Out of Form and Under Fire – Liverpool And Arsenal
Mar 3rd, 2017 by 'holic
Twelve days after ending Sutton United’s FA Cup dreams we are finally back in action again in the north-west on a Saturday live on television. What could possibly go wrong? Well if that sounds nervous it isn’t meant to. Would you believe it if I told you on our last nine Premier League visits to Anfield we have lost just one? You should, even though that one was the still fresh in the memory 5-1 mauling three years ago.
Both sides will be understandably nervous ahead of what is a very important match in the hunt for a top four, or preferably top three finish. We may not be in a rich vein of form but the hosts have endured a dismal 2017 so far, winning just one league match this year. They will be without skipper Jordan Henderson which some might argue would strengthen them! They are also missing Daniel Sturridge with a hip strain.
We on the other hand can call on a relatively fresh squad minus just Santi Cazorla and Mohamed Elneny. There will be concern however about the form and health of Mesut Ozil. We will see the real deal again but if there are any doubts about his condition on Saturday it might be better for us to bite the bullet and change things around.
Petr Cech will probably get the nod to start in goal but the fact that even he is no longer an automatic selection is a testament to our recent form. If Laurent Koscielny is one hundred percent then he should return alongside Skhodran Mustafi and Hector Bellerin. The boss faces an intriguing pick at left-back to oppose the dangerous Mane. Neither Nacho Monreal nor Keiran Gibbs have been at their best defensively this season.
Whilst the feeling persists that Ozil will start in front of, probably, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Granit Xhaka, the alternative of a midfield three with Aaron Ramsey perhaps coming in for the misfiring German has some appeal. It may be more of a surprise than a nervous Liverpool could cope with. Let’s get on the front foot and master our own destiny.
Theo Walcott may hold off the challenge of Lucas of whom Arsene Wenger appears to be unsure, despite his goals when called upon. Alexis Sanchez will be asked to press high again and make a nuisance of himself. The fact that Danny Welbeck missed a third consecutive U-23 start on Friday means, I hope, that he is being considered for a start ahead of Alex Iwobi on the left. He would also provide more cover for whoever will be at left-back.
Arsene hinted at the possible change of plan ahead of the contest, frankly admitting,
“Our recent history has not been so positive in big games away from home, but I am convinced we have the quality and maybe we have to adapt the style a little bit as well. It’s important that we have a positive result in a big game like this.”
The ‘holic pound
Those who have already watched or listened to this week’s A Bergkamp Wonderland live podcast (embedded below so you can’t miss it!) will have heard me tip a come from behind 1-2 to the Arsenal. Paddy Power offer a market best 12/1 against that, which appears a generous price, but remember only Swansea have spirited all three points away from Anfield this season. Even while out of form the scousers remain difficult to beat in front of their home support.
As ever the away section is sold out despite the late kick-off. Let’s hope we can kick-start a big week with a return to something resembling good form to provide a lift for the two very different home tests that follow in the Champions League and the FA Cup. A huge week is looming for Arsene Wenger.
Have a great one, ‘holics.
100 Responses to “Out of Form and Under Fire – Liverpool And Arsenal”
Kapow!
Kaboom!
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis!
floccinaucinihilipilificationshortincomparisonbutlengthynonetheless
OsakaMatt in the previous drinks: Agree with you 100% about Santi. Had he not had his injury problems this season and last, causing him to miss nearly 70 games,I think we would now be sitting atop the table as defending champions. Sadly, given those and his age (32), if we get 20-25 games out of him next season that will be a bonus.
I’ll give you floccinaucinihilipilification, cba, and even as an evaluation of mine @3 (:)), but the rest is padding, you old rogue.
sorry ned
THAT’S A PADDLIN’
?
I like it. The drinkers are slightly barking again. Great to see old chums at the top of the shop. 🙂
Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphopnopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharnamornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit = Bangkok, Thailand.
In your dreams, cba.
Good evening to you Guv’nor and the entire Gunnerverse.
It appears a Guinness weekend already. Does anyone have an idea how to enroll in the Guinness academy in Dublin? And how many quarts would I be expected to download while course lasts?
While am waiting for a helper to the above question, I think it would end in a 2-2/3-3 kind of family game.
An away win wouldn’t hurt anyways.
*swoooooooooooooooons*
Pick yourself up, cba, you’re making a mess on the floor!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6GhLkDqG00
Is the dancer in the above vid wearing knickers? 😮
ah fer fucks sake , chris
this is a football forum of some standing
*monumentally tuts*
stick to the rules !
talk of knickers is
both
welcome and encouraged
and
do it again !
Sorry don’t fancy us at all. I’d be delighted with a point. My Arsenalmoraie is as low as it’s been for a long time. Munich and Chelsea were big wake up calls for me.
Talk of the lack of knickers, more like. Then I might get innerested.
fickle fucker
Kris, David, Jason, John and Danny?
BOYBANDTASTIC!
Not a boyband
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPhtPHcBYWk
Saw that video and she was wearing no knickers. No knickers or bust.
This Russian ambassador guy is doing a masterful job of taking out Trump’s favorites.
Player strikes are much more interesting football hiatuses than Interlulls.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39162276
Remembering how Mane turned Nacho inside out in the first game, perhaps we should play Hector at LB and Gabriel at RB. Mustafi and Kos between them. Xhaka and Ox DMFs. Rambo at No 10. Theo and Danny wings, Alexis up front.
Cheers H! Aint got a Scooby meself what will happen today, other than I’ll be watching it.
Anyways see you next Saturday mate! Me and Silva in the area.
Thanks cba and Gregoire in
the last drinks.
Any enjambment was sadly
unintended
Just poor grammar best
amended
Though happy i was to learn
a new word
Comparison with a poet? No,
no, how absurd
Er…..that’s it 🙂
NBN@5
Yes, I think so too. Unfortunately
we’re a bit of a ‘could have, might
have’ sort of team these days.
Still, I agree with GH for today
and fancy us to nick the points
at anfield.
OsakaMatt@26: I, too, have a feeling we’ll knick a win. I can’t see us not conceding goals there and Liverpool’s defence is porous so arsenicDaemon’s 2-3 has the right sort of ring.
Some random stats for the day:
AW’s record vs Klopp: P7 W3 D2 L2
AW’s record vs Liverpool: P49 W19 D16 L14
AW’s record at Anfield: P22 W7 D7 L8
AW didn’t beat Liverpool until the eighth attempt.
Against Klopp, AW’s teams have scored 12 and conceded 11. The odd goal in it today sounds about right.
Cheers, Holic !
It could well be a battle of two defences this evening – to see who really can let the most goals in ?
Ned @3. – that’s easy for you to say ?
Great preview Holic!
Yet again top notch officiating at old toilet!
Funny game at Old Toilet, one
off for Bournemouth, but Mings
and Ibra should both be gone too.
Manure dominated but gave away
a penalty so it’s 1-1 at half time.
Afobe fell over when clean through
and Jack is dropped.
Anyway, hopefully Bournemouth
can hang on for a draw 2nd half.
Bring on technology.
Either that or face ridiculous refereeing decisions again that favours ManU.
Wonder if there’s going to be any retroactive action on that deliberate elbow..!
Dirty player Pogba including Ibra
I just hate those two! And the Ref? Where the hell was he?
Abysmal officiating continues!
Video technology would have made this game five hours long
Cynic
Not it wouldn’t come on let’s be real here. You get stoppages in rugby as well.
Well done Bournemouth! Especially to Boruc!
Great result 🙂
Manure will be nice and disappointed.
Arter was lucky not to be sent
off i thought so the decisions
evened out a bit and Ibra missing
the penalty was poetic justice.
No Ozil or Sanchez.
Getting ready for next season
Gutsy team selection, hope it works.
COYGs
Ridiculous team selection. Absolutely mental.
Liverpool are really there for the taking today so he picks that team.
Amazing that Sanchez is on the bench in such an important game and Iwobi is playing. Cannot concede early if we are to get anything from this match. COYG!!
If we win it’ll be hailed as a brilliant tactical move.. if we lose .. don’t even want to think about it..!
COME ON!
He must be carrying a knock, that’s the only way to make sense of that. Iwobi playing makes no sense to me but anything is better than Ramsey.
C’mon boys three points
Come on Arsenal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here we go again!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Conceded early again.
Was was Czech doing?
We go one down and we start playing long balls wtf?
Too early in the game to be concerned.. but this now will be a big 45 mins in our season
Our defenders are clueless on their goal Kos commits and the others cant cope…
We’ve basically set up to play nine men behind the ball against a team with five defeats in seven games.
Fuck that.
Shambles the way we play!
Coquelin the holding midfielder and shield that neither holds or shields. He is nowhere near the quality of midfielder who should be representing Arsenal.
Game over thank you very much!
We get pulled across and Iwobi just stands there watching.
Fuck off Wenger.
Every game there is a glimmer of hope but lets be honest here we are shit!
That is another nail in our top four chances. We don’t know how to defend and are clearly the second best so far.
Awesome team selection it has to be said!
We should be buried by now. We’re making a very average Liverpool look like fucking Barcelona.
Two subs at half time (waste of time asking for that though) should be Giroud and Iwobi off, anyone but Ramsey on.
Earlier we had a terrible defence but could play creative attacking football and won games by out scoring the opposition. Today, we have not created one clear cut chance so far. Iwobi for me doesn’t do enough. We look a disjointed side with total lack of confidence and belief and seem to want the it less than Liverpool.
Liverpool are so much better it is heartbreaking. I have no desire to watch this team and I love the club. We are awful at present. We are going to struggle against Lincoln at this rate
He’s got to get his fucking finger out at half time.
On second thoughts, he should sod off for a burger and let Bouldy handle things.
I’m done watching. Wenger might be a specialist in masochism. I’m not.
Only one positive from that first half – it’s only 2-0.
Dire isn’t the word.
I have poured myself a large malt. This is painful, bereft of any confidence.
Did someone say pool lost 1-3 to Leicester City on Monday?
It’s not enough to just bring Sanchez on, he should chuck all three subs into it.
Giroud, Iwobi, Welbeck off
Sanchez, Walcott, Perez on.
Shit or bust.
Is anyone surprised by this result considering the team selection?
What the fucking fuck is wrong with Wenger.
I agree with the sub. The Coq has been our worst player and was also a red card waiting to happen. Also Ox to midfield where he should be.
I feel the same way about Coquelin as I did about Alex Song.
As long as he is a regular starter in our team, we will win F all.
Welbeck!!!
Danny. Get the fuck in!
Get in come on!
How bout Perez in, Iwobi out right here, right now.
Come on Wenger get Theo and Perez on.
He is. but unfortunately he’s taking Danny and Giroud off.
Iwobi must be Wenger’s favorite.
Why on earth is Iwobi not being substituted? Is he untouchable now?
Don’t get why he has kept Iwobi on and taken Danny off.
Xhaka being stupid again.
Mustafi thick as whale blubber
We are back to our selves again
Wengers fault if we loose what was he thinking with that team selection?
Picked the wrong team, left his second batch of subs far too late.
Abject
Typical fuckin Arsenal always the same
Iwobi misses the equaliser – and Liverpool score winner.
We’re gonna win the Cup!
Get your coat, Arsene.
The subs killed all momentum. Danny scores the last chance. Theo anonymous (as was Perez)
Typical Wenger selection abysmal, out of fucking mind! I’m livid!
Being for so long in the game he plays his second best team against Pool, why on earth did he do that?
Funny enough, am not even mad. Just feeling indifferent, wasn’t expecting a positive result. Our season has been over weeks ago and for once I really don’t care if we make top four or not.
Chilly ‘n’ isolated. I speak of Wenger, not Alexis freezing his balls off for 45 mins.
Holic will be here soon with some measured analysis but that hurt. It’s hurting me almost every time I watch us nowadays. You don’t need much of a football brain to analyse that one.
We picked the wrong team, didn’t press well enough, weren’t well organised , can’t defend, lacked quality and left it too late to bring Sanchez on.
It’s games like this that persuade people that Wenger isn’t the shrewd judge he once was. We had twelve days off before this game and yet had no appetite early on. Leaving Sanchez out might have been because the rest of the team hate him but don’t pick him on the bench if you want to make a point.This just made Wenger look clueless.
I’m afraid Mustafi and Xhaka represent a massive overspend. Both were poor and have been for some time.
Regular drinkers will know that Chris/Oscar and I barely agree on anything.
However, for a long time now he has been championing the purchase of Marco Rues (and Mats Hummels). I happen to think he is right on this. Of course it is not clear if we could prise him from Dortmund, or even that he would want to come, but it is players of his quality that we undoubtably need.
Because the simple truth is that we do not have enough world class players to compete at the higher eschelons of the Premier League or Champions League.
Unlike Chris however, I am tired of the likes of Theo “consistant in patches” Walcott and others who show little or no fight or work rate, especially when the going gets tough.
In my view, hard working players are in the minority at AFC, and I would also venture that a hard working player can work wonders when coupled with the gifted players in our squad.
This result pours yet more pressure on AW, but it is surely all of his own making. The risk inherent in starting without our best player (Sanchez) makes no sense to this observer.
Where to now?
I really do despair.
Liverpool are a pretty ordinary team in truth – yet we made them look like absolute world beaters.
I am dreading the vist of Munich, but I’ll watch because I’m an addict.
Addicts cant help themselves.
Cold Turkey anyone?
Arsenal since ’78 and always will be but I am feeling very “Meh” about all this just now…
And surely that is the last thing a football club wants to hear it’s long time supporters saying ?
Sanchez’s last game for us was Bayern nearly 3 weeks ago (excluding the 15 odd minutes v Sutton). How can AW justify leaving him on the bench? He dodged all the questions in his post match interview so I guess we’ll never know.
The mis-spending of £ 200 million plus is the single most obvious nail in Wenger’s coffin. He really needed the 70 mill spent on Xhaka and Mustafi to come off. It hasn’t and as I’ve said before he could have got Wanyama and Williams for about 15 mill. Where he’s bought quality he has shown how uncomfortable he is spending big money and handling the game’s big stars. On top of that the signings of Chambers, Deboosh, Welbz (injury prone before and since), Elneney, Gabriel, Holding and even the two goalies has been either dreadful or very mediocre. Here is a man who either can’t identify or can’t manage to bring in the right players. Scouting intuition is getting him nowhere in the modern game and his discomfort with the financial realities of the modern game is killing us. COYG.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
IF
I feel your pain and so for most of this Bar. Emotions are heightened at times like these and it needs more rational analysis but at the moment there aren’t many players I think I’d build a new team around.
Those who I believe are good enough to play fir Arsenal when challenging for the title
Cech
Bellerin
Koscielny
Sanchez
Ozil ( sometimes)
Cazorla ( how we miss him)
Holding
Welbeck
I’d give the benefit of the doubt to Ox and Nacho is a decent left back but a declining force
That leaves an awful lot of deadwood that will never take Arsenal back to the top ,in England , let alone Europe.
But regrettably the most important change needs to be with the manager. I really can’t see a future for us with Arsene in charge and I hate to see him destroy his legacy like this. I disapprove of early resignations leaving the lame duck manager who sees his authority drifting away as the team know he is off but I’d like Arsene to announce he’s off at the end of the season and hope that the players he has so massively supported do their best to give him a proper send- off. It would also leave the club with certainty so that they could plan for the future around a new manager . This ‘ will he, won’t he’ does no one any good and will build resentment towards Wenger throughout the supporters . Please Arsene make the decision soon and spare everyone most of all yourself this agony.