We are visiting Anfield today. One of the most important games of the season, clash of the No #1 and No #2, and two teams fighting for 90 minutes to sing ‘I am better than you’ at the end of day. Quality wise, we are on par with them. It will all come down to the players and their passion to beat the best team in Premier League and the manager to devise a strategy to neutralise the Mo Salah threat while breaking that defence to score some goals. Trent is gone so that’s a relief, we always hated his long balls to Salah.
We haven’t won at Anfield since 2012. In recent years, we have proved to be a match to them sharing points in our last 6 encounters. Today is the day to reset both these numbers.
Their new striker, Ekitike, had a wonderful start in Liverpool color. He has scored 2 and assisted 1 in his first 2 games. We have got our own fighter up top in Gyokeres, who scored 2 against Leeds after a sus first game. It’s the battle of the Forwards primarily and we will see who is the geezer of two.
Then, they have one of the best CB of recent Premier League era and we have got one for the present and future. VVD has enjoyed his fair share of praises, but Saliba has taken over. They have the best player on the planet in Mo Salah which we don’t have answer to as Saka is injured but we as a team have better chemistry, better defence and a better midfield to counter that advantage.
Team News
We needed everyone for one of the biggest games of the season, but unfortunately we are without 2 of our main team players. Saka is out injured for about a month and Odegaard for probably a couple more weeks.
Smart teams anticipate such kind of scenarios and cover it in advance. Last season, Saka and Ode injuries would have meant we go into the game with Nwaneri on the wings and no idea who as the sole playmaker in the midfield. Today, we have options. Madueke is a premier league player, played in the Chelsea team against the likes of City and Liverpool and he knows what it takes to play in such a game. Eze, another premier league ready transfer, can cover the Odegaard’s position, without any drop in quality. We overpaid for both of them, but at least we have the confidence in both these signings to continue what Saka and Odegaard does.
Saka is a big game player and it’s impossible in current football world to replace him with a similar player. There would be some drop of quality on the right wing but it won’t lose us the game. Same for Eze.
Arteta will most likely stick to his back 4 of Timber, Saliba, Gabriel and Calafiori. The Italian will have a massive job today to handle Mo Salah who has a great start of the season with a goal and assist in previous 2 games. If he fails, we have MLS on the bench who can do that.
In the midfield, we would see one Eze coming in for Odegaard. Rice and Zubimendi will keep their place. I am not sure if Arteta will ever try one of Zubimendi or Rice in the middle with both Odegaard and Eze on either side, but if he does, it won’t be today.
Front 3 will be interesting. Madueke on the right means Martinelli will keep his place at the left and Gyokeres will start in the middle. Martinelli is menace for defenders with his pace and he is a big game player. For me, he starts today and he will end up benching Madueke once Saka is back.
Don’t be shocked if …
On the referee part, we are not in luck. Chris Kavanagh would be officiating the game, the last time he did that in an Arsenal game was against Chelsea in March. He ignored the Cucurella handball in the penalty box and totally missed to see Fofana stomping on Declan Rice. This is the same lad who red carded Declan Rice against Brighton for kicking the ball away where in fact he didn’t kick it while missing the leg kick only a fraction of second before, also totally ignoring Joao Pedro kicking the ball away a few minutes later. I am not really conspiracy theorist but lets just say he was born in Manchester and as far as I know, those cunts don’t really like us.
Wrapping Up
I think we will make it today and break the Anfield curse. 2-1 to boys with Martinelli scoring one in a counter and Gyokeres proving his worth and letting the world know he has arrived. It’s not going to be an easy game at all but lets see how much we can keep our focus on, not let Salah break free and keep our heads in the game. It’s too early in the season to make 1 single game important for the title, but having earning all 3 points against a top 4 teams given you the luxury to not think about a draw later in the season against a bottom half team – like Manchester United.
We have some big games coming up after this, so a loss could derail the confidence. Hopefully the new signing in Eze was able to get in the mix comfortably and Madueke does 9/10 of Saka on that right side.
Also, please don’t laugh about Tottenham, they lost to a mighty Bournemouth at home with 1 shots on target to theirs 6. Thomas Franc is a great manager, but so were Mourinho and Conte, you can’t coach the Spuds to play football, can you?
See you during the game.
as I said, if you can’t roll the tactical dice early on, what are the chances changes will be forthcoming as teh stakes are invariably raised…we were far more conservative than Pool’s first two opponents and one of them was playing with 10 men for more than half of the game!!!
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Marc
You and TRVL and I kept saying we were buying below our needs. We didn’t need Zubi with us having Rice. Zubi’s money and VG’s costs could have landed us a far better striker, Isak if we are ambitious, but KSE is happy with CL money and why he’s keeping MA.
VG was anonymous and like the Bendtner level I said he was.
Huffs and puffs a lot but is easily shepherded so not what we need. For a striker supposedly in his price he looks inexperienced at this level.
Tony
The Kroenke’s have allowed hundreds of millions to be spent (with fuck all coming in for players who leave). VG hasn’t been given any supply if we’d have bought Isak he’d look useless.
You take that squad and put Enrique in charge and they not only win the PL but play dynamite football doing it.
It all comes down to Arteta being a useless cunt.
No Martinez for Villa – wonder if he’ll pop up at ManU tomorrow!
The fraud got lucky at Old Trafford , so we all knew Slot would mug him off today.
As I have said before , we overrate our dross.
Just because this moronic cunt shells out millions on players every five minutes on players no other cunt want, does not mean they are any fucking good
Just look at the bollocks surrounding Eze. He is run of the mill , 20 years ago.
Liverpool have pissed the league and with Isak and Guehe to follow to guarantee it.
of course it’s difficult to imagine VG thriving in a side with a midfield 3 of Zubi, Rice and Merino…just felt that if we had started Eze more centrally, with Marts and Noni on the wings, we might have produced the same sort of magical moment that Pool did, which can oft-times be the difference in these sorts of thin margin affairs…instead we stuck with our usual low percentage tactics and hoped that everything worked in our favour…that’s some relegation-type tactical bullshit in my eyes
So Palace are clearly missing Eze as is the 3rd goal goes in at Villa Park.
This cunt of a club never fucking learns.
Our supporters are fucking clueless.
Always been the problem.
If we won 3 nil at Villa Park after playing in Europe on Thursday , the bollocks surrounding it woild be of the Richter Scale.
Glasner has done it with his cock hanging out.
Glasner beat City for the Cup
Then Liverpool for the Charity Shield
With players unsettled in the background.
And yet we stick with this failing moronic cunt.
Laughable.
AF—awhile back I remarked that Glasner reminded me of a younger Wenger…big fan of his high pressing, counter attacking approach with Stuttgart (the Glasner Effect)…just wasn’t convinced he had the horses to do so at Palace, especially after losing Olise and wasting so much money on Eddie…we could use a good dose of the latter part of his approach, instead of all this sideways nonsense
The proverb says “When a clown invades a palace, he doesn’t become king, the palace becomes a circus”. That is what Arteta has done he turned AFC into a circus. Raja complaining about the Puma ball that is why he didn’t save it. Arteta publicly in his Sky post conference named Eze for not putting the ball in the net. Way to go on how to throw Eze on his first club appearance under the bus. Arteta will always be remembered for Win the dog, but not for football. Read the perfect description of Arteta ball “the horseshoe of sadness”. The sooner he fucks off into the sunset the better. Ruined my weekend.
AF—I do understand your frustrations, even when it comes to Eze, who I openly admit I was excited about…maybe I was naive enough to believe that his hiring might provoke the necessary tactical changes or foolishly thinking too much about what a post-MA era might look like…so even though I rate Eze above many of our present options up top, I get why you would question such a sizeable investment, especially in light of MA’s preferred tactics, his age profile and how he would likely be deployed
it’s just like with VG, Noni, Rice, Havertz, Merino, Cala, Tross and White…none of these purchases truly made sense from a cost benefit analysis standpoint, so long as MA was in charge…even if they were deployed in a manner that best-suited their individual skillsets, many would still fail to meet the above standard…of course no manager will ever get it right 100% of the time, but our fucktard has continually settled/overpaid for nonsensical options…I would have been happier than a pig in shit if we left this window with only isak and a world-class left-sided forward, even if the payout was the same
Killroy—loving the horseshoe of sadness moniker…it hits on so many levels…Cheers
looks as if Isak to Pool is a done deal, pending the medical…he signed for 125M…so that’s the same as VG + Noni + Norgaard…imagine what Pool would say if you offered them that 3-for-1 trade
The argument will be that Liverpool were there for the taking if we were prepared to take a few risks in the game, but we didn’t and allowed Liverpool to creep into the game more and more as the 2nd half progressed.
We created zero big chances v Liverpool and are 2nd from bottom for expected goals from open play this season, though it has to be taken into account that we have played at anfield and old Trafford so far .
As I said prior to the match , kerkez was liverpool’s weak link and we should have been feeding Madueke at every opportunity but that never really materialised though I think Madueke looks a decent acquisition.
Gyokeres lacks pace over the first 5 yards , that is evident and also a concern especially in these tough away games as a strong , quick defender like konate will have Gyokeres on toast meaning very little relief for our midfield. Maybe Gyokeres is not up to speed/fitness yet but his lack of speed over the first 5 yards may prove to be a stumbling block for him.
To be honest Liverpool are not that great , they could and should have dropped points in all 3 games this season so are riding their luck , isak may make some difference but etikite looks decent anyway so the improvement may not be as great as some think and may only be marginal.
The hope is that this defeat to Liverpool will encourage Arteta to allow the team to play with more risks so the defeat may be the old blessing in disguise as yesterday will be looked as a missed opportunity if Arteta learns from the mistakes of fielding a negative line up with 3 holding midfielders and being way too conservative in our approach to the game , though that may be just wishful thinking.
Last season we faltered due to drawing way too many games, maybe this season will be a season of very few draws but a few more defeats , I have always thought that this season no team will dominate and a team could win the league with as little as 80 points , Liverpool will falter as they don’t play with the same level of intensity and speed as previous Liverpool sides, Arsenal need to play with more belief which comes from the manager, he has built a strong squad (spending fortunes) and needs to allow them to play with more freedom and expression, the new players that have come in like Eze, Madueke, Nwaneri and Dowman are all maverick type players who are individual in the way they want to run with the ball , they must be allowed to do what they do best.
For me , unlike others it’s not all doom and gloom ,after the international break we will probably beat city and forest at home and then struggle away to Newcastle as per usual which will see us in the top 3 which after a tough start to the season fixture wise will be more than acceptable.
TRVL
“…I would have been happier than a pig in shit if we left this window with only isak and a world-class left-sided forward, even if the payout was the same”
I wouldn’t disagree with that.
Mosquera looks a very decent acquisition , definitely a level or 2 above kiwior going by yesterday’s performance.
Slot gets his reward for being patient and signs Isak.
We have spunked our loads and bought overpaid dross on what I have seen so far.
I am reading that Chelsea cunt Madueke played well bollocks this morning.
Well I am remember when Pepe played well at Anfield and how did that turn out. He ran into some space, occasionally. Big fucking deal.
Why is it every fucking Tom , Dick and Harry scores goals against this Liverpool side , but our moronic cunt can’t.
They have let 2 in against Palace, Newcastle and Bournemouth.
Eze can turn into Messi , but with this moronic cunt he will go the same way as the all rest.
Values crashing through the floor and out on loan in 18 months.
Kilroy
Excellent post.
My interest in our club is waning fast. I stopped posting for a while because, Farteta being the turd he is, started to depress me.
I hadn’t heard that saying.
Are you building a bunker in Washington? lol.
Seems Labour in the UK are saying migrants have more rights than the Brits who live there.
My next home I’m moving to in the UK will be away from the mayhem in this world, as best as it is possible.
Pembrokeshire is a haven of peace & tranquility where the Welsh are very friendly or at least have been towards Junior and me for the last few months while we looked for the right property and area we wanted to live.
Junior and I spent a collective 400 hours analyzing the UK and Europe property market and countries where one could live year round.
It’s strange because when I looked where to live next after Thailand? It was so difficult to choose a country that didn’t have serious issues or there were foreseen issues on the horizon.
With the threat of WW3 and the daily global atrocities we read about, football should be something to give us, who love the sport and our chosen club some relief from the world’s dire machinations, but for us Gooners under MA, that is never going to be possible.
I didn’t let the loss or MA’s same shit different day tactics bother me because I predicted a loss after I saw the line up and knowing how MA plays, as nothing changes.
The goal was a thing of beauty, just sublime from a sublime player now taking over from TAA.
I detest Pool and Manure the most but until we get a manager who actually understand football tactics and systems, we are not going to win a PL or CL trophy.
I have stated that online sine our CEO when to hire Arteta in Manchester that dark and dismal night.
Got kicked out of LG for that view. Obviously, Pedro-Pete knew I was right and didn’t want it rammed down his throat every week.