Arsenal(a) match thread

[Tyler Durden]

Taken a draw before but not in that manner, they were there for the taking and we need the points, sticking one of the best players in the league marking the opposition fullback for 30 minutes was criminal, as was taking Sturridge off when he had been left on his own all game up top, he needed support. Suarez was just as isolated when he moved up there which led to us being pinned back holding on.

 

Need another big performance Sunday now

[mike23]

Not sure Reina can really be blamed for the Walcott goal. It was so fiercely struck it was pretty much past him by the time he had chance to react. The first goal disappointed me a lot more. The one way you don't expect to concede against Arsenal is from a set piece crossed into the box. Shame Giroud seems to have come into a bit of form recently. He looked absolutely dire at the start of the season and was missing chances easier than that.

[Code]

Pepe made some great saves today but he should have had that Walcott goal.

 

Erik Thorstvedt and Thomas Myhre in the Norwegian PL studio completly disagree with you, when it comes to keepers I think I go along with their judgement at leaszt when it supports mine.

 

The pace of that shot from Walcott gave Reina no chance.

[Paco]

never had any doubt that we would pay for missing all those chances first half....until henderson took them all on and scored. That had me dreaming of 37 points as wilshere lined up a free kick and next thing it was 2-1. Thought reina was poor for walcotts goals but made some great saves first half.

 

back to henderson - he was everywhere first half but lacked the quality to find sturridge on one occasion and the other one he went for goal and lobbed it over.

 

thought sturridge was pretty poor again. better than he was against oldham but should have taken that great ball from suarez back on to his left instead of hitting a first time right footed effort.

 

in the end we did well to hang on and like in a couple of other games (chelsea and everton) we finished strongly and could have won.

 

final point about our defending and everyones defending. teams are far more attack minded this season. everyone is conceding more goals. Stoke had the best defensive record until recently. it's about finding a balance between attack and defence and we're still working on that. we're very similar to arsenal in that respect.

 

good point but should really have been 3.

[El Davo]

Dont post often but my opinion if it means anything. 2 nil up away from home - instructions? - Defend well for the next 10 minutes, soak up the pressure, take your chance when it comes, defend well again. Instead - give a soft free kick away, dont mark, poor substitution, scrape a draw. Gerrard and Suarez equal MOM in 1st half but 2nd half sat too deep. Sagna there for the taking.

[BCM]

Cant believe some fans are trying to pin any blame on Reina, he had a cracking game tonight, made two excellent saves as well and at least one timely interception.

[Nightcat]

The defence was exposed through lack of protection through the MF when Gerrard was looking to influence the play going forward. We need to sort the defensive side of the midfield out. A strong, pacy midfielder who can tackle would be nice.

 

I think one of the problems starts from there. Lucas understandably isn't yet back to his best. Overall 4-3-3 is not my favourite system.

[bentw]

It's obviously disappointing to come away with a point from having a 2 goal cushion especially as it is the second time this season that its happened.

 

But, had a point been offered to me before the game, I'd probably have taken it. Performance wise, I thought we were quite sloppy in possession at times and our wastefulness put us back under pressure, creating our own problems.

I am a fan of Lucas but thought the game passed him by a bit tonight. He seemed a little bit slow to arrive to cutting out their attacks and was often by passed due to the pace of the game. Hopefully with more minutes back under his belt he continues to get that match sharpness back.

Very pleasing performance from Jordan Henderson who I thought was excellent tonight. I know the boy has had a bit of stick from people on here with some of it deserved, but his resurgence and new bravery and desire is great to see and it was great to see his tenacity not giving up and knocking the ball in the net. I think Henderson is a good player. I like his ability to play in tight areas and his rare wastefulness in in possession, he has got a footballing brain and his technique is good.

I do think we are moving in the right direction, but if we are to progress, we must learn to close the game and soak it up when ahead with a cushion.

[rubble-rouser]

Too much negativity here. Frustrating to let it slip. Terrible organistain and making for the first goal but we defended set pieces well the rest of the night.

 

I don;t think anyone played badly and I don't understand people having a go at Sturridge. He worked hard, had a hand in both goals, held it up well and was unucky to be subbed. Suarez was exausted after Sturidge went off and I'm sure if Sturridge had been on the pitch at the end he'd have follwed in Luis' shot and scored.

 

They were always going to have a good spell and it's a pit y that hey scored when they did. The freekick for their first was highly dubious (friend was our worst enemy agan tonight) and if we'd kept them out for 5 more mintes the boos would have got louder and louder and that fucking kermit in a blankert would have panicked and thrown on a pile of dogshite.

 

Pepe coudl have been a step furtehr forward for Walcott's goal but it was a good move and a good strike.

 

Can't agree with Carra as MOTM - verty Sky decison - i.e. an old headed Engklish player - not that he disd anything wrong, but I though Henderson's all round contribution (depsite a couple of fluffed passes in teh first half) was excellent.

[DooooodekNo5]

Eh? Reina was in no way to blame for the first goal.

 

As far as the second is concerned, people will have different opinions. It would have been a world class save to get something on walcott's shot but then again, those are saves that win you matches and single a keeper out as truely world class.

 

I didn't say he was, i know you're eager to pounce on any mistake you think i make and there was a typo or 2 in the post but its still obvious i didn't mean the first goal.

 

He was awful for the 2nd goal though, where was the anticipation? where was even the slightest attempt to stop it? he was on his heels switched off.

 

Thankfully it looks like this will be his last season, ill miss the distribution skills but everything else is below the required standard with him nowadays.

[A_S]

Reina's weight was on his left foot to cover his near post and Walcott's shot was smashed the opposite way. People making out he just stood there and watched it are taking the piss.

[smicer07]

Reina had no chance whatsoever with either goal. No keeper would have saved those.

[Newport]

That first half gave me the feeling of the old days with Rafa. Unfortunately so did the second half. Then again it was nice to see Pepe back to his old level, saying he should have saved the Walcott goal is horseshit in my opinion, and Carra looking good again just like he did at Chelsea.

 

They turned up the pace even more in the second half and some of ours looked a bit tired when they did. We probably should have made some changes in midfield about the same time as the goals came, but strangely enough it never came. I also think the three up front became more isolated in the first 30 minutes or so of the second half, but when Suarez was moved to the middle things got better. Obviously Sturridge isn't fully match fit yet and that's because he hasn't been playing regularly for a while. But he and Suarez was a massive threat in the first half and that is something to look forward to and now there is another skillful player with pace being added to that front line, unlike his fellow countryman at the left back who has to be the worst Brazilian player I've ever seen. I can't think of anyone else at the moment, even fat Ronaldo and fat Adriano put in better shifts than that pile of shit.

 

It's a shame we couldn't hold on to the lead as it would have helped us massively on a day when Spurs dropped points yet again, but still we also could have lost it at the end.

[etho]

Shame, after working ourselves into a great position we were sucker punched in five minutes, perhaps understandably we sat deep and clung on after that. More positives than negatives in my opinion, it's another lesson which we will learn from.

 

Should have targeted Santos more.

[Captain]

Wtf? Are some actually blaming this on Pepe? Seriously?

 

The man saved us from defeat ffs.

[Dracco]

Henderson played very well as did Carragher.

 

Agger again lost his man for goal, it happens almost every time we concede a goal. I can remember at least 5 goals this season where he was completely lost defending cross or set piece-

 

But Skrtel is shit in the air.

[Section_31]

Don't think I've felt as pessimistic about our on pitch prospects since the Souness era. Gerrard and Carragher coming to the end of their careers and Suarez and Reina surely destined for the door. After that there's not a lot left and I can't see Rodgers being able to replace them. I think all we'll get now is the odd bit of decent attacking play which may be able to do a job on poor or average sides but against any team with technical skill, tactical nous or good old fashioned balls it'll be the same old shit. We're heading full pelt in the wrong direction as a club and the whole philosophy is based on nothing but hope. It's heartbreaking to watch.

[DooooodekNo5]

Reina stood there like his feet were set in concrete, the only movement was his head turning to watch the ball go past him into the back of the net, he could of saved with his legs or at least attempted to if he wasn't so flat footed and switched off in the head.

 

Funny that were now ok with our keeper just standing there and making no effort at all to save the ball thats inches away from him.

[Paco]

Don't think I've felt as pessimistic about our on pitch prospects since the Souness era. Gerrard and Carragher coming to the end of their careers and Suarez and Reina surely destined for the door. After that there's not a lot left and I can't see Rodgers being able to replace them. I think all we'll get now is the odd bit of decent attacking play which may be able to do a job on poor or average sides but against any team with technical skill, tactical nous or good old fashioned balls it'll be the same old shit. We're heading full pelt in the wrong direction as a club and the whole philosophy is based on nothing but hope. It's heartbreaking to watch.

 

catch a fucking grip of yourself.

[Captain]

catch a fucking grip of yourself.

 

WTF?

[neopulian]

catch a fucking grip of yourself.

 

I don't know. Superfan antics like yours are getting old. I am about as optimistic about our prospect as the latter years under Evans. How many times can you watch a team repeating the same sort of mistakes in every crunch match without it knocking off your faith a little? Can't quite remember another Liverpool team this soft.

[Kevin D]

catch a fucking grip of yourself.

 

Settle down. That's a made fuckin' guy you're talking to.

[kalasoma]

I don't understand why people are being so depressingly down about this result. Yes, we should have held onto the lead, but there were definitely positives to take from this. The learning should be that we need to better handle how to recover the ball when we lose it in our own half. Or giving away silly free kicks just outside the box is dangerous because we're not good defending balls lofted into the box. But surely a lack of concentration or a sloppy free kick should not be interpreted as this team being completely and utterly useless.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

I don't know. Superfan antics like yours are getting old. I am about as optimistic about our prospect as the latter years under Evans. How many times can you watch a team repeating the same sort of mistakes in every crunch match without it knocking off your faith a little? Can't quite remember another Liverpool team this soft.

 

"Latter years". Meanwhile Brendan has just started. Yes, there are problems. This is when you give him the time to sort it out.

[kalasoma]

Reina stood there like his feet were set in concrete, the only movement was his head turning to watch the ball go past him into the back of the net, he could of saved with his legs or at least attempted to if he wasn't so flat footed and switched off in the head.

 

Funny that were now ok with our keeper just standing there and making no effort at all to save the ball thats inches away from him.

 

But all the other saves he makes to keep us in the match don't deserve any recognition. I doubt even Casillas could have kept that Walcott goal out quite frankly. Reina has had a very noticeable dip in form, but tonight, I thought he was one of our best players.