Here we go folks. The Premier League all kicks off this evening with the Scousers beating Bournemouth at home as they get a relatively comfortable home game to get themselves going. Us? Well, we know we have to wait and we know we have to play Man United at their gaff knowing all of the stench of their last season will be behind them, with a brand new attack and a big dose of optimism amongst their fanbase ahead of the season.
That’s the benefit of the kick off at the start of the season – the optimism of the unknown – where everyone has hopes that their team is going to have a good one and whilst everyone is on null pointe you can have that collective set of hopes. Your dreams haven’t been dashed by defeats and the form of your club isn’t on the Debbie Downer. Which is why I think it’s probably the worst time to be playing a team like United, especially away. If we were at home I’d be feeling quite bullish, but because it’s away at a ground in which we traditionally haven’t been great at, my apprehension is starting to build.
I heard somebody on the radio say that we’ve won four out of our last five games against them in the Premier League, with the other one that insipid draw towards the end of last season when we knew the title was done and we were starting to prioritise the Champions League, so on recent form you’d say we should be fancying our chances. And yes, we did win there two season’s ago with a 1-0 win on the way to a final day showdown for the title. But our record at Old Trafford over a longer period is pretty dire. And it’s a little depressing because they’ve been pretty dire themselves on plenty of occasions as a team, yet always seeed to get over the line against us. If we go back over the last 10 games in the Premier League at Old Trafford, our record reads:
- Four defeats
- Four draws
- Two wins
If you go even further back it gets worse. So I have painful memories of bang average post-Fergie United sides getting one over on us. So I would never say I’m confident going in to these kinds of matches.
But as I have started to do over the last couple of seasons, I wondered if that is just an irrational pessimism I have inherently built in to my brain, when the reality is that I should be a little more bullish, so I started to have a nose at what United fans are saying.
My first port of call was a place called the ‘United Forum’ and I’m precising what I’ve seen so you don’t have to venture into enemy territory. You’re welcome, by the way.
So, where are United fans’ heads at?
Well, on one chat which was called ‘Arsenal pre-hype’ I was encourages. “I’d take a draw” was the first comment I read this morning. Nice. “Would take a draw in a heartbeat. Unfortunately we will lose 2-0” was the next. Ok, I’m feeling better now.
“2-1 new lad with the winner”. Gyokeres maybe?
“I’d take a 4-1 romp in the sun”. Hmmm….
“Are they still only scoring from set pieces?” – ok you lot are starting to cheese me off now.
Then I started spreading my net a little wider just looking for predictions and as usual with these things you have a mixture of those who will always back their team (fair enough), but there’s a fair few – at least half I’d say – who are predicting a loss, or hopeful for a draw.
That gives me a little more hope. These people watch United a lot more than I do. They know exactly where their club is and when they are predominantly saying that they aren’t sure and hopeful for a draw, it means we need to be going into this game with a little more confidence than what I have.
That’s where the opposition fans are at, but a better lie of the land is with the pundits, so what’s this Friday bringing up ahead of this game then?
Shearer is calling a draw, citing that is too early in the season to really know what a good result would be, which I kind of get and speaks to my point about playing United now. If we were going there in six weeks time I suspect we’d probably be in a better position because I don’t think this United – front line aside – are that much different to the one from last season. The London Evening Standard have gone with a 3-2 win for Arsenal which I could understand with potentially some rusty defences out there. Somebody at SportsMole has gone with a 1-0 United win, but the girl is a United fan so that’s fair enough. Roy Keane thinks we’ll win 2-1, but he’s always a bit of a pessimist over United these days, whereas Gary Neville thinks United 2-1, Merse thinks we’ll win 2-1, whereas Jones Knows on Sky Sports is going for a 1-1.
And to me I think this just backs up my argument that this kind of game on opening weekend is a bad time to play United. I’m kind of getting to repetition levels on the blog today but I just think it’s set up for the media pitchforks to be out. I was thinking back to the Brentford opening day defeat in 2021 and it’s funny how the bad sticks out more than the good, because the first thing I thought was how our opening day isn’t always the best. But last season we beat Wolves, the season before that it was Forest at home, the season before that it was a Palace win away. If you look at our away games to give more context, there’s also FUlham 3-0 away, Newcastle 1-0 win away in 2019, then you have to go back to a 0-0 at Newcastle in 2011. So our opening day form isn’t that bad after all.
We do need it to be a win this weekend though. If you are going to challenge for the title, it’s the sort of game you have to.
More thoughts on that tomorrow.
Hard to predict, and I’m sure A.I. would probably suggest a 0-3 for us, & let’s be honest we are miles better than them. I think if we don’t concede early we will win by 2.
I’m curious about team selection for this one, Timber and White are both excellent, I can’t really split them other than Benny Blanco has a better understanding with Saka and needs an opportunity in the summer matches to flash his thigh tan. Gykores and Kai decision might be interesting too, maybe Kai starts based on fitness and preparation, Gykores to come on to finish.
The real discussion point for me is Calafiori and Lewis-Skelly, where it pains me to say it, because we all love Myles, but I think L-S has looked vulnerable of late. I think in the CL game 2nd leg v PSG they targeted him a bit, I think he’s got caught a few times now in possession, out of position, and since then he’s experiencing a little plateau of form, which all young players do. Not that I saw every minute of every one, pre-season games haven’t been good for him, in my humble opinion. For me, Calafiori adds a lot of benefits to that troublesome left flank, with his marauding from LB, he’s physically more imposing, more experienced, I think he might get the nod. My only reservations regarding Calafiori I think that he’s better as a centre back in my opinion, which makes it difficult for him to get in the team, but my hunch is the Arteta really loves him, and wants to find a slot for him.
My only concern with him really is I think he’s a little vulnerable 1on 1 in wide areas, I know as a junior player he was only ever a fullback, so he should know the position inside and out, and he was moved to CB late in life, probably had some insane growth-spirt because he’s a bit of a colossus, but (injury susceptibility to one side), I think it’s very hard to ignore him and I can see him keeping LS out the team this season for long periods. The cynic in me thinks that now L-S has signed a new contract and not going anywhere, he will become more of a utility player now, in and out of the team. I might be wrong, I’m sure he’s got lots of upside still to come, and probably 100 caps or more for England, but maybe this season is going to be difficult for him.