Vlahovic of Fiorentina. He’s what we need in a CF. Shame he wants to stay in Italy and would cost £60m

Arteta has a decision to make v Everton. He rotated tonight and I think he needs to rotate again. Who and how we play up front is his biggest problem right now.

I agree that Partey had a better second half than first, when I said Elneny, for all his obvious limitations, had outplayed Partey. That shows what a low starting point Partey’s second half improvement came from.

So true LTG. The touch and passing from so many players was bloody awful and it was clearly a weakness that Carrick and Arteta noticed. Their midfield double teamed and put pressure on the 2nd phase of midfield passing throughout the match and they won the ball back so easily.

I never expected a win up there and Arsenal were deservedly beaten by a rather *%^@ team.

...and no matter how bad his form has been, Arsenal will help him find it again.

A new top forward has to be the next priority, ideally in January but no later than next summer. People have said everything that needs to be said about Aubameyang tonight. He’s also going to be 32 next season, and is already showing his age. I felt Lacazette and Nketiah were abysmal once they came on, but as their respective contracts expire at the end of this season it seems reasonable to assume neither will be at Arsenal next season.

So as it stands we could be left next season with, if he stays, a declining and possibly demotivated Aubameyang, with Balogun and Martinelli. The latter did well tonight and deserves more playing time. Martinelli isn’t an orthodox forward by any means, but even at his peak nor was Aubameyang. But overall I see a new top level striker as Arsenal’s biggest transfer market priority.