Another match thrown away

That is Arsenal kissing the title goodbye. That is our team coming up with another lame display that effectively ended any slim hopes we have of nicking the title. Any team that has any intention of challenging for the league needs to have a fortress as their home ground. 20 points dropped is an indication of how bad we are at home. Barring West Brom, all of those dropped against teams who only came to defend, tells it all.

Arsene Wenger went for the best 11 available to him. As expected, we saw the return of Wojciech Szczesny in goal, Johan Djourou in defence and Theo Walcott wide right. Meanwhile Kenny Dalglish paraded his star striking duo in Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. From the starting line-up, it was obvious where Liverpool’s weakness are. The full backs.

John Flanagan started on the right while Fabio Aurelio was on the left. The latter lasted only 20 minutes before Jack Robinson came on. That put Liverpool’s full back at the combined age of 36 still a full 5 years short of Jens Lehmann’s age who was on the Arsenal bench. How we did not exploit that is beyond my comprehension.

To be fair, the combination of Emmanuel Eboue and Walcott on the right was magnificent in the first 45 minutes. However, as good as they were in the first half, they were bad in the second half. I mean, these youngsters are there for the taking. Yet, somehow despite the pace of Walcott and the wizardry of Samir Nasri, they were well controlled by both youngsters. Even with Flanagan already on a caution within the half hour mark, the more experienced Nasri failed to make full use of it.

Chances were few and far between in this game but substitution were not seen till the 72nd minute mark. At West Brom, Wenger threw on his attacking options at half time when our team was a goal down. With things at a stalemate, Wenger resisted the change and hope his team keep plugging away to find the opening goal. It was clear that we needed different option on the pitch. Liverpool were defending in numbers and we could not find the space in the centre of their defence.

We had Nicklas Bendtner and Marouane Chamakh on the bench. Two players who could give us something different. Only 1 of them joined the field and was stuck out wide. We saw how Walcott was able to get behind their left back and was putting crosses in. Some were low to the near post while some were high to the back post. On all of those occasions, Robin Van Persie made a different one to where the cross was. Having another striker up there would have made sense with this particular player positioning himself opposite of RvP’s run.

The only change that tweak the game a little was the substitution of Andrey Arshavin into the game. It brought more drive and impetus to our game. It was hard to see none of the other players raising their game and go chasing for the winner. And this was supposed to be a season defining match. A head injury to Jamie Carragher meant that there will be a longer than usual stoppage time and this was where we took the lead.

Cesc Fabregas who has been peripheral throughout the game, wriggled his way inside of Liverpool’s penalty box and was tripped by Jay Spearing. This happened in the 7th minute of the 8 allocated extra minutes. RvP calmly slotted the ensuing spot kick and we should think that we’ve nicked the win. 1 more minute to go and we could easily hold out the game but this is Arsenal and that we do not do that.

Somehow we contrived to allow the opposition to steal the ball and counter attack. Confusing defending lead to Liverpool gaining a freekick just at the edge of our box. Suarez’s freekick hit the ball and bounced away to the corner flag. Eboue then gave the referee an easy decision to make. Instead of just shepherding Lucas to the corner flag or letting the ball run out for a corner (by which the referee would have blown for full time), Eboue made contact with the Brazilian. No matter how light the contact was and no matter if Lucas went down rather theatrically, it was a stupid rash move by our right back.

The other Dutchman, Dirk Kuyt scored and the referee blew up. This was out title up in the smokes. Eboue was not the only one to be blame. Almost the entire team deserves a good rollicking. Once again, the performance was listless. We had numerous practice with corner kicks but only 1 out of 10 were delivered with the right pace and precision in which Laurent Koscielny headed onto the bar. There were countless other freekicks near enough to the penalty box that we wasted. Don’t we practice set piece?

I know we are still mathematically still in the title race but my optimism has gone from me. It was hard enough before the start of this game, now it is just far too impossible. Changes have to be made and we will do well to start now, rather than after this season ends (I DO NOT MEAN THE CHANGE OF MANAGER). Disappointed Gooner.

Filed under: Arsenal, Champions League, Football, Premier League, Soccer Tagged: Arsenal, Dirk Kuyt, Emmanuel Eboue, Liverpool, Lucas Leiva, Robin Van Persie

Furthermore, Eboue gave away a last minute penalty, gifting Liverpool a point and giving Man Utd ample breathing space at the top of the table. However, I don’t believe Eboue is the only villain. Our players lacked the drive, and failed to take opportunities when we sliced open Liverpool’s defence. By the 100th minute, when Kuyt scored the equaliser, it should have been 2-0, 3-0 or 4-0 to the Gunners. Profligacy cost us dear, like it did against Sunderland and Blackburn. Teams have learned how to play us at home – sit deep and soak up the pressure. Arsenal will always create chances, but we will also miss the majority of them.

The first half was exciting, with Arsenal completely outplaying their opponents. Our midfield trio of Wilshere, Diaby and Fabregas kept Liverpool on the backfoot, but the final touch to every delicate move was missing. Koscielny hit the bar with a decent header, and RVP scored a goal which was given for offside, but the Arsenal pressure was mounting. However, that elusive goal failed to come, leaving the game at 0-0 after 45 minutes.

Arsenal started the second half brightly, but injuries to Carroll and Carragher slowed the game down considerably. Their captain went down for over 5 minutes, and was stretchered off. I hope that the injury isn’t too serious, because Carragher looked in a lot of pain.

As the game became more stretched, both sides missed glorious opporunities. Suarez forced several saves out of Szczesny, while Walcott, RVP and Bendtner missed some great chances for Arsenal. The possession was all from the home team, but they kept passing the ball around Liverpool’s box. Why didn’t they shoot?! One-two’s and chipped through balls worked occasionally but not enough, leaving Reina with little to do after a busy first half.

With the game coming to a close, Fabregas won a penalty after some neat footwork in the box. RVP smashed in the resulting spot kick, leaving Gooners ecstatic.

Liverpool decided to stop their time wasting tactics, which had been in use for over 30 minutes (inciting jeers from the home supporters). They hoofed the ball upfield, and Arsenal had 2 or 3 chances to clear. They failed to do so, and a scramble on the edge of the box led to a free kick for Liverpool in a very dangerous position. Suarez’s shot was blocked and the ball fell to the side of the box, where Eboue inexplicably pushed over a Liverpool player. Their player was going nowhere and would have been unable to get a shot on target, but Eboue shoved him over. What an idiot.

The penalty was scored by Kuyt, and it was the last kick of the game. The Liverpool players ran to their fans in hysterics, while the Arsenal players walked off without waving to their fans – a first this season, if I am not mistaken. Eboue stayed on the field to plead to the referee – obviously he thought he could change the ref’s mind and the penalty would be taken away. What an idiot.

Player Ratings

Szczesny 7.5 Made some vital catches and good saves against Suarez. Went the right way but failed to save a good penalty from Kuyt.
Clichy 7 Attacked and defended admirably, but needs to improve his crossing.
Djourou 8 Impressive return, keeping Carroll very quiet.
Koscielny 7.5 Defended with confidence, but should’ve scored with the header that hit the bar. Suarez got the better of him from time to time.
Eboue 5 Would have got a 6 for his poor defensive display, despite the odd attacking run, but THAT push knocks him down to a 5. His crossing wasn’t great, despite plenty of opportunities.
Diaby 6.5 Hit and miss, as usual. Some great runs but his passing was generally square and lacked innovation.
Wilshere 8 MOTM Great tackling and passing, kept the game ticking and won every 50/50 ball.
Fabregas 7.5 Tried to lead the team, but his passing was poor in the first half. He improved in the second half and created most of our chances, and got the penalty.
Nasri 7 Passing was accurate but not effective enough.
Walcott 6 Seemed too scared to use his pace on their young left back. He could have caused a lot of damage, but seemed to prefer to pass the ball backwards. Won a few corners.
RVP 6.5 Scored his 21st goal in his last 22 league starts, but his first touch was poor. Failed to hold the ball up and missed some great chances.

Seen a few replays of the penalty incident. Lucas dived but took advantage of a stupid push. Video replays anyone? How many times will games be decided on poor decisions until video replays are introduced? I thought Lampard’s ‘goal’ against Germany at the World Cup would be enough to encourage such a scheme.

As a last thought, Wenger never should have had a go at Dalglish. He should have had a word with the referee at the end, to vent his anger at the extra injury time. The penalty was given after over 10 minutes despite only 8 minutes of injury time. Seems slightly unfair. But had Wenger said ‘piss off’ to Dalglish, everyone would be angry at Arsenal and their manager. The media would jump on ‘sour Wenger’ and use it as a weapon to talk badly about Arsenal. I hope Dalglish (and Wenger, if what he said to Liverpool’s manager was inflammatory/rude) gets some kind of punishment (because the FA can’t have double standards after penalising Rooney… or can they?).