Having promised in his pre-game interviews that Arsenal were focused on securing a big-name scalp at Anfield, it was sobering that Mikel Arteta left Merseyside admitting his side were second best from start to finish of the 4-0 defeat to Liverpool.
While his players stayed in the game for 39 minutes, the damage inflicted by Jurgen Klopp’s rampant attack in the second half was a timely reminder to the Spaniard that we have much to improve if we’re to seriously challenge for a spot in Europe.
It was painful. But, according to the boss, it also presents an opportunity.
“I don’t like learning like that, but there’s a lot of learning that we can take from the game for sure,” Arteta told Arsenal.com.
“One of the biggest learnings after a disappointing result is focus tomorrow on the next one. Don’t get carried away with what happened in the past because we have to look to the future.
“We’ll look at what we should have done better and why we got punished the way we did and after that put our energy and focus on the next game.”
While Arteta was at pains to point out that Liverpool are a tough test no matter what age you are, he did accept his young team could have varied their decision-making on the ball.
“I’ve seen some of the biggest teams in the world come here to this ground and collapse,” he told his post-game press conference.
“It can be – in certain moments I think we were a bit [insistent] when things were not working or when we lost some balls, we had to mix our play much better. But we didn’t and that’s it.
“They were better than us for 90 minutes and that’s the level. They’ve been together for six years and today you could see the difference in the moment that we lost control of the game.”
Arsenal’s next match will see bottom side Newcastle travel to the Emirates. We couldn’t have asked for a kinder fixture given the circumstances.
There is nothing much to be ashamed about and it was inexperience that cost us, but that will come. Liverpool are at the height of their powers with most players around 30 years old. Their time will pass in a year or two.
It did look like the midfield was a bit overrun with just a double pivot instead of 3 though. Arteta always said he was going to play 433 in the end and playing a false 9 or no 10, whatever Laca is, won’t make the numbers up.
Yeah, I woke up feeling ok actually. Really disappointed last night and couldn’t watch any more of the game after the fourth goal so just went up into my little office and paced erratically until the final whistle. Then went straight to the pub with non football fan friends. But today I feel better. It should always hurt and if it didn’t then I wouldn’t be an Arsenal fan. But I started remembering bits about the first half that I liked and putting the game into some sort of context. Liverpool are to be aspired to. We can’t do City… Read more »
Agree with most of what you say. I think Liverpool are a great role model for us. The thing is they have a world class manager and we have one who is learning on the job. I just don’t think having ex players as managers always works. Look at Lampard, Pirlo, and Ole. If you want to aim big like Liverpool you need a top quality manager.
I would’ve agreed with you a few months back. But I’ve seen in those Villa, Leicester and Spurs games (all solid opponents) a glimpse of what Arsenal could be under Arteta.
Yes, Klopp came with a reputation. But Zidane did great things at Real and Pep arguably created the best team of all time with no experience. Unicorns do exist.
We just have to hope that under that thick roughage on Mikel’s head, a little horn is growing under all the hair gel.
Well thought out response. Although Arteta is learning on the job he is clearly intelligent and I’ve seen enough to have faith. He does need to work on his subs though, and what impact they have and the timing etc….
Bottom line, we are 5th. Top 6 is the target this year in reality, so we are on track!! Fingers crossed we get some amazing signings like Isak/Kessie/Zakaria/Nkunku to make the squad stronger 💪🏿
Agree with most of what you said, except top 4 has got to be the target. We’ve got a promising young squad and without European football this season, this surely is our opportunity to earn a return to the biggest stage. Finishing in the EL places would be a huge disappointment (though depending on the strength of other teams as the season progresses, may be acceptable).
I don’t get the downvotes, Top 4 has to be the aim for us. Man Utd and Tottenham are behind, we might make it next week if we beat Newcastle and West Ham lose at City, so from there it will be ours to lose.
Getting back in CL would be a huge boost for our recruitment, in economical as well as player attraction terms.
My bad actually, we would be level on points with West Ham, but with a worse goal difference.
Top 4 would still be very close though!
Honestly I think the inexperience on the touchline is what cost us yesterday. Brighton, Brentford and Palace have managed to dig out something against Liverpool in recent encounters.
Fairly sure that’s 11 goals conceded in three games against City, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Appreciate the gulf in class between us and those teams is fairly big, but still, I don’t know why we have to get blown out of the water in these games, a lot of other teams manage to keep the scorelines respectable.
I think context is important sometimes, too. Watford beat United 4-1 yesterday and ruined a good thing by getting Ole fired. If you think we’ll be playing the same United in 2 weeks, you are kidding yourself. Because our result against them won’t be the same or better than Watford’s, as I anticipate a much sterner test, doesn’t mean anything in comparison. Liverpool were loose in their recent matches leading up to yesterday; you knew that they would be eager to put things right. That side have won everything recently, and the speed of their attack when they force turnovers… Read more »
This! Watford have ruined it for everyone! They couldn’t just win 2-0 and go home happy. They got greedy and spoiled all our fun.
I don’t think the scoreline made any difference. I’m pretty sure that Gollum had already been given the “must win” ultimatum.
Just look at his post match interview, he very obviously knows he’s so sacked it’s unbelievable.
He looked like a ghost 🙁 I feel for the guy
My major concern right now is this,
Goals 13 premier league rank 14th
Open play goals 7 rank 19th
Xg 13.8 rank 12th
Big chances 7th rank 19th
Shot conversion 8.4 rank 19th.
Possession 47% rank 13th
Arteta needs to improve this fast. We have attacking talent and he clearly is not getting the best out of them with his set up and style.
I think Arteta would agree with you; we need to score more goals. We looked to be heading in that direction when we scored 10 in our last 5 (and we could have had 4 against Watford), but as Arteta has conceded on several occasions, you have to score way more to be competitive across 38 games. We’re not there yet.
The team is two thirds of the way to being re-built, the next part is finding a pacey mobile forward that can also hold the ball up when necessary (at the moment that job is taking two players to do, and they’re not doing it particularly well) and building up the squad strength, this will take time but l do think we are on the right road,
patience is needed now.
I think it might be time to start talking about Auba’s place in the team. He’s grabbed a few goals this season, but he’s hurting the team in everything else he does. Last few games in particular he’s been awful. Hate to say it, but he looks past his best. Last year was bad, but there were excuses. This year overall on the balance he’s not any better. Far too inconsistent and still offers so little apart from his goals. I think we should give pepe a shot up top in this formation.
Indeed. I see youth and inexperience being repeated as the deciding factors for the result.
I looked at the Brentford v Liverpool 3-3 match.
Brentford’s average age in their XI was 25.6 that match. 4 players that had only been signed by Brentford this summer played in that game. Man City v Crystal 0-2 is a similar situation too.
I do wonder. If Emery was the one who replaced Arteta in December 2019…Would our fanbase still be as accepting of such gutless defeats.
Would love to see you walk into our dressing room and call our team gutless.
And yet you have nothing to say regarding how other managers can instil belief and strong gameplans into similarly younger players against elite sides. On smaller budgets too mind you.
And yet those managers manage clubs with less points than us as we speak.
So, would you prefer consistency or beating L’pool, City & Chels on occasion. All of which we’ve beaten (2 on our way to winning a major trophy) under Arteta.
Those managers also had more points than us at one period of the season.
What’s your point?😉
I’ll defer to The Beast below, if only to add that Crystal Palace lost to Liverpool by 3, and Brentford have lost to Chelsea, Leicester, Norwich and Burnley in their last four prior to this weekend’s draw with Newcastle. While I admire and applaud everything that Viera is doing, I’m not as impressed by the Brentford fellow.
And yet, all you can do is call our team gutless.
*Vieira
So it’s a bad thing that Palace and Brentford managed a better result than we did against Liverpool and Chelsea respectively?
I can understand your reservations about Thomas Frank. It’s always possible his tactics could get nullified by most teams like what happened with Sheffield United. But I don’t think it’s even debatable that he can instil self-belief in his squad.
Btw I didn’t call the team gutless. That’s just you paraphrasing. 4-0 and 5-0 defeats aren’t exactly going with a bang are they?
What did you mean by “gutless defeats” then? What makes you think that Arteta has not instilled self-belief in this squad in addition to resolute gameplans? Have you not read the countless interviews with the players who have put forward their belief in the above? Have you not read the numerous snippets indicating that the hierarchy at the club completely backs MA and has full belief in his potential? Have you not encountered those little stories of how MA delivers rousing team talks to the players? Does Ramsdale’s postmatch interview sound like Arsenal don’t believe in themselves? AR: “We won’t… Read more »
I agree, you can’t call This arsenal team gutless. They play hard with character. Yesterday wasn’t about “guts” it was about class. Not sure we have single player who’d make that Liverpool starting XI, Even with their injuries… Smith Rowe for the Ox… Maybe!? Although the ox had a blinder yesterday.
Serious question. Would you prefer we got points off of City & L’pool, as Palace & Brentford did, or would you prefer we were 5th, 3 points of Champs league spots, midway through the campaign. Getting beaten heavily is always a disappointment but, if we consistently get points off the teams we’re realistically expected to & get into Europe, I really couldn’t give a fuck if we get blown away by L’pool. They’re title contenders because that team has had years of up & downs, loads of investment & time to develop. If we’re being honest, we’re right at the… Read more »
Good question Beast. Would we not be even closer to the top 3 had we not taken points off City and Liverpool this season? Why would anyone not prefer that? Tbh Beast, I didn’t feel anything after yesterday’s result either. Not even disappointment. I just think writing off results like these to “inexperience” is reductionist. There are more reasons for why we lost so bad. Besides, TAA, Matip & Mane; most of Liverpool’s starting XI last night joined them when they were already an established top 4 side. What up and down years did they have to face? Klopp joined… Read more »
I think he means would your rather be Palace under Viera or Brentford under that guy, or Arsenal under Arteta in fifth place with much to play for?
Funny that you use the word “reductionist” — for someone who continuously suggests that we just need a new manager other than Arteta to become PL champs, it is fitting.
Klopp came into Liverpool with boatloads of experience. Arteta joined in a little rowboat. It is going to take time for him to get to Klopp’s level, but it will be fun when he does.
The reason Arsenal loses these games by big margins is that they think they are at the same level, go on the attack, and get thumped.
*Vieira
Not once have I ever said or even suggested that any new manager will guarantee us the Premiership. Now you’re just making things up
As a club with declining revenues (pre-COVID), decreasing season -ticket sales and less attractiveness with amongst today’s youth. Can you honestly say we have little rowboat time for Edu, Vinai and Mikel to get their act together?
Didn’t the summer business and our current 5th place position suggest that some acts are coming together, finally?
If we took points off of City, L’pool & add in Chels we’d be challenging for the title right now. Not particularly realistic when you consider where we are in our development compared to those clubs, is it? Like it or not we’re competing against Sp*rs, Everton, Leicester, Brighton, Wolves & Westham for European spots &, atm, we’re competing well. It may be reductionist to put the loss against L’pool to inexperience (judging by how well we competed in the 1st half & the collapse in the 2nd I’d disagree) but I think it’s equally short sighted to judge our… Read more »
Not particularly realistic when you consider where we are in our development compared to those clubs, is it? That wasn’t the question you asked me though. You didn’t ask me if I thought we were capable title challengers. I think it’s equally short sighted to judge our progress solely on how many points we get off of title contenders & not the sides around us. Nor am I judging our progress based on results against the top 3. If anything I judge it based on information like what @bleeding gums murphy posted. Many of the same issues from last… Read more »
You can call me biased all day long (I’ll happily admit it) but it’s night and day what we look like between UE and MA. Sometimes the stats don’t tell you everything you need to know. UE’s Arsenal were on wobbly and crumbling foundations and while we might have started strongly with him, there was little fight in the team, and the players looked like shells of themselves. MA’s Arsenal are on increasingly solid foundations and I believe that we can only go up from here.
I remembered Leceister being blown apart by Arsenal twice the year they won the league. Yes these big losses hurt but we must try out best to move on and focus on the league position to qualify at least for Champions League.
Exactly. We looked dominant against them but still finished about 10 points off ’em.
It’s a long season. I’d take consistency over big scalps any day.
Disagree. One individual error cost is the game. It’s when they scored the second the game changed.
Always easier to analyse later but we were in the game and could have gotten something out of the game.
Take a young guy like Tavares out after his mistake can have lasting negative affect.
No I’m sorry, I can’t let 4-0 go. We should be doing better, even with a young team. This was a chance for Arteta to vanquish the doubters, I’m afraid doubts will remain, and probably rightly so.
For me losing 2-0 or 4-0 doesn’t make the difference that it does for you. It doesn’t mean we didn’t turn up. We did collapse, but this group will fix that
The goalkeeper, almost the entire defence and midfield have been playing together for less than 10 games, besides being an average age of about 21yrs. What did we really expect against one of the best teams in the world? We need a bit of perspective here. There was always going to be one outcome. Our recent form notwithstanding, a draw would have been a small miracle. Yea, we can hope, but. .. heh!
The other side to that perspective is West Ham, Palace, Brighton, even Sp*rs managed upsets against the top 3 this season. We, on the other hand, regularly get spanked by them.
We did do the double over Chelsea as recently as last season, and beat both the others a couple of months before that season begun, so we’ve certainly shown that on the right day, we too can upset them. I also think that if you were to ask Klopp whether we met the same Liverpool as West Ham and Brighton did, or ask Guardiola whether we met the same City as Palace and Spurs did, they’d both agree that the teams we faced were much tougher opponents. Just cause the shirts say one name doesn’t mean that we all met… Read more »
If we’re not a top 4 team, I’m much happier with entertaining football. Things are way better with this team, even if we finish 8th again. Our time will come again.
Would have been sensational if we had got a point or more out of the game. Hopefully we’ll use the experience to learn and get more points going forward.
I’m sure we would all have taken 5th in the league now at the start of the season. Depends if we kick on or not…
I guess that’s going to be the ultimate barometer now, can we bounce back and get a result against Newcastle? Then I think its United away, Everton away and Southampton at home.
Before the game, some of us fancied that we could take a point. Some even said we could win. Honestly, it’s just a dream. But thanks a lot, we can now dream because there’s a hope in this team. Hopefully it can be materialized in the future.
IMO there is a difference between the defeats against City and Chelsea. Yesterday we fought well. Some individual errors cost us.
What is worrying me is that Auba is not integrated in the system
That guy has been a shadow of his former self for a couple of months now, he seems uninterested
I am surprised people are still so hung up on Aubameyang struggling in games like yesterday. To put it into context here, even when he is playing well, he is a fairly low touch player. His forte is playing on the shoulder, making intelligent runs and fairly surgical finishing. Yesterday afternoon I think he had one opportunity to score which was a half chance at best. Lacazette played a brilliant pass for him to run onto, and he got his shot on target within two touches from a seriously acute angle and very nearly beat Alison who in fairness had… Read more »
One thing that does annoy me about Aura is his lack of giving a defender a little dig. I’m not talking anything nasty but when he chases to close down I get the same feeling as when Özil did it. Race to the defender, get slower the nearer you get and never actually put in a challenge. There’s no pressure in that, the defender knows he’s got time because the challenge will never come. Compare to Jota, Sarah and Mane. They chase and you’ll get something, you know you have no time.
Love that autocorrect has changed Salah to Sarah!
Yes, I think people don’t value the effort that Auba is putting in with his pressing, perhaps because as you pointed out, the was almost no bite to his hounding, unlike the nasty nips that Mane and Salah get away with. Guess that lack of tangible results diminishes the values of Auba’s effort.
At the same time, I hate the sneaky way Liverpool fouled our players, so would I be a hypocrite for wanting us to pay them back with their own medicine?
I actually think he does press well but there’s so much space around him where he knows that it is somewhat pointless because there’s a few options for the defender to take.
Their first goal is kind of from Auba’s pressing which led to him giving away a freekick from a untidy tackle.
That was the thing that really lost me with Ozil in the end. Literally one of my favourite footballers in his primes, but by the end he just completely stopped getting stuck in in any way in a tackle or challenge. Watching him “challenge” for an aerial duel was flat out embarassing. I wouldn’t put Auba anywhere near Ozil’s level of neglecting a challenge.
Yes, but the point is we’re not scoring. Simple as that. Auba isn’t contributing enough. Not even close. In form in his prime he took chances and scored a lot. Now he’s out of form and out of his prime. How long to we carry that in vain hope he returns to his prime? We are desperate for more connection. Why not give pepe a shot at it? Or have we just totally abandoned him? He’s patchy but he’s direct like auba, but with better control and better in the air. Why not?
I dont really see how it can be our strikers fault when we dont get him the ball? What are you expecting him to do? Drop into midfield, pick the ball up, beat 5 players on his own and then fire it in the top corner every game? I think Aubameyang is so good, if you give him chances he will score goals. But we don’t create anywhere near enough chances for him really. You put him in that City team, or Liverpool, Chelsea and he would be right up there with the 25 goals a season. The guy is… Read more »
They are getting the ball – even yesterday we got it forward pretty quick when we did get on the ball, but the liverpool CBs smothered him and that happens all too often now. Our attacks break down so often because as soon as Auba gets the ball he turns it over – he has basically zero build up contributions. We are looking to play on the counter but we’re lacking some quality in driving those counters and I see a bit part of that as falling on Auba’s lap. Laca is good in build up. ESR excellent. Saka is… Read more »
Agree auba was never anything other than ordinary with his back to goal. Was a bit of an poisoned chalice when he got the contract. I can see why he got extended, but don’t think it was a particularly good use of resources. He’s been a good player for us scored a lot of goals, couple of fa cup wins. But would anyone be disappointed if we sold him to city or Newcastle in January?. I don’t think many would be bothered, I know I would think it’s a good idea to get his contract of the books.
If Newcastle came with a good offer l. We’d be crazy not to take it. That’s the sort of sensible transfer decision a smart team would do. But we’re terrible at selling… Have been for some time.
Auba is a strange one to me lacazette the same. I like the both of them, but would not be bothered if they were both gone in January. Same with partey and pepe, no real attachment to any of them. Tierney gabriel Smith rowe saka ramsdale, it sort of feels like their team to me. By the time our best players are getting to their peak they’ll all be long gone. Auba lacazette pepe and partey are almost a million a week in wages, I’d get rid of the 4 of them as soon as I could. Don’t think any… Read more »
Would add White to that as well, thought he was a bad signing but he’s looking like a very good player to me now.
You must’ve been watching a different game to me on the weekend. He literally hardly had the ball, the one opportunity he had, he very nearly scored.. other than that he was having to press the centre backs largely on his own, and being asked to compete for 50/50 aerial balls with VvD, Matip and Fabinho
I hate Allisson’s toe. It’s simply too big.
Illegally big in my opinion? Has the FA rule book been cross reference to see whether his big toes are within the guidelines?
Most likely not..
Surely a route worth pursuing at this point as a clear infraction has taken place.
🙂
He never has the ball a lot because that’s not his game. When the ball comes to him in build up it has never been his strength to improve the quality of the attack – right now it’s as bad as it’s ever been – he get’s outmuscled and he just isn’t good at holding the ball up and picking the right pass (or connecting play with a header). He’d rather be playing off the last man looking for a goal. That’s his game. But he’s not scoring enough. Maybe some of that is chances, but I think the way… Read more »
You’re kinda contradicting yourself somewhat there. As I mentioned in my comment, and rightly you agreed. All of those attributes are his bag (on the centre backs shoulder, looking to make a smart run to grab a goal) If we can’t get him into those situations, or, get him the ball when he himself has maneuvered his way into those positions.. What is he supposed to do? He can’t make the ball magically appear at his feet (although that would be extremely advantageous if he could do that) clearly that’s where he is going wrong — he must work on… Read more »
Disagree regarding Pepe he’s more than patchy falls over his own feet and easy to play against not to mention extremely frustrating to watch.
Not even sure they’re individual errors so much as Liverpool forces mistakes through the world’s greatest ever Relentless tactical pressing system. Liverpool were a class above. At 0-0, I thought “we’re fighting hard, but we’re getting dominated” at 1-0 I thought “jeez they’re smashing us, this score flatters us (ramsdale the saviour)”… Then the inevitable happened. We’re still a big name team so and we were in form. Liverpool had this marked in the calendar and sent a message: “you’ve got a long way to go arsenal”.
In nearly two years Arteta has not moved the dial an inch when it comes to performances at the top sides. He is not an elite manager and I don’t think he ever will be. And while I’ll continue to celebrate wins and get behind the team in every game, I have never stopped thinking that we need a better manager to oversee and develop “the process” of turning a young squad into a winning squad. Our underling stats this season are APPALLING. 7 goals in open play. 7 big chances created in the league (19th in the league). Average… Read more »
You do realize that we’ve beaten City, Liverpool, Tottenham, United, and Chelsea under Arteta, right?
You do realize that we’re in fifth place at the moment, with 25 games to go and a young team bound to improve with more experience?
And one of those is definitely not a top team 😉
Is there a law that says just because our players are young, they are all guaranteed to improve and go on to be success stories?
Our assistant coaches when they were at Man Utd didn’t exactly have the best record with improving youth players.
I’m in favour of this season’s recruitment policy but I’ll be happy if even 3/6 of our new signings realise their full potential at Arsenal under this coaching staff. Even most of the U23 players from Wenger’s Project 1.0 ended up stagnating despite the better environment.
I absolutely agree. There’s managerial potential there but it’s trending towards elite whatsoever. I find it very worrying that a person can be so dictatorial this early on in their career. Our club motto is Victory through Harmony. Mikel often emphasises to the media that there is “complete harmony” at the club. But is harmony achieved after forcing several players and staff out really harmony? He is very much at risk of going the way of Gullit, di Matteo and. Andre Villas-Boas. Young coaches who won silverware early and didn’t do much after that. AVB was a protege of Mourinho.… Read more »
I’ve never understood the near personal vendetta fans have against managers. I mean, you’ve even named yourself after him egregiously. I’m not sure you quite understand what harmony means …
Legitimate criticisms of Arteta does not mean a person hates him. I certainly don’t. It does not mean those who have their doubts on his managerial capabilities wake up even morning screaming epithets at a Vodun Doll of Mikel. Or stalking his social pages or whereabouts. Even though I’m sure you’d like to believe that. The name is just a portmanteau of how he comes across. A control freak on and off the pitch. I was very supportive of the man once. After 18 months of seeing his skills as a man-manager and tactician… I truly believe he is currently… Read more »
I’m glad to hear that you don’t hate the manager, as I really had that impression after reading your daily
rantsarguments encouraging his removal.Aside from leaving, what could Arteta do to win your support back?
after reading your daily rants arguments encouraging his removal. Futs, that’s the positivity enforcer in you making things up again. Prove that I rant daily on Arseblog calling for Mikel’s termination. Aside from leaving, what could Arteta do to win your support back? Find new assistant managers. Their tactical imprint on our team is a carbon-copy of LVG and Moyes’ United. We all know how that ended. Delegate more control of our attacking patterns to the players. I see Partey and Lokonga shooting from distance when a through-ball to Auba is the simpler choice. This has happened enough times to suggest it’s… Read more »
If you post 11 comments (and counting) declaring that Arteta is not good enough to manage Arsenal, and that is just on this news article alone, then am I really making things up? I don’t think I’m misunderstanding what you are writing — as you say, the Arteta train has left for you. Does that not mean that you’d rather he be let go rather than have to endure any more of his football politics? I could be misreading you, but you suggest, quite eagerly, that Arteta is too inexperienced, he cannot install self-belief in the team which results in… Read more »
So your point of reference are the comments I’ve made underneath this article? Much of which are in response to you. You made a claim suggesting that I make DAILY ARGUMENTS on Arseblog encouraging Arteta’s sacking. Which at best is an exaggeration and at a worst a lie. Just like that bogus claim you made that I said any manager not named Arteta would guarantee us the League. I don’t comment every day on Arseblog and most of my comments are not centered on why Mikel should be replaced. If I asked you what argument I made 7 days ago… Read more »
Oh, dear …
I’d say fuck the stats, I didn’t think he should have got the job. Thought he should have got sacked at the end of last season, but he’s got me on side. I can see what they’re trying to do and am happy to get behind it. I think we’ve got a chance, happy enough to see where the young players we have can take us.
I really don’t feel like this is such a big deal. Many new faces, many young faces – yea we lost control but it just doesn’t feel as unnaceptable to do that as it has been in the past with this squad. I like what we did, I see things we could have done better and I believe we will
Same here. Its obvious where improvement are needed. Such as cohesion, gelling and coming up with different tactics to navigate the high press, building trust and drilling especially the midfielders to play on the half turn. These things take time to get into a team esspecially when they didn’t come in with those traits.
The boys have a platform, lets see how they evolves from it. Coyg
The toughest away fixture surely and I like that Arteta challenged Klop, but there has to be a change in the atmosphere that surrounds us when we play top teams. There is no belief at all among people that we are capable winning these games, unless you are an Arsenal supporter. We have to make a statement this season and challenge that 4th place and hopefully in the next one we’ll have a confident team.
If you look back at the coverage on Sky and BBC this week, they very much believed that Arsenal could beat Liverpool — or at least presented the game as a real contest. Arteta and the squad certainly believed it, until the second half. I personally did not think we could win this one, and didn’t have much faith in a draw either; but that’s not because I don’t have faith in this manager and this team. It had more to do with Liverpool being Liverpool at home after 2 mediocre and damaging performances; a team that across the 76… Read more »
Its the old story, build them up to knock them down.
Yet another step up from Arteta showing Klopp the same grit and attitude of a classy yet fearsome competitor. No doubt these players feel they let him down….and that is a great thing.
The saddest reality in all these for me, is that the return legs to Chelsea, City and Pool are going to go the same way. We may still concede up to 11 goals without reply!
Arteta seems helpless in these games.
Manny looking at the largest glass of water in the world singing…water water everywhere but not a drop to drink
Fear not — we will deliver massive performances in the return legs!
I want to be proved wrong but we all know that won’t happen.
Would like to have seen Smith-Rowe playing in the Laca role, with a Tierney AND Taveres (or Saka) left hand side for security + direct attacking, at least for 60 minutes (depending on fitness). SR had too much work to do out wide. Would have gave us more pace and quick balls centrally.
Its hard enough to beat liverpool with 3 phases of play working. Yesterday the only phase of the game we were ok at was our defense. Midfield overrrun but its not like the attack was doing them any favours. Games lime this remind me how invaluable Giroud was at linking the play and being an outlet when we ran out of ideas. Auba should be reserved for open play games. These tactical battles dont suit his playstyle.
Also I don’t like ESR being pigeon-holed at a LM. He should of been in the center yesterday as it was gonna be hard to get on the ball out wide. I also still believe thsts his best position. And I actually believe Odegaard would be a good RW as he always takes that space anyways and creates a hold in the center. Would like to see Ode, ESR, Saka on the potch more consistently than Auba/Laca.
It’s a funny old game, football. In 1970-71 I was at White Hart Lane to see us clinch the title, and at Wembley for the cup final victory. But I was also at the Victoria Ground to see us lose 5-0 to Stoke. I know the current team is far from that one, but what’s important is how you bounce back from a bad defeat.