Last Gasp Heartbreak For Gunners In Anfield Thriller
Jan 13th, 2016 by 'holic
The heavens opened pre-match and Arsene Wenger opted for the starting eleven that most expected, with Joel Campbell and Theo Walcott getting the nod ahead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the flanks. David Ospina was again ruled out and so Matt Macey was on the bench once again.
Perhaps not surprisingly the two teams started wary of the other, but Liverpool made the first tentative efforts to attack when first Lallana, then Ibe, made fruitless incursions into the Gunners box. It was a signal of what was to come. As the tenth minute kicked in Theo Walcott, alone in the right-back slot, lost possession, Emre Can’s fierce drive was parried by Petr Cech, but only as far as Firmino who drilled it home with his left foot.
Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal
Before the quarter of an hour was up Arsenal showed much-needed backbone and fashioned a quick reponse. Olivier Giroud flicked on Cech’s long clearance, and Aaron Ramsey played a one-two with Joel Campbell before driving the ball in right-footed at Mignolet’s near post. Full marks to Campbell for the inch-perfect pass.
Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal
Within four minutes though we were behind again. Per Mertesacker and Campbell failed to execute clearances on the edge of the box and Firmino unleashed a magnificent curling drive into the far top corner for his and Liverpool’s second.
Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal
At the other end an incredible see-saw half took another twist in the 25th minute after Ramsey’s goalbound lob was headed out for a corner by Sakho. Ramsey’s low corner was flicked in by Giroud with the deftest of touches at the near post. Another memorable televised Premier League thriller was taking shape.
Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal
The scorer unbelievably missed an easier chance to give us the lead less than two minutes later when presented with an open goal by Theo Walcott, put in by thee impressive Campbell. Giroud somehow contrived to strike early and the ball dropped to a grateful Mignolet off his lower calf.
The visitors had finally settled and took greater control of the contest, reducing the hosts to the occasional rapid counter attack. From one such break in the 41st minute Cech had to be alert to palm out a Firmino cross. The Gunners responded in kind and Walcott’s strike from Nacho Monreal’s pass was deflected for a corner by Henderson.
Firmino was a whisker away from a first-half hat-trick when Laurent Koscielny failed to deal with a cross as Liverpool again sought the advantage. It could have been 3-3 already. I’m not sure anybody wanted to hear the whistle (although the players may have desired a breather) but sadly it sounded to end a remarkable half of football.
Thirty seconds after the restart Ozil picked out Campbell at the far post but a very difficult half volley sailed into the Anfield Road End. Moreno blazed it over in similar circumstances in front of the Kop.
Next to bring the crowd to their feet was Theo, dribbling mazily from the left-back berth to the edge of the Liverpool box before driving just wide of Mignolet’s right hand post. It was but a temporary reprieve for the scousers. Bellerin and Campbell combined to set up Giroud with his back to goal. The big Frenchman swivelled and passed the ball into the far corner. Simply magnificent. Do people really still doubt him?
Liverpool 2-3 Arsenal
With Mesut Ozil taking control of the midfield for the first time Arsenal took the steam out of Liverpool’s pressing game for long periods as the Gunners looked to close out the match a long way from the finishing post. Midway through the half Liverpool brought on Benteke, a direct threat at last.
Moreno sought an equaliser with a drive that was deflected wide, then a cross that was headed harmlessly wide. As Arsenal sought to impose themselves again Clyne, already yellow-carded for a handball, scythed down Campbell but escaped a second card somewhat fortunately.
Liverpool were growing in confidence again and Ibe’s cross brought a fine last-ditch clearance by Mertesacker from under his own crossbar. Heavy rain turned to sleet. This was a cold wet night in the north-west, so often a barren hunting ground for the Gunners in years gone by.
The Ox was introduced for the outstanding Campbell, and Kieran Gibbs for Theo with a quarter of an hour remaining. The ultimately to be thwarted rearguard action was being established. Mertesacker was required to clear hurriedly again.
On the break Ozil somehow killed a crossfield ball from the Ox stone dead and measure a cross to Ramsey that Mignolet thumped clear deperately. At the other end Mertesacker, a different player from the first half, cleared again.
Ibe, so often frustrated in a gripping personal battle with Monreal, cut inside for once but there was Flamini to block. Cue the introduction of Mikel Arteta for Mesut Ozil for the last few minutes. Liverpool sent on new loan signing Caulker as an emergency second striker.
Clyne ran into Koscielny and bought a cheap free-kick on the edge of the box, but the wall stood firm and blocked Moreno’s free-kick. The hammer-blow was just around the corner however. Once again the ball was lumped into the box, but this time there was no heroic clearance. Allen fed off Benteke and swept a dramatic equaliser in the corner.
Liverpool 3-3 Arsenal
How many more heartbeaking late goals will we concede at Anfield? In the Wenger years they have made a habit of them, it seems.
89 Responses to “Last Gasp Heartbreak For Gunners In Anfield Thriller”
High speed Holic!
Late goal was very tough to take. Feels very much like two points lost – although I might have taken a draw when we went 2-1 down.
Speedy `Holic!
That foul given to Clyne at the end was purely outrageous, why not gift them a goal straight away?
High speed BTM.
If only his wallet moved as quick.
??
I fucking can’t stand liverpool.
Klopp or not.
Suppose it could have been worse…. nevermind City… Look at Leicester! Energy sapping match this one was…
Keep Campbell and bring back Alexis… santi and Coquelin!
Pool will probably lose their next three games…..
Nice write up H.
For me we have thrown away two points tonight. It was an encouraging performance but as a team I thought we defended poorly and were the masters of our own downfall. The problem is that you always know we are capable of doing that.
I felt that The changes upset the balance of our play. Campbell always works his socks off and puts in more than a shift. I do however have reservations about his quality. Tonight I thought he was excellent. I also thought that Ollie G was outstanding. For those who seek every opportunity to mock the big Frenchman please remember tonight. He doesn’t always get it right but will never stop working and will never hide. Tonight was no exception and his performance was one of real quality. Apart from his goal line clearance that is????
Web should have seen that out tonight. It’s been a great game for the neutral but not a vintage Arsenal performance. 41% possession and only 5 shots on target tells the story of our performance quite well.
Still, a point is a point. Who knows how valuable that could be?
How anyone can moan after an absolutely stupendous football match like that,is beyond me. !
Coming on top of the 3 -3 cracker at Newcastle yesterday,that’s what the
Premier League is all about.
A draw was probably a fair result in the end,as i felt we never really kept the ball to take the sting out of the game after our 3rd goal.
Sod’s law says that if you keep throwing balls into the box from corners/free kicks etc,that one of them is going to bounce your way.
Despite Liverpool’s injury list,i would have been happy with a point before the game,given our recent indifferent away form.
Win as a team and lose as a team,so no point blaming Wally for being a pillock and gifting them the first goal,or blaming OG for missing a sitter.
That’s the beauty of the game.
I still think City are our main threat for the Title,and they looked very average against Everton.
I will be quite happy with another point at Stoke on Sunday.
Really proud of the effort the team put in tonight… Always a tough game at Anfield as Wenger had predicted before the game and that is exactly how it turned out to be… Giroud was magnificent tonight. His second goal was a wonderful piece of skill Campbell keeps growing with each game and he played very well tonight again.
About time we have Alexis back now – we desperately miss the bite he gives us with his relentlessness.
The goal that late in the game was heart-breaking but can’t be too miffed about the point tonight.
One of those days where everything Liverpool struck flew in, and it felt destined to be a high-score draw: it had that real humdinger feel about it from the first few minutes.
In the context of City and Spurs’ results it’s not a bad point; although I think our match at Stoke is likely to be just as, if not even, harder.
Top performances from Campbell and Giroud tonight. Looking forward to Alexis coming back – probably a bit of ‘devil’ is the only thing missing from our frontline, and a bit of decisiveness in those breaks we had when we were 3-2 up. One can only imagine what we would have done with a Deeney or Austin….
On the last goal if you watch Mertersaker he flinch away from the ball when he should have been giving his all to block the shot,he’s done this in the past as well
That was a really quick report Holic and you saw the same match from behind the sofa. We were really unfortunate today and with the same starting eleven playing so many games in quick succession, we looked leggy. Our away form is a real worry as we have won only one of the last five. Hope our form improves with Sanchez’s return at Stoke.
What worries me is our inability to hold on to the ball unlike leading teams like Barca, RM,Bayern etc. We claim to be very good technically but we keep mispassing, hitting balls long etc. We look desperate while defending a lead.
Quite a few tough games coming up, Stoke away, Chelsea and Southhampton at home and we need to buckle up or else it could all slip away as has happened in the last few seasons.
kentox, gibbs and ox are plenty fast, and were rested. as for the rest of it, please, go ahead and rant…don’t let reality stop you.
Conceding the last goal in a draw always feels like a loss just as scoring it feels like a win. We’ll know after 38 games whether it was two points lost or a critical one won.
Interesting use of the English language Kentox. At least you managed to spell clueless right.
The irony.
It’s always disappointing to lose a late goal and two points but that was a fair result and as Clive and of course Holic have said it was a truly superb game. I will digress for a second to point out that at the end Klopp adopted Pulis and Allardyce tactics bringing in Caulker upfront.it worked.
We had some terrific performances tonight. We gutsed it out superbly . Ramsey , Campbell,Monreal and Giroud were terrific. I was very critical of Ollie’s performance on Saturday but did say sometimes he was superb. The quibblers on Le Grove who expect us to sign Messi might say he missed a sitter but his second goal was magnificent . I’d just love him to play that well every week but he deserves every accolade tonight. I don’t have a feeling that Campbell lacks quality I think he shades Theo out when Alexis returns . His work rate is awesome and hies eye for a pass tonight was Ozilesque. Also when Bellerin gets forward we create so much .
I tend towards the view that this was a good point as we were twice down . No one went missing and BFG was heroic at times but his lack of pace was so evident in the first half. If Coquelin and Gabriel had been out there tonight we would have won.
Sometimes you just need to take pride in your team and joy from what a worthwhile game football can be. I’m very proud of our lads tonight and believe we can beat Stoke on Sunday. But they deserve a good rest first?
Kentox- why would a clueless idiot like Klopp bring on a centre half to play upfront . What a stupid tactic? Oh it worked!
He took Walcott off because he wasn’t getting in the game and Campbell because he was running on empty. He was knackered. They were decent substitutions and logical to shore up the side.
You’re an idiot and your tone is offensive to anyone who cares about our club. You clearly don’t
One last thought.
I hate the cliche- Doesnt anyone want to win this league? No lack of effort at Anfield and WHL tonight. It’s the best contest seen in years not a procession like last year
A cracking game, but one I have watched too many times in the past. When AW replaced our attacking midfielders with Ox, Gibbs and Arteta it was just a matter of time before they equalised. Given Poo’s fragile defence we should have gone for the jugular, not allowed them to attack our own questionable defence without risk of a counter. Cech was a bit unlucky with the equaliser, he didn’t quite get the purchase he was looking for in the dive, instead slipping slightly in the wet and not quite making the distance needed to get a full hand on the ball. Such is the luck of the game, another inch and he’d have pushed it away for two extra points.
Nacho my motm, with credit to JC for constantly running and for the assist, but too much of his game tends to the other part of the curate’s egg and I still don’t agree he’s quite the real deal.
Thoroughly entertained, but disappointed nonetheless.
Oskar
Cheers Holic.
It was a great game to watch and however disappointing to concede their 3rd goal at the end, in reality a draw was a fair reflection of what transpired over 90+ minutes. We are not at top performance level at the moment and therefore it’s a point well won – we are still top of the league!
Holic, your last sentence mentions a propensity we have for conceding last minute goals at Anfield but they pale into insignificance to the bin dippers late concession in 89 🙂
I agree that a draw was a fair result but, given the circumstances, it does feel like two points lost and a chance to see some daylight also lost. We will need to win at Stoke to compensate.
A great performance from Monreal and some heroics from the BFG kept us in it but I remain less convinced than ever that a pairing of Ramsey and Flamini works for us defensively. They provided little or no protection to our central defenders tonight.
Horrible conditions to play in also took their toll – Ozil worked hard but was peripheral as was Theo apart from one run and shot. Campbell ran himself into the ground and I was surprised that he wasn’t subbed earlier.
Come back Alexis – we need you now.
UTA.
Gentlemen, the idiot is gone. Please don’t give them oxygen, thanks.
Had us down for a win tonight and a draw on Sunday.
Will be happy to have that the wrong way round
Have some (…well a little..) respect for Liverpool but none whatsoever for Stoke.
Excellent report Guvna. I remain in awe of your ability to fire out such a succinct summary of an enervating, infarct-inducing match from which I am still breathless.
How many indeed?
We simply do not look the same team defensively without Coquelin. Although Flamini’s numbers look ok, he doesn’t screen the defence nearly as well as we have become used to though Aaron doesn’t help him as much as Santi did Coquelin. Having said that, Aaron’s offensive contributions are invaluable especially when Mesut is suppressed by numbers.
For me, Joel is indeed the real deal. Another find performance. I agree with TTG that he has nudged himself ahead of Feo in the pecking order and left Ox far behind. I am hoping the contract extension is sorted.
HFB’s second goal was a world class goal and his work tonight was exemplary.
Although the late equaliser leaves a bad taste and a sense of disappointment, I would have taken a draw until we nudged in front and it remains a good point. I agree with those who question our tactic of sitting back though. Before we did that (were we tired? – if so, why?), the ‘Dippers looked rattled and I agree that we should have killed them off at that point. None of our subs added anything to our game but by then the tide was perhaps irreversible.
Onwards.
Stoke beckons. Are we wearing rugby shirts?
Thought the same about 2 points dropped given that it was us who ran our socks off to equalise 2 times and then score a 3rd goal in a very high paced end-to-end match. Big props to Joel Campbell who absolutely worked so hard. Dead knackered when he was taken off. My man of the match.
Defensively suspect a few times and I hope we rotate Gabriel in to keep either of our mainstays relatively fresh for the run of doom.
If this wasn’t a match we can learn something from, then we aren’t champion material.
UTA.
Thanks for the report Guvnor and especially the part on the second half which I was forced to miss. A win at Stoke would do nicely. Also props to you and Uply who shot up the table of the long forgotten Europa You Ropey League. This tea drinking seems to have its compensations. 🙂
Spot-on: #22 & #25 above.
“but I remain less convinced than ever that a pairing of Ramsey and Flamini works for us defensively. They provided little or no protection to our central defenders tonight.”
“We simply do not look the same team defensively without Coquelin. Although Flamini’s numbers look ok, he doesn’t screen the defence nearly as well as we have become used to though Aaron doesn’t help him as much as Santi did Coquelin.”
Our lack of defensive cover/discipline is why Pool had an upper hand in the 1st 30 minutes of the game. I even wonder what the final score would have been, had Mignolet properly defended Ramsey’s goal (near post).
Clyne, already yellow-carded for a handball, scythed down Campbell but escaped a second card somewhat fortunately.
Had forgotten about that, but Clyne should have been off for that one. In the ref’s defence though, from looking at the replays I think his view was slightly obscured and he simply didn’t see quite how bad a challenge it was.
And while the late equaliser stings, overall it is a point I am quite OK with. We could have been out of the game after 20 minutes, but we came back and like the Sweeper says@9, it was a cracker of a game. The positives are that we came back into the game after a slow start, came back from behind (twice) and could have won it. And at the end of the day we pulled away a little from Totnum and kept ManCity at bay (but how the ever-loving fuck was that not a penalty for City when Stones brought Sterling down in the dying seconds of the game???). Leicester gained two point on us though, and while I still struggle to see them last the distance we are coming closer to the point where we will have to actually start worrying about them.
ksn: and with the same starting eleven playing so many games in quick succession, we looked leggy.
I don’t agree at all that we looked leggy. We kept working hard throughout the game, and the conditions were quite difficult. The pitch was soggy as hell (look at the Ramsey chance in the first half after a corner, the ball barely bounced where it would, on a dry pitch, have presented Ramsey with a very good chance to score). Liverpool lumped it towards our box every chance they got in the last 10 or so minutes and sometimes that pays off, sometimes not. Cech was an inch or two away from saving that shot as well.
TTG@19: agree 100%. This is the best PL in many years in terms of competitiveness. There are no easy games anymore, it’s that simple. But for some reason many seem to equate one team running away with it with overall quality when it is most often the exact opposite.
bath: None of our subs added anything to our game but by then the tide was perhaps irreversible.
Gibbs has often come on and shored things up but he had a poor performance last night. And getting the Ox on was certainly not a defensive sub. Arteta for Özil with just a few minutes to go is a sub I have no problems with either.
—
As for Sunday, like a few others I would play Gabriel instead of the BFG to counter the pace of Bojan and to a certain extent Arnautovic. That will be a really tough game, and while I still hate Stoke with a passion you have to give Mark Hughes credit for turning them into something at least resembling a proper football side. Hopefully that game will also see Alexis make his comeback, even though I expect it to be from the bench if he makes it. Have to say though that from what Arsene has been saying, I think they have been ultra cautious with him and had we been in a worse position in the table I think he would already have returned.
Morning all. Not a lot for me to disagree with from the friendly faces.
Dry ‘January’ update, day 3. I have insomnia, toe cramps, and morning nausea. Do you teetotallers always feel this shit?
What a game of football, I was unable to fall asleep hours after the game due to the adrenalin high. Two seasons ago ‘Pool started the game the same way and were 4-up at half time. This time we kept up with them, a good sign of progress to me. However, I must say we were not good in possession in this game, even in the 2nd half when ‘Pool’s energy was lower. For me a good point, as painful as the late equalizer was.
Question to the holics? Given current form who gets to start between JC, Ox and TW14? For me it’s exactly in that order. TW played for the team in red last night. Except for the “assist” to OG in the 1st half I don’t remember a lot of positives, 1st touch poor, decision making bad, his idea of defense seems to be get behind the ball after that not much more. Sorry to single him out but I think his form is not great at the moment and in these tight games you need all 11 to contribute.
Looking forward to Stoke and the return of Sanchez. I think Stoke, unlike in the past might try beat us at football giving us a chance for a win.
Shakiri likely to miss the match on Sunday and Arnautovic may too, according to Mark Hughes in a press conference just now.
Morning H
Wait till day 10 my friend.
I might have to book you into the ‘ Secure Unit ‘ for the rest of the month.!!
Haven’t heard from Zico recently,trust he is okay.
Also the Eviscerator has been quiet for a while,although the bar in all fairness hasn’t had any guest posts that he felt the need to rise from his slumbers to respond to.
Just watched the game for the 2nd time,still a cracker.
For their last goal,Hector arrived a fraction late and the ball actually goes through his legs,and Cech responds a fraction late,and that’s all it took.
2 fractions that cost us 2 pts.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160114/mohamed-elneny-joins-arsenal
😀
Dry ‘January’ update, day 3. I have insomnia, toe cramps, and morning nausea. Do you teetotallers always feel this shit?
No, but that’s because we don’t have the drying out period to go through. Your month is so short this time you’ll just get to the point where you feel better and you’ll be poisoning your liver again 😉
@34 the stpry still says the transfer is subject to the regulatory processes so no change detected. We could use Elneny at Stoke though.
On that awkward chance Giroud messed up in front of an open goal, maybe using his knee would have been the thing?
http://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-beer-is-god-s-way-of-telling-us-that-he-loves-us-and-wants-us-to-be-happy-benjamin-franklin-96-42-81.jpg
Should never argue with the likes of Benjamin Franklin H. He knows alright.
Rumour has it that we have scoured the planet and finally identified someone that can improve our squad? I’m still trying to take it all in here. Has it really happened????
insomnia , cramps , morning sickness ?
.
i’m no doctor
but
is there something yer overlooking here , ‘holic ?
.
*googles miracle baby*
Heh @ cba@39
Brilliant diagnostician.
Holic @ 30. They are the symptoms I have after a drinking session 😉
cba @ 39 heh – now that would really be drinking the holy water!
Chamomile good for morning sickness. I have been told. 😉
Can we stop 2016 and move on to 2017 please? I’ve already had enough of this shit year…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35313604
You silly sod cba 🙂
i calls it
how i sees it
.
.
.
and
CONGRATULATIONS !
Watching the 2nd half now for the first time, at about 70′ there is an interesting nervous smile from Klop who appears ver happy the referee has not sent off Clyne with a silly second yella for a vicious kick into Campbell’s shins. Must be thinking to himself, “interesting standard of refereeing in this English game.”
cba@45: 🙂
I hope Elnenny proves to be everything we all hope for and dominates the midfield for us.
Clyne should definitely have been given red.
Very funny @cba!
Cracking report. I saw pretty much the same game Lars did – not too much to complain about, and a point from Anfield on a rainy night with the crowd up isn’t a bad result at all. The mind lingers on what might have been, but we could play that game with plenty of results this season.
We remain top, another round of games is out of the way and City logged a similar result from a much simpler looking fixture. Best of all, the cavalry is starting to appear on the horizon: a new signing, Rosicky in full training and the badly-missed Alexis about to reemerge.
Win at Stoke and people will really start to believe it’s gonna be our year. Oh, and well done Ollie Giroud. Proper performance, that.
COYG
Welcome to the ARSENAL Elnenny….
Cheers H!
Not happy with the draw really, because it happened through our lack of goal scoring ability, however well Giroud is playing, we had chances for 2-4, 2-5 really. They would never have come back from that. We sat back far too early with too slender a lead. Still other results meant it was hardly disastrous.
Draw which feels like a defeat, sadly it took the wind out of our sail.
We were average but then it doesnt matter as long as we would have won the game. The whirlwind start from pool caught us blank but we did not panic and that was excellent. The worry was how easily we were being cut open in the midfield with no cover at all.
Giroud was magnificent, Monreal outstanding, Campbell continue to defy and how but the disappointments outweigh the positives. Theo had a stinker and he really needs to be dropped, he was simply poor and when he had the chance to redeem, he choose not to pass and do it all, bad mistake.
Ramsey for all his brilliance leaves Flamini for dead, he does not give any cover and it just piles on the pressure on flamini who is positionally average to say the best.
This post sounds a rant but it is because it feels so hollow this draw that it makes me feel terrible.
Elneny welcome to the club, the home of football. The Arsenal welcomes you and hope you turn out to be a success.
While Arteta is clearly not the player he was, he has done a fine job for this club. There is a view among a lot of Gooners that the man is hopeless. If he can get fit he is still a very canny footballer and a very good professional. And he was a very good purchase .He and BFG were the successes of the trolley dash after the United fiasco and zeroth have given yeoman service.
I am starting to feel that against mobile teams , particularly where we keep a fairly high line Gabriel should start. He’s not perfect yet and makes the odd mistake but he is going to develop into a very good player in the future. The lack of mobility of the Flamster and BFG saw us in real trouble last night in the first twenty minutes. Ultimately defending deep they were more comfortable and the BFG was monumental as they went long ball but I do worry that his lack of pace makes us very vulnerabke
Cheers H. Super speedy with the report but your body-clock may be having deja-vu… Three weeks after Christmas and you’re going cold turkey again! Good luck. Personally I recommend both green tea and fresh mint tea. Mint for morning nausea.
Wonderful football match last night which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was everything that I love about the Prem. Fair result too. And lots of good posting above.
Organic mint teas for everyone!
If anyone can work out what the detox joke in ‘Liver’pool is then I’d appreciate it. My brain won’t do it.
Zeroth =both
I agree with TTG that Zeroth gave great yeoman service to the club. 🙂
TTG@57 – I think Oscar Wilde’s remark about wit applies to type corrections too:
“Better never than late”
COYG
(It probably applies to remarks about type corrections too 🙁 )
type = typo.
Bugger
Hey, ho.
Google attribute “Better never than late” to George Bernard Shaw, on Punctuality, although english.stackoverflow.com attributes it to King George III when a nobleman apologised for unpunctuality.
Whoever first said it, I’m sure it doesn’t apply to pretentious quotations.
Relax everyone, even I am bored with this now.
COYG
As if losing the Starman this week wasn’t enough,
Now i get the news that Professor Snape has left us as well,and to the same disease,the Big C.
There’s been no one like Zeroth in my supporting lifetime.
He made Ron Yeats look a pansy
Pangloss @60 ?
P @60. HAHAHA!
TTG – I thought Joe Baker made Ron Yeats look a pansy 😉
Theo didn’t have ‘a stinker’ Vinay (#53), he just didn’t play as well as we know he can. The problem as I see it is two-fold … he appears to be concentrating too much on defence recently, to the detriment of his natural attacking abilities … and he appears stuck behind Mesut a lot with the latter working the left side most of the time. He was also up against Clyne, who is way better defender than Moreno on Poo’s left. On the brief occasion Theo switched wings with JC yesterday he laid it on a plate for OG (who missed).
All credit to JC for his energy and all-round improvement, but in my opinion he still make poor decisions and too many mistakes (ie, losing the ball for Poo’s second goal). He reminds me a lot of Danny, another bundle of energy who never quite delivered when it mattered.
I just think Theo has greater natural ability, and needs to get into the game more and show it.
Oskar
Oskar
Your agenda is obvious.
JC did indeed lose the ball leading to Liverpools second.
Funny how you omitted that Theo made an equally grave mistake leading to Liverpools first.
As usual, your fabulous TV revealed only what you wanted to see….
Oskar
In fariness to young Joel,he was not responsible for their 2nd goal.
The Flamster was culpable for losing the ball in the first place,which JC wasn’t expecting,it was a ricochet off that previous passage of play when the ball suddenly arrived in his direction,and rebounded off his shin.
Wally did indeed have a poor game,Ozil on quite a few occasions showed his displeasure with his lack of intelligence when we were in good counter attacking situations in the 2nd half.
I have said before on countless posts that Wally does not have a football brain,he is very similar to the Ox with his propensity to run up blind alleys,and make more poor decisions than good ones.
Young Joel has got more technical ability than Wally and the Ox put together.
Neither of the aforementioned 2 could have played the no look pass for Ollie’s crucial goal in Greece,nor his pass to Hector for Rambo’s goal against Sunderland,nor his pass for Rambo’s equaliser against Pool,nor his intricate delayed pass to Wally to set up Ollie for the miss of the season.
Arsene trusts him,and that’s good enough for me.
Zeroth, Ttg? If only he could have been paired with SVA Bad Hersfeld’s Zilch. Nothing would have got past those two..
Clive knows @68. Oh yes, indeed he does!
Thnks Bath
I just hope young Joel isn’t the one to lose his place when Alexis comes back.
If there is any justice then he won’t.
He is a very good young footballer in the making,at exactly the right Club to nurture him to a higher level.
Great to see most Arsenal fans are so openly appreciative about young Joel’s talent, work rate and most importantly the drive for self-improvement, without which nothing worthwhile has ever been achieved.
As mentioned by many, some of his passes in the final third — the delay, the timing, the weight — are facets of game he is picking up from the magical Mesut (who, incidentally, won Germany’s player of the year award for 2015). The dribbles and the curling finishes he always had, but the improvement in the intelligence of his passing in the last few months speaks volume of his willingness to learn.
The work-rate, desire and drive of Campbell may have had something to do with him having to fight at multiple different foreign leagues at so early in his career. Before he turned 23 he was loaned out to Spanish, French, Greek and Spanish top divisions and the self-belief, discipline, and the hard work needed to survive and flourish in different cultures so early in your career build character. I think many of the great English talents would do their career a great service if instead of being cocooned from so early in their career go out on loans to other leagues and learn to grow in different cultural climates.
Welcome to the great Arsenal, Elneny! 🙂
And yes, we miss Santi this much, offensively and defensively. He is a great option against the high press, and turning opposition’s high press into our counter-attacks.
http://news.arseblog.com/2016/01/liverpool-3-3-arsenal-gunners-missing-midfield-by-the-numbers/
Per game With Cazorla Without Cazorla Difference
Passes 542 489 -53
Completed
passes 464 409 -55
Shots 17 12 -5
Shots
allowed 11 16 5
Goals 1.71 1.86 0.15
Goals
allowed 0.86 1.29 0.43
Shot Ratio 2 1.44 -0.56
Cheers, Holic and ‘holics,
No time to get in here today but a back drink reveals nothing to disagree with from the regulars except, I’m sorry to say, with Oskar.
Agree with Bath and especially Clive @68 on Theo.
He shows the odd flash of instinctive finishing ability but, given time to think, more often than not comes up with the wrong decision. I think Campbell is by far the more natural footballer and he is learning very quickly from Mesut’s passing style in and around the box. Theo’s defensive efforts and fight have improved a bit of late but such is Campbell’s work rate, that we have hardly missed that side of Alexis’ game.
I personally think Campbell’s rate of improvement is very similar to that of Coquelin who, almost incredibly, hit the first team barely a year ago. And how badly do we miss him ?
According to Sky Sports News today, Olivier Giroud has the best strike rate in the Premier League at the moment, with a goal every 117 minutes.
His running style is awkward and he does miss chances but he still makes a huge contribution to the team – at both ends of the pitch.
That Theo was ‘responsible’ for Poo’s first goal (in fact he got a slight knock from a Poo player and lost his balance to the extent he couldn’t chase the ball) didn’t escape me, IF, I was merely providing a little balance to the many who had already pointed it out while omitting to mention JC’s part in the second goal.
I usually respect your views, Clive, but to say JC has more technical ability than Ox and Theo combined is a big claim which does stretch the credibility. JC actually had two opportunities to control the ball leading up to the second Poo goal (the one you mention and another half a second earlier which bounced of him and put Per into difficulty). Both difficult admittedly, but a player with the technical ability you claim could have done better.
What really bugs me presently is seeing Theo playing in some kind of old-fashioned left half position behind Mesut, when playing outside the fish god would make more sense to me. One ‘heat map’ I saw recently showed Theo’s average position as on the half-way line ffs. That’s a plain waste, imo.
Oskar
…and I always respect your views too Trev. 🙂
Oskar
Young Joel has got more technical ability than Wally and the Ox put together.
I come here mainly for the comedy.
With their pending two-year transfer ban Real are planning to spend £250m in January. Their shopping list includes Eden Hazard, David de Gea, Paul Pogba, Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane and John Stones. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/gossip/
£250m won’t buy them all, but how does that sort of spending meet FFP requirements anyway? Especially as they say no one will be leaving the club to balance the books.
Oskar
Anyways, its somewhat comforting to know that I am not alone in my thinking in relation to Theo and that Clive and Trev would seem to agree with my own logic.
I thought the Liverpool result was a hugely enjoyable game to watch from a neutrals perspective, but not so enjoyable if you were a fan of either club watching the game flow from one end to another like Sunday park game.
The really big issue for me is where our midfield were for the entire game? We were completely overrun and only for some pretty woeful defending by Liverpool the game could have been over by half time. Rambo is a brilliant player going forward, but in order to play midfield you have to balance it defensively as well. Many times Rambo was actually playing ahead of our forwards when he should have been filling the space ahead of Flamini.
Its very indicative that it is most of our technical midfield players who are injured: Cazorla, Rosicky, Arteta, Wilshere, Coquelin, Welbz. These players retain possession. While Theo, Rambo, Oxlade, Flamini all have their individual merits – but they’re not technical players really and cough up possession time and time again. And that prevents us from controlling big games and closing them out. Games become a frantic mess of topsy turvy football which is great from an entertainment perspective, but terrible if you want to secure points.
Kudos to both Campbell and Giroud who played very well. Giroud is a very important part of this squad even if I still feel we need a more incisive instrument at 9.
Morning Joe
How i wish i had an incisive instrument at 9.
Particularly at the pm hour when hope springs eternal. !!
Morning Holics,
Looking at Elneny’s photo on the Arsenal website, he looks like a raving lunatic.
I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.
There’s medication for that Clive. I wouldn’t be dependent on hope alone for eternal springs..!
I stumbled upon this documentary about building the stadium on YouTube the other day. It’s quite good and rather interesting if you are at all interested in civil engineering or running large projects.
It’s obviously a puff piece about the main contractors rather than a warts-and-all account, but even taking that into consideration, all parties involved in the project come out of it rather well. A bit different to the boardroom and club packed with complete incompetents that we are tempted/encouraged to believe in these days.
COYG
Teetotaling Clive may prefer hope to medication, Joe?
Not sure I am liking sober me. Inclined to blow my own trumpet for the idea I have for this evening’s preview. I’m in belligerent mood. Come back about 6 and see if I can resist the urge to issue forth a battlecry for Sunday…
Shit I’m sick of water…
Battlecry anticipation …
I’m not sure which is scarier, the Guv’nor in full battlecry or Clive with his incisive instrument. Time to get behind the sofa…
Have it! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>