A hard-fought draw against the champions is not a bad result in isolation, but I ended the game with a sense of frustration. We played an excellent first half but failed to take advantage of numerous good situations to create clear cut chances. Liverpool deserve credit for a dominant second half, the most we have been under the cosh at home this season, but they could not make it count any more than we could. They finished the match without a single shot on target, although on this occasion that is a somewhat misleading stat. However, the regret for me is that we were poor in the second half and did not do ourselves justice: we are a much better team than what we showed after the break today.
The pre-game fireworks looked good and the crowd were up for it. Rain hammered down in North London. After a few minutes sizing each other up, we took control, working the ball to the byline on a series of occasions only for Saka and the roaming Timber to pull the ball back either to Allison or behind their teammates. Saka cut in and had a tame shot on target that did not trouble Allison before Trossard got to the byline on the left and pulled it back to no-one. We had a couple of free kicks that we took short instead of pumping into the box, which just looked like the wrong tactic against a side who don’t defend set pieces well.
In the 27th minute Liverpool made a rare foray forwards and a mix up between Saliba and Raya almost cost us. Chasing back against the rapid but slight figure of Frimpong, the tall Frenchman played a fast ball into Raya’s feet. Caught off guard, our keeper passed it straight to Bradley, who chipped it over him at the empty goal. Luckily for us, it failed to come down in time and hit the bar. It was the closest anyone came to a goal all match.
Frimpong went down after twisting his ankle in our box, we played on and Trossard had a shot deflected wide. It kicked off a little, Pool players completely unreasonably claiming we should have kicked the ball out. Rice and Van Dyke were in the middle of this pile of nothing. In the second half, Martinelli went down in similar circumstances and Pool played on, which they were absolutely right to do, but it rather gave the lie to their earlier faux outrage.
Gyökeres had some good moments, one excellent bit of link up play and ball through to Timber led to another cross that found a Pool player. It deflected to Rice who did well to get his foot over the ball to shoot on target. But our number 14 also had some moments when he failed to gamble and make a run. One in particular from Rice saw the striker completely static in the box. It isn’t great to watch the ball get skimmed across the six-yard box three or four times in a match and never have anyone on the end of it. To be fair, a couple of them were late in the game after the Swede had made way for Jesùs, but it is something we need to work on.
Rice put Saka through in the box, but he could not get the ball out of his feet and Kerkez smothered the chance. As half-time went, I was concerned that we had nothing to show from a half where we had been all over them, but I did not predict the reversal the second half would bring.
The teams came out unchanged and after ten minutes of Liverpool possession without much danger I had written two notes. The first said simply ‘Gravenberch is good’. He’s a strong player with a good eye for a pass and a deceptive burst of pace over a short distance that helps him carry the ball and break midfield lines. The second was ‘we miss Calafiori’. I have been impressed with Hincapié since he joined. It is tough to come into the Premier League and get up to speed as fast as he has. He’s quick, aggressive and wants to make an impact. But today he looked a lot more predictable than the Italian (who isn’t?) and I was struck by how valuable our maverick left-back would have been today. That said, when Hincapié went down injured on 55 minutes (there’s always one) and was replaced by MLS, it became immediately clear that Frimpong was going to beat him at will. Frankly, I was glad Liverpool failed to take advantage.
Just before that sub, we worked about our only decent move of the half, at least until we woke up in the last five minutes to give an infuriating demonstration of what we were capable of but had not been doing for the previous forty minutes. Trossard cut in past Connor Bradley (solid player, had a good game) and played a ball across the edge of the box. Zubimendi had made a fantastic run, knowing exactly when to burst through the middle of the pitch unmarked but he was just unable to gather the ball in and it went out for a goal kick. What he did not realise however, was that if he had dummied the ball it was headed to Saka alone at the far side of goal, and you’d have bet on him to find the finish if he’d received the ball.
Taylor was generous to Pool in giving them freekicks for lots of fifty-fifties. This just broke the game up more. He also managed to miss a blatant foul by MLS although Jesùs’s through ball was easily cut out so once again he avoided screwing either team over in any major way. Szoboszlai had two free kick chances from similar positions to his fine winner earlier this season at Anfield (although the second was never a foul by Jesùs). The first one was wild and the second, though better, cleared the bar and highlighted once again how low percentage that Anfield hammer blow was.
Noni and Eze came on with ten minutes to go. Noni immediately skinned Kerkez, got to the line and fizzed a wicked ball across the six-yard box where it was met by… nobody. Again! Having seen how dangerous he could be, we inexplicably failed to get the ball back to him for another ten minutes. C.F. Pool’s use of Frimpong versus MLS.
The excellent crowd made some noise despite the players giving them little to work with and it seemed to lift us for a final push. We padded our stats with a header on target from Jesùs and a shot across goal from Martinelli but the game was petering out. Konate had a fistful of Jesùs’s shirt in the box, but our man made the foolish mistake of trying to stay on his feet and challenge for the ball. Taylor gave the away team a free kick. To be clear, it wasn’t a penalty as it played out, but if Jesùs had let himself fall backwards when he was tugged then the replay would have looked very scary for Konate.
There was time for Gabigol to race down the wing. Bradley got there first and kicked the ball out before going down in pain. Unconvinced that he was actually hurt, Martinelli first dropped a ball on him and then pushed his prone figure in an effort to get him off the pitch so we could take our throw on. It was completely uncalled for, a petulant and unsporting gesture that did not do justice to the character of a wonderful young man who was clearly frustrated with how the match had gone. Taylor gave him a deserved yellow card, and Konate picked one up for the second round of handbags in what had generally been a tough game but one played in decent spirit. When the unfortunate Bradley had to be taken down the tunnel on a stretcher it didn’t improve the optics of the replays.
The last action of the game was a corner to us. Madueke swung an absolute beauty to the far post and Gabriel, of all people, fluffed his lines and failed to connect properly with the goal at his mercy. The replay showed Gabriel Jesùs putting him off. Perhaps a shame for us, but it has been a tough campaign so far for Liverpool, and they showed a lot of character today and did not deserve to lose it like that.
A draw was a fair result. We are six points above City, whose draw with Brighton gave us some extra leeway tonight. We shake hands, acknowledge our opponents this evening as a good side and an excellent club, and move on. Let’s hope it will be us who ends up taking their crown.
Thanks Dino, a very fair report that captures the main points.
As you conclude it was a fair result and we are six points clear.
Also as Arteta said afterwards the players deserve massive praise for what they’ve done in this Christmas period.
On to the Cup game against Pompey and the chance to rest a few tired legs
and use the squad.
Bravo, GSD. An accurate report of the game (ie, we saw it the same way), and one produced lickety-split.
I am glad you picked up on Gyökeres ‘moments’. He did have a couple, but we need him to have many more than that. It is a shame that Scotland’s courts are getting rid of their ‘not proven’ verdict, as I feel it would be a useful assessment to apply to the Swede so far.
I thought MLS did better with Frimpong than you give him credit for. After being skipped past as though he wasn’t there the first time, MLS changed how he marked Frimpong and didn’t let the Dutchman have many, if any, runs at him. Which is a good thing. Frimpong is fast enough not only to have had MLS on toast, but also to butter it and open a new pot of Patum Peperium.
And because Dino is not only faster than Frimpong when it comes to producing a match report, but also does so with a gentleman’s relish, let me repost from the previous drinks:
The Matchweek 21 leaderboard for the GHF Predictathon has been posted. Only three players improved their scores. You know where to look to find out if you were one of them…
Good in first half and for some reason we ceded so much to them in the second half. And yet Raya did not have a save to make. Over on Arseblog, our fans are bemoaning the result. A few things: Liverpool are the current champions and have have turned the corner since their blip. Any team with Alisson, VVD, MacAlister, Gravenberch, Szoboslai and Gakpo will be tough to beat. Frimpong was also very lively. They are still a good team.
I think Gyokeres has had plenty of time to prove himself but it looks like he is not the solution. I’m not sure if we can sustain our quest for silverware if he is not delivering? A conundrum for Mikel to solve. Jesus, Kai, Merino???
I’m going to defend Martinelli. He did not know Bradley was badly injured and assumed he was acting like most players. Earlier in the game Frimpong went down but based on his electric runs later, he was fine. Martinelli brought some “edge” that we have been accused of missing in seasons past.
Looking forward to the Cup game vs Pompey. They have great fans and the stadium should be lively.
Top report. Thank you GSD. Very much the game I saw. In the second half our MF were overrun and we could hardly get hold of the ball. We were definitely second best in that half and the Scousers could well have won it if they’d managed a shot on target! A draw was a fair result. They rose to the occasion. Indeed it was their ‘cup final’ as champions showing they could match their potential successor. They came for a point and earned it.
However we dominated possession and territory in the first half without nailing a final ball. In the SH most of our players looked to be running through treacle – especially our midfielders and Saka. It’s a tough time of year but we’ve come through it very well indeed results-wise and are sitting pretty. I want to see the MFers, Saka and Timber rested in the FA Cup. Hopefully Calafiori – whose drive and creativity we missed tonight – will recover soon and Hincapié isn’t seriously crocked.
I am afraid I’m moving from a verdict of not proven on Gyökeres to one of probably not good enough and I have serious concerns also that MLS has regressed badly.
However, point won, we are TOTL, move on and win the next one!
Agree totally 👍🏻 n Martinelli U4GN @4. I saw a tweet from him saying he had been in touch with Bradley and apologised and wished him well. Neville should be sacked for inciting violent retribution in his commentary.
Bath@6: Dear! Dear! Do try to keep up. Might is right these days.
I haven’t seen what Neville said about Martinelli and I’m not gonna search out his comments but I don’t think there is anything in the incident to warrant moral judgment. We can all see what happened and understand why. What I will add though, is that the reliable outcome of trying to push a player off the pitch when they are injured (whether they are faking it or not) is a yellow card and a further delay in play. It doesn’t achieve the intended result and isn’t worth it.
A very comprehensive report, Dino accompanied by some excellent commentary in the drinks. We had the chances to win the game in the first half, but the Dippers came closer to actually scoring than we did. I’d hoped that we’d start with our foot down hard on the gas (and still wish we had) to unsettle our opponents to the max. That didn’t happen and the first half was pedestrian and not memorable. The turnaround in Liverpool’s favour in the second was daunting, until added time when we decided to push.
I had hoped for a statement win and an eight point advantage (I think that would have come as close as possible to ‘nailing on’ the title). Top of the league with a six point advantage is where everyone else in the race would like to be.
Proud and happy. COYG and NLFE.
@6, Bath, Adrian and the boys on the only commentary worth listening to were of the mind that ‘Martinelli shouldn’t have done that” but didn’t make any kind of big deal over the incident. Handbags in retrospect.
Excellent, well balanced report, Dino. Strange evening all in all. Having been exhorted to arrive early and take part in the tifo display we were told would be spectacular, it turned out to be some half hearted fireworks, a few flashing lights and everyone holding up a carrier bag which had been put on our seats. I for one was not particularly whelmed by this and I think the atmosphere in the ground was sucked out by it. Maybe since we’re constantly being told about the dangerous nature of weather, the tifo display was cancelled. For god’s sake, this is England. We have bad weather. It didn’t stop 60,000 people making the effort to come out in the freezing cold pouring rain. Show a bit more guts and do what you said you would, Arsenal.
The same might well be said for the display in the second half. Very poor. To take your point further, Dino, one of the Szoboszlai free kicks in the second half showed just what a fluke that one at Anfield was. The games were pretty similar with neither team really showing any attacking intent. A disappointing night. Contextualised, however, we have now played 2 out of 3 of the others in the top four places home and away and taken points and are still comfortably top. We now cannot have the double done over us by any team this season.
Hopefully Arteta will rest some on Sunday ahead of the visit to the bus stop next week.
A perfectly accurate and on-point report, cheers GSD!
Wouldn’t have been shocked (or complained) if Gabi M had been handed a red, but I am very glad Slot said the sensible things he said on that incident.
Fine report GSD with authoritative commentary , almost all of which I agree with . Credit to Liverpool for a very canny second half display and a deserved point. Credit to Slot for not inflaming the Bradley situation. A lot of other managers ( Klopp?) would have blown that up and created a furore to deflect from the game .
I think we begin games too slowly . We didn’t produce much in the way of attacking threat in the first twenty minutes and this is a feature of modern football . Liverpool were vulnerable then .
It’s a good job Trev is here to give expert advice on posture as many are leaning dangerously over backwards to accommodate Gyokeres . He was awful yesterday . He had seven touches , never engaged their defenders and his Opta chart contains a series of blobs as he didn’t do anything else . He is patently not good enough to play in this Arsenal team and is in the bottom quartile of Arsenal strikers in the time I’ve supported them.
Overall though we entered Christmas in second place and are now top by six points with most of our squad available. We’ve got to be happy with that
Excellent news for the women. Tim Stillman with sensible analysis as ever.
Ollie. I’d have complained if he’d seen red for that. For a start, under what rule? I’ve seen that happen plenty of times before (usually it doesn’t turn out that the player is seriously injured) and a yellow is the most anyone has ever been given.
It’s unnecessary from Martnelli but nothing more. Slot summed it up very well and those using it as a reason to abuse Martinelli and Arsenal by extension are just the people who are always looking for reasons to do so. I suggest we ignore them and carry on winning the league. They’ll hate that.
@14 Perfect.
Agree absolutely100% , GSD @14.
Credit to Slot for recognising what happened and not adding fuel to Neville’s fire. Players on the ground are frequently ‘assisted’ to their feet by opponents when feigning injury. I am reminded of the tale of the boy who cried wolf. Frimpong set the tone that Martinelli interpreted Bradley was continuing.
For me, just under the same rule as ‘pushing another player in the throat’ or such, not based on the actual injury but I felt Martinelli’s physical reaction was bordering on violent (also taking into account the throwing the ball at him first which means there was two offences, he could have been the first player to be sent off for two yellows in the same movement twice in this life :-)). Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy he didn’t get sent off, and yellow was most probably right, but I wouldn’t have complained if he’d seen red is the only point I was making.
Also, as blogs mentioned, our reactions if the boot had been on the other foot would probably not have been very measured. I am just very grateful that Slot was very lucid in his commentn bit sure your Allardyce and so and maybe Klopp would have been that wise.
It wasn’t a gentle push/shove, it was quite aggressive. Sure, all due to the in-game situation. I can totally understand it, that doesn’t mean I have to excuse it.
Which is a huge difference, and as someone who’s spent years trying to excuse someone for shitty behaviours, I know what I mean, a lightbulb came to me when I started to make the difference, not matter what bias/affection/love you have.
And one last thing on that subject, Neville should be censored/fined by Sky for his comments.
GSD@14: Well said, especially your second paragraph.
I am curious how Bradley suffered such a serious injury from kicking the ball out of play, given there was no contact from another player. He grasped his left knee well before he went tumbling over, so it can’t have been from the fall. Perhaps Trev could offer some explanation.
It is worrying to see an apparent decline in the form of MLS, who as recently as a year ago was breaking through into the first team with the sky as his limit. That may still be the case but there has been a very clear current drop in his form and his confidence- these may be closely related . Last season I would shudder as he held onto the ball long after it appeared prudent to do so only to see him emerge from a crowd of players with the ball at his feet. This season he is regularly caught on the ball and last night he was no match for Frimpong in terms of pace . Is it just a case of ‘ second season syndrome’?
It would be interesting to know what Arteta and Berta’s plan is for him- loan, switch of position, judicious positional coaching or even ultimately a transfer away? The last option would be very sad. There is something special about Hale End products making it into the big time. Ethan Nwaneri is suffering similarly .
We might see them both on Sunday in a team that looks like
Kepa;Salmon, White , Norgaard ,MLS
Merino , Nwaneri ,Eze
Madueke , Jesus , Martinelli ( It might even be prudent to see if Gyokeres can find some form against lower league opposition)
Nice one, Dino – very fair report of a very frustrating game.
I’m with you @14 and Up4Grabs on the Martinelli issue. What a joy to hear Gary Neville – he’s the one who boasted about “smashing” Jose Antonio Reyes every time he got the ball – “ we kicked him off the pitch “, and Roy Keane, who ended Alf Inge Haaland’s career with a pre- advertised assault on his knee, moralising over Gabriel Martinelli’s behaviour.
We all know by now that while not condoning the behaviour Arne Slot has publicly applied some context to the issue and made a very classy statement.
Viktor Gyokeres last night contributed almost nothing. He doesn’t press, challenge or defend with any intent. Where were the determined runs to get on the end of any of those crosses that passed harmlessly across the six yard area ? He seems to come off second best in almost every challenge. Gabriel Jesus contributed more in his first five minutes on the pitch than Gyokeres did in the previous hour. While I want every single Arsenal player to be a success, I’m fast losing any belief that Gyokeres has what it takes. Hopefully I’ll be proved wrong but he needs to hurry up about it.
Six points clear at the top after a catalogue of important injuries. A huge achievement by all concerned. I do think we could tear a few teams apart if only we believed it a bit more.
Come on you Reddsss !
Reliable hour is have reported that Saka has signed his new contract. This is not confirmed by the club, but that this is being treated in a relatively calm way online from what I have seen, is testament to the complete turnaround our club has undergone under the ownership with Arteta as manager. It’s only a few years ago that the excitable hordes would have been jumping up and down for months in advance, tearing out hair and all but walking down Oxford Street wearing sandwich boards declaring that the end of the world is nigh. This signing would seem to have been done with a minimum of noise and fuss and goes along with several others over the last year or so which show just how well run our club us now. I will stop short of comparisons with the way some other clubs are being run.
Reliable reports.
I may have to get the Kroenkes and Arteta in to manage my typing.
While respecting the judgment of some seasoned observers in this fine establishment, and recognising they have some evidence to support their views of Gyökeres, I am trying hard not to fall to the modern temptation of writing anyone off too soon. I remind myself that after the 21st league game of TH14’s first season at the club, he, too, had scored only five goals. Also nagging at the back of my mind is a comment from Mike McDonald that some international players don’t settle in the PL until their second season. I also reassure myself that Arteta is ruthless enough to drop Gyökeres as soon as he thinks that is what is needed to win the games that will win the title (and as soon as he also has fit 9s who can last 90 mins!).
On our Hale End graduates, Arteta still clearly has confidence in MLS, as he brings him on in matches. After some in-game coaching from Arteta, MLS was able to avoid getting into foot races with Frimprong, who can roast most full-backs for pace. Not playing regularly inevitably will impact his form, but I would contest that it has fallen off a cliff. It is also hard to argue against Calafiori and Hincapié being ahead of the 18-year-old in the pecking order at left-back. Nwaneri seems a different kettle of fish. There is a backstory to his not playing that we are not hearing.
That seems a sound take @25 Ned on all three of those players.
Arteta doesn’t seem a man who shies away from tough love if
he thinks it’s needed.
Great news on Saka, and the pay rise is well deserved.
My Forest supporting mate is very unhappy with Edu and Zinchenko, I was obliged to tell him no refunds!
Also I can’t think of a worse manager match for Zin than Dyche.
I was wondering last night, did Hutchinson and Okonkwo ever played in the same Arsenal youth team?
Things can only get better as far as Gyokores’ contribution is concerned and hopefully they will – although we may need to wait until next season. In that regard, I look forward to the return of Havertz to add an additional option to Victor, Jesus and Merino for that striking berth.
MLS has already amassed a remarkable amount of first team experience which will stand him in great stead as he transitions forward to his future role in midfield.
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