Result: Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool
Competition: Premier League
Date: 16 March 2022
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Arsenal: Ramsdale, Cedric, White, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Xhaka, Ødegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Lacazette
Subs: Leno, Holding, Tavares, Swanson, Lokonga, Elneny, Pepe, Smith-Rowe, Nketiah
Arsenal were beaten 2-0 at home by a motivated Liverpool side, who took matters into their own hands as they closed the gap to Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table. Arsenal frustrated Liverpool for the first half, looking pretty competitive against Jurgen Klopp’s side. But quality shone through in the second period as Liverpool scored two goals in quick succession to take the game away from the Gunners.
Arsenal put on a valiant, competitive display in the first half. Containing Liverpool is no mean task, but they did it well and even carved out some chances of their own. Arteta’s team worked hard to match Liverpool, but you did feel there was more to come from the title-challengers come the second period.
Liverpool did indeed go up a gear in the second half and by 55 minutes in, they were ahead through Diogo Jota, after Ramsdale was beaten at his near post. Then less than 10 minutes later, Klopp’s men doubled their lead through substitute Roberto Firmino, who snuck the ball in smartly from an Andrew Robertson cross.
PRE-GAME
Arsenal welcomed Liverpool to the Emirates having won five games on the bounce, but Jurgen Klopp’s side are on an eight-game winning streak themselves. The last time two teams met with as many consecutive wins in the Premier League was the famous 4-4 at Anfiels in 2008. The match felt like a bigger occasion than recent meetings with the Gunners one of the front-runners for the top four, whilst Liverpool had been given a huge boost in the title race following Manchester City being held to a draw at Crystal Palace on Monday.
Mikel Arteta followed the old adage that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and named an unchanged side from the 2-0 victory against Leicester on the weekend. Meanwhile, Klopp was forced to drop Mohamed Salah to the bench after he picked up a knock on the weekend at Brighton. Otherwise, it was a strong Liverpool side, that included new boy Luis Diaz and Arsenal’s kryptonite – Diogo Jota.
FIRST HALF
Liverpool started the stronger of the two teams, pushing high up the pitch and forcing a succession of early corners. Ramsdale made an impressive save from a Van Dijk header to deny the visitors a dream start. Soon after, Arsenal showed their threat on the counter when a slightly under-hit Ødegaard through ball denied Saka a run on Allison in the Liverpool. Both teams appeared hungry to show they mean business.
As the game approached the 15 minute mark, the two sides settled into more of rhythm – with Liverpool having more possession and Arsenal looking to stretch them on the break using Saka and Martinelli’s pace from the flanks. And its was the young Brazilian who asked a real question of Liverpool’s defence when he broke in behind Alexander-Arnold to the byline and fizzed a low ball across the six-yard box, only for it to be cleared away in the nick of time.
Arteta’s men grew in confidence as the game went on, getting a foothold in game as they kept Liverpool’s attacks to the edge of the area with their compact shape off the ball. What may have come as a surprise to Liverpool was just how physical Arsenal were, going toe-to-toe with one of the toughest. The crowd were right behind the Gunners as they frustrated Klopp to the point of the German screaming in the fourth officials ear over trivial incidents, at best.
However, as half time drew near, Liverpool began to assert themselves again – pinning Arsenal back into their own half and enjoying some sustained pressure. But Arsenal remained compact, weathering the storm, until Liverpool came close after a beautifully weighted ball from Alexander-Arnold found Mane in behind, but he fluffed his lines and fired high over the bar.
SECOND HALF
The visitors had the ball in the net early in the second half, as Mane took up a similar position as his chance before the break. This time fed by Henderson, Mane went through one-on-one with Ramsdale and chipped the ball over him, but the flag went up soon after and the goal was ruled out. Arsenal then had a chance when Martinelli nutmegged Alexander-Arnold and went on a trademark run, going past two and finding a ball across goal, but there was no-one there to finish it.
Arsenal were then gifted a golden opportunity as Thiago’s back pass was intercepted by Lacazette, who teed it up for Ødegaard but Alisson did extremely well to recover and get an arm to it. And it was from one goalkeeper’s heroics, to another’s mistake as Ramsdale was caught cold at his near post after Jota was left unchecked by a lazy Cedric and finished to make it 1-0 Liverpool. Not good enough from a man who was being talked about as England’s new number 1.
Somewhere amongst the commotion of the first goal, Klopp made a double substitution to bring on Salah and Firmino and not long after, after just over an hour, it was double trouble for the Gunners. Again, Cedric’s side of defence was left open and Robertson had all the time in the world to find a low cross for Firmino’s fresh legs to latch onto and deftly toed the ball under Ramsdale into the net. 2-0 Liverpool.
The stuffing seemed knocked out of Arsenal by this point, and although they had moments of inspiration –namely through Martinelli– they generally struggled to find the confidence they showed before Liverpool scored. However, with 2 minutes to go, Martinelli found himself in space just inside the corner of the box, but fired a finessed effort agonisingly wide of the far post.
In the end, Liverpool showed why they’re chasing the title and why Arsenal’s best hope still remains sneaking into the Champions League places come May. The Gunners can take heart from an impressive first half and a competitiveness they haven’t shown in previous fixtures, but ultimately they didn’t have the legs nor experience to really make it stick. It’s a tough away trip to Aston Villa next, and another must-win game in the hunt for a place in the top four.
In the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld, “Breaking up is like knocking over a Coke machine. You can’t do it in one push. You gotta rock it back and forth a few times, and then it goes over.” And I think the same applies to these games against massive opposition. Again it’s a game which changed dramatically on a missed chance. Martinelli against City and tonight Odegaard. It happens. We still lack that calm and focus in front of gaol that Liverpool have in decisive moments. And Liverpool are a side that have been winning these games for four seasons.… Read more »
The crowd emptied the stadium at the 70th minute. Liverpool fans would have died on their sits.
Did you not hear the chants at the final whistle? Still plenty there.
True. It wasnt completely empty.
But the empty sits give the impression of giving up.
They weren’t a few.
And yes please down vote because we shouldn’t criticise fans.
I wasn’t there so I can’t give an accurate assessment. But I would be very surprised if the stadium emptied after 70 mins.
It felt like even at 2-0 down, the home crowd still thought we could get something from the game.
On the TV it just looked terribly empty, and I heard much more YNWA on TV. It coulb be propaganda but it just looked very bad after 70 minutes. And you could definitly see people leaving. I mean it was a Wednesday evening, but still.
For a fan abroad, it just gave a terrible look.
To specify: The lower part of one stand looked pretty empty the first 10 rows. It just gave a bad impression.
I live 1 1/2 miles from the stadium and could hear the Gooners sing and cheer at 87’ so can’t believe they were leaving in any numbers before that!
Kostas, was you at the game?
Unfortunately I am not so lucky. I live abroad. However this is irrelevant.
If you check the footage again after the second goal the middle part of the stadium close to the pitch which is visible from broadcasting it was 70% full.
This is not affecting the high volume fans located high on the stands but the players.
I am not sure why people disagree with facts.
But this is internet today.
That didn’t happen. Hardly anyone left.
Yeah, my son was at the game, Kostas it seems is exaggerating
I agree with everything except TAA is nowhere near the best full back in the world. It really was striking how much Martinelli owned him all game though!
Both his assists and expected assists are some distance higher than anyone else’s. Obviously there is more to being a full back than creating goals. But if you asked me which full back I’d have in world football right now, I’d take Trent.
He is brilliant, usually, in Klopp’s system, where he is given enormous space (he also deserves some credit for making the space) so that almost all his successful passes are effectively like free kicks. But he always needs help against a fast winger, typically from Henderson/Fabinho/Winaldum (in the past) because he is so often out of position. In addition to the positioning, he has poor one v one defensive skills and is, for a fullback, not especially pacey.
I would rather have the 52 year old Dani Alves.
Great points up until the last paragraph.
True but we lost the game. These small victories are meaningless.
A talented young player coming of age and playing brilliantly is not meaningless.
It means he is a very, very good player and we should be excited about that.
We’re happy for him and happy that we have him. It’s just people celebrating him having TAA a few times like it’s a victory is a bit meaningless.
Reminds me of my younger days when Utd would win the league, and my response to my smug Utd friends would be “well we did the double over you”.
Exactly.
He is just a darn exceptional footballer playing at RB. He falls into a category with Marcelo. Exceptional footballers, but the team needs a fullback and a place for him to play.
Bollocks…
Can’t fault the effort. The boys were valiant. So were out supporters. Gabi Martinelli is such a gem! Onwards!
Would like to see more of The Smith running past players and less of Lacazette trying to burrow through them.
if smith rowe’s mystery injury is over and he can start to play 90 mins, then yes we might see him start as a false 9 over lacazette.
The mystery injury is called covid.
I hate to say it, but Klopp is 2-0 against Arteta this season, and not talking about results. The fake fight the first time around, then whatever he must have said at half this time…I know Arteta is early into his managerial career, but I hope he can figure out how to do this sooner rather than later, to understand the savvy of the more seasoned managers. That being said, considering they are one of the best teams in Europe and our average age of starters was about 12, not too terrible a result. Better than it has been in… Read more »
Interesting take away. My opinion is that with that squad, SHAME on Klopp if he doesn’t win. Take two of their players into our 11 and that game was ours.
For me, Arteta had their number today. We failed to punish them
No idea why everyone is downvoting me. Both fixtures, we held our own for a while, Klopp got mad, then did something to fire up his players. The broadcast I was watching, the announcers pointed out he came out much earlier than his team this time, and they all looked sheepish and BANG, two goals in the first ten minutes of the second half. The first time around we were also hanging with them, then he pretended to fight with Arteta and the same thing happened, momentum swung. He knows how to motivate his players. Nothing wrong with saying this… Read more »
He has MORE BETTER PLAYERS my friend.
Why are you worried about downvotes stand by what you said and stop looking for validation. There is alot of truth to what you said in terms of Liverpool and Klopp but i don’t think they beat us because Arteta cant and didn’t try to motivate the players. You saw a seasoned manager and a seasoned team against a newbie manager and a young team. They are better than us and we made multiple small mistakes on both their goals. They had better forwards come off the bench then we had starting.
Well, this is like a parody of the worst kind of tabloid Sky Sports Super Sunday analysis of football games. The focus is always on “incidents” like “ooh let’s take another look at that penalty shout” or “look at the substitute kicking a bottle” or some other sideshow.
Games of football are not decided by touchline scuffles. We lost to a better team.
What Arteta needs to learn are tactical things, whether he argues with opposition coaches is absolutely irrelevant.
Not sure how I can agree and disagree with a comment at the same time. Of course you are right, i.e. the tactical part. But you cannot disagree that the game swung, BOTH times, based on something Klopp did that Arteta just does not have the nous to replicate at the moment. I wasn’t saying I blamed anyone, we clearly lost to a better team. I even said it was a decent result. I merely pointed out that our very young manager – who is doing an excellent job this season, it should be pointed out – still has a… Read more »
No, I totally disagree that “Klopp getting mad” was a factor in either game. This isn’t Sunday league football.
At least we agree on the tactical part!
I just don’t think this game is an indication that Arteta lacks the ability to motivate his players. Yes, Liverpool upped their intensity and pulled ahead. You can credit Klopp with that if you want to, but it doesn’t mean Arteta failed in any way. It means he took advantage of a luxury Arteta doesn’t have at his disposal: a veteran team that knows how to kick it up a notch in big games because they’ve done it many tines before. I look basically said post game that he didn’t say a lot Mikel could’ve given the perfect halftime speech… Read more »
frustrating to lose when you play well, especially in the first half. when they brought on Salah and Firmino on right after scoring, I knew we were done for. Though we did put up a fight til the end. Onto Villa next; we need the 3 points! COYG
I think I hate Jota more than anyone in the world, nothing more annoying than seeing him celebrate, the frosty haired chode
Dunno. Bruno Fernandez is extremely punchable.
Bruno is the cringiest player to ever live. A few months ago when Ole was in hot water they both were applauding the fans post game. Bruno was making hand motions, flailing really, trying to get across that it wasn’t Ole’s fault, it was everyone’s fault. I almost died from second hand embarrassment. Go in the dressing room you absolute clown.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a single close up of him since he joined where he wasn’t complaining. I thought to myself two seasons ago that even his teammates must hate him.
In fairness all of their players have very annoying faces. I hope City win the league.
Yeah, but Jota is a helluva player. Martinellis is just awesome too tho.
Can’t stand Mane. Dirty fucking bastard who gets away with everything.
His hairline is preposterous. How far back can he go and expect to be taken seriously?
Definitely has the face of a bell end.
Jota is a close second behind Lingard for me. Just wanna punch them when I see there faces. Heh
I think it’s unfair to leave Dele Alli out of this contest
I was gonna add him. Heh
and Kane….and Dier….and the whole lot of them shites.. But thats for another day.
I’m sorry, but highlighting that sp*rs’ players are all warped homunculi with brickable faces, constructed by a partially sighted Frankenstein is for every day.
Harry Kane .. anyone?
Hate is a very strong word my Brother.
they toyed with us for 1 hour, got bored and scored at will. then managed the game easily since they’re still playing for all targets. seemed to relieve the boys against man era. if history repeats we will collapse in the next games. will we be able to change our destiny?
We will be fine against Villa. Liverpool are the best team in the world, fully complete. We are missing two pieces which will be addressed in the summer. Still I’m positive!
Absolute nonsense. We were well and truly in it for an hour. Just edged the first half. Odegarrd takes that chance and it could be very different. The second goal killed us and as it happened so quick the energy went. Onto Villa dart coyg
have the feeling this wasn’t a game of missed chances. they absorbed, stung and controlled, resting Salah too. the way we respond is crucial here. I see the team melting down before my eyes to many times at this stage of the season.
We picked up at the tail end of last season, remember?
Cheer up, that’s not what I saw.
A Spurs troll I presume. 🙈
ok listen, I just do not feel positive after this game. happy to be proved wrong. please do not associate me with that team for a honest opinion, really insulting!
Nothing more insulting than the negative garbage you are spouting.
What a load of old shit.
You need some motivation, Bro.😃
Would you like jam, marmalade or Trent Alexander-Arnold on your toast Mr Martinelli?
Loved watching that duel. Might need to shift him down the middle though Lacazette trundled through that match. His lack of pace was obvious tonight.
With such a high line a pacey forward was needed.
Very easy to say in hindsight but I thought Arteta could have sprung a few surprises by starting Gabi through the middle ( i know he played out of skin on the left) Maybe start Pepe or Smith Rowe ( i see why he didn’t and hasn’t been). But sometimes your bench wins you the game as it did for them Laca and Saka coming on after they had spent a half dealing with different players could have done something. Especially for Laca. Again, Hindsight.
Against Matip and VVD he would have kept 0 balls. The times Gabi played through the middle, he really struggled physically and did not know what to do.
He was amazing tonight.
Martinelli was superb but Trent is overrated but they still won the game. I remember Iwobi destroying him in a game.
Bags of effort and desire, just not up to their standard yet. They have a firmino on the bench. We don’t have a striker that is at that standard.
Shake it off Villa on Saturday, still in pole position.
Proud of the performance. There is improvement and you don’t have to squint to see it.
Class act from the stadium DJ playing Razor Ramon’s music just before the second half kick off.
Rest in Peace Scott Hall.
Think the boys can be proud of that first half.
They’re clearly a level above us but I think we played much better than the Anfield fixture. Martinelli looked so dangerous at times.
Onto the next one. Hopefully we get a reaction.
We need a quick reaction. I just realised how easy Tottenham’s run in is
Don’t worry, Tottenham will make it difficult.
We will beat the spuds…and Man utd, I’m More worried about Villa and Palace away.
Well I’ve just been told by my scouse supporting mate who actually pisses me off, that we’ll be Gerrard/Coutinho’d on Saturday
I think we will school their midfield if they can get there legs fresh in time. Im worried cos they can match our pace outwide and upfront and Cedric although he done well tonight and has been doing well does not feel me with confidence.
Palace have physicality and pace all over and seem designed to beat or annoy us
Doesn’t matter if the Spuds play FC Dan Quayle twice a week. They won today, so next match, they lose.
Martinelli had Alexander-Arnold for toast. COYG!!!!
That means nothing though
Mate, hold your head up high. We out played one of the best teams in the world for 70 minutes.
Next year, with lacablueray : that’s ours.
So proud of our arsenal.
(Could have done with an extra time adebayor c. Chelsea there. It will come)
Oops..Was it kanu :/
Kanu believe it!
Outplayed them for 70mins? What game was that?
Outplayed for 70 mins. Really?
They kept us at arms length, first half. Then came out 2nd half and BANG! They showed that they are a far superior team
I 100% believe if we had had any ONE of Mane, Firminho, Salah or Jota in our team we would have won today.
Excellent performance from our boys
I’m not going to be hard on the lads.
Liverpool are one of, if not the best team in the country, and 2 or 3 years further into their project than us.
Despite that, we were the better team in the first half, and another day we score from the 3 great chances we had.
Learn from this match, take the positives and on to the next one
Just gotta keep up the fight for top 4, it’s still in our hands. Gotta make CL and replace a couple starters with top quality replacements.
Losing to the best team in the league doesn’t mean much about the team’s progress. The future is looking good.
Amazing effort again from the team.
The party was spoiled by a small sleepwalking period and the ref of course how allowed them to kick us out if momentum. Matip Fabinho Mane Thiago should have been booked at least once.
Of course Liverpools aggression will not be viewed as “dirty”.
Martinelli played well and was unlucky. Both goals came through the RB channel – Cedric has done well but we miss Tomi. A bit more composure from Odegaard and we would have been 1 – nil up but Ramsdale will probably be disappointed to have been beaten at his near post.
Hope we don’t go off the boil now – we usually struggle with lunch time kick off.
On to the next one, come on Arsenal!
Don’t understand Andrew blaming Cedric on the second, Saka failed to clear the ball when in control, which set Robertson free.
I’d have to look at the first again, but I though Cedric was really good overall. Fewer wayward passes than Partey, for example.
First goal looks bad for Cedric, I have to admit.
Cedric was not at fault at any of the goals. Ben white Saka and Ramsdale had more to do. Without saying they should be crucified.
Cedric dealt with Mane. That first goal sliced us open and at least 4 players were at ‘fault’.
Brilliant game against world class opposition in their prime. If Ödegard scores at 0-0 we win the game. I have no doubt.
Next year when we have made the right signings and are one year older we beat them.
Arsenal are the future.
We will get there,dominance in football is like a wheel
Yes man let’s break the wheel!
Hell of an effort though ! Martinelli unplayable and Partey Xhaka & Tierney were excellent tonight ! Two errors both punished lessons to learn !!! Good game to watch as well ! Alexander Arnold not sleeping tonight !!!!
I’d have like to have seen Martinelli go up top at around 65 minutes. He was on it and if anyone was going to produce the goods today it was him.
I expected we would probably lose and we did. But definitely an improvement! Both goals started and finished on Cedric’s/Tomi’s side which is sort of comforting. I thought Ramsdale could’ve done better on both as well.
Martinelli showed he is a big game player and will be unstoppable in a couple of years.
We might have come up a bit short tonight, but our team are all early twenties and Liverpool are hovering around thirties:-)
He was outstanding tonight and could have got 2 assists and a goal to his name.. though he sometimes remind me of A. Sanchez and i wonder why he cannot release the ball earlier at times
Maybe we have a few too many players releasing the ball and not enough confident finishers? It is the only thing missing from Odegaard’s game and I felt a Ljunberg finish would have been just the job!
Honestly that was a great performance! We switched for 5 minutes and that was enough for Liverpool to score…Martinelli was sensational but I’d like to also mention Cédric who had the best game of his Arsenal career today and dealt with Mané very well. Disappointed in the result but over the moon about the performance.
Also, did you see how ugly that linesman was ? Gotta be Scouser. Sure I saw him buying skag down by the tube once as well.
Thank fuck we don’t have to play those fucking annoying cunts again this season.
We battled hard and gave everything; Martinelli superb, my MOTM. Really proud of the lads tonight.
No shame losing to that lot, who were rather jammy tonight and, to be honest, the score line flatters them in my opinion.
Play and fight like that up at Villa Park and we will not lose.
Onwards. COYG.
I thought that 3 points from the Villa and Liverpool games would be a good return…..and we can still get that.
Yes, we came up short again tonight but fine margins….if Odegaard had scored, if Ramsdale had saved etc.
The key is to now recover and win on Saturday. The good news is we didn’t get any injuries.
Great support tonight 👊💥
I’d agree that the villa game was the bigger game of the two for us and hopefully they haven’t spent too much energy chasing against Liverpool.
Was glad to see Saka and MØ come off early, so they should be fresh…
Frustrating and disappointing result, but proud of the team. No disgrace losing to Liverpool, arguably the best club side in world football atm. Their extra experience and strength in depth told today in a big way.
Almost a carbon copy of the city game without the terrible VAR calls. Immediately punished for missing a big chance after dominanting for long spells. Fair to say that City and Liverpool are a cut above but still confident we can make 4th. Oh and Martinelli had Trent for breakfast and then some. COYG
Really conpetitive game by our guys. Everybody worked their socks off. A bit unfair to blame the second goal on Cedric when it was clearly a mistake by Saka which created the chance for Robertson to make the cross.
*competitive
Unlucky. Good team performance but a few individuals exposed when playing this level of opposition. Confident we beat Man Utd and Spuds. Some tricky away games but this side has character now and i see us bouncing back well.
Learning experience, we get over it, and move on to Villa.
I know the narrative will be that we should take the positives. And there were plenty of them. For 60 minutes we were going toe to toe with one of the best teams in the world (puke). BUT we created very little and then when odegaard had a golden chance to put us 1-0 up we fluffed our lines. Predictably Liverpool went down the other end and scored 2 goals handed to them by the arsenal defence. Not so good and reminiscent of old Arsenal. Then we barely laid a glove on them in the last 20 minutes. Again, old… Read more »
Yeah and we may finish third still but what happens v Liverpool tells you all about us
Old Arsenal would have capitulated completely and lost 4 -0.
True
Old arsenal lose to liverpool. New arsenal lose to Liverpool. 3 times this season to be exact
It’s entirely reasonable to think this is a really good team but we need to go up one more level to compete with the very top teams. And Liverpool, even when they’re not 100% at the races, are at the very top.
Major props to Martinelli for how well he played today, posed real threat.
Liverpool exposed the defence as not top quality. Our forwards showed they are no where near good enough. Saka is over hyped , often having no end product and failing to beat a man. Lacca far too slow. We might get 4th but with a defeat at Spurs to come I doubt it
I bet you’re a gas at parties.
get out of here
Should be silent Stan. Saka overhyped? Give over man, there have been times that he has carried us this season.
Saka isn’t overhyped, he’s 20 years old. A little rotation to protect the youngsters and keep things fresh isn’t such a bad idea though.
”but with a defeat at Spurs to come” Go F uck yourself man.
It’s ironic that the better we get, the more we need to remember the basics of the game like clearing the ball in dangerous situations.
That being said, our gameplay and structure are very good at the moment, and Klopp had to resort to his A-team to secure the 3 points.
Bit nervous about the run-in, but very encouraged by the collective display.
Tonight’s game just brutally exposed or glaring weakness: the inability to create clear-cut scoring chances and the lack of a top-quality striker. We dominated the first half but couldn’t convert all that possession into at least one goal. Liverpool came off at half-time probably knowing that they wouldn’t play so badly in the second period. They didn’t. Ramsdale badly at fault for the first goal, and then the second finished us off. We were never going to score 2 against the Scousers. We need to put this game behind us and concentrate on Villa. But next season’s number one priority… Read more »
Odegaard should have scored, Martinelli missed by a whisker. Laca was clean through but wasn’t switched on….there’s three clear cut chances.
Yes, we definitely need a top striker or two in the summer….we know that.
ON THE RIGHT TRACK THOUGH!!!! Just hope we can recover fast for Saturday…
Your first paragraph just repeated my points,
Great effort by the boys and good to see the fans in the stadium backing the team right until the end. If we keep this level of performance we’ll be right up there with a chance to make top four. I hope the international break is kind to us. Villa and Palace are huge games for us.
Always a good barometer when we play Liverpool, as painful as it can be. It reveals the players that are good but not great, the squad level players, and of course who can perform under pressure (bearing in mind how young our team is). Gabriel for me is very good but not top drawer, shouold be third choice centre back if we are to be serious about the Champions League if and when we get in. LIkewise Xhaka. The lack of a true centre forward meant the only real threat we had was Martinelli who was superb but it becomes… Read more »
Our squad is good enough to be doing what it is doing, which is challenge for top four. That why i get annoyed when people start having an attitude when me or others have the audacity to say Xhaxa needs to be replaced, Laca needs to be replaced. They had better forwards come off the bench then we had starting. They had better midfielders on there bench while Xhaxa is still one of our most important players. The team has to be completely purged which Arteta has mostly done although i would keep them at the club as there experience… Read more »
With the way some people are whinnying here you would think that Arsenal played horribly. I know we need some great addition in our team but our performance against Liverpool tonight doesn’t warrant all those complaints that the owner isn’t supporting Arsenal or the complain that we need new addition tonight. If you watched the game well you would discover that only Saka was absent in the game and I quite understand because he was injured a little last match against Leicester and had to be taken off. The two goals were from that wing. He played lazily tonight. Even… Read more »
We have to be realistic in both directions. We have come a long way in a relatively short time. But the goal once we are in the CL is to stay in it and we must take notice of our shortcomings, although based on the new signings of late I imagine that is part of the plan. Under Wenger we got into the Champions League every year but rarely did we compete, and usually went out in the second round. The current situation is very good, but we are not at the level we desire, or more importantly Arteta desires.… Read more »
At the beginning of the year I was much more confident than almost all you regarding how well the team would perform. I thought we would get better and better and we did. Now I am a bit disappointed…we are so very very close to not being very good, but great. Need to replace two starters and add depth. Watching I had the thought many times that as much as I respect Laca, he is no longer quick enough to get his feet or position right. A younger Laca or a Friminho could have had 4 tonight. We cut Liverpool… Read more »
Martinelli must be Alexander-Arnold’s least favourite player in the world. If you only watched him against Arsenal you’d think he was an absolute donkey.
Eleven games left and we don’t have to play Liverpool or Man City again.
Tomi was a big miss today
I thought Cedric Soares played well again.
Defensively they are on a different level
Like Xhaxa and Laca. Its not a lack of effort. Its not even that they are doing anything wrong but Upgrades in these positions are non negotiable if we are to move forward. I think Arteta is getting nearly maximum with what he has available.
The pain of it. We did so well, and watched as Mané got away with his usual 2/3 yellows and then we missed a “certain” goal and next play? Blammo.
I would say, “typical Arsenal” but this wasn’t. The improvement is incremental and obvious to me. We’re 2/3 players short. We will be challenging very soon.
Shocker from Ramsdale, if Arsenal had a left sided midfielder of the calibre of Partey and Odegaard anyone of the countless times Gabi put Trent on toast would have been exploited.
Great effort by the boys tonight …martinelli is going to suddenly explode in the next few games he roasted Trent and was our most dangerous player. I love Laca but he is not alert enough and Is 2 yards short in the box … the quick free kick when he was in a world of his own pretty much sums him up… with a mobile strong alert striker we win this game tonight… as for Cedric the boy does try but he just lacking in quality and decision making…. If Tommy was fully fit we wouldn’t of conceded the first… Read more »
We need more creativity in midfield to break down defensively solid teams. Odegaard can’t do it all himself. As much as I like the Partey/Xhaka partnership, the skillset between those two should be covered by one player, freeing up another creative midfield spot to partner Odegaard.
Our plan of attack was essentially just kick it wide to Martinelli or Saka.
Overall, we played really positively and stayed mostly toe-to-toe with Liverpool.
We couldn’t bury our chances nor connect our crosses in, they did.
Both sides made mistakes but one side punished the other.
I thought we weren’t as brave compared to the Leicester game, but I commend our performance nonetheless.
Despite the result, it was a performance that I can be proud of as Arsenal supporter.