Result: Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal
Competition: Premier League
Date: 20 November 2021
Venue: Anfield
Arsenal: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tavares, Partey, Sambi, Smith Rowe, Saka, Lacazette, Aubameyang.
Subs: Leno, Cedric, Holding, Tierney, Maitland-Niles, Elneny, Odegaard, Pepe, Martinelli
Liverpool ended Arsenal’s eight-game unbeaten run in the Premier League with a comprehensive 4-0 win at Anfield.
The Gunners kept the home side at bay until six minutes before the break but life became very difficult after Sadio Mane’s headed opener.
Pressing high up the pitch, Liverpool repeatedly took advantage of naive attempts to play out from the back and ruthlessly put the game out of reach courtesy of decisive finishing by Diogo Jota, Mo Salah and Takumi Minamino.
Were it not for Aaron Ramsdale, who again impressed between the sticks, the score could easily have been worse.
Pre-game
Having spent the Interlull nursing a groin issue, Thomas Partey was declared fit and took up his place in the centre of midfield meaning Ainsley Maitland-Niles dropped to the bench. That aside, it was the same team that started the win against Watford two weeks ago meaning Nuno Tavares retained his place ahead of Kieran Tierney. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alex Lacazette were charged with leading the line with Martin Odegaard, Nicolas Pepe and Gabriel Martinelli waiting in reserve.
First Half
Having paid the price for conceding early goals at Anfield so many times in recent years, Arteta obviously sent his players out with the aim of keeping things tight for as long as possible.
We lasted 39 minutes before our goal was breached by Sadio Mane (1-0), whose presence on the pitch ignited a game that had been predominantly tight and tense and tactical.
There’s no denying that the Senegal striker is a very good player, but he’s also a sly prick and it was quite unbelievable it took until just before the break for referee Michael Oliver to hand him a booking. By that point, he’d already taken out Tomiyasu with a flailing arm that so incensed Mikel Arteta that the Spaniard started a near-brawl on the touchline with Jurgen Klopp. Both managers had to be restrained before being booked.
That incident really got the Anfield crowd going and in the minutes before Mane headed home Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick, the Gunners were thankful for a series of saves by Aaron Ramsdale, including some world-class handling to keep a ball from Mo Salah’s toes.
Desperate to keep our shape at the back, the Gunners were mostly conservative on the ball and too often ceded possession with long balls in the direction of Aubameyang who had to contend with both Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk.
That said, there were a couple of bright moments in attack. Oxlade-Chamberlain blocked a Saka header after the England international was found by a brilliant whipped cross by Tomiyasu and the linesman’s flag ruled out a Lacazette strike after neat build-up play by Smith Rowe and Aubameyang, who knew he was offside.
Heading into the break, it was clear we’d need to do more to get anything from the game.
Second Half
To say we endured a nightmare start to the second period is an understatement. Lokonga three times gave the ball away in dangerous areas and he was very lucky to see an Oxlade-Chamberlain effort, the result of one of those misplaced passes, go just wide of Ramsdale’s post.
The bad play spread like a virus and cost us dearly. Within minutes Tavares embarked on a suicidal run out from left-back before playing a terrible backwards pass that Jota pounced on. The Portugal international was calmness personified, leaving White and Ramsdale on their arses, before stroking into an empty net. (2-0)
Had Ben White not blocked Thiago’s effort, it could easily have been three in the blink of an eye. This time Tomiyasu was the one guilty of falling apart in the face of Liverpool’s press. Only an injury to Ramsdale who collided with Jota slowed down the onslaught.
Aubameyang, put through by Lacazette, did test Alisson on 65 minutes but it was a rare foray forward. Even with Odegaard and Maitland-Niles on the pitch, we looked increasingly ragged as Liverpool repeatedly hit us on the break.
Ramsdale denied Jota his second with a magnificent save but he couldn’t do anything to stop Salah (3-0) and then substitute Minamino (4-0) from tapping home from close range as we fell apart in annoyingly typical fashion.
It’s strange to think that a win today would have carried Arsenal above Liverpool and level on points with Manchester City and West Ham. This was a very sobering evening on Merseyside and a timely reminder that the gap between us and the best sides in the league remains huge.
Ultimately, our ambition to regain a place in Europe won’t be decided by games like these. We need to get back on the horse next Saturday and see if we can put together another run.
It’s a good thing we’re not in Europe. We’re just fodder to good teams nowadays. Sad to watch.
Sorry to say but Lokonga and Tavares were terrible. That’s no way to thank the manager for having faith in you.
Bar Brentford, we’ve lost to teams that are years ahead of us; Chelsea, Man City and Now Liverpool. The table does not lie and those 3 are probably going to peel away from the rest of the bunch for the title fight.
We remain 5th and have our own category to fight for, 4th to 6th. We can do it.
The problem is that they have been years ahead of us for over a decade. They’ve figured out how to get to the top, and we haven’t yet. Which is worrying.
It’s a young squad, and thats fine. I’m not expecting a title win. But this Liverpool side were there for the taking considering their recent results, and we didn’t capitalise on that. 5 losses at Anfield with a 4+ goal deficit is sad to see.
I think I agree with some parts of what you’re saying here, but Anfield is probably the hardest away day in Europe at the moment. I think I saw a stat that said when Virgil van Dijk has started, Liverpool haven’t lost a home game in the Premier League. So if you’re going to go to there and have a sniff, as a minimum the teams output has to be maximum effort. And I dont think all of the players walking off the pitch can honestly look at themselves in the mirror and say they gave it everything they had.… Read more »
if Brighton can do it, so can we.
To look at this another way, we’re 2 years behind Man U in the rebuilding process following a long term manager.
I much prefer to be in our position, with a young developing squad full of exciting talent rather than throwing money at the latest ‘hot name’
This mentality that we are OK and happy to just fight for 4th is exactly why we are so shit*. We should fight for every match no matter who we play. It was we embarrassing to watch this team today. Standard have dropped so low that if we finish 7th most fans would see it as the progress. We a have below average manager….why are we OK with that? We should do what Chelsea did, fk having an ex player as manager like Man utd. Get a manager with some knowledge of the game. Ffs.
The reality is that we cannot afford such a manager as all odds are against us at the moment. For starters, we are not in Europe and hence wont be able to attract the kind of players a top manager would want. Not all of them will buy into the ‘youth’ thing.
Except we get another teake over from the kind of owners Newcastle has, our only option is to crawl back to the top. Its doable but will take a lot of pains and time.
Why so angry after each defeat. Keep calm man. Let’s first get to the Champions League, only then we can attract real quality players.
Also, we are starting to look better. When you are trying to get rid of a pot belly, you don’t exactly want to match the workout performance to 6 pack abs guy, that would only depress you and make you quit. Let the team grow, I have faith that they will be much better in the coming seasons.
Also, not every replacement coach will perform like Tuchel, otherwise, we would have 19 replacement coaches each season.
Thanks, DB10 Forever … I was going to write something cranky in response, but I’m trying not to engage with the misery merchants who serve but one purpose in their commentary.
We are still in fifth spot, 3 points behind 4th, and 5 points behind LFC. We’ll get them when they come to the Emirates.
we were in the champions league up until two seasons ago and, as far as I recall, even with the players we attracted, we still got bludgeoned 10-0 on aggregate against Bayern.
We can’t seem to improve, no matter what. 2 steps forward, 1 step back.
Totally 👍
Hm. Truth be told, I’m not worried that we lost, we were always going to, this Liverpool team is insane. I am worried how little composure we had after that Tavares mistake led to a goal. Up until then I thought we fought decently given we have the youngest squad in the league and are still trying to piece everything together. Horrible result, but nice that we can lose 4-0 and still be 5th just 3pts off the top four. Despite what this performance indicates there is definitely improvement. After a long time we have an exciting squad, things are… Read more »
They were good in the first half and lost their ability to concentrate in the second half, they’re young and it was a tough test for them. They were better than Partey and Auba who were invisible. It’s a young team who are learning and Liverpool, a top side, had enough respect for us to wake up their “A” game. We stay in 5th, we’ve got through the hardest game in the league relatively unscathed, on to the next one.
I was hoping for a decent performance regardless of the outcome. I’m not sure those 2 are worth singling out. It was dreadful all round and naive to keep with the same formation just because it worked against lesser teams. We may have some way to go matching Liverpool but if we keep collecting points against lesser teams and get back into Europe that’s a succes for now in my view. Best file this in the performances to forget folder and move on.
I think we played well all things considered. We kept trying to play our game and some of the passing in face of the press in the first half was crisp even though it might not have moved us forward. Mane does some snide stuff in the first half always, recall his slam on Bellerin from some time back.
Lost composure in the wing and strength to hold people off in the middle in the second half, but still, we fought well for a bit of the game.
You make an important point about trying to play our game. Beating lesser teams doing that is great for confidence but not much else. Playing your game against better teams is a test of where you’re at and hopefully in time it strengthens the team’s ability to execute under pressure.
Same here, we never stood much of a chance but was hoping for a feisty performance…which we did get more or less in 1st half. Let’s just write that off as the worst 45 min we’ll play all year and move on.
Youth is a double-edged sword. Lokonga and Tavares will be better for the laskings they took today.
I really like Tavares but people on here for the last few weeks debating him or Tierney as first choice really depressed me – people just love a shiny new thing. Give the lad time ffs. He is back up (as of now), not competition.
I agree completely. Even in his best games, where he added adventure and excitement, it was clear that Tavares was a long way from the finished article.
Lokonga and Tavares are two young and very, very talented players. They tried to play the toughest gameplan possible against the best team in the world. Get of their backs and support them instead of bitching around.
Made it easy for LFC with two gift for goals . Too much backwards passes into our own trouble . Tavares did pretty well verses Salah with his speed and size . But some stupid sideways passes and why not dribble further then cross , take on t.a.a. Didn’t test the full backs of KFC ( loll.f.c.) enough , as that was a weak spot defensively. Alison made some good saves partey maybe not quite fully fit . Maitland Niles good when he came on. Auba better out wide for me on today’s performance. Didn’t hold well with first touch… Read more »
I actually thought Sambi had a pretty good 1st half, better than Partey who was anonymous. It was an unimpressive performance all round though. Very long way to go on that evidence for Arsenal
Lots to Hate there
I hate how good Liverpool are more than anything. This is a team that has been playing together for years and years. They are like a footballing machine. Each player is a perfect fit for their role in the side. Most of our players are a few months old, either brought in this year or last. And young too. Most of Liverpool’s team is 28-29. It’s ok to be upset. It’s ok to think we played shit. It is a big reality check and losing 4 nil will always suck. And it should. But you can’t expect us to go… Read more »
forget this one. back to work. welcome back tierney
I thought Tavares had a decent game up until that first mistake. But I still like his mentality and response after the mistake he didn’t stop playing and froze he kept going and I respect that
He was really struggling from the start, it just didn’t result in anything…..but it was clearly going to happen if you were watching him closely. His defensive awareness is still very naive….but that’s inexperience.
didn’t mean to be too harsh on tavares. love the energy and believe the potential is there. very happy to have him in the squad. but tierney is my left back.
Tavares never dropped his head and always chased back, he has been immense in this run and deserved his start today remember Tierney hasn’t had a good beginning to the season.
I agree.. honestly I still don’t think he’s done too bad in this game to lose his place against Newcastle. I think the next cup game is when Tierney should be starting.. maybe he comes on against Newcastle to get some min if all is going well and we’re winning but honestly I would still start Tavares against Newcastle. He has no handbrake going forward against ANY team and always chases back and has the engine to recover. With Tierney I feel like with certain teams he doesn’t get up as much as necessary because he’s too cautious to be… Read more »
I think KT is a victim of the high standards he has set.
If he played like Tavares did today, everybody would be saying how shit he was.
Admirable and brave first half. Bunch of headless chickens second half. Crazy how that moment from Tavares literally sent us spiralling out of control. Feel sorry for Ramsdale, he didn’t deserve that score line
It was almost two different arsenal’s. Not sure if Liverpools pressing raised a notch or just arsenal dropped a notch themselves… Probably both to be fair.
They started to target Lokonga more in the second half when we tried to play out from the back. He looked nervy right from the get-go. That constant pressure led to him making repeated mistakes and had Liverpool swarming forward. We caved in, and everything nose-dived from there.
Thought Ainsley was worse than him to be fair
Their pressing is so good and they definitely did more of it in 2nd half. We needed to creat perfectly timed, pinpoint counter attacks and we weren’t able to.
Very true, but we made it easy with such slow, labored passing. This game was screaming for a Giroud type forward to hold the ball up and allow us to bypass the press.
Liverpool 2nd half were very good, though not as good as Chelsea earlier ( their wing back play, OMG )
We got overran in midfield.. it wasn’t so much a tactical reason for losing but more of a personel and individual errors costing us… our players in midfield are not as good as theirs. We didnt have a real out and out CAM in midfield who can hold up play we didnt have a striker who can hold up play we didn’t do a good job in midfield to beat their press and hold possession. Partey was non existent and Lokonga had an average night our struggles where in midfield
It was naive to play 2 in midfield in this game. Seemed like the same line-up was used that brought recent success instead of the reality of who we were playing
maybe naive but you can’t change a system that’s worked in last few games..if he changed it and we still lost you would’ve said why did he change a winning system?… so it’s not as naive as you say but I think Arteta could’ve taken off Lacazette at Half time… personally I would’ve taken Auba off at half time and put Lacazette up to bring on Odegaard to add an extra man in midfield. Laca holds up better than Auba would eases pressure and links up better everyone else ESR SAKA ODEGAARD LOKONGA and PARTEY are no slouch on the… Read more »
Would have kept Lacca , on but Martin o. Looks like a boy . He Didn’t press or tackle or pass . did nothing . Marking space . Would have been better to had Lacca centre with ESR. And on left wing Auba/ Pepe/ Martinelli all for me ahead of Martin.o.
I think you can and should change a formation even if it seems a winning one. Perhaps it would have made zero difference but I’d have been inclined to start with 3 in the midfield
I would have liked to have seen a back 3/5, with AMN coming in at RWB and Tomiyasu the RCB. However, I don’t think that is the reason for us losing and there is no way of knowing either way. What I will say is that I don’t like this 4-4-1-1 because a) I don’t think it has been that successful beyond being a surprise in the first couple of games it was played (it didn’t really work against Watford), so it’s not a sustainable option and b) because it means you have nobody to replace the man up-front with,… Read more »
It’s the hope that kills you. Even at one nil I had some dumb sense of optimism.
Taveres was poor today.
Liverpool are very good.
It’s all about experience with this team. The talent is there and this won’t happen in 3-4 years time.
Exactly this. I actually think the turning point was the Arteta fight. We saw men against boys in that moment. The Liverpool squad used it to rally and the Arsenal squad let it get to them. Including our young manager. However, I’m confident for us against teams we should be beating, I’ve seen enough for that. We need to add experience into this team if we want to push for Champions League level.
We’ll always have 89 guys
Tavaras and Lokonga not for games like this
Thomas Partey. Underperforming (for a year), or bang average?
i put it on the manager. but also not that great as i thought.
Hasn’t justified the hype or the price tag, that’s for sure.
I still can’t forget that moment he walked off the pitch against Spurs in the middle of play only to allow them to score.. when I think of Partey performance since he’s been at arsenal I remember the Man U away game and that spurs game …sums up his time at arsenal so far
Underperforming for a year. Injury prone and too often lightweight. On his day he’s exceptional but that is too rare a thing.
I’ve yet to see the exceptional partey people talk about. Klopp did the same thing last year, they didn’t press partey much and doubled up on odegaard. Today they left him alone most of the time and and went after sambi. Thought sambi was mostly good, couple of his turnovers came after partey played the ball to him when he was covered. He’s just not ready to be the main man in midfield in a game like today’s. Partey should have been the one to try and get hold off the game, but as usual he was non existent.
I’ve watched alot of Atletico and never saw Partey as exceptional. An ordinary player in Simeone’s functional and prosaic team, but easily replaceable and they won the league when he left.
He doesn’t seem suited to playing the 6 to me. Lokonga already looks better than him at 8. In the Europa games against us simeone used him as a right wing back tucking into midfield a la amn. Maybe he would be more productive for us in a similar role.
Yeah, I never saw anything special about him when I saw him play for them. I swear he was a substitute for someone else most of the times I saw him. Having said that, I never see anything special about any of Liverpool’s central midfielders. They look like a bunch of 400m runners who can kick a ball a bit. I don’t think most of their players would look any more than decent if they played elsewhere. People said the same thing about Klopp’s Dortmund players, and most of them looked average after he left (I only ever rated Lewandowski,… Read more »
Maybe not 100% fit?
The trouble is he’s always getting injured and being not 100% fit. He’s a senior player on a huge salary and he’s had maybe half a dozen really good games since he’s been here, he’s supposed to be a senior player and leader and he’s not producing. He seems unsuited to the Premier League.
It’s a worry for sure I agree, he hardly suffered a knock during what, 5 years with Atletico, maybe he isn’t suited to the EPL?
Tbh I was surprised, given the rumours regarding player fitness, that Arteta was able to pick the squad that he did.
Fortunately we don’t have to visit that graveyard of Arsenal ambition anymore this season in the League.
He’s never fit
It certainly seems that way, we’ve had a few like him over the years.
Pretty good player, reasonably decent performances. Arsenal fans are used to thinking that spending anything above 20 million should guarantee you a Zidane-Vieira combo. Liverpool spent 100 million on Fabinho and Keita to compete for a single position.
His best performances seem to come at the base of a 433. Not a formation likely to work in this game, but hope we see it against lower-table opposition.
I’m confident that in the long run, the 4-3-3 (or a “modern” 4-1-4-1 which in practice is about the same thing) is what we’ll play against most teams.
Fabinho was brilliant today. Everything Partey wasn’t
Partey cost 45 million and earns 260k a week. I don’t get where you’re coming from. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people to be expecting a lot more from him than what he’s produced. I think I read a stat that he’s only finished 90 minutes 11 times since he signed.
For me that central midfield is where we needed to buy someone established this summer. I do still like the odegaard signing but getting someone in a position where we already have talent didn’t seem like a priority to me. Still think he was a bargain though.
Hard disagree. It was clear from the start Klopps plan was to starve Partey of the ball. Shut all passing lanes. Force us to play through Lokonga. And it worked.
We did the same with Fabinho, but they have Thiago…
Didn’t look fully fit .
But doesn’t excuse him marking space . Unless that’s the coaching plan.
Oof that was a bit shit.
great first half! impressed by the defensive display.
however, 2nd half showed how limited arteta is.
no plan on how to score or even attack.
and what’s with the poor man’s guardiola’s tactic of passing from the back. it might work against weaker teams, but again LFC.
mid table performance today overall, except Ramsdale! kudos to him!
its not his fault Auba is a useless striker at Holding the ball up. Why do you think we are in the market for a top striker?
Hate to say it but Giroud would be a better target man for the system we play at the min.
I miss him!
that’s why you use other players if it doesnt work with auba. which was the case as happens so many times since last season.
Pea would have been better lw today . And Lacca , ESR central. Lacca knows how to hold up ball/ him a free kick
Slightly Arteta’s fault as we could have sold Auba after the Cup final instead of giving him a massive 3 year deal.
If only Arteta had a plan on how to score. Really? That was the problem?
4-0 defeat but 3 things I enjoyed
Aaron Ramsdale’s defiant display
Arteta standing up to Klopp.
The beautiful football for Lacazette’s disallowed first half goal.
Very disappointing. We started ok but Arteta losing it just fired them up. One nil at halftime not terminal but once we gifted the second goal it was all over. Still a long way to get back to competing for the big prizes.
nope don’t blame it on Arteta losing it.. Klopp is known to intimidate refs to get calls on the touchline that was clearly an aggressive play by Mane on Tomi and should’ve been a free kick to arsenal but I get its away and you may not get those 50/50 calls but Klopp reaction was poor and Arteta rightly had to let him know we would not be intimidated
Arteta went up in my mind after that but I think we lost focus after it also.
Just look at Top 3 goal difference. Only two teams below them have a positive figure against the plus 56 for top three. I’d like to know when that last happened.
we don’t score enough goals to be in the top 4…attack must be priority going into January transfer window we need a top striker and a top creative midfielder this team would be so much better with a striker that can actually “play” ..link up, hold up, good in the air, fast and aggressive. Auba is not it.
Results elsewhere went our way today at least. Need to respond against Newcastle but our I experience and lack of leadership showed today.
Thought Saka should have gone outside the defender on 18′ and taken a shot himself, because, let’s face it, our seniors aren’t really giving Arsenal enough against the stiffest opposition.
Feel for England’s no. 1 this evening: some of his saves truly outstanding.
Tierney’s experience missed today too.
This team does not the confidence to cause an upset yet.
We need seasoned campaigners with strong characters to aid these young talents.
Auba, Laca and Partey who are supposed to do that have failed woefully.
Not the end of the world. Nobody expected us to be in this position at this time anyway.
Newcastle come to town on Saturday lunchtime: 3 points is a must.
COYG!
we move.. no sweat the better team won on the day.. we still on the rise
Boys vs men today. At least in the 2. Half. 1. Half decent, but a shame we capitulate second half. Notable that the young and new players (Sambi, Tavares) had a very tough night.
Here we are again, but for some reason I have a feeling we will bounce back next weekend. Hopefully.
Liverpool 4 Kamikazi FC 0
Yes, Liverpool were the better side, but we stuffed ourselves with hopeless defending. We might have nicked a point if we just did the defensive basics right.
And nothing up front again. Our biggest problem is the lack of creativity in the final third. We never looked like scoring a goal.
Reality bites.
When you’re under constant pressure you need your forwards to hold onto the ball, to give you a breather, disappointed with our forwards today.
Shouldn’t be too disheartened by that. Anfield away was never gonna be easy and we played well until the tavares pass and then it crumbled away a bit. Tavares and Lokonga will learn a lot from today. Good chance to bounce back at home to Newcastle next sat and thanks to Watford and wolves we’re still 5th, so we’ve got away with it 🙌🙌😁
A loss to Liverpool at Anfield – misery mongers, this is your opportunity! We weren’t that bad in the first half. We were dismantled in the second because they’re ruthless and we are what we are – a young imperfect side playing against European champions at home. We didn’t cope in midfield and Tavares showed the weaker sides of his game tonight. Despite that, for me it definitely wasn’t among the worst performances of recent times and there were positives.
Feel like arteta for the auba wrong, but that said it’s hard to pick on anyone specific, we needed Liverpool to not be at the races and it was us in fact that weren’t
Subs*
Anyone seen Thomas Partey?
🔭🔭🔭🔭🔭
I thought Tavares was decent and Partey was actually poor.. we got overran in midfield hence why all our changes was in midfield we started with Partey Lokonga Lacazette we ended up with Maitland Niles Odegaard Elneny. That should tell you something
This will be a learning for the youngest team in the Premier League. Be less harsh on the lads.
yes especially Tavares who I thought was still decent and handled facing Salah pretty well for the most part of the game. It’s tough to keep a player like Salah quiet
I agree. It’s just annoying though to fans to be so far away from top 3 teams.
It’s fine – away at Anfield, and the game was lost to a pinpoint cross and a mistake from a young left back. Far better than losing it to either naive or overly conservative tactics.
Leave Europe, you can win titles while losing games to ‘title rivals’, even by embarrassing margins. E.g.: United between 2006 and 2009.
Onward and upward.
Not sure how Mane was still on the pitch if that was xhaka he would shot. Also why the hell do Sky have Mr Liverpool on commentary?
Very little discussion of how Mane should have seen red, a yellow for the elbow that upset Arteta and then that tackle in the technical area on White was completely unnecessary and looked like an orange card, this would have been a sending off and the game would have changed somewhat.
I wonder how many litres of phlegm his microphone absorbs during a game
Lee Dixon was on commentary for the American feed. Didn’t help.
Oh well, a bad day at the office, still 5th though and only 9 points from the top.
Incidentally, last season after 12 games we had lost seven of them and were in 15th place with 13 points so were are on the right track!
The worry is how few goals we’ve scored – even Newcastle have scored more and haven’t won a game yet!
We only outscore Norwich from open play.
The run of good results owes much to the defensive improvement we still aren’t fluent and the striking department needs overhauling
I’m not quite sure what to feel. I thought the players worked hard – this wasn’t a capitulation like Man City – and I know Liverpool is much better than we are, so I’m not mad about the result.
What worries me is the complete toothlessness we showed going forward.
Let’s see how we can fix this against opposition which is closer to our level.
A striker in the Summer is a must and Arteta/Edu know it. This team is getting better. It’s ovbious. But there’s a long way to go to get to Liverpool’s current level. That’s ovbious too. We move.
Not to be too negative, but IMO having one shot on goal is an issue of build-up moreso than a striker issue.
In this case, it’s about how we let Liverpool have the ball and how we didn’t do a myth with it when they didn’t.
We could have had Salah today and it wouldn’t have made a difference.
I get you but we had 3 shots on target, Lokonga Aubamayang and partey
Sorry, I must have checked out at some point.
I wouldn’t even bother SB. I remember a year ago when Lampard had Chelsea playing like a midtable side. Plenty of fans and pundits were saying Rudiger and Kante were finished.
Now almost 12 months later the same people are calling them world class.
I wonder what changed during that time
YES we are toothless going forward especially when AUBA is leading the line…when we go into matches I’m not quite confident we can score enough but im more confident we can get a clean sheet which is weird because it used t be the other way around
After the first half I was so pleased, even though we were one nil down. Then the next 45 mins we proceeded to burn all of our good work to the ground and ensure our annual tonking at anfield so we’d all have to stomach another image of a gurning klopp and the sickening sight of delirious scousers. I’m not angry, just disappointed.
He really does have a way of making people dislike him doesn’t he? This is my bitterness showing but he’s a sore loser and a sore winner too. Seems to be getting worse with time. The day we outplay them will be a good day indeed.
that was not a 4-0 performance but the score would tell you otherwise. proud of some of the players Ramsdale Gabriel were good everyone else were mostly average with a few poor moments. But nothing to worry about I have faith in this young team
I think it was about our midfield and attack tonight. Probably ESR and Saka was exhausted after our run recently and after the internationals + Auba is not Giroud (mainly not against a VVD) and he will never retain posession with his back toward their goal.
Yes, the gap between us and the best sides is huge, but I think our league position is a better mirror than this match alone.
(But the number of goals we are scoring are worrying)
Arteta can use subs . Martinelli and Pepe spring to mind. ESR was disappointing tbh and saka we never got the ball to him to test the young l.b. of Liverpool
This is Artetas loss all day long. You are shooting yorself in both you’r foots if you go to Anfield and invite preassure. I know we want to play that way but Liverpool are a better team, better managed for now and have the players and experience to cope with a team of kids coming to town. We can’t play out of defence the way we want against the top three teams. They are to good and we are not good enough. Yet. That being said I thought we could do it. Even when we were 2-0 down I thought… Read more »
I don’t usually correct people’s spelling, but when you write “both you’r foots”, you’re the one who’s shooting themselves in the foot.
Disappointing result but sometimes you have to say you were beaten by the better team.
At 1-0 we were in the game, but then shot ourselves in the foot. I feel sorry for Ramsdale, his performance didn’t deserve to see 4 conceded
Rightly said, we got beaten by an exceptional team. In fact, I was happy with how Tavares and Gabriel had kept Salah in control in the first half, given he is currently in form of his life. But they messed up in the 2nd half. Maybe it is due to the young team, but we always play worse in 2nd half during this season. Also, this Liverpool team should be taken as a model to know where the Arsenal team needs to reach. I definitely feel that only Man City and Liverpool are the teams we couldn’t beat. Other than… Read more »
Arteta’s immaturity in tactics showed today. Once we have the ball there’s hardly any proper build up play. We aim to pass it directly to someone running behind the defenders. That might work once, but trying that most of the times was a bit naive. Apart from that, errors have to be minimised. Giving away goals is never helpful. I think Arteta will be a great manager someday. But that someday has to arrive sooner rather than later. I hope he keeps an open mind and learns from his mistakes. He losing his cool did not help the cause. Klopp,… Read more »
Our defensive application was excellent, until it wasn’t. We clearly love defending but more nous/maturity needed.
We also need something different up front, a target man or someone with immaculate ball control because it’s just suicidal playing forwards who can’t retain possession in these top 6 clashes.
Not too disheartened. On to the next one lads
Many talking points from this one, but I really don’t feel like talking right now. Only feeling i got, for quite some time is that Aubameyang needs to be benched if it’s not possible to sell him. Either let Laca or Gabi or Balo have a go up top, or bring the replacement in January, but the fact he is unbenchable does not suit us one bit. I honestly wish we could play Laca at the top, and one more Laca behind him, and with this midfield display one more Laca in the mid. Only positive is that we tend… Read more »
We should definitely bring Vlahovic to the Arsenal, even if it is on a ridiculous salary.
He looked quite good in recent national team games which I saw. He is definitely a really good striker.
That Korean striker Wolves got also looked good when I saw the recent Wolves match.
Striker is definitely a priority in this transfer window.
Vlahovic is top drawer- Giroud with pace
4 – 0 speaks volumes. West ham beat them for goodness sake. At least just concede 1 or 2 and show some metal. Past results have flattered us. If spurs win tomorrow they’ll be one point behind us and they’ve been awful.
We clearly don’t have the midfielders to play it from the back against an organized press. Being so pigheaded on playing that way was plain stupid. Whatever arteta told the players at HF was off.
The partey lokonga axis was always going to be exposed in the furnace of Anfield under such intense pressing, one bad pass and the ball ends up in the net in the blink of an eye. The lack of a real playmaker in the side troubles me, the team lacks in the control and creativity departments – the low total of goals from open play is evidence of this.
Our attack lacked structure and we needed players good at keeping possession. It’s a learning experience for the team.
Xhaka
Such a double-edged sword, that whole notion. It’s possible he would have put in a man-of-the-match performance and given us stability through the middle and something to build our attacking plays on. Or he could have gone in for a crazy tackle, gotten himself sent off/conceded a penalty and we’d be playing with 10 men. Such is the quandary of the player. We need someone who is less error-prone and more dependable in not creating catastrophe.
Getting worried about Mø10
Mø8
Scoreline though; you would swear the team wasn’t competitve in the first half.
The first match the gunners have lost by a 4goal margin that still feels like progess being made..I wish we played our regular game and lost 5-2 rather than not laying any gloves on their defence….can’t wait to see what these young men do at anfield in two years…I trust the process
In Ramsdale we trust? Sure seems like a one man show… And Liverpool were offside twice? We were offside probably 20 times. Runs with late passes, or lazy players not running back onside… Playing tika-taka against gegenpress, I think the strategy was to let them shoot twenty plus shots at our keeper and hope that tires them out. It was a good plan, they looked really tired after the 85th minute. Why aren’t we playing Martinelli over a geriatric aubameyang? I think he pressed and closed down and touched the ball once all game. And gave the ball away at… Read more »
This was always going to be a loss. The performance was always going to be the most important thing. Didn’t think we played terribly. We were in the game til Arteta fired them up with his fight with klopp. 1,2, or 3 isn’t our fight.
No offense, but this is the mentality that will keep us midtable. We should never approach a game with the mindset that it’s okay to lose it.
West Ham beat them, no reason we shouldn’t.
I don’t want to make any assumptions about others, but speaking for myself, thinking ‘this was always going to be a loss’ is more of a reflexive coping mechanism and a way of shielding myself from the pain of having gone in wanting to win and then suffering a miserable scoreline, than a reflection of my ambitions for the club. Of course we (taking the liberty of speaking for all fans now) want to be top of the table and able to beat all of the best teams. Ruddy painful when you realise we’re not there just yet. I’m sure… Read more »
There were positives from the game mostly at the start but also looking forward I think we have the makings of a good team bit more cohesion up front wether that’s personal or tactical who knows or a bit more strength in the centre mid. Liverpool can do that to any team in the league on their day.
Totally agree. I was really enjoying the lads handling anything that was thrown at them in the first half up until the goal. Salah and Mane weren’t having any joy and the latter was having to resort to either making up fouls or needing to foul us to get the ball back. If we can keep that intensity up for longer periods and also not crumble/lose the plot when things don’t go to plan, we’ll be ace. It’ll come with time. Even though it was 4-0 and by the end I felt like something that had been trodden on, that… Read more »
I think 4-0 was flattering and being honest, I was pleased with the performance. Liverpool needed a set piece to break us down and yes, Tavarez made a mistake that really cost us on the day. They didn’t “play brilliantly” to that point. Once we shipped two goals, trying to play any kind of football was always going to make it easier for them, not harder. I enjoyed the fight from Arteta too. Mane is a cunt and should have had a yellow earlier. Leading with the arm through Tomi.
I actually liked Arteta giving it to Klopp, we need to show them that we are not here giving respect, however mighty they may seem. Although its embarrassing to lose after such a tirade, still I liked how Arteta came with an aggressive mindset even if the player did not match the same with the performance.
I would be definitely working with madness after such embarrassment, so hoping that we bully the Newcastle and Solksjaer enough in the next fixtures.
I think we badly need an Auba replacement THIS Season
Meanwhile the talent of the century sits on the bench. Klopp must have been grinning from ear to ear
Ok to be honest sambi, partey and Tavares were poor today without the two centre mids your not going to win any game and that’s where it fell apart today. For me Liverpool are the best team in the league at the min so didn’t except to win but I think it could be a big lesson learned for those three and hopefully they get over it quick . We had them rattled for a bit at the start there’s hope.
I am confused as to the plan for high pressing: Are we doing it, or are we not? Sometimes, four players put pressure on their defenders, sometimes a couple of them do, sometimes none. And generally, they do less of it through the game.
Is there a plan? And if so, why not follow it?
At the other end of the field, we have several players that are not good without the ball. Unfortunately, both Benjamin White and Thomas Partey too often make themselves unplayable. This too could and should be rectified in training.
This was always going to be hard, especially with the Pool needing a response from dropping 3 points last week. For some context, 3 of our 4 losses so far have been to City, Chelsea and Liverpool. Other results sort of went our way today, and we remain 5th. Youngest squad in the division will have moments like this, and hopefully learn from them. Smash the Magpies at home next week and we’re back on track.
A expected loss and I think we played reasonable well in 30 minutes. But from there it was a reality check for our new and young players and Arteta also. Sambi and Tavares got a horrible introduction how a world class team play, our young guns (Saka and ESR) got muscled away most of the game and our experienced players showed the wear and tear of their age. I’m not overly worried about our new/young players, I’m a little bit more worried of Arteta and his game management. Liverpool was several notches above their Brighton performance and when we didn’t… Read more »