Gamble
by Omkar Rege
Summer comes, summer goes but Arsenal always get beaten at Anfield. 3-1 this time around, but you could argue for the gunners' sake that the margin of defeat is getting smaller than previous years.
Summer comes, summer goes but Arsenal always get beaten at Anfield. 3-1 this time around, but you could argue for the gunners' sake that the margin of defeat is getting smaller than previous years.
The Arsenal boss Unai Emery said in his press conference that despite the defeat, they are closing gap on Liverpool, but are they really?
Because despite the Pepe moments, the defeat felt awfully similar to the ones they have had in previous years. Still defensively fragile, and some of the silly errors that Arsenal made yesterday leading to 3 goals just makes you wonder if the coaching staff is really working on them.
First half, Arsenal started with a 4-4-2 diamond formation which I thought was a bit dubious, as being so compact like that naturally afforded acres of space to Liverpool fullbacks Trent and Robertson. They pressurized Arsenal with their crosses and that eventually unsettled the gunners' defence leading to Joel Matip scoring Liverpool's first goal from a corner kick.
Up until that goal, Emery's gamble was kind of working with Pepe and Aubameyang leading the line and the rest of Arsenal sitting deep and defending. Pepe got a couple of good chances in his path on the counter but wasn't able to finish them. I never really understood what Granit Xhaka's role is under Emery as in a lot of ways, he's not an Emery type midfielder, but yesterday it was pretty obvious what he was told to do which was just to ping balls to Aubameyang and Pepe from deep whenever he finds space.
Though for the large part Arsenal's midfield was non existent, Willock had his moments in the game when he was darting forward with pace in tight spaces with his trickery but apart from that it wasn't good going for the likes of Guendouzi and Ceballos who just couldn't deal with the Liverpool press and gave the ball away quite a few times in dangerous areas.
Second half, Liverpool kept pressing but Arsenal stuck to their gameplan resulting in added pressure on them which led to David Luiz having a panic moment as he pulled Salah's shirt inside the box giving away a silly penalty. Salah took it superbly and put it into the top left corner scoring Liverpool's second. You'd think that Luiz would have learnt better and stayed on his feet for the rest of the game but just minutes after the second goal, he tried to press on Salah and win the ball back which was just what Salah wanted as he nutmegged him and broke forward and scored a delightful goal.
From then on Arsenal were fighting a lost battle as they kept looking to penetrate through the Liverpool back line but for the large part of the second half, they failed to do so until substitute Lucas Torreira scored for them at the 85th minute.
Last few minutes it was just Arsenal having possession and trying things but to no avail as Liverpool triumphed over the gunners yet again.
Emery's game plan was questionable in my opinion since playing as narrow as his team did at Anfield against a faction who thrive on playing via their full backs and inverted wingers was pretty juvenile.
You could argue that had Pepe taken his chances in the first half or if David Luiz hadn't gone berserk in the second half we maybe would have been talking about a different game. However, for the majority of the match, Arsenal were barely able to fend off Liverpool's advances. Monreal and Maitland-Niles had a torrid time defending against Mane and Salah.
The predominant question was, why didn't Emery start Torreira? He is particularly suited for these types of high pressure, pressing games. He was brought on to steady the ship against Burnley last weekend in the final 10 minutes which meant that any rust or fitness concerns in question were vanquished and he was fit to start.
Why did Lacazette come on in the 81st minute, when the game was virtually finished with Arsenal 3 goals down? Or more importantly, why wasn't he starting? His record against the top teams is reasonably good and these big games evidently get the best out of him.
Emery was pointed fingers at for his conservativeness last season, and many thought that that was one of the reasons why Arsenal didn't make top 4, although in his defense it was his first season and he had a fairly depleted squad with injuries to important players. This season nonetheless he has been provided with all the tools, he has a front three that many managers could only dream of having in their team. He has a fairly decent midfield as well and still he chose to not play certain players. Whether he was eyeing them for the North London derby next week, remains to be seen but the fact remains that if Klopp can enforce his front 3 on the field all season without having a like for like backup for them in his battalion then so can Emery.
Of course there is no shame in losing to the European champions, but to approach that game as meekly as Emery did is truly alarming.
Either way, Emery has no place to hide next week. he will have to have a go against Tottenham. Probably a good time to play against them as well with their loss against Newcastle at home. And the ambiguity in their squad, especially surrounding one of their stars players Christian Eriksen who as some reports suggest could be on his way out means Arsenal have a good chance of nicking one over Spurs.
The gunners better put a shift in next week as despite having a great summer transfer window and a good first couple games, the loss against Liverpool has left the Arsenal fans having a familiar feeling of past years.
Up until that goal, Emery's gamble was kind of working with Pepe and Aubameyang leading the line and the rest of Arsenal sitting deep and defending. Pepe got a couple of good chances in his path on the counter but wasn't able to finish them. I never really understood what Granit Xhaka's role is under Emery as in a lot of ways, he's not an Emery type midfielder, but yesterday it was pretty obvious what he was told to do which was just to ping balls to Aubameyang and Pepe from deep whenever he finds space.
Though for the large part Arsenal's midfield was non existent, Willock had his moments in the game when he was darting forward with pace in tight spaces with his trickery but apart from that it wasn't good going for the likes of Guendouzi and Ceballos who just couldn't deal with the Liverpool press and gave the ball away quite a few times in dangerous areas.
Second half, Liverpool kept pressing but Arsenal stuck to their gameplan resulting in added pressure on them which led to David Luiz having a panic moment as he pulled Salah's shirt inside the box giving away a silly penalty. Salah took it superbly and put it into the top left corner scoring Liverpool's second. You'd think that Luiz would have learnt better and stayed on his feet for the rest of the game but just minutes after the second goal, he tried to press on Salah and win the ball back which was just what Salah wanted as he nutmegged him and broke forward and scored a delightful goal.
From then on Arsenal were fighting a lost battle as they kept looking to penetrate through the Liverpool back line but for the large part of the second half, they failed to do so until substitute Lucas Torreira scored for them at the 85th minute.
Last few minutes it was just Arsenal having possession and trying things but to no avail as Liverpool triumphed over the gunners yet again.
Emery's game plan was questionable in my opinion since playing as narrow as his team did at Anfield against a faction who thrive on playing via their full backs and inverted wingers was pretty juvenile.
You could argue that had Pepe taken his chances in the first half or if David Luiz hadn't gone berserk in the second half we maybe would have been talking about a different game. However, for the majority of the match, Arsenal were barely able to fend off Liverpool's advances. Monreal and Maitland-Niles had a torrid time defending against Mane and Salah.
The predominant question was, why didn't Emery start Torreira? He is particularly suited for these types of high pressure, pressing games. He was brought on to steady the ship against Burnley last weekend in the final 10 minutes which meant that any rust or fitness concerns in question were vanquished and he was fit to start.
Why did Lacazette come on in the 81st minute, when the game was virtually finished with Arsenal 3 goals down? Or more importantly, why wasn't he starting? His record against the top teams is reasonably good and these big games evidently get the best out of him.
Emery was pointed fingers at for his conservativeness last season, and many thought that that was one of the reasons why Arsenal didn't make top 4, although in his defense it was his first season and he had a fairly depleted squad with injuries to important players. This season nonetheless he has been provided with all the tools, he has a front three that many managers could only dream of having in their team. He has a fairly decent midfield as well and still he chose to not play certain players. Whether he was eyeing them for the North London derby next week, remains to be seen but the fact remains that if Klopp can enforce his front 3 on the field all season without having a like for like backup for them in his battalion then so can Emery.
Of course there is no shame in losing to the European champions, but to approach that game as meekly as Emery did is truly alarming.
Either way, Emery has no place to hide next week. he will have to have a go against Tottenham. Probably a good time to play against them as well with their loss against Newcastle at home. And the ambiguity in their squad, especially surrounding one of their stars players Christian Eriksen who as some reports suggest could be on his way out means Arsenal have a good chance of nicking one over Spurs.
The gunners better put a shift in next week as despite having a great summer transfer window and a good first couple games, the loss against Liverpool has left the Arsenal fans having a familiar feeling of past years.
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