Arsenal flop Viktor Gyokeres has been kindly informed that \u2018you don\u2019t get 60 yards of open grass to stampede past lower-league level defenders here\u2019.<\/p>\n
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Copium<\/p>\n
Step away from the narrative people\u2026\u00a0one contender drew a game against the champions, another drew against a decent mid-table side<\/strong><\/a>. As you were.<\/p>\n Right? \u00a0<\/p>\n Thoughts on a miserable game<\/strong><\/p>\n All a bit of a damp squib that, eh<\/strong><\/a>? First 20 minutes I thought we looked up for it, Saka got in down the right, had another couple of bright moments but then\u2026 well that was kind of it. Maybe it was the rain? Maybe that\u2019s a crap excuse.<\/p>\n Anyway, at about 25\u2019, Liverpool maintained some good possession for about three minutes, culminating with Saliba almost rifling one past Raya before Bradley was unfortunate with a great effort that hit the bar. That cluster (our customary one that we offer each game, despite our usual level in defence) seemed to suck the life out of the crowd entirely and we suddenly appeared very nervous.<\/p>\n The one and only time Rice drove at them all night, he fizzed a lovely ball in just before half time, with Gyokeres standing roughly five yards in the wrong direction. Sorry pal, but I\u2019ve seen enough. That\u2019s a lazy, poor anticipation of a situation you should be looking to thrive off<\/strong><\/a>. You don\u2019t get 60 yards of open grass to stampede past lower league level defenders here I\u2019m afraid and you\u2019ve got to read moments better if you\u2019re going to score goals. I can\u2019t see it improving.<\/p>\n Second half my word, possibly our worst showing of the season? And for a team that\u2019s six clear at the top, it\u2019s weird that there\u2019s a fair few of these halves to pick from.<\/p>\n Anyway, utter dross. We started slow, got slower and then proceeded not to win a first or second ball for about 15 minutes of play. I was tearing my hair out. Liverpool, happy to keep it and see if a situation would arise, fought a bit harder and looked a little bit sharper and that was pretty disappointing, all things considered given how things are in both camps currently. They might\u2019ve had a pen? Soft but a maybe, though no more of one than some we\u2019ve had chalked off ourselves this season.<\/p>\n For all their ball though, they did absolutely nothing let\u2019s be clear. Frimpong was dangerous but in a way that you might encounter a small adder on a parkland golf course. It\u2019s a semi threat, but the chances of it really bothering you are extremely slim. What Frimpong offers you with pace, he completely negates with his final ball, and for that I was thankful.<\/p>\n They missed their forwards, obviously, and we can all wonder what might\u2019ve been in the same way I\u2019ve felt the same if Saka had played at Anfield or Saliba had played at Stamford Bridge or whatever. Similarly though, we badly needed Calafiori. Hincapie found himself in some very Cala-friendly positions first half but has nowhere near the \u2018teck\u2019 of the beautiful Italian. He was then replaced by MLS who, after that cameo, may well find himself on the bench again even if the Ecuadorean is injured. White right, Timber left? I would.<\/p>\n As the clock struck 90, we suddenly found some urgency that we\u2019d not even contemplated trying to find for the previous 45. It actually annoyed me. We managed a shot or two before of course \u2018the big non football related incident in an Arsenal match that must be discussed now and at all junctures going forward\u2019.<\/p>\n Martinelli is in the wrong<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 he shouldn\u2019t throw the ball at him when he\u2019s on the deck. But I\u2019m sorry, you cannot tell me that the shuffle back on to the pitch isn\u2019t there and Slot, thankfully, was the grown up in the room about it afterwards. Martinelli could not have known how bad it was (and my word, it almost needs to be bad now given how silly the hate campaign against Gabi will look if it isn\u2019t), with the shuffle probably playing into his mind to push him back off the pitch. As I say, he shouldn\u2019t have done it, but some of the fallout I\u2019m seeing is incredible.<\/p>\n No less so from messer\u2019s Keane and Neville<\/strong><\/a>, those bastions of fair play and sportsmanship which they of course were back in their day. Jose Reyes is up there somewhere laughing to himself I hope, bless him. Whilst haunting Mike Riley\u2019s house daily of course.<\/p>\n Anyway. A shit 0-0, which given the length of this means it\u2019s probably too long to be published and it all became a bit 16 conclusionsy in the end. Sorry. \u00a0<\/p>\n Oh dear.\u00a0 It was almost predictable that as soon as Arsenal had the chance to open a substantial gap at the top of the table, they would draw the game and never look like scoring<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 That\u2019s two games against a \u201cfinished\u201d Liverpool team and Arsenal haven\u2019t scored in either.<\/p>\n Ultimately, this is what will cost them the league<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 Arteta plays it too safe at crunch moments \u2013 Liverpool of last season, Man City of seasons gone by would have seized that opportunity and taken an eight-point lead.\u00a0 Arsenal won\u2019t lose many games (they\u2019re capable of remaining unbeaten for the rest of the season) but ultimately they\u2019ll draw too many.\u00a0 The Martinelli\/Bradley incident is linked to what I\u2019ve just written because if Arsenal had done their job properly there wouldn\u2019t have been a desperate rush from Martinelli to get the ball back to re-start play.<\/p>\n So a bad night for any mug who supports Arsenal and Northern Ireland \u2013 like me. \u00a0<\/p>\n Arsenal perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n You know the season\u2019s going pretty well when the same old suspects feel compelled to write in to lambast a football club they don\u2019t even support for going 6 points clear at the top of the table<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018Arsenal fans are so entitled\u2019 I muse as I jump on my keyboard to point out that actually this team should be winning every single game and when they don\u2019t it\u2019s an absolute disaster (to move 6 points clear at the top of the table). \u00a0<\/p>\n Before Christmas, Arsenal had a narrow two point lead.<\/p>\n Like everyone else we\u2019ve played a stupid number of games, but we now break for the FA Cup having extended that lead to six points.<\/p>\n Arteta is in the points business. His team\u2019s not here to entertain you. If you want that, go watch WWE. \u00a0<\/p>\n Just saw some of the reaction of the Arsenal \u2013 Liverpool match in the mailbox & you\u2019d think Arsenal lost against a relegated team 3-0 with the way some people are reacting. Years of City dominance and the one sided covid Liverpool title seem to have people forgetting that\u00a0generally titles were fought for, and not all matches were won by the team that eventually became champions. I remember seeing United lead by 9 points and bottle it against Wigan<\/strong><\/a> and others to give City their title, or United losing against Blackburn and many many other nonsense teams and still winning the title.<\/p>\n I personally\u00a0 would love to see Arsenal bottle this title, but a 0-0 draw against Liverpool while maintaining their 6 point lead is absolutely not a disaster that some Arsenal fans are making it out to be. Sure, it would be nice to get 3 points against a weakened Liverpool team and be 8 points in the lead, but if there was any week to draw, this was it. No harm done, a lesson learned, a kick up the backside to ensure more focus and attention to the next set of matches.<\/p>\n I still do hope that they manage to mess up what seems to be their\/Arteta\u2019s last chance at a Premier League title, and I pray to the lord that Manchester United beat them 1-0 with 10% possession & 0 shots on target, to start what I can only imagine is a head loss of massive proportions. But the Liverpool match isnt the disaster that it seems to be. City & Villa dropped points to far worse teams in the same week, it\u2019s all still in their control. Some of y\u2019all need to chill.<\/p>\n Cheers \u00a0<\/p>\n Seriously, the rival fans that frequent the mailbox with their latest knee-jerk\u00a0reaction every\u00a0single time Arsenal happen to drop points need to get a grip on reality and stop getting so worked up every several weeks when we inevitably\u00a0get a draw here and there. Let\u2019s go one by one here:<\/p>\n Blok \u2013 aside from the absurd hyperbole \u2013 Liverpool were \u201ccomfortably the better side\u201d with their *checks notes* ZERO shots on target? Their one real chance we gifted them with Saliba\u2019s idiotic backpass (just f***ing clear it man for crying out loud). Ironic how Liverpool put in the type of performance that Arteta was getting SLAYED for last year and somehow it\u2019s a masterclass?<\/p>\n Andy H, Swansea \u2013 like everyone else in the world, go ahead and get caught up in the media narrative and let it dictate your perception of reality. At the end of the day, a really talented squad with quality all over the pitch (and don\u2019t talk to me about injuries; they just spent $450 mil on a title-winning squad) was able to hunker down and earn a point at the Emirates. Wow, what a disaster, OMG, we\u2019re surely f***ed now.<\/p>\n Minty, LFC \u2013 it\u2019s actually just your worst team since the post-title winners but, of course, the whole point of you over-exaggerating is to make Arsenal look bad. It\u2019s honestly pathetic that you need to unnecessarily denigrate your own club just to create a narrative that Arsenal are soft. People like you are just cherry picking results that fit your preconceived notions and writing in only whenever those results actually manifest. And then shutting the\u00a0f*** up 90% of the time cause,\u00a0otherwise, you have no legitimate\u00a0point to make. And, no, you shouldn\u2019t have won it. What \u2013 with your aforementioned ZERO SHOTS ON TARGET. 75% possession in the second half \u2013 FOUR WHOLE TOUCHES in our box. WOW. But, yeah, go ahead and blame the refs and PGMOL for the fact you could only muster a draw after (like Pep did) going Full Mourinho for an entire half against alleged terrorist Mikel Arteta. I\u2019ve seen enough of your mails \u2013 again, this has to be mentioned \u2013 to know that if Arteta had played like that at any point in recent years, despite the injury crisis (oh, but \u201cthey spent so much money\u201d yes like your 450 mil this summer), you\u2019d be destroying\u00a0Arteta for it but clearly so proud now that it\u2019s your club doing it.<\/p>\n Also, I love the narrative being pushed that the league is shite now which is clearly largely due to the fact people are pissed Arsenal are looking like they\u2019re going to win this year (cautiously confident as how I personally feel). The level of parity is an indication of the strength of the league \u2013 not a weakness. English fans pride themselves on the whole \u201cOur League\u201d thing \u2013 frequently looking down at the Spanish\/French\/German leagues for being so predictable. Either you have the strongest league in the world \u2013 which should mean any team can beat any team which is what we\u2019re seeing \u2013 or you don\u2019t. You can\u2019t have it both ways and shift the goalposts just because you see Arsenal sitting top of the league. Or I mean, I guess you can\u2026you just \u2013 all due respect \u2013 sound really stupid.<\/p>\n Disgusting levels of ignorance\/hypocrisy\/etc being thrown our\u00a0way but, hey, what do we honestly expect when it\u2019s Arsenal being discussed. Speaking of acting stupidly, absolutely witless from Martinelli. Love the guy but, seriously, that was really, really dumb. Though upgrade it to a red card? I\u2019m not so sure about that\u2026 \u00a0<\/p>\n Anyone but Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n I really hate Arsenal. As do most people I know. Anyone but Arsenal.<\/p>\n Delighted everyone saw evidence why. \u00a0<\/p>\n A positive Liverpool outlook<\/strong><\/p>\n Well that went better than expected.<\/p>\n I\u2019d have snapped anyone\u2019s hand off for a draw before kick off and we more than deserved at least a point tonight. We passed the ball well, moved well off the ball, strung together some decent attacks despite being headless up front, and managed to frustrated Arsenal the entire second half.<\/p>\n I do come away slightly disappointed that we didn\u2019t get the win, though. The foul by Trossard in the box on Wirtz should have been given as a foul. Outside of the box it\u2019s a free kick all day. I never really believed VAR would come to the right decision and I was right to believe it. Quality officiating seems to be at an all time low and this was just another example of a ref and VAR failing to make the right decision.<\/p>\n I was also slightly confused in Gary Neville saying under his breathe that the challenge on Frimpong wasn\u2019t a penalty with such certainty. The replay they showed as he said it was pretty clear in showing that he was clipped. You have seen them given but that one I would say was probably the right call. It certainly wasn\u2019t the definitive \u2018no pen\u2019 decision he made it out to be.<\/p>\n If only Bradley\u2019s shot was a few inches lower then we win that game but overall it\u2019s a decent point and if we can get Ekitike back for the next one then we should be able to push on and start scoring some goals. Wirtz is becoming the player we know he can be and with pace outside in Frimpong then I think we can finally start to unlock some defences.<\/p>\n Special mention for Martinelli showing what a class act he is. Throwing the ball at a clearly injured Bradley, then proceeding to push him as he sat in agony on the floor was disgraceful. I don\u2019t understand how he wasn\u2019t booked for each of these incidents and subsequently sent off. Konate got the same punishment for pushing Martinelli so I don\u2019t see how Martinelli wasn\u2019t punished further. Look out for a nice reception next time they meet at Anfield. Hopefully Bradley\u2019s injury isn\u2019t too bad as the lad has had bad luck with injuries but it didn\u2019t look good.<\/p>\n
Nick, Gooner in Berlin.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Joe, AFC, East Sussex\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Matthew, Belfast\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Simon, London<\/strong><\/p>\n
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London<\/strong><\/p>\n
Aman<\/strong><\/p>\n
MAW, LA Gooner<\/strong><\/p>\n
Paul<\/strong><\/p>\n