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Arsenal post-match

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rurikbird

rurikbird

Part of the Furniture
Honorary Member
I am surprised by all the pessimism in the match thread. Frankly, I was not too arsed about the result either way – at this point it's clear we won't see a truly balanced and consistent team this season with the way this squad is set up + all the long-term injuries, so I feel the next few months are less about results and more about assessing players and making decisions for the future. What mattered to me in this game was the performance level and the character of the players and on both counts I was very happy with what I saw.

I thought the performance was mostly great; at times we were outplaying Arsenal as thoroughly as in the 5:1 game. We should acknowledge that Arsenal themselves were much better than 2 years ago – they were brittle then, now they have much more resiliency and two players in Ozil and Giroud who are in the form of their lives. For me, Arsenal are the favorites for the title this year, and yet our performance made it clear that once we work out a few kinks in defense (and unlike Rodgers, Klopp fills me with confidence that those kinks will be worked out, especially now that it's been confirmed that Matip is coming in the summer) we are capable of dominating them next season. Before the game Arsene was saying that gegenpressing was nothing new for him; yet he didn't manage to find any satisfactory answer for it and was visibly frustrated for most of the game. Our mistakes (and Giroud's great form) bailed him out this time, but I bet he will not be looking forward to the next meeting.

As for the character, I'm starting to see what Klopp was talking about – nobody can leave before the final whistle, because the team and the manager do not give up. Borussia were come-back specialists under Klopp and finally our players are starting to absorb that belief and act it out on the pitch. Instead of succumbing to mental fatigue and attempting the same kind of pass 10 and 20 times and somehow hoping (but deep down, not really) that it will lead to a different result, we are starting to see a calm and pragmatic plan being implemented when we are down and under time pressure. Benteke, Caulker and Allen all brought different challenges to the opposition and in the end Arsenal – playing for the title race and defending with their first choice back 5 – could not hold on. The equalizer was coming and it was deserved.

As for individual performances, obviously it was a break-through game for Firmino. You could see a lot of pent-up frustration and pressure being lifted after the first goal – his first goal at Anfield; let's hope there are many more to come. Also I thought Ibe has been making somewhat better decisions than he was of late; I was starting to worry if he will ever learn. For me, the only unpleasant surprise was Mignolet, not just the 2 first goals, but also more than once failing to claim the ball from corners. I don't think the new contract will matter much if he doesn't improve. Also Sakho again showed that he always takes a long time to recuperate from his injuries and when he is not 100%, he is not the same player. That's a shame; Klopp clearly likes him, but it will be hard for him to sustain a first-team place in the long run if he continues the same pattern of frequent injuries and long recoveries.

Mignolet – 5
Clyne – 6.5
Kolo – 6
Sakho – 5.5
Moreno – 7
Can – 7.5
Hendo – 7
Milner – 6.5
Lallana – 6
Ibe – 6.5
Firmino – 8 MOM

Subs:
Benteke – 6.5
Allen – 7
Caulker – n/a
 
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I agree with much of that summary.

I'd just add that I thought our CBs were very poor last night. They should have done better for all 3 goals. Kolo was a very good defender at his time, but his age seems to show in his games. Sakho has always been a worry for me. Too inconsistent and too error prone.
I thought you're being kind to Ibe there. started brightly, but was getting poorer as the game went on, Monreal had him in his pocket. The potential is clearly there, but he's got to improve his game intelligence and his decision making,
 
jimmy said:
I agree with much of that summary.

I'd just add that I thought our CBs were very poor last night. They should have done better for all 3 goals. Kolo was a very good defender at his time, but his age seems to show in his games. Sakho has always been a worry for me. Too inconsistent and too error prone.
I thought you're being kind to Ibe there. started brightly, but was getting poorer as the game went on, Monreal had him in his pocket. The potential is clearly there, but he's got to improve his game intelligence and his decision making,
Click to expand...

I think lately he was making a wrong decision maybe 90% of the time and in this game he improved it to something like 60%. I'm happy as long as the positive trend continues 🙂
 
Can was immense in the first half but, understandably, faded in the second. He is going to be a major player for us over the next 10years
 
Sakho was clearly still suffering after the head clash for the first goal and couldn't get back into position quickly enough. The referee really should have stopped the game...not just for Sakho but Giroud looked in a bad way.

Its annoying really... We've conceded because a player went down "injured" after an obvious foul Againt West Ham. In this game if Sakho had hit the deck would the game have been stopped? Sakho tried to do the right thing but it ended up fucking him in the arse.

As for the third goal. Are people actually blaming Sakho ? The deflection was wicked and it happened so quickly. Its a little easier watching it on the couch in super slow motion
 
Great post Rurik. Interesting to see that even though Wenger said gegenpressing was nothing new to him, Arsenal recoreded their lowest passing accuracy in a PL game this season.
 
Good summary.

Its such a shame we've been hamstrung this season ( no pun intended) with injuries... at times we have looked a really good unit, every bit equal to the guys at the top. I really hope that we can get the top four slot.
 
jimmy said:
Monreal had him in his pocket. The potential is clearly there, but he's got to improve his game intelligence and his decision making,
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^^^ This. It was so frustrating. He kept running into blind alleys. I'm a big fan of Ibe but he was poor last night.
 
A few thoughts:

Mign - I think Rurik was spot on yesterday. Klopp believes part of his issues are due to the defense ... I really hope he's right because my faith in this keeper is hovering around 0%.

Toure - Gives it his all, but he shouldn't be with us next year (unless it's in a coaching capacity)

Moreno - Lesson my dear Alberto, "Keep the ball downwhen you're shooting in the box" ... Ta!

Henderson - Makes a big difference to our team.

Can - needs to speed up his thinking while on the pitch ... too many times he gets caught in possession because he doesn't feel the pressure.

Lallana - still stuck on 0 goals ... We need better. Yes, he's a useful squad player but we need goals from this position and he gives us none.

Ibe - Very disappointing.

Firmino - Brendan must have really got to him ... Keep it up Brendan (& Firmino!)

Ref - Can someone tell me I'm not wearing 'red googles' and that he was extremely lenient on Arsenal (see foul - Campbell on Moreno) and everything we did got whistled? I didn't think he made any game changing mistakes, but I thought he was very poor.
 
Molbystwin said:
Good summary.

Its such a shame we've been hamstrung this season ( no pun intended) with injuries... at times we have looked a really good unit, every bit equal to the guys at the top. I really hope that we can get the top four slot.
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To be fair, at times we have looked really, really bad too and not so much because of injuries. All these players are learning to play in a different way; some will never quite learn and will need to be replaced (you can only find out which ones by giving everyone a chance to succeed or fail) – all of this will take time and I don't expect consistency this season. This game was a perfect representation of our whole season – just a wild roller-coaster ride, equally exciting, promising and frustrating.

But when the dust finally settles down, this team will be very hard to stop.
 
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Controversial opinion maybe, but I thought Coutinho being out actually helped our attacking play quite a bit. Milner showed up pretty well on the left, and we had someone who was looking for team mates and interchanges instead of tonking it at goal every time.
 
LeTallecWiz said:
A few thoughts:

Mign - I think Rurik was spot on yesterday. Klopp believes part of his issues are due to the defense ... I really hope he's right because my faith in this keeper is hovering around 0%.

Toure - Gives it his all, but he shouldn't be with us next year (unless it's in a coaching capacity)

Moreno - Lesson my dear Alberto, "Keep the ball downwhen you're shooting in the box" ... Ta!

Henderson - Makes a big difference to our team.

Can - needs to speed up his thinking while on the pitch ... too many times he gets caught in possession because he doesn't feel the pressure.

Lallana - still stuck on 0 goals ... We need better. Yes, he's a useful squad player but we need goals from this position and he gives us none.

Ibe - Very disappointing.

Firmino - Brendan must have really got to him ... Keep it up Brendan (& Firmino!)

Ref - Can someone tell me I'm not wearing 'red googles' and that he was extremely lenient on Arsenal (see foul - Campbell on Moreno) and everything we did got whistled? I didn't think he made any game changing mistakes, but I thought he was very poor.
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Ahahaha! 'Hovering around 0%'
 
Two Things from me as Rurik allready said it all.

The negativity at Ibe. I see that on the ball he had a bad eve, but he still occupies their fullback from going forward, gets plenty of deadballs and is busy all night.

Corners against. We leave the goal totally open. If Ming leaves the line (which he allways do) any finish inside the posts goal will be a goal. 100% certain. There is noone defending the goal.
 
What an absolute blinder of a game that was. That was almost exhausting to watch, in a good way.

And honestly this is probably the best we can hope for in the remaining parts of this season, to be thoroughly entertained.


Jan Mølby was commenting the game on Danish telly and he said around midway first half something along the lines of 'this game is being played with the intensity, tempo and recklessness of the very last minute of a FA Cup final, where both teams chase the winner'. It really was exhilarating end-to-end stuff.

As been said elsewhere, the result itself was somewhat less of interest because we are clearly in a building process but it really was nice to see Allen get that late equalizer - he seems a good lad and who knows that goal might even do wonders for his confidence, and as I don't think we've actually seen an Allen filled with confidence ever since he first arrived, that could bode well for his future with Liverpool. (I don't think he ever learned to cope with the pressure of being Rodgers 'diamond' and the responsibility he was given at arrival).


For me, by far, the largest disappointment was Mignolet and I am really struggling to see how Klopp would recognize him as an integral part of the team for years to come. So many weak decisions, no real strength to show and poor positioning.

Oh, and good summary Rurik.
 
Like most it seems i was frustrated with Ibe last night. Not just going forward though as he didn't help Clyne nearly as much as he should have done and continually let Monreal go, which left Clyne with a 2 on 1. I don't understand why he doesn't use his pace to better effect either. When he's attacking a fullback he slows the play right down and our attack stutters because of it. The lad has a lot more talent than he's showing at the moment.
 
Defence and keeper are still as bad as they were under Rodgers. Which I guess in turn is giving Mignolet the jitters so he's looking garbage.
Can was excellent I thought, as was Firmino for periods. Makes so much difference having a mobile striker, would be lovely to have a striker like Sturridge one day for Firmino to work off.
Shout to Benteke for the assist and a great finish from Allen. I honestly think he looks a good player further up the pitch.
 
I think there is a lot of harsh views on Ibe here. Monreal certainly did NOT have him in his pocket. there was a 10 minute period in the second have where I was shouting at Ibe because he was trying the same thing and giving the ball away, but overall I thought it was a 50/50 battle. And the ball he put across the box having out muscled Monreal would have been a goal if we had a more mobile central striker.

That's my view anyway.
 
Jack D Rips said:
I think there is a lot of harsh views on Ibe here. Monreal certainly did NOT have him in his pocket. there was a 10 minute period in the second have where I was shouting at Ibe because he was trying the same thing and giving the ball away, but overall I thought it was a 50/50 battle. And the ball he put across the box having out muscled Monreal would have been a goal if we had a more mobile central striker.

That's my view anyway.
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Your view is the right one Jack.
 
Thrilling game, with a lot to be very pleased with, and an equal amount of frustration. There's no real surprises in what needs to be fixed; more goal threat and better final ball, and the disaster area that is Mignolet, Toure and Sakho. The energy and aggression was laudable and great to see, but we simply can't progress when we concede so many goals. There's also a dreadful lack of pace and penetration in attack when Sturridge is missing.

Mignolet (2) How this hapless fuckstick is still our goalkeeper is a mystery. I wanted him replaced two years ago, and we're still suffering from his lack of basic quality and reliability. Fuck off.

Clyne (7) Pure industry, everything I like in a fullback, and plenty of room for improvement. A super signing.
Toure (5) He shouldn't be anywhere near our first team, and Caulker should play the next game. Too old, too slow and totally mugged by Giroud.
Sakho (4) Made some good blocks and tackles, but his use of the ball was ruinous and he causes panic in the defence. Not good enough.
Moreno (7) He's still got some work to do defensively, and with his final ball, but his pace, energy and commitment is vital to how we play

Can (7) Great first half, in which he totally owned the midfield, but was careless and sloppy in the second. If he could maintain his level, we'd have a brilliant asset.
Henderson (7) We play better when he is in the team, as his tireless running and presence adds so much to the team
Milner (6) Quietly effective display and got through an awful lot of work

Ibe (6) Love his pace and directness, but lacks the goal threat and penetration of Sterling. Needs to be smarter and he could be a real asset.
Lallana (6) He gets on the ball a lot, but his lack of pace and goals means that he doesn't actually have much of an end product. We need better.
Firmino (8) Two goals and one close miss. A couple of frustrating poor passes in good positions marred what was on the whole, a super display. But can he keep it up? His consistency is the big issue here, because he has to do this on a regular basis.

Subs:

Benteke (6) Great header for the equaliser and gave us a new facet and option in attack. He should start the next game.
Allen (7) A great time to score and what a finish. Isn't ever going to be a first team regular, but his attitude is good.
Caulker (6) Not sure he expected that kind of debut, but it was that kind of game. Starts the next game hopefully.
 
Such an enjoyable game to watch. Its a refreshing change.

When we play with that energy and commitment its a lot easier to get behind the team even if the results aren't going our way.

I didn't get home in time for the first 20 mins so I won't bother with ratings.

I think Kolo was more to blame for the first goal than Sakho - it was him that gave possession away and failed to track Giroud running across him. He also didn't react all that quickly for Giroud's second and didnt make life difficult for him at all.

I loved the way the minute we got possession our first instinct was to move the ball forward. (Note the wonderman absence last night).

Can, Milner and Henderson are a good balance in the middle. Can was a bit sloppy at times but the other two are mobile, versatile, all round midfielders and made our attack more dangerous.

The movement of Lallana and Firmino combined with the midfield gave us real fluidity in attack. At one point in the second half while the game was level we had six men in and around the Arsenal penalty area. We never used to commit men forward like that.

The downside is it can leave us vulnerable on the break, but if the pressing works it gives us a quick easy chance as well. I think we're getting there, but I think its going to take the addition of more mobile players in defence who are comfortable defending in one on one situations to steady things.
 
Besides their work rate, I believe Milner and Henderson provide the key to improving Benteke's contribution. They are the only reliable early high crossers of the ball, putting the ball into the areas which Benteke likes to get to with time on his side and the centrebacks not set and dug in. All those low crosses and threaded passes behind defences suit Sturridge, Ings, Origi and Firmino, but Benteke has neither the nous nor speed to get to them. And Ibe, Lallana, Coutinho, Moreno, Clyne, etc. just seldom swing in high crosses or are not reliable in putting them in. The result is what we've seen with Benteke - he can't get the balls he likes and so can't work with the supply, while the suppliers won't change / expand their game to provide the balls he likes.

So far, 2 of Benteke's 6 league goals have come from crosses from Milner and Henderson (he has another goal from a Clyne early cross). The assist yesterday was from an early Henderson punt into the box for a knockdown. I'm pretty sure we will start seeing Benteke's contribution increase if one or both of them are able to stay fit and are available to play the remaining games.
 
Rurikbird - very good summary and post, agree with most points, and I actually did enjoy the game as much as I thought I would despite the opposition scoring.

What I was most encouraged about during this game was the way when we pressed we attacked in numbers - and this led to confusion in the opposition ranks which allowed us to carve out the chances to score. Arsenal were playing just like the way Newcastle, WBH, Watford, and West Ham played against us by holding back but unlike our performances against those other teams - we managed to score because we used both the width and also tried to go through the middle. In many ways - using the wide areas was kind of forced on us with the absence of Coutinhio - who usually goes inside. The way we attacked is a blueprint for our future dealings with those teams that hold back, but we have to retain the ball.

What was strange though is that after scoring both times in the first half - we let Arsenal back into the game by reducing our intensity, I think we need to ensure that given our defensive frailties - we should aim to keep the ball in the opposition half as much as we can, as we are prone to doing stupid things when we are at the receiving end of the opposition pressing.
 
Can was very good up to the hour mark. I like how he charges back like a train, determined to win back possession. He is a force going forward as well. Very promising to see and let's not forget he is still only 21 years old. He did tire himself out and Joe Allen coming on was the right decision. We just needed to keep things ticking over in midfield and keep the ball moving. Allen is great for that. He just happened to get our goal too, bonus. Well done Joe.
 
Have we discussed celebrity killer Aaron Ramsey yet.

1 May 2011 v Manchester United: Osama bin Laden dies 2 May 2011
2 October 2011 v Tottenham Hotspur: Steve Jobs dies 5 October 2011
19 October 2011 v Marseille: Muammar Gaddafi dies 20 October 2011
11 February 2012 v Sunderland: Whitney Houston dies 11 February 2012
30 November 2013 v Cardiff: Paul Walker dies 30 November 2013

Also

Shortly after Ramsey scored a goal in Arsenal’s first game against Manchester City on August 10th, beloved actor Robin Williams was found dead at the age of 63 in his home after he reportedly hung himself with his own belt.

But the “Grim Reaper of Soccer” didn’t stop there. Over the weekend, on Saturday August 23rd, even the great American goalkeeper, Tim Howard, couldn’t save a life as Ramsey scored a goal inArsenal’s 2-2 draw against Everton. After the final whistle blew, I immediately began working on this article. Who would die next? Was the curse legitimate or coincidental speculation? Either way, we would have our answer.
Unfortunately, for England the “Curse of Aaron Ramsey” indeed struck again and this time to one of their own. Just hours after Ramsey netted his goal, Britain’s Sir Richard Attenborough, 90, ofGandhi and Jurassic Park fame, died peacefully in an elderly home with his wife Sheila by his side.

And then there's the most recent goals that have seen people searching the internet for news of this bizarre 'link':
9 January 2016 v Sunderland: David Bowie dies 10 January 2016
13 January 2016 v Liverpool: Alan Rickman dies 14 January 2016
 
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