by Walter Broeckx
When the fixture list comes out in June every team is anxious to know what the first match will be. An easy home game against a new team? Going away to a team that should be struggling to avoid relegation? But one can be sure that one thing most teams don’t like to see is a trip away to one of the top 4 teams. But for Arsenal it was no home game against a new team, no away game to a possible struggling side. No it was being thrown in the deep end and make sure you can swim: an away trip to Liverpool.
There are easier things to start the new season. With the world cup we had quite a few players missing and with our early injury crisis we also had some players who hardly have played in preseason. Cesc came back with a soar throat from Mexico and wasn’t even on the bench but Robin Van Persie was. Together with Song who also hasn’t played for us in preseason.
Liverpool with their new manager wanting to show he can do better than Benitez. Now we can all not agree with the spending of the money from Benitez but he played normally some kind of attacking football at home with great passion, the way they like it up there. Hodgson was not a bad manager at Fulham but when I saw them play against us in the past seasons they always played a very defensive line with always some 9 players behind the ball and one or 2 players who sometimes tried to start an attack. Let us say mostly mid table or lower table tactics, well against us anyway.
After half an hour I was thinking: are we playing Fulham at Anfield? Because at that moment a statistic flashed on my screen telling me that we had some 3 or 4 shots on goal but at the other end of the statistics it said: Liverpool : 0 shots. Zero, nothing. I checked again and noticed that it really was Liverpool who was playing at home. If I remember right it took them another 6 or 7 minutes before the first attempt of Liverpool at our goal was seen and it was a shot very, very wide.
So yes we were very on top of the game, had more possession and kept Liverpool away from our goal. Was this Anfield? It seemed so. The only thing that was missing for us was a goal. We had a couple of possibilities but Reina made a good save on a Vermaelen free kick to deny us an early goal. Right at the end of the first half Liverpool tried to attack themselves which resulted in Joe Cole being a true red. If Atkinson is drawing the line there, fine with me. Intent or not, I think Cole went in with both feet to Koscielny. Always a foul, and always at least a yellow card. The ref did what more refs should do: show a red card until these dangerous tackles stop.
The reason why he gave the red card was that Cole went in a frontal way in to Koscielny. If it would have been a sideways tackle and he would have hit him he would have come away with a yellow card but I told you on a few occasions that a frontal tackle is the most dangerous tackle there is and should be out of the game.
The second half started with two shocks: Koscielny back on the field and Ngog scoring a goal. We lost the ball where we shouldn’t have lost it. Wilshere and Nasri had a misunderstanding and Ngog could score. Those things happen. Part of learning I guess for Jack who showed that he can become a great player but also that he has to learn a few things. But I think I will let him have the time to learn it as he will be a great player for us. I think it was great from our manager to go for him and let him start at Liverpool. It was a big example on how Wenger gives a young player the chance to prove himself.
After the goal we lost our composure a bit. But with bringing on Walcott and Rosicky we turned it around. Rosicky had a great half our and showed what a great player he can be. If he hadn’t lost some 2 years with injury we maybe would have more trophies as he is a player who can play many positions and is experienced enough. It was no coincidence that it was from his cross that Chamakh showed that we have other options now. All he needed was one great cross to give us a goal. Yes I know it was Flapreina who pushed the ball in his own net but it was Chamakh that beat Reishit for the cross and made him look poor.
Could you imagine if it was Arsenal that had conceded such a goal? Some would have asked the head of Wenger, of our goalkeeper, tell that Wenger hasn’t got a clue, tell that the board are filling their pockets, tell that well you know the usual stuff when a keeper makes a mistake. But now we have a laugh with Reina and find it great. And that is the difference with our keeper making a mistake and the other. When we suffer the mistake it hurts so much we can lose perspective. But those who have seen the goals in the EPL this weekend will agree with me when I say that a lot of the goals were down to very bad mistakes by the keepers.
So saying that our keeper(s) is(are) the worst in the EPL is very hard on them.
By the way did I mention the fact that we need another centre back? I just did so if you comment by saying that we don’t want us to sign another defender only prove that they don’t read the article, or at least not until the end.
If you look at some match statistics we won them all. We had more shots on goal, in fact we had the double of the shots that Liverpool had and it really was them that played at home. We had more corners, we had more of the ball, we had more territorial advantage as we played mostly in their half. Yes, we played away from home and at Anfield but the way they defended in 75 minutes it looked as if they was a scared team and didn’t dare to come at us.
So the first game is done. One point at Anfield is always a good point. I still feel that we should have won the game. We were the better team but Liverpool defended in their Fulham style and we have struggled against the Hodgson tactics in the past.
Can’t wait till next Saturday when the Emirates becomes more a bit Highbury but bigger. The North Bank, the Clock End back with their old names. Will be great to see the Highbury history getting a new live in the Emirates.
My 2 cents:
1)Koscielny 2nd yellow shouldn’t have been a yellow, he should’ve enjoyed the benefit of the doubt for an intentional handball. To me it was Atkinson “keeping scores” with Cole’s red (which was not a “classic” one, at least in my opinion).
2)Koscielny faster than Torres – TWICE ! The 2nd tackle, in the box, where he came from behind to take away the ball from Torres gives me a lot of hope. Usually Torres is the guy to beat defenders with his pace, and not the other way around.
3)I don’t care how crap Reina is. I still think that we will be better off with a better goalie.
4)I suspect it won’t be so easy to beat us off the pitch this season. Somehow, I sense that some of the old 1990s spirit is back. You could see it coming from Wilshere and from the Verm. Bring it on, bitches.
All in all, an ok result, without half of our team, in one of the most hostile stadiums in the league.
I would like to add on the Wilshere playing at Anfield. Wilshere is one of the most talented players in Arsenal and maybe in the whole country. After his loan spell the only way he can get better is by getting more games.
Making a real start at Anfield is a way to learn. And I think he will have learned a lot yesterday and he had a great first 45 minutes. The lad is still young and learning but he will not learn much by sitting on the bench.
So I’m glad Wenger gave him the chance and I hope he will get many more. Because he has the ability to become another Cesc-DB player. And as every youthful player has its up and downs and misses some experience he will only get it by playing more games.
We’ve got the Jack, Jack, Jack (free on the AC DC song). Now wouldn’t that be a nice song for Jack????
Hello.
Walter and Tony, if you don’t mind, I wrote a review of the game on my blog at goonerhead.blogspot.com. I’m trying to get people to read it. It is a blog in the same spirit as this one – supporting Lord Wenger and offering a positive view of Arsenal.
Also, I wrote an article for your blog too and I sent it to Tony but he’s on vacation. Can I send it to you, Walter?
Anyway, as for the game. I think Liverpool were clearly the weaker team, kept in the game by Hodgson’s tactics, and by the freedom they were given by the red card. And we also lost our composure for some reason after dominating the first half.
I felt bad for Almunia because he looks down on confidence. He made a couple of mistakes from set pieces but I’m glad we didn’t concede from them.
I think one thing people missed in pre-viewing this game was that this was a post-international break away match. We most often lose those. Remember Man City and Sunderland last year? We almost certainly drop points in these games. So in that respect this wasn’t a bad result at all. Also not a bad result considering we were missing so many of our senior players. We will be even better with RvP, Cesc, Denilson, Song all back.
Thanks to Reina blunder..hopefully he’ll always be like that so we have excuse not to change our GK, aight Walter?…hehe
great article and a good game yesterday…alot of positives……defensive wise all our players had a good game except for clichy who got skinned all too often….sagna was putting in some good crosses and i certainly hope he keeps doing that for the whole season as we have alot of height upfront( bendner, chamakh, vermaelen, van persie and diaby). vermaelen and koscileny looked in control…….i would love to see gibbs play against blackpool though.
Waleed I have sent you a mail so you can send it to me.
And may I thank you for the fact that you have mentioned the international games. I hadn’t thought of this fact but we do have troubles and certainly when going away from home. It has cost us a lot of points like you say in the last seasons.
Arsenal had a very bad start actually.We hsould have killed liverpool in the first 45mins itself.If u see liverpool are still a mediocore team with no attack no combination.We need to add more steel to our defence.the first goal was coz of rubbish defence.Clichy should learn to tackle and defend.His crosses are useless.Sagna also puts in rubbish crosses,so ther is no threat from wings during crosses.Almunia though has a better game still should be never our No.1
Walter- Are we progressing? I think not. Last year we got all our points from Anfield. But we couldn’t this year. So thats 2 points lost from our last season. And believe me, liverpool looked more dangerous than arsenal ystrday. We had all the possession but couldn’t do anything about it. Liverpool may hav less shots but had the best shots. We looked more shaky in our defence, not liverpool. And starting your league at anfield is the best way to show your intentions for the rest of the season. I remember you commenting that arsenal was gonna win this game, but they were lucky to get a point out of it. We cant give excuses this year, neither will arsene wenger. He himself has specified that ‘it would be a DISGRACE’ if we dont win it this season. And the only way to win it this year is by beating united, chelsea and liverpool at their own backyard.
My eyes wee totally on the Russian.I was expecting some heroics from him.Arshavin seems to be not interested at all.he makes no runs.Whenever there is counter attack going on i can always see the left wing empty.Arshavin was found just walking on d feild which was very annoying for me.Fabregas was missed very much.Walcott added some flare to the game.He made the game fast.His free kick was good enough.Nasri needs to release the ball very soon.Diaby shows few good skills and then tries to do a maradona r messi skill and loses the ball.We need to show some commitment on the feild.Players were just not interested in winning d ball.Chamakh was good.I think so when our Fab arrives he wil be the superstar for us.Persie as usual takes few games to settle.Once he starts scoring the hes d real scoring machine..Lets hope for the best !!
I think jack was ok, but he is no ramsey. He is an attacking midfield player and should have played infront of Nasri as Nasri has the holding abilities. Maybe Lord wenger is trying out positions for Jack as it gives a player dimensions. But i see Jack misplacing nasri or arshavin from the squad, not Rambo. When Ramsey is back, he will again take the CM position, between one attacking and one defensive midfielder. I love Rambo, he misplaced Diaby and Denilson and i hope he is back with full force.
“liverpool looked more dangerous than arsenal ystrday”
That’s hilarious. Sorry dark prince I misunderstood you, I thought you were being serious before but now I get it. You are taking the piss out of the typical doom and gloom merchants. It’s a brilliant parody, very funny and I’m sorry I didn’t see it at first.
Side splitting, subtle comedy, please do some more.
Bdgooner, don’t forget Ramsay was no Ramsay at the start of last season, he gave the ball away a bit too much and played within himself. I think Jack just needs time to grow.
Personally I felt both our signings were great- Chamakh, especially, looked the part with his link-up play and holding of the ball. But, we were a little short of ideas at times…? (hopefully it’s because of RVP and Cesc) Still, I’d say 1-1’s a great result.
For me it is stupid to judge Jack on his first big away game. He is teenager, whom Arsene gave chance yesterday to gain experience. And for me Jack done well, on hot Ainfield to play way he did, satisfying, looking at him, you know every next game he ll be only better.
Some D&G remind me on lad, I’ve been in war with. Before every attack he was mumbling ” we will never survive this”, during attack he was hiding in tranche. After attack he was saying, well we survived, but only because this was not real attack yet.
Dark Prince,
No I said I would be happy with a 1-0 to the Arsenal. I never predict final scores as I am very bad with it.
And could you please inform me off all those dangerous shots Liverpool has made during the game? I must have missed them but what I didn’t miss is that for 75 minutes the ball was in their defending half of the pitch.
First Arsene knows. Last year it was Vermaelen, fans were not sure if he was good enough but after that first match we agreed with Wenger. This year Koscielny again fans not sure but WOW he was great last night. He shouldn’t get that 2nd yellow but I rather miss him 1-2 matches than 1-2 months (what cole nearly managed to do). Sadly it took only less than 45 minutes this season before we had to worry if our players leg is broken due awful tackle.
That Reina goal was great, honestly done by any other goalkeeper it would not have been so great. There was karma and poetic justice in it.
There was things we need to improve but there are positives and more I think more positives I find. So we can still have unbeaten season 😉
At half-time, you would have expected Arsenal to be firm favourites to take three points, but carelessness at the back cost them dear. I could crucify Almunia for completely missing the ball at a first half corner, but I can forgive him conceding the goal. It was very well struck and would have taken a wonder save to stop it.Paul Merson was one of the guests for Sky’s coverage of this game and when asked what the common language is at Arsenal, he responded, “I was there a couple of years ago doing something and the players hardly spoke to each other”. I assume he was referring to the publicity shoot for the away kit from 2008/09, and it got me thinking about how easy it is for the players to communicate with one another on the pitch. I suspect, a lot of their play is instinctive, but when they have to think about something – as a team – the difficulty in communicating (and the attendant lack of bonding) probably handicaps their ability to react, and there is an element of just going through the motions. At times, Wenger’s teams look like a disjointed bunch of individuals, and I am sure this is one of the reasons the captain seeks a move to a club where there does seem to be a strong bond among the players.It certainly doesn’t make for a convincing unit. If things are going well, then it all looks hunky dory, but when the tide turns, the team have – in the past – folded too easily. You can carry a couple of players who are not up to speed on the language, but you have to wonder – as Merson was asked – exactly what the common language is. I’d suggest it’s French. When you realise that the captain, the keeper and the main striker do not understand a word of it, then you have problems.After all Arsenal’s woes with goalkeepers, it was ironic that Pepe Reina should gift the visitors a draw on the stroke of injury time. I remember the keeper making a couple of howlers in his early days at Liverpool, but he has become far less of a liability over the course of time. It does appear as if Mark Schwarzer will be arriving, but I’d prefer Wenger to spend a little more to secure Shay Given, who will give him at least four seasons. As for the centre back signing, the red card awarded to Laurent Koscielny means Alex Song will probably be asked to play at the back against Blackpool, and with only three centre-backs at the club (I do not think the manager is going to seriously consider Nordtveit), this could be seen on a frequent basis unless someone is signed.I am not convinced Arsenal deserved the point. Although they had far more of the ball, they did so little with it, even with a man advantage. However, I’d have settled for it before the game, so let’s hope it’s onwards and upwards – not least in the transfer market.
jeeryy, in the interview I had with Vermaelen I asked him the language question and he said that the players when on the club speak English with each other both on and off the field.
It still should be somewhere on the site it was at the end of April I think.
There were lot of talking about those silly foreigners who dont communicate each others well lately on Fox and Sky. And of course lack of bond between them because they are only foreigners who care for money and self-promotion.
Ein Fuher, ein volk
Steww- U seem to be the typical spurs fan who wants arsenal to enjoy their loss!! I can see where you’re comin from. I can understand.
Walter- you want to say that a team is better just bcoz it has a more possession?? Thats amateur thinking. Last year, when we played United, we again had more possession but were completely demolished by united. So please dont give an excuse that we played better just bcoz we had more possession.
Brilliant Dark prince, more please, I’m really getting your humour now.
Yes Dark Prince I agree with you, Walter is pure amateur who never sow football game, he know only about water-polo. And maybe he is not even Arsenal supporter, he is hired by Spurs to spread lies among us, together with Tony for whom I sure know is one of youngest Chelsea new signings and he maintain this blog only to give us false hopes.
Good review as always, a few worrying signs that will need ironing out before we come up against another one of the big boys I.E. turning possession into chances, we looked devoid of ideas of what to do with the ball when they had 9 men behind it, which is what usually happens when teams play us, I know we had Fab out & RVP, Walcott and Rosicky on the bench but apart from Nasri probing and moving left to right we had nothing, I though Wilshire may create a little spark on the pitch but he tended to pass left or right or backwards and Arshavin produced nothing and Diaby was sloppy and in the second half was knackered. Good news with regards to Koscielny looks another amazing find, get some back up to the defenders and GK and we have a good chance. I’d be tempted to play Gibbs to Clichy as to me he’s a better defender and crosser than Clichy and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him leave next season. Hard to rate Chamakh as he had nothing to feed on but created our goal and will soon bed into the Premiership life its said he’s good in the air Now if only we can find someone who can cross it…………….
P.S Liked your reply on the Daily Telegraph website Walter 🙂
I would like put a word in for Diaby. He gets a lot of stick from some sections of the Arsenal fans but considering he was the sole holding player and he has played no pre season games I thought in the first half particularly he was very good.
Sometimes the avatars (isn’t that what they are called those little pictures left to our name) speak for themselves.
And Dark prince I dont also say it because of the possession but I also say our team was better because we had 14 shots, pool had 7 in the whole game. We had more corners which usually is a sign that a team is attacking rather a bit.
Now off course it could be that I am totally wrong and that in fact having more shots as a visiting team means that the other team was much better. We even had more yellow cards than Liverpool. Shows me that we did battle a bit.
I really think that with no one in goal we still would have gone in with a 0-0 at half time. The only time Almunia had to save was with the Johnson shot that was going over anyway but he took no chance with that. If Reina wouldn’t have been in goal I think we would be 3-0 up at half time.
I don’t think we could be more happy with the performance. It usually takes us a few games before we look dangerous in the final third. There’s two ways to avoid conceding goal, it’s either to defend deep or to push up and keep possession. If the teams has improved from last season, I think we’ll have more controll of the games this season and thus conceding less. As usual, our title ambitions will come down to the fitness of our players. We will most likely need another CB for cover, I pray Wenger will sign one. If anything happens, it will probably be a signing in the 11th hour. I’ll be sweating on 31 of aug.
Walter- yeah, the avatars talk for themselves. (got a few good thoughts about ur avatar as well) Hahahaha 😛
But jokes apart, we had more shots but we didn’t look dangerous. We always have statistics on our side but if any football fan had seen the match, they would hav definately said that liverpool deserved the win. We always have more possession, always have more passing, more corners, but its the goals we lack. Especially when it comes to the top teams. I know we’re good enough to come in top 4, we’re good enough to beat everton, spurs, city, and other mediocre teams. But when it comes to Chelsea, United and unfortunately this time liverpool, we seem to be ineffective in our passing abilities. And its not bcoz of our manager, coz i believe Arsene Wenger is the best manager in the world, but its our players who aren’t rising up to the standards. Without fabregas or van persie, we look toothless. We have to change that bcoz fabregas might not be with arsenal next year or he can get injured in this season as well. We have to be good enough to win the big games without them.
Armin- I have respect for everyone including walter, tony n u. We’re here to have a good debate. We dont need to get personal about things. We all have a point of view. I’m not here to judge people. This is about Arsenal. So i just give my opinion about their performance. And we all look at things in a different point of view. I look at the more realistic view.
Dark Prince, thanks for taking this avatar think so well. Since I have been to the dentist a few weeks ago and he had to pull a few of my teeth and another one maybe in a few months if things go bad, I actually look a bit like my avatar. 🙂
Your avatar is looking angry and somehow you sound a bit angry.
I just think we are opposite in our thinking. My glass is more than half full and yours is almost half empty. Well we cannot be all the same.
I think this preseason has been a great chance for the team to grow without CESC and RVP. Yes some are still short but they are young and will have time to develop under the guidance of Cesc and RVP. Look at Ramsey at the start of last season and how he was playing when he got kicked to pieces. Even Cesc said he looked better than he looked at that age. Maybe if we would have Ramsey not his leg broken we would be saying: Cesc who? Actually, no as I really think Cesc is still far better than Ramsey. I think with Rasmey and Wilshere we have two players who could become better/the same level as Cesc when they are 23-24 years old.
We sometimes forget that the Cesc of 3 seasons ago was not the Cesc of last season. And in this learning process I have an immense faith and can be patient about it.
Walter- i’ve no problems with the youngsters. Ramsey and Wilshere would be as good or maybe better than Cesc when they bcom 23-24 yrs old. I’m disappointed of Nasri, Diaby, Arshavin and Almunia. Nasri still plays more cautiously and seems to lose his passing ability after reachin the final third of the pitch. Diaby is highly inconsistent. He sometimes passes brilliantly but mostly sidesteps a lot and eventually ends up losing the ball. Arshavin, though i’m a huge fan of him, seemed so frustrating ystrday. Almunia seemed lackin confidence after we didn’t pick him for the pre season games.
Walter- and yes i’m a bit angry with how arsenal played ystrday. And i dont view my glass as half empty. I view it as half full n half empty together. Thats why i said that our defence looks superb but lacks a lot in depth, thats y i want d extra central defender. Our goalkeeper too looks decent but he could do better. Infact, i find Almunia better than Schwarzer.
And regarding my avatar, it looks angry but it still is one of d most loyal arsenal fans in the world 🙂
Maybe this is trivial-
But why was Eboue shaking his head as he was substituted yesterday?
However, I was impressed by our showing-first game, on the road, against a top 4. And never gave in until niking a goal at the end!
Please consider that Diaby was playing out of position, after not having a pre-season.
And I’m sure AW is looking to complement the back 4.
Hi all,
Nice write up – better than one site saying that it was good we gave the goal away to show how rubbish our goalkeeper is!!!! Jeeeez.
Talk about anti support.
Must admit I thought the goal was primarily defence blunder and that Almunia had covered everything but the top nearside corner. Played the percentages but Ngog had a fantastic shot. I agree to disagree with those who think many or any goalie would have got it.
Almunia did have a couple of ‘flaps’ but on the whole did pretty well.
See this piece from Stewart Robson – which seems to me very balanced and true
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_6315416,00.html?
all the best
Dave
Re Reina. Schadenfreud rules! Good payback for the post WC final nonsense with Cesc.
Anyone realise we should have had a penalty in the first half for Agger shoulder charging Eboue in the chest as the ball was running out of play? That would have changed the game if we took the lead with Liverpool having to come out and attack. An unfit Diaby is a poor substitute for a fit Song even though Diaby did ok had Song been there I think we would have played a lot better
I think the point yesterday was fine. Away at Anfield, they have a new manager, their crowd is pumped, and we even gifted them a goal. To get a point was fine.
Of course we will play much better than that. Cesc, Song, Denilson, Ramsey, Djourou and RvP will make our depth far better and us far more dangerous as a team. Arshavin was nowhere, even he admits his form is terrible right now.
I agree with Podge about the Agger-Eboue incident. However it only become truly obvious after seeing the replay from another angle. You can understand why the referee didnt give it. But it was an obvious penalty when you saw the camera angle from behind their goal.
I thought Wilshire was terrific in the 1st half but seemed sheel-shocked after his mistake cost us their goal. That was unfortunate. That will be a great experience. At 18 he handled that pressure ever so well.
if Ngog was an Arsenal player id be very happy yesterady as that was a Brilliant shoot! The guy looked class! And we should give him credit for that goal instead of moaning at Almunia. It is actually possible for a team like Liverpool to have a good striker you know. Its not always Almunia. I am also one of those that dont think Given is that much better than almunia in the areas where he is weekest. Non of them got excelent field work or are particularly “safe” on crosses. But may be its all psycologica, that a new keeper will insert calm not because he is so much better but simply because he is not Almunia.
“one of d most loyal arsenal fans in the world :-)”
Genius. Oh me. So good. Keep ’em coming.
sad, you are right. If we would have scored the Liverpool goal no one would have questioned Reina. We would have said: it was unstoppable. I think this is what I meant in the article when I was talking about the goalkeepers.
We tend to look for someone to blame for a goal we concede and well you can always blame someone if you want. Fact is the other team is on the field to try to play their game and try to do their best and sometimes it works for them.
Walter,
FN brilliant! Nothing you wrote I disagree with… I would add this in regards to Wilshere although you covered him brilliantly. Cesc was intoduced in the same light by Wenger. And, I remember the catastrophists in a rAGE BECAUSE cESC DID NOT HAVE THE “PHYSICAL PRESENCE.” As I play the game back in my mind I see Wilshere asserting himself again and again… He was a bit conservative.. More so than I would have liked…But, WTF. I am so excited about this season! Bring it on. Bring it on!
Like I have said before: it is by throwing you in the water you will learn to swim. Jack wil learn from every minute. And I think he will be a great player and maybe one of the best we will ever have seen in a few years.
I admit I like him from the first time I saw him in the reserves.
Steww- ‘one of the most loyal arsenal fans in the world’ 🙂
Hell yeah, u heard it right!! 😛
Walter- its not just the goal which was conceded but also few corners that almunia misjudged. Pepe Reina may have fumbled once but he doesn’t do it too often. Infact Reina cud fumble only 2-3 times a season. But Almunia can do such mistakes once in every match. Thats why he has to go. His best days are past him.
DP – this is a public forum dedicated to the support of Arsenal FC. It really isn’t the place to insult our players. Not terribly loyal either is it? After all that MA has been through this last year I’d expect a loyal supporter to have nothing but sympathy for him.
Steww- I’m a loyal Supporter of Arsenal. For me the club comes before any of its players. If any of the player’s weaknesses are harming the club’s primary objective then its better to make a change. And its no disrespect for Almunia. I like Almunia. If he was young like fabianski then i’d have understood that he can improve but Almunia is experienced enough and he still isn’t upto the standards. I like Eduardo too and he too wasn’t upto our standards. These players love the club and we love them too. But there comes a time where we have to look at better options. Its nothing personal against the players. Its just that Arsenal must work on its weaknesses every year and improvise. We have to move forward.
Steww- And I’ve never insulted and of the arsenal players. I’ve never used any bad words against any of our players. I’ve just said that they aren’t good enough to make us win the title.
Not enough about Koscielny. He was positionally superb and got his head on practically every long ball from Reina etc. Did much more key defending than Verm (mainly because those long balls tended to come from Kuyt or Reina). Admittedly Torres is a yard short of fitness, but Kos overtook him and relieved him of the ball twice. Both him and Sagna were really excellent, defensively, and I also notice that he’s not afraid to bring the ball up. Looks like he’s less likely to out and out attack, like Verm, but I have a feeling he’s more of a solid defender, which is exactly what we have needed.
He Walter greetings from Australia once again. Look I thought that in my honest opinion it was too nicer conditions to be playing football. Here in australia if Aussie rules teams were playing in 21 degrees heat it would be considered hot weather. I got the feeling the boys didn’t really change gears even when the subs were made. I really felt that rosicky should of started instead of wilshere his first touch was a little sloppy and he turned the ball over. I predicted the draw in my tipping comp. Now me and my housemate/ fellow die hard gooner have this thing where if it’s getting too much to watch one of us will get up and go outside for a smoke it was me this time. I did this because most times we do this the gunners score. Relief is what comes to mind about this result. Liverpool is not a team I fear to play against at anfield or anywhere and last season when everyone was speculating about us being booted from the top 4 I picked Liverpool to be the ones. We were missing 3 big names so with our makeshift squad I was eager to see how the bench play after a pretty cruisy pre season. And yes we were all over them we had control and we should of punished them. The team needs to find a way to draw teams out when they decide to sit back every team watches how we move the ball. We need to be quicker on the break. Arshavin really needs to find some form. He has become a little predictable with his moves. Now the positives, we are almost there koscielny was pretty good he stood up but he needs to keep his arms down. Almunia ok but with all that’s surrounding him I’m surprised he has any confidence left. Has to go there is no question about that. Schwarzer is the perfect replacement. Australia by no means is up there with the best and I’ve watched a lot of his international performances and he has made a huge amount of saves that have saved us. He is ready for the challenge and I will be very proud to see him pull on the gurnsey. I think we will beat Blackpool by 3 goals go put some money on it. And I am honestly putting our performance down to the weather. Lol! I hope one day when I come to the emirates I can meet you there is so much for me to learn. Liverpool was the perfect first game of the season.