Just back from Highbury- managed to borrow a season ticket from a work colleague which was useful!

To sum up we basically cant compete against the likes of Arsenal at their home ground and i wasnt even a bit surprised. We passed the ball around very nicely especially 1st half but where Arsenal create danger from almost every forage into the opponents final 1/3, our moves invariably break down just outside the box.

Im not angry with the players. They did almost the best they could especially 1st half but we just dont have the formation+world class players like they do. Henry is stunning to watch- his control and ability to waltz away from people is amazing. Add Pires, Kanu, Bergkamp to their attack and its pretty damn obvious why we lost 5-0.

Couple of points. Acuna is a good buy. He still hasnt quite caught up with the pace of the premiership midfield but he will soon be our next Robert Lee I reckon. Dyer looks understandably depressed at his offered role in the team and its affecting his play. Hed be so more useful on the right than Solano- Nol may win us games against lesser teams with his crossing ability but his overall contribution isnt good enough.

It was so weird to see us with a left winger- Glass had one opportunity to cross and it was a peach from which Al wud surely have scored from. Bobby, wudnt it be more useful to have him on the left instead of cramming the midfield with 3 workhorses/Dyer in a free role?

Lua Lua did a few great things 1st half and I reckon hell come good espec with another striker in support. The Arsenal fans near me were all singing his praises during the first half- he is starting to pass it but more often than not nobody bothers to support him. The only occasion they did was when Dyer ran into the box behind him and Lua cushioned a great header into his path creating our only real threat on goal all game.

Our fans were great espec 1st half even at 2-0 down. Wish Id been in amongst them instead of sitting in the silence of the Arse supporters. As for the goals, watch MOTD :-)

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

Answers

Thanks Spud. By your account it certainly wasn't as bad as the webcast suggested.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

Rosy specs, Spud.
From where I was sitting, we were shite. Not got time (or inclination) to go into details now, but it was like watching a Prem side playing a Div 2 side in the cup. I think Manninger had one save to make all afternoon. We're not very, we're not very, we're not very good... :@(

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

Bobby's post match interview - excerpts:

"We were smashed, simple as that." "After the third goal - game over, I was looking for a taxi home." "Five nothing was a fair reflection on the play." "We had two young central defenders still learning the game and they had world class strikers been in the game for years." "They had just too much quality for us today."

Other than that, young Bobby seemed pretty positive, I mean its not like our best 11 lost to Birmingham is it. I suppose we got what we deserved today, but it still smarts.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

At least if you're going to play 4-6-0, make sure you've got someone on midfield who's up to the job. No strikers, the rest outclassed, we never had a chance today I'm afraid.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

no rosy specs on at all Dan :-)

we did pass it round very nicely espec 1st half- all the Arsenal fans round me were majorly pissed off we had so much possesion 1st half- as i said we did nowt with it and they looked much more dangerous.

My only other compliments were Acuna looking good on the ball for the most part which he certainly did. And LuaX2 showed some fantastic bits of skill 1st half(maybe u missed it, sitting in the opposite side of the ground)

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

According to YBR on MOTD we lost because of their strikers Onnery and Canoe!

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

Guess he's mentally blocked out that Parlour bloke, eh? ;-))

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

Perhaps this will persuade FS to get a bridging loan?

Befoer the result I thought we would need another striker and Central defender, Now I think we need a left bak and left winger as well.

Goma, Domi and Marcelino will eventually sell, bu we need fresh faces now. How about Hendry for next to nothing, and what about Robbie eliot , Lee Clarke and Micheal bridges?

How long will bridges be out for? Would three geordies not be a welcome adition?

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

Perhaps this will persuade FS to get a bridging loan?

or even a Bridges loan.

I would have MB at a drop, but as I've said on another thread, his injury looks destined to keep him out for most, if not all, the rest of the season. (p> Total qualification for NUFC....go get him Bobby!

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

The Ronnie last night reckoned Bridges is our No1 target, and his injury is the only reason we have not pressed home our interest.

This could well be why Leeds have made it known through the Press that they are interested in YKD - a swap would be considered, whereas a straight cash deal wouldn't.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

Don't know about passing it around, Spud - pissing around might be more accurate.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

Was Stephen Glass playing? I never noticed the lazy jock f**k anywhere on the pitch. Dyer spent the vast majority of the game chasing his tail, and whenever he had the ball turned his back to goal. Solano was hugely average, and his corners and freekicks were pants. Acuna looked ok on the ball, but did nowt with it...except pass it away. Rob Lee - was he meant to be a sweeper in the 1st half? Speed was anonymous. Luax2 was ok, at least he looked like he wanted to take a chance and make something, but again lacked any bite with posession. Barton was turned inside out and made himself look like a prat after diving over and giving hopeful stares at the (blind) linesman. Domi (or Domo as AFC would have us believe) was disinterested and ineffective. Hughes was pulled all over the shop, as was Caldwell (who didn't have that bad a game all told). Griffin was outpaced for the 2nd game running. Given was ok, and certainly some heroics saved us looking at 2ble figures. Cordone simply had no time to settle in (and why wear gloves but also a short sleeve top?), but lets face it, his substitution on was a last gasp. I'd have preferred to see Ameobi on. At least he might have stuck one on Charlie Dimmock - the c**t.

All in all, we didn't deserve 5 against. It could have been more, but 3 or 4 nil would have been fair. By the end, we were punch drunk and I was counting the clock down with 25 mins to go. Arsenal were simply a league above us, as Dan said before. They had pace, committment in tackles and in numbers, movement and awareness. They operated like a well oiled machine and never looked like doing anything other than seeing what we had to offer (hence the illusion of our 10-15mins of ok-ness) then pushed up a gear to see us off. Above all, we looked afraid of them from the start. And that's the worst part.

Fans were great for the most part, but the singing was probably just to keep us warm and our minds off the malaise on the pitch. Special mention to the lads 2 rows in front of me and Sue and behind Gav and Jonno who kept up the singing throughout the misery of the 2nd half. Also, it was nice to be able to stand throughout the game without any annoyance from over officious stewards.

Where do we go from here? To the top of the lake I fear...aye-aye- aye-aye-aye-aye-yi-yeah, aye-aye-aye-aye-aye-aye-yi-yeah

I always sing Haircut 100 when we get stuffed.

I f**king hate losing.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

Is Bridges that good? I seem to remember him missing about 5 sitters against us at Elland Road last season.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

What's the latest on the Lee Clark rumours?

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

Yes we'd like Bridges but we can't let YKD go without a fight. I wasn't at the match yesterday but on the Villa showing we are only ever going to be a team of also-rans. The top teams wouldn't have any of our lads (including Shearer) with the exception of Dyer & Nobby. Hughes I think will be great & Goma is the best centre back we've had since Howey was fully fit. Acuna is A very good base but we need mobility in the centre & we just don't have it.

Since buying Shearer we have been obsessed with crosses, gone is the clever movement in the middle. In fairness to Gullit, he was looking beyond building a team roud Al, we need to do it & quick.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000