Match report – Participant rankings – Arteta response – Video
After a 22 sport unbeaten run, Arsenal tasted defeat in opposition to one of many ‘huge six’ yesterday, happening 1-0 to Liverpool at Anfield. Typically you’re nicely overwhelmed – outplayed and deserving of nothing a lot from a sport; typically you lose due to a single mistake or a second of high quality, and for me that’s the story of this one.
With Martin Odegaard deemed unfit to start out regardless of touring with the squad, Mikel Arteta selected Mikel Merino to interchange him in midfield. It’s not what I’d have most popular, however I do not know why anyone can be remotely shocked by that call. Newcastle gave Liverpool issues final Monday with an enormous, robust, bodily midfield, and I feel that performed a component. To not point out the Spanish worldwide’s expertise which I feel noticed the supervisor choose him over Ethan Nwaneri, an 18 yr previous who has performed nearly an hour in that midfield place over the course of his profession.
We weren’t helped by an damage sustained by William Saliba within the warm-up. He suffered an ankle sprain, insisted he might play, however inside minutes he needed to come off, changed by Cristhian Mosquera. When you think about the damage listing, this was the very last thing we would have liked, however the younger Spaniard was one of many actual positives of the day from an Arsenal perspective. His efficiency was assured, assured, and he wasn’t in any respect flustered by the standard of the opposition or the ambiance. It was very promising from the 21 yr previous. I additionally thought Riccardo Calafiori had his greatest sport for Arsenal, defensively no less than, and I loved that side of his efficiency.
Regardless of the lack of a key participant … one other key participant, I ought to say… I believed we had the higher of the primary half. That mentioned, it was low high quality fare from each side, and I feel you possibly can say the groups type of cancelled one another out. I discover a number of the post-game narrative about how Arsenal being too cautious somewhat unusual. There’s no query Arteta is a supervisor who will err on that aspect of issues, however there’s a advantageous line between warning and customary sense, and once you go to Anfield with out Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Ben White, an Odegaard not match to start out, an unfit Leandro Trossard on the bench, and then you definately lose somebody like Saliba that early, it has an affect on the way you put together and what you are able to do.
I feel Liverpool can be equally affected in the event that they didn’t have Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and misplaced Virgil van Dijk within the 4th minute. But that they had these gamers, they have been at house, and if Arsenal might be accused of being too cautious, why can’t the identical be true of Liverpool? The free-scoring champions have been at house in opposition to a depleted Arsenal, and past that second of magic from the significantly spectacular Dominik Szoboszlai, they didn’t actually threaten us in any possible way. There have been a few photographs David Raya handled simply, an offside aim (nicely offside too), and that was it. This was warning from each managers. If Arteta’s mindset was ‘first we don’t lose’, the very the identical applies to Arne Slot.
If we’re correctly analysing the sport, that’s what I take away. If it’s simply the outcome, then in fact it may be framed otherwise. One piece of brilliance and Liverpool have the mark of champions and Arsenal’s mentality is questioned. I don’t assume it’s as binary as that, however the actuality is that they took 3 factors, and we have now none, and that hurts. I additionally don’t assume the thought of Arteta being overly cautious stacks up once you take a look at the modifications he made – bringing on two very attacking gamers with 20 minutes to go at 0-0 tells you what he needed to do, however in the long run it was an excellent free kick on the different finish which settled the sport.
The place I’d have some criticism is the timing of these modifications. We don’t know precisely how match Odegaard is (I think not very) and the way a lot he was able to, however there’s little doubt Eberechi Eze might have come on earlier to interchange Gabriel Martinelli who had one other worryingly detached day on the workplace. On the opposite aspect, Noni Madueke confirmed what a winger with intent and want to actually go at his reverse quantity might do, however the Brazilian appears a person shorn of confidence, in a type of funk that has lasted too lengthy to not increase severe questions on his place on this Arsenal pecking order.
Viktor Gyokeres struggled with out a lot in the best way of service, and our set-pieces weren’t as efficient – significantly with Declan Rice pressured to take out-swinging corners. That’s the alternative of what we at all times do, and maybe one more reason why right this moment’s efficiency was missing one thing from an attacking perspective. Once more although, it was true of Liverpool too, and no matter what you consider xG as a metric or a method of judging what we’ve seen, it tells a little bit of a narrative. They produced 0.52 to our 0.49 – this was a extremely tight sport with few probabilities of high quality for both aspect, and it was determined by one excellent strike of the ball.
On that, I feel each Rice and Martin Zubimendi have been caught out by the motion of Curtis Jones who ghosted between them, and I think when Arteta appears again at this sport he’ll wince at how van Dijk was allowed to play a 40 yard move straight by means of the centre of our midfield. Zubimendi performed the percentages and made a foul 30 yards out. He snuffed out the hazard, took the yellow, pondering it must be one thing very particular for Liverpool to attain from there. Lengthy odds, however Szoboszlai rolled a pair of sixes.
I’ve seen dialogue of Raya’s positioning, however typically I feel you must acknowledge there are photographs no keeper can save, and when a free kick goes in off the submit from that vary, this was one among them. We possibly had an opportunity to hit again when Eze obtained into the field however didn’t get a shot away, and I’ve to say I discovered the introduction of Max Dowman over Ethan Nwaneri an odd one. Sure, the story of the 15 yr previous is fantastic, however we would have liked a aim. Nwaneri scored 9 final season, primarily when deployed on the suitable hand aspect, and possibly Arteta obtained caught up within the romance of Dowman, and will have – dare I say – taken the extra ‘cautious’ choice of an 18 yr previous with a observe file of scoring objectives on the highest stage.
Afterwards, Arteta mentioned:
We didn’t do our gameplan to frustrate them; we did it to win it. I feel we elevated the sport and the dominance to a degree that they needed to increase it. They did, particularly from the 60-78th minute, when then you possibly can see that there have been no margins within the sport. When that occurs, the sport goes to be determined in two methods. One, with a person error, and two, with a magic second. Szoboszlai created a second that was unimaginable, that has gained the sport, and that was the distinction, nothing else.
As I mentioned, I feel there have been tweaks Arteta might have made a bit earlier, however I don’t assume he’s essentially flawed about the best way this one performed out. With out that free kick, we take a stable, if considerably dour, level at Anfield, go into the Interlull in fairly respectable form after the primary three video games, and with loads nonetheless to work on. The latter stays true, nevertheless it’s clearly colored by the actual fact we don’t have that time and Liverpool have all three. I’ll say the actual fact this sport came about so early in season means whereas it’s a blow, it’s removed from a deadly one. There’s loads of time to make up for this. Additionally, it wasn’t way back Arsenal have been routinely getting pummeled in fixtures like this, the actual fact this our first defeat in 22 video games in opposition to the so-called ‘huge’ groups (and Sp*rs) is price remembering. Once more, it’s that line between warning and customary sense by way of your method.
There’s additionally loads for Arteta to consider through the break. At the start, for me no less than, is an damage listing that’s actually worrying. We’re dropping a participant a sport, if no more, and that may’t proceed, no matter how deep the squad we’ve constructed this summer season. There are additionally selections to be made about how we set-up going ahead, so we might be extra of an attacking risk, and I anticipate Eze to turn into a function within the beginning XI when the Premier League resumes once more in a few weeks time. That left-hand aspect must click on, as a result of in the mean time it’s like making an attempt to run a race on one leg, and I feel if we make it work, we get extra out of Gyokeres too.
Proper, that’s your lot right this moment. James and I recorded an Arsecast Additional not lengthy after the ultimate whistle final night time, so it’s accessible for you under now and in all the same old podcast locations.
It’s switch deadline day right this moment too, and having performed most of our incoming enterprise already, we’re going to eschew a dwell weblog. The window closes at 7pm, we’re anticipating the arrival of Piero Hincapie, and a few departures earlier than the deadline, and we’ll carry you all of the confirmed strikes as and after they occur on Arseblog Information. For now, have a terrific Monday.
