Originally Posted by
IBK
Part of me wants to say that some of the comments on here are a bit knee jerky after 3 games. We are several first team players down already; this was probably the most difficult fixture in the league, and a close tie was decided by one moment of absolute magic from Szoboszlai. Apart from that we made Liverpool, and their much vaunted attack, look pretty ordinary.
But there's no doubt that this was very disappointing, more so because this game encapsulated why there is a justified feeling that Arteta will not take us from nearly men to champions. This was a check list of what has held us back (and I fear will continue to do so).
- Safety first approach and team selection.
- Injuries to key players (seriously, WTF is going on here? - with Havertz; Saka; White; Saliba; Norgaard all down before or within 3 games of the season staring and Odegard half fit).
- Subs made too late.
- Undone by a moment of brilliance (more on this below).
- Playing with the handbrake on.
In an effort to be fair/measured - while I was disappointed but not surprised to see Merino in for Odegard, I can see the logic of being conservative starting at Anfield. I thought we were solid in the first half and it made sense to assess their threat and not do anything silly.
What frustrated me was that having seen that they weren't offering much, the manager did not change things up much earlier than he did. With the attacking options now at our disposal, it became pretty clear in the second half that Arteta was basically playing for a draw. Like for like subs (and I put Eze on for the lamentable Martinelli and Dowman on for Madueke in this category) rely on individuals to produce something rather than doing something different with the system to change up what was a pretty ponderous performance going forwards. I think that the 'hope for a goal but happy with a draw' approach was summed up with Dowman coming on. As much as we are high on Max - tasking a 15 year old to produce the goal we needed was very strange. Our defenders played well and Liverpool's forward line was quiet. Our subs should have been made earlier, and we should have taken the game to them.
And this is the rub. We look like a conservative team playing percentages and more interested in stats than actually putting the ball in the net. We can point all we like to Liverpool not looking that great, and being lucky, but that is what champions do. they find a way to win when not playing well, and have individuals who step up to produce when needed. We don't (at least if our set pieces are off). There is something about Liverpool scoring late winners and worldies out of nothing. It's an attitude and a self-belief, and I can't help but feel that our whole approach to this game ran counter to this. Let's face it - we rarely do either.
One or two people on here questioned whether more signings would fundamentally alter what is our manager's Achilles heel. It's still very early in the season, but this question is already raising its head.
