{"id":1440,"date":"2020-09-29T17:05:07","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T16:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1440"},"modified":"2020-10-01T04:44:29","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T03:44:29","slug":"the-rocky-road-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1440","title":{"rendered":"The Rocky Road Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It was the best of times…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We went away to the reigning champions Liverpool after winning the first two matches of the new league season. Last time we had won the opening three matches was when we were the reigning champions, the mighty Invincibles aiming to protect their title in a rampaging start to the 2004-2005 season. Since then the fortunes of these two historical clubs of English football have seen a lot of twists and turns, often fighting against the tides to stay competitive at the top against the nouveau riche, having to rely on guile and craft as much off the field as on it. After an extraordinary 30 years of wait Liverpool finally won the league again last season, playing the most captivating football in a very long time, with a unique stylistic blend of relentless running and pressing and quickness of feet and mind. Whereas we had ended the last season with our lowest league position in more than two decades after a sequence of performances and results that even had raised the specter of a potential relegation fight before Mikel Arteta came to steady the ship, he duly had arrested the slide, got us a record 14th<\/sup> FA Cup, and a measure of smile and optimism back among the players and fanbase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though Arsenal had won the last two matches against Liverpool \u2013 a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at home in the League and a penalty shoot-out win in the Community Shield at the start of the season \u2013 both of those matches had demonstrated clearly the gulf in the overall quality as we had to rely on back-to-the-wall defensive resilience and the ability to take every single chance coming our way from counter-attacks and forced errors to get the results. If we were to get anything out of this match we must be able to execute on a similar game-plan with a flawless efficiency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had last won at Liverpool way back in 2012, when Arteta\nwas one of our senior players, and the then new boys Santi Cazorla and Lukas\nPodolski scoring the goals at the early days of the season. Since then under\nboth Arsene and Unai Emery we have had a horrid run of results there. Liverpool\nhad last lost at home in the league in April 2017, and in the last season they\nhad secured 55 of available 57 points in the league at home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the stage was set for a record-setting, season-defining\nupset!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though the pragmatist in us had been reminding\nourselves of patience and realistic expectations, the starry-eyed optimist\nliving inside each football fan was willing to trust the process Mikel has\nstarted to give us a performance and result to savor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the restart of the last league season following the\npandemic-enforced lockdown we have mostly started the matches in a 3-4-3\nformation, but with a high degree of tactical fluidity in especially how the\nwingbacks are deployed with and without the ball. Even though the extra\nsecurity in the defense \u2013 David Luiz especially swings between majestic to\ncatastrophic depending on whether he is playing in the middle of back three or\none of a defensive pair \u2013 offered by 3-4-3 remains tempting in the long run we\ncannot mount a serious challenge on the upper end of the league table playing\nwith one less midfielder than what is mostly required in the modern football. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arteta chose this match to start with a little bit more\nambitious formation. He might have been thinking of the challenges ahead\nespecially against so-called lesser teams who will just happily seat back\nagainst a 3-4-3 and not give any space for counter-attacks. Or he was certain\nthat Klopp and his team will pore over our recent performances to find how best\nto exploit the midfield gaps left open by back three and wanted to out-guess\nthe opponents.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Luiz and Holding as the defensive duo, Tierney back\nfrom last weekend\u2019s injury in left back, Bellerin in right back. Leno behind\nthem in goal. Since Emi Martinez has left for Aston Villa after a commanding\nseries of performances towards the end of last season, a part of the fanbase\nhave been a little too impatient with Leno who has been in my opinion one of\nour most consistent and composed performers in the last two shambles of\nseasons.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The midfield had a lopsided feel with Xhaka and Elneny pivoting in the center and Maitland-Niles deployed more on the left side. Willian\u2019s experience was trusted to play the dual role of patrolling the entire right side of the midfield and joining Bellerin in attack and defense. Captain Aubameyang and Lacazette in their customary roles carrying the expectations of scoring goals.  Dani Ceballos was left on the bench and some of us wondered whether against a team as aggressive as Liverpool his better close control wouldn\u2019t have been more effective.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool started the match at full flow and then getting\neven faster and more aggressive as the minutes progressed. Sadio Mane was\nfloating across the entire frontline and troubling both our fullbacks with his\npace, close control and physicality. He troubled Tierney a little too much when\nhis elbow arrowed in fiercely on our sensational Scotsman\u2019s face. If the actors\nwere reversed, I have a feeling we would be playing with 10 men for the rest of\nthe game. Mane saw a yellow. He had done something similar in the league match\nat our home last season, lashing out at Holding\u2019s head.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aggressive and relentless Liverpool\u2019s pressing might have\nbeen, it was admirable how we stuck courageously to the principle of playing\nout from the back despite the heart-stopping moments arriving at predictable\nregularity. I liked the confidence and the willingness to take\nresponsibilities. But it was also abundantly clear that we do not yet have the\nright personnel at all the key positions to execute this game-plan effectively\nagainst the best pressing front line and midfield in all of football. Yet this\nwas a clear and present improvement since the days of haphazard and\ninconsistent attempts at the same under the tutelage of Arteta\u2019s predecessor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were under constant pressure and there was a goal-line\nheaded clearance by Luiz from a corner following Holding\u2019s last-ditch tackle.\nCorner again and Mo Salah had a clear sight on the goal from the edge of the\nbox and shot over. Barely 12 minutes have passed and we were pinned back\ncompletely in our defensive third. We did manage to launch a couple of\ncounter-attacks \u2013 Laca was fouled on the edge of their box from one (and no\nfree-kick given) and from the other Auba\u2019s flick Laca couldn\u2019t catch on to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leno made an excellent save around 15th<\/sup> minute.\nLiverpool kept on attacking in short intense patterns of play, there were\nfurther attempts at our goal, some straight at Leno and some hit over the top. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we scored. It was against the run of the play and a\nLiverpool defensive mistaken contributed towards it, granted, but our flowing\ncounter-attacking move was of a very high quality as well. Xhaka received the\nball deep in our defensive left corner of the field, found himself with an\nextra second or so to be able to look up and then made a superlative pass\nthrough the middle to Lacazette playing in his customary false nine position,\nLaca kept the move alive by stretching his leg to divert the ball onto the path\nof marauding AMN down the left and kept running. Aubameyang started moving\ninside. Liverpool had seen this play before and they were wise to Auba\u2019s intent\nand covered his run. On the other flank Willian sensed his chance and attacked\nthe empty space on the right side of the Liverpool\u2019s penalty box. AMN looked up\nand floated a cross aimed at Willian. Andy Robertson guessed the trajectory correctly\nand in an attempt to clear the ball lobbed it right in front of Laca who only\nhad the goalkeeper to beat. He tried the old\nhit-on-the-ground-to-lift-over-the-goalkeeper routine, and channeled his inner\nDanny Welbeck to scuff the shot just the right amount to see it loop into their\ngoal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool 0 \u2013 Arsenal 1 (Lacazette 25\u2019)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the key was to be able to hold on to this lead for a\nwhile. Hopefully at least until the end of the first half. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That hope evaporated within two minutes. Liverpool was\nplayed a good advantage by the referee \u2013 that indeed was a good bit of\nrefereeing \u2013 after Luiz committed a foul just outside the box. Salah drove into\nthe box and used his quick feet to take out Tierney. Luiz ambled back not fully\nsensing the danger, and neither did Willian who didn\u2019t follow Mane\u2019s run into\nthe box. Salah\u2019s stinging shot was saved by Leno but it felt kindly on the path\nof Mane \u2013 Bellerin too got drawn towards the ball \u2013 to tap in for the\nequalizer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool 1 (Mane 27\u2019)  \u2013 Arsenal 1 (Lacazette 25\u2019)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things got worse soon. \nVan Dijk sent a typically accurate long ball on the feet of\nAlexander-Arnold who controlled it brilliantly. Then a quick interchange of\npasses between him, Firmino and Salah led to Alexander-Arnold with enough time\nand space to manufacture a perfect cross into the box. Both Holding and\nBellerin attacked the header weary of Mane\u2019s abilities in situations like this.\nNo one again tracked Andy Robertson\u2019s run in the box \u2013 Willian ball-watching\nand neither of Xhaka or Elneny wise to the situation \u2013 and as the ball fell on\nhis feet with only Leno to beat from close quarters the Liverpool left back\nlifted the ball past Leno to atone for his mistake earlier.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool 2 (Mane 27\u2019, Robertson 34\u2019 )  \u2013 Arsenal 1 (Lacazette 25\u2019)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willian evidently learned from the mistake as he made a\nfantastic tracking run and clearance around 38th<\/sup> minute to avoid us\nconceding a third goal. Luiz tried a couple of longballs on the path of Willian\nbut those didn\u2019t have enough backspin on them and went out of play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first half ended with us trailing and Liverpool looking\ncommanding and formidable in every aspect of the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started the second half with more attacking intent as our\nmidfield duo moved up forward. Hardworking honest professionals though they\nare, and considerable qualities on the ball, Xhaka and Elneny unfortunately do\nnot have the technical ability to play out of very tight position in the\nmidfield and spring attacks quickly against the harrowing, maniac\npressing-in-a-pack that Liverpool excels at. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ceballos replaced Xhaka around 60th<\/sup> minute to\nbring in some sharpness in passing and a better ball retention. These are the\nkind of games where Xhaka\u2019s limitations are painfully made obvious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ceballos had an immediate impact with a lovely pass\nsplitting open the Liverpool\u2019s defensive line to set Lacazette up one-on-one\nagainst Allisson. The Liverpool goalkeeper did well to narrow the angle down\nbut a striker of Lacazette\u2019s pedigree should still have been able to score from\nthat chance. One wonders what if Aubameyang had the opportunity. Lacazette was\ndisconsolate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pressed well, intelligently and with discipline. But\nLiverpool were ready for it and they used Van Dijk\u2019s long-range passing\nabilities to get out of the press time and again. We made some positive\nsubstitutions searching for an equalizer: Pepe came on for Willian at 68th<\/sup>\nminute, Eddie came on for Lacazette at 73rd<\/sup> minute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the conviction, quality and speed in Liverpool\u2019s\nplay we stayed positive and didn\u2019t really give up the fight and kept searching\nfor the equalizer. Ceballos was playing particularly well with impressively\ncontrolling possession in tight spaces, making progressive passes and breaking\nthrough the lines with direct runs with ball on his feet.  We had a couple of corners that Pepe \u2013 who\ngenerally is excellent with his deliveries from free-kicks and corners \u2013\ndelivered flat on the near post. My explanation is that it was a training\nground exercise planned to have us catch them off-guard. A less forgiving\nexplanation is not entirely implausible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool brought in fresh pairs of legs — the ancient\nMilner and the shiny new Diego Jota. Jota relished the pockets of space he was\nfinding and the time to test Leno. With the amount of chances he was getting it\nseemed like a matter of minutes that the Liverpool debutant would open his\nscoring.  Alexander-Arnold was again\ngiven enough time on the ball to send one of his dipping crosses in the box.\nDavid Luiz headed tamely it back to Jota, who accepted the gift gleefully and\nfinished well with a quality volley through the legs of Bellerin.         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liverpool 3 (Mane 27\u2019, Robertson 34\u2019, Jota 89\u2019 )  \u2013 Arsenal 1 (Lacazette 25\u2019)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The match ended us with our first dropped points of the\nseason, but most importantly a timely reminder of the long and arduous journey\nahead for the club to get back to the position of prominence in the English\nfootball. However wonderful and satisfying the FA Cup run might have been, and\nhowever impressive the improvement in discipline, focus, organization and\ntactical maturity are now in display, this match underlined the need for\nstrengthening in key areas, and also the need for patience and a higher tolerance\nfor the ups-and-downs ahead than what has lately been demonstrated by at least\nsome parts of the fanbase. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We went away to the reigning champions Liverpool after winning the first two matches of the new league season. Last time we had won the opening three matches was when we were the reigning champions, the mighty Invincibles aiming to protect their title in a rampaging start to the 2004-2005 season. Since then the fortunes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1440"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1444,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions\/1444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}