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| Image Credit: Arsenaldotcom |
Errrhmmm that went well, okay maybe not so well I admit. Our Anfield pain/misery
continues as the Arsenal suffered yet another loss to Klopp's wards in their
most recent league clash. I still wonder when we would be able to banish this
recurrent whipping on our travels to the KOP, it’s just disheartening. That
said, this time there were a few positives to pick off the loss. I won’t try to
sugar coat anything, the gunners lost to a team that looks and plays better
than them currently, however, the performance was much much improved when
compared to our previous visits. Sure, it hurts to lose at Anfield again, but
the game wasn’t over before the end of the first half, if anything the gunners made
it harder for Liverpool such that it took two annoying moments from David Luiz
to put the game past the gunners. A penalty and the usual Moh Salah curler into
the far right, it was game over for Arsenal.
Let’s move on to aspects of the game that I felt were encouraging. I
mentioned earlier that we made it more difficult for Liverpool to get cruising
like they used to in recent times under Klopp. The gunners also fashioned a few
half chances with Auba and Pepe going close. If Pepe had been more clinical,
Arsenal probably would have gone into the half time interval a goal or two up, who knows
how that would have affected the outcome of the game. Our game plan to exercise
discipline by pressing high up wasn’t as effective as Liverpool’s high press
but we held on till Matip’s goal just before the half time whistle. I would say, all things considered, we did very okay even though it came at the cost of our
free passing game. Ceballos was given a taste of another side of the Premiership,
he was pressed into hurried passes and generally marked out. He eventually got
yanked off in the second half, I know he would survive. If you ask me, it’s always
good to get your baptism of fire early and move on. In hindsight, maybe Toreira should have started, or with
Willock or Guedouzi coming on as a sub. Anyway, that’s a debate for another day,
just saying. 6 points from 3 games with one of two tough games chucked off,
unto the next one!
It’s off to the North London Derby in today's late game as the Arsenal
square of against the noisy neighbours down Seven sister’s road. Geez did I just
say that, noisy neighbours? Sorry Tottenham supporters, you are guys are just
as passionate as can be. The game promises to be explosive as you would expect
from a derby match. Arsenal still smarting from their 3-1 humiliation at
Anfield, and Tottenham, reeling with a bloody nose from a 0-1 shock defeat to Newcastle
in their own backyard, who would have thunk that? It’s a derby like they say, form
goes out the window when it comes to games like this. Last season, the Arsenal
got one over Spurs with a 4-2 win at the Emirates. That was a joy to watch, beating
Spur any time is always a pleasure, just as losing to them is a nasty PAIN! I wouldn’t
talk much about tactics for the game, except that we have to be clinical in
front of goal with little margin for error. One thing that I hope Emery is
hammering into the mentality of the lads is ensuring we know how to play with
positional discipline. The gunners scored lots of goals conceded at 51 goals
against 73 we scored for 18/19 season. We also kept the least number of clean sheets in over 7
seasons and also our clean sheets didn’t hit double figures at just 8 clean
sheets with only one away in a whole season….DAMNING! That is just not good enough for any team with dreams of competing for top four, talk much less of
competing against Liverpool and Man City. For today's match, I want the lads to take the game to spurs
and hammer home our dominance not mindless possession but incisive passing, probing when on the ball and staying disciplined when off the ball, stifling, pressing, harrying
Spurs into forced errors that must be punished by the gunners scoring goals. My
line up will be similar to last week’s at Anfield just Torreira starting ahead
of Willock or Neilson. Lacazette, Özil, Mikhi, Martinelli are very decent attacking options that can come
make a huge impact off the bench.
Arsenal has to keep the tempo going, getting another 3 -points n
board is of great importance as we travel to Watford which we know can be
tricky, one game at a time though. The race for top four has already begun,
make no mistake about it, the earlier the lads knuckle down and sit up for
every game, the soon Arsenal FC gets back into top for and Champions league
football. That would be all folks, don’t forget to like us on Facebook here, and
subscribe to our blog so you never miss a post. Here's a poser for you, can Arsenal stop Kane from Scoring? I guess another 90+ minutes will tell. Do enjoy the game wherever you
are…..Ciaoo
