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Arbroath v Dundee United - Friday 4th August 2023


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4 minutes ago, DUAFC said:

Possibly, but I wouldn't slag someone off for having a Dundonian, or any other accent 

Were you happy or pissed off at full time tonight ? Did your team win or did your team lose ? Ye canny have 2 teams it’s the roolz 

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So first of all, I have to say Dundee United looked by far the best side I've seen in all our time in the Championship.  It was such an impressive performance.  They were quicker than us, more intelligent, used the ball better, and set up better tactically.  They also took their goals really well, and if it wasn't for Gaston, we could easily have been 8-0 down by half time.  Dundee and Killie were never at any point this good.  They looked like a Premier league side, and in some ways, that takes the sting out of the result for me.  Its not often I've seen an Arbroath side be that overrun, and for that, I think Dundee United deserve enormous credit.

I would also say that that is far from the worst Arbroath game I've seen, its not even the worst second tier Arbroath game I've seen.  I've seen far worse games than that (Airdrie and Ayr fans may remember some of the scuddings they handed out to us).  Dundee United were just a class above.  

We weren't set up right, we've played different formations and lineups in every league cup games, and today we went with a very experimental looking midfield pairing of Balde and Slater, and it just didn't work.  Likewise, who would have thought that playing a right midfielder at left back, and then sticking an attacking goalscoring winger in front of him would end badly?  If you're going to play a midfielder out of position at full back, then play a defensive wide midfielder in front of him to give him support.  I can't even bring myself to criticise Stewart.  He was hung out to dry, and should never have been put in that position.  Dundee United were smart enough to target that area of the pitch and hammer it.  Also, since when do we play 4-4-2?  We never play 4-4-2?

Ultimately, full credit to Dundee United, and fortunately, a combination of good subs and Dundee United taking it easy mean that it was a defeat, but it could have been worse.  I'm glad that our players (generally) kept the heid and didn't fall to pieces in the second half.  That bodes well.

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7 hours ago, ExiledLichtie said:

Dundee and Killie were never at any point this good. 

This is the 2nd time in 2 different topics you've said as much - any particular reason both have gotten under your skin? 

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A bit depressing from the home perspective…..BUT Utd have some quality players and the luxury of being able to work them into shape after a troubling league cup start.  They showed great mobility, pace and commitment which overwhelmed our makeshift setup on more than a few occasions.

For our part, we still haven’t got the full squad in place and especially the setup (who fits best where).  No time available to work on the gaps and the connections can drag this out

Looking for some consolations, Arbroath have had terrible, extended starts to 2 of our 4 Championship seasons, we hadn’t beaten United at Gayfield since the late 60s, and even kept a fortunate clean sheet second half.

Both BBC and away teams persist in repeating the cliche that Gayfield provides a ‘tough challenge’. I think we won 1 league here last season.  We can’t keep relying on producing the goods in away games.  That plus an inability to score risks keeping a decent following into the season..    Dire start but it’s a long way to go.

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1 hour ago, hk blues said:

This is the 2nd time in 2 different topics you've said as much - any particular reason both have gotten under your skin? 

In all honesty, I was just really impressed.  They looked like a premier league team.  If I was a neutral, I'd likely want to watch the goals again.  I compared them to the other teams as they were other relegated premier teams.

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Dundee United looked excellent going forward last night and totally deserved their win. Played some lovely football, scored good goals and also looked pretty solid throughout the game. Still hurts to see Grimmy play for another team in our league. They seem to have balance all over the pitch and I was really impressed with Cudjoe and Sibbald. The keeper looks like a solid acquisition too.

Arbroath looked like a shadow of the team we know them to be. Normally hard to break down, hard working and a savvy football team. Why was McKenna on the bench?

 

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3 minutes ago, ExiledLichtie said:

In all honesty, I was just really impressed.  They looked like a premier league team.  If I was a neutral, I'd likely want to watch the goals again.  I compared them to the other teams as they were other relegated premier teams.

Fair enough. 

I haven't seen any of the game, nor the goals but a 4-0 win in the 1st game is a marker, particularly so in a local derby. As I said elsewhere, the only hope for the other teams is that the team that comes down (pretty much regardless of who that is) struggles to shake off the relegation blues and stumbles out of the blocks.  That didn't happen last night BUT perhaps Arbroath contributed to that a fair bit.  Did Utd play so well because Arbroath let them or did Arbroath look so bad because Utd made them - or something between the two extremes.  The next couple of games will tell us.  

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11 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Fair enough. 

I haven't seen any of the game, nor the goals but a 4-0 win in the 1st game is a marker, particularly so in a local derby. As I said elsewhere, the only hope for the other teams is that the team that comes down (pretty much regardless of who that is) struggles to shake off the relegation blues and stumbles out of the blocks.  That didn't happen last night BUT perhaps Arbroath contributed to that a fair bit.  Did Utd play so well because Arbroath let them or did Arbroath look so bad because Utd made them - or something between the two extremes.  The next couple of games will tell us.  

I don't think we were actually that bad.  I've seen far worse Arbroath games!  Also note that we kept our heads and didn't fall to pieces, which is part of the reason it stayed at 4.  The changes we made at half time also made a difference.  On the sliding scale, I'm far more inclined to give credit to United.  They were tactically aware enough to hammer at our weaknesses.

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2 hours ago, ArabFundamentalist said:

I've spoken to a few Dees already in work this morning. Obviously they were all watching the game but every one of them seemed to switch it off after half an hour. I wonder why?

So did I...

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3 hours ago, ArabFundamentalist said:

I've spoken to a few Dees already in work this morning. Obviously they were all watching the game but every one of them seemed to switch it off after half an hour. I wonder why?

Celebrite Gogglebox, obviously.

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This will be United's most easy game of the season - they ripped through Arbroath's defence and midfield constantly.

A few teams will get the better of United, but they will win the league - they are too good for this league.

Once Arbroath address their problems they will settle down and be a decent team - fortunately time is on their side to sort out this mess.

 

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4 hours ago, farflung lichtie said:

Both BBC and away teams persist in repeating the cliche that Gayfield provides a ‘tough challenge’. I think we won 1 league here last season.

They said this in the TV build-up last night, something along the lines of "Gayfield is a hard place to come and get a result, oh except last season"

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12 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

They said this in the TV build-up last night, something along the lines of "Gayfield is a hard place to come and get a result, oh except last season"

Hasn't been true for a while now, to be honest 

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