Match Reaction v Liverpool (away)

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Big improvement on last season game-for-game. :ninja:

That nonsense at Anfield done with for another season.

On we go. :bow:

[SMatthews]

A defeat will temper expectations a little. There is a downside to winning the first two games after all. Pepe looked good in the first half but needed more composure with that big chance. Can’t afford a season of Luiz doing that either. Need to be much better at home next week.

[Master Splinter]

Two goals from mistakes again.

Had enough chances to get a result.

Three first-choice defenders injured.

Not embarrassed as in previous seasons here.

Still a work-in-progress team with lots of new and young players against the best Liverpool team in three decades.

Make up for this next week and it's a good start to the season.

Willock and Guendouzi played well and if Pepe starts finishing those chances, he'll be a great asset.

[hobson's choice]

Too easy for them. Emery once again continues to out smart no one but hisself.

We need better from the midfield. I really can't stand what modern day coaching has done to midfield play.

[dostoy]

I didn't watch much of it because we all knew what was going to happen.

I know its easy to be wise after the event and its negative but I would have played 3-5-2 and kept Monreal well away from it.

Arsenal are in a fight for 4th place at best with Man Utd and Chelsea.

[dostoy]

Where is fairy cake these days ?

Is he ill ?

[Özim]

Tough game no doubt, but Emery lost us the game the minute he named that lineup.

Torreira should have been in instead of Xhaka, Lacazette should have played as well, the only way we we're going to get anything is to try and score as many as them by testing Adrian.

Then his subs were too late to make a difference.

Outclassed today in truth, Liverpool better in every department (apart from goal) and won this comfortably.

Doubts over Emery remain IMO.

[rodders]

thoroughly shameful performance which shows the level to which we have sunk.+

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Shameful?

We're the 18th best team in Europe, if they are the best.

Maybe if we see something similar at the Emirates then my opinion will be vastly different but for me, I'm just very happy the spectre of playing Liverpool at Anfield is over by the end of August.

[Marc Overmars]

Klopp has us on toast. :shrug:

On we go.

[Chippy]

Big improvement on last season game-for-game. :ninja:

That nonsense at Anfield done

On we go. :bow:

Dick Emery out. Usual shite. People on here seem ok with a lesser defeat than last season. We could have had Klopp as Manager a few years ago. Fuck it until we get a new Manager and a DECENT DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER.

[Chippy]

A defeat will temper expectations a little. There is a downside to winning the first two games after all. Pepe looked good in the first half but needed more composure with that big chance. Can’t afford a season of Luiz doing that either. Need to be much better at home next week.
Need to be, but won't be.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Tough game no doubt, but Emery lost us the game the minute he named that lineup.

Torreira should have been in instead of Xhaka, Lacazette should have played as well, the only way we we're going to get anything is to try and score as many as them by testing Adrian.

Then his subs were too late to make a difference.

Outclassed today in truth, Liverpool better in every department (apart from goal) and won this comfortably.

Doubts over Emery remain IMO.

My doubts over Emery are over, I'm certain now what to expect from him.

Once I saw the lineup (as predicted in the Match thread) I didn't bother myself to much and busied myself doing chores and some much needed spring cleaning.

I only half watched the match so I can only talk about it patchily.

I am happy with Willock's progression so far and Pepe was decent, though if you ask me the manager just threw him in front of the bus!

DL will probably cost us as much goals as Mustafi if he stays as CB. We just have to hope his overall contribution (attackwise) leads to us evening out the points he's going to make us lose. I'm eating my words on this signing.

As for the game as a whole, it went exactly the way Emery planned and I'm sure he's pleased with himself wherever he is.

This manager cannot compete in a league with the likes of a Klopp, Pep and Pochetino. The best we can get from him is the odd cup no one wants to win and maybe a CL space if no other decent manager takes over the Chavs or Manu.

It's sad, because I can say with a certainty that no one will be breaking points record this season with VAR around. We could have done something really special if we'd gotten our act together and strengthened our real weaknesses this summer. We could even still be a competent pretender if we focused on our strengths but.......

....instead, we find ourselves a Year+ after AW not knowing exactly how we've changed. Chelsea have had 3 different managers (plus a transfer ban) in that period and everyone can clearly see the 3 different visions of how a side should play. Emery is turning out to be as POINTLESS as his FAVOURITE who miraculously recovered to star for a full 90 mins in another crap showing at Anfield.

[Özim]

Todays' game showed Emery hasn't learned anything from last season, we played into Liverpools' hands with the tactics, giving up space to them on the flanks where they are so dangerous (where is the logic), we know they press and yet again we tried all the cutesy passing out from the back all the time despite having pacey forwards we could use to catch them on the counter, I don't get it to be honest.

Lineup was wrong, tactics were wrong, subs were too late, Emery did nothing right.

What we saw today was what I was worried about, the reality is the guy isn't a very good defender, his decision making is questionnable and today he cost us two goals with it, if that's our idea of improving the defence, we're going to need a lot of luck.

As 21GS said Emery choosing to persist with the very limited Xhaka is a massive problem for us, the guy has proven time after time he's not up to the job, yet unfortunately Emery seem to have a soft spot for him.

All very odd, some might be happy with losing 3-1 (it could have been a lot worse to be honest as Liverpool were coasting in this game and looked light years ahead of us), but for me it's not the losing 3-1 it's the fact the same issues exist and that we have a manager who once again fails to spot the obvious and makes some very bizarred decisions.

[SMatthews]

Need to be, but won't be.

Easy to be pessimistic after this game, it wasn’t pretty. The shine has been taken off the summer transfers after today, but it was needed. Nothing less than 4th will do given the two competitors up against us. Three games in and we won’t really know this team until our proper defence is out there and we’ve played more than 3 games. It’s on Emery to get us back into the CL now. We have the team to do that.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Arsenal's scant consolation in losing to Liverpool is that they have got their annual visit to Anfield out of the way early - and this defeat was not quite as harrowing as some suffered in recent seasons.

The statistics after this 3-1 loss, which left Liverpool with the only 100% record in the Premier League, lay like rubble around the feet of manager Unai Emery and his side.

Arsenal have conceded 25 goals in their past seven visits to Anfield. Since Jurgen Klopp arrived at Liverpool in October 2015 they have scored 26 goals in eight Premier League games against the Gunners - the most one side has against another in that period.

As a measure of Arsenal's progress and expectations this does not offer much optimism, despite it being an improvement on last season's 5-1 loss and the 4-0 defeat in Arsene Wenger's final season.

There were moments during the first half when Arsenal were actually in this game despite an inexplicable desire to play out from the back and into the numerous traps set by Liverpool.

The result was bad. The attitude and most of the performance was not.

Nicolas Pepe, Arsenal's impressive record signing at £72m, should have scored when he was straight through only to be denied by Adrian. He also curled an effort just wide and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang narrowly failed to capitalise on another failure with the feet from Liverpool's deputy goalkeeper.

And yet, for all that, Arsenal once again ended well beaten.

It is not much of a consolation to say things were not quite as bad as the other times and Arsenal's excuses are wiped out by the fact the most grievous wound of all was self-inflicted by one man.

The biggest clue in their £8m signing of David Luiz was Chelsea manager Frank Lampard's lack of inclination to keep the Brazilian despite being short of experienced resources in central defence. He did not exactly offer to drive the 32-year-old to Emirates Stadium but it did not sound too far off.

The haste with which Chelsea appeared to be willing to send Luiz across London may have had some clubs smelling a rat but Arsenal took a very high-risk gamble.

And there was a graphic, horrible, illustration of how big this gamble is in one moment of crass stupidity by Luiz that snuffed out Arsenal's chances in an instant.

Emery will have talked up Arsenal's hopes of recovery at half-time. One goal down. Chances created. Pace and threat from Pepe and Aubameyang. Oh - and no stupid mistakes.

Cue Luiz effectively ripping Emery's plans before his very eyes four minutes after the interval when he inexplicably chose to drag back Mohamed Salah in the area, the extended hand and the stretched red shirt visible to everyone inside Anfield.

Salah rammed home the penalty and then Luiz compounded the error by over-committing against the Egyptian at the start of a brilliant run that ended with him scoring Liverpool's third.

In his defence, the Brazilian defender called his actions "a reflex" and went on to say the yellow card that followed the award of Liverpool's penalty had prevented him from committing a "foul" on Salah nine minutes later.

No-one can say Arsenal did not know what they were getting when they acquired Luiz. For all the talent there is a giant streak of liability running straight through him. This was liability Luiz.

All that came in a stunning 25 minutes at the start of the second half that underscored everything Arsenal must aspire to and the gap between Liverpool, Manchester City and the rest.

So where does all this leave Arsenal with the season still in its infancy?

They could be accused of a lack of courage in some recent Anfield defeats and they have a horrific record against so-called fellow 'big six' sides, failing to win any of their past 23 away league games, drawing eight, losing 15 and conceding 53 goals with only one clean sheet.

Arsenal did not give up the fight. No-one can accuse them of lacking courage. They were simply beaten by a far superior team. The Gunners actually showed a much better attitude than the carnage of recent years and finished strongly.

Emery will be encouraged by the performance of Pepe, a player of lightning pace, although he will want more end product. And if the Spaniard can somehow get Pepe, Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette working in tandem, few teams will have a more potent attack.

It was a tough day for 23-year-old Daniel Ceballos, on loan from Real Madrid, as he found this Anfield experience all too much but he is an undoubted talent who will have better days than this against less testing opposition.

Ceballos is still growing into the Premier League and will improve.

It may be a case of horses for courses as the season unfolds but there is no question this Arsenal side will cause serious problems if they can get the young Spaniard and that potent attacking trio in the team.

Arsenal left Anfield disappointed once more, but scratch beneath the surface and there were improvements and reasons for optimism for Emery, even in defeat.

It is already evident, however, that Arsenal's task this season is to finish in the top four - not an insult, simply a statement of fact.

And it is already evident that a huge gulf still exists between them and champions Manchester City and Liverpool that will not be closed quickly.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49462678

I actually replied to this hack. :lol:

Paying for this guy's space for articles and he comes up with 'Liability Luiz'.

What a bellend.

[I am invisible]

Hope the players shrug this one off pretty quickly - we’re 3 games into a rebuild and we were facing the European champions on their own patch, so it’s not worth any moping or naval-gazing. Learn from it and get better.

Sounds like Emery was the biggest offender? Playing a midfield diamond was always going to be suicide against a team with Liverpool’s width. Way too narrow.

[Özim]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49462678

I actually replied to this hack. :lol:

Paying for this guy's space for articles and he comes up with 'Liability Luiz'.

What a bellend.

He cost us 2 goals yesterday, effectively guaranteeing defeat, both were very avoidable but showed his defensive naivety, he's done this countless times for Chelsea as well which is why he got that reputation in the 1st place and why Lampard was all too happy to let him go despite not being able to sign anyone.

He's decent in DM, but at CB he's is indeed a liability as he's always prone to rash decisions like he made yesterday.

[Özim]

Hope the players shrug this one off pretty quickly - we’re 3 games into a rebuild and we were facing the European champions on their own patch, so it’s not worth any moping or naval-gazing. Learn from it and get better.

Sounds like Emery was the biggest offender? Playing a midfield diamond was always going to be suicide against a team with Liverpool’s width. Way too narrow.

Agreed.

I think the issue is Emerys' decisions, which were also questionnable last season, as you say why would anyone play a diamond against a team with two brilliant attacking full backs like Liverpool, it makes zero sense, it's just a bizarre decision and there were plenty of others.

[Marc Overmars]

Just need to forget this quickly and move on. We lost to a team that is at a completely different stage in their development to us. They are literally the best team in Europe.

An Arsenal defeat at Anfield, the sky is also blue and the grass is green.

Beat the Spuds are we’re on our way again. If we lose that then yes that would be extremely disappointing. But I can’t really bring myself to give much of a crap about this one.

[Bumble]

3 games in and 3 expected results. Next week Spuds and that could tell us this early whether we are competing for 3rd or 4th place.

one cheery thought though is that can you imagine the level of criticism on an United forum at the moment. would be very amusing

[Gooner23]

Disappointed but not too angry. I think Emery's tactics and line up were poor, but I can also see progression in the quality of the players. Would really like to see a midfield of Torreira, Ceballos and Willock going forwards.

[Globalgunner]

Any midfield minus Xhaka would be a good one. Id rather see Chambers in midfield or Luiz

[Ralpheroo72]

Luiz looked like an £8 defender

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I know everyone is blaming DL, and as an experienced defender he deserve it, but I think we are missing the point, which is if it hadn't been him it would have been someone else - as this team cannot defend under sustained pressure let alone from the best pressing side in the whole of Europe.

The first goal by Matip would have still been given as a penalty on VVD as 3 or so other player were doing exactly what DL later did to Sala. The penalty was stupid but since they hadn't got caught the first time Luiz tried his luck.

For the 3rd goal, Trent said something really worrying
on Sky when interviewed immediately after the match which later Klopp confirmed. At HT Klopp told his players to change tactics and stop with the long balls and concentrate on dragging our CBs out of position since we'd left so much space around. And the text book third goal came which Trent said he couldn't believe.

The inexplicable tactics were 100% to blame for this loss. It played to all of our weaknesses and to all of their strengths. Every analyst has said the same thing- what's the use of the players giving 100% effort when someone has set them up to lose from the get go !

The same inexplicable team selection and tactics that made us lose 3 different opportunities to qualify for the CL last season.

I really don't want to get into analyzing Emery's tactics because it's more than obvious that he making it up as he goes along. More than a year later and I'm still unsure what the hell this guy wants to do at this club!

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

This is the only way this Arsenal can play Liverpool and hope to get something from the match.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/11/03/arsenal-vs-liverpool-premier-league-live-score-latest-updates/amp/

The funny thing is even with our first choice defence out we still gave up good chances to them so trying to contain them is the biggest joke of the century. The only way is to pin them back which we did better than even Man City in this game!

I can't really understand how any credible coach could come out from that 5-1 and still insist on setting himself up almost the same way again to soak pressure.

This game was a no presure game, everyone expected us to lose, why not play his strongest possible team so we know how to setup for the Spuds?

I mean does anyone know how we will setup their now? Diamond? Pass from the back? Emery is really having a laugh.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Lol, just noticed Mustafi started that game !

[I am invisible]

...I mean does anyone know how we will setup their now? Diamond? Pass from the back? Emery is really having a laugh.
Not a clue! Emery has talked a lot about this idea of ‘Chameleonic’ football, so I guess it really could be anything from one game to the next?

I’ve got to say, the whole ‘chameleonic’ thing really doesn’t inspire me with confidence - I’m all for a bit of tactical flexibility, but I really don’t like this idea of only reacting to what opponents are doing. Aside from anything else I’m not convinced that we’re actually good enough at it to make it work? I mean if the best that all of our analysis and strategising can come up with is to play a midfield diamond against Liverpool (and at a time when we’re down to ageing / utility fullbacks) then it’s probably best to draw a line under it now and try something else...