It was more than smash and grab at Anfield
Arsenal beat Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield with a direct and disciplined display. Arsenal deserved to win and looked far more dangerous in the final third.
Arsenal scored 3 goals from open play and Liverpool scored from a corner where Thierry Henry left Dirk Kuyt unmarked from Peter Crouch's firm header.
But why is there an uproar about Liverpool being unlucky, having a lot of possession and feeling aggrieved that they did not get something from the game? I felt Arsenal subdued Liverpool and that we never looked in any real danger against a team boasting a very good home record.
The impetus was on them to come and attack us and I thought we made them look very ordinary indeed. We were dangerous coming forward and Rosicky took his goals expertly, but Van Persie got in a couple of times and Rosicky bottled out of a tackle with Dudek before he scored as he was lacking in confidence.
I thought we were the better team without any real chances after 30 minutes and that Liverpool were worried by Henry and the fact they hadn't started very well. Then we scored two excellent goals and the game was not really in doubt apart from when Hoyte was being fouled by Crouch when Aurelio shot 5 yards wide.
So why the smash and grab headlines? We deserved to win this just as much as we did at Old Trafford. A good display and one which will add to the belief of the side.
What did we learn about Rosicky? He is an instinctive finisher, his first goal was taken sublimely and the second was a cool finish. The thing to note is that the second goal was as instinctive as the first. He even admitted that he tried to first of all play the ball back to Henry but ran out of options and so it was either shoot or lose the ball.
Instinctive finishing (bear in mind he was half turned when he shot for the opener and so must know where the goal is) and increased confidence means Rosicky can be a big player in the second half of the season. Arsene says the new Pires but as long as Hleb and Rosicky score the 15-20 that Pires got per season, Gilberto, Adebayor and Van Persie keep banging them in then we will have found something or be able to share the burden of something we have been severely lacking in the last season or so.. A consistent third goal scorer.
In my last post I said we had one 4 and drawn 3 out of the last 8 and now that is won 5 and drawn 3 out of 9 which is not bad and improving all the time. Considering that included away games against Liverpool, Porto and Chelsea I'd say that if we were to ask for much more we were spoilt.
We are starting to find our feet and with Henry, Gallas, Lauren and Diaby all coming back into contention we are in good shape to put together a run. We have got a good chance to win something and we are still improving.
All in all a very good performance and as the song goes.. Reasons to be cheerful.
posted by JoeBoni @ 3:18 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
I think the "Smash and Grab" headlines were purely because it not a performance we have associated with Arsenal for many years now (since George Graham era).
I'm a Liverpool fan, and usually when we get beaten by an Arsenal side under Wenger it is because we have been totally outplayed, this was more like what we used to do to teams under Houllier (although admittedly you did it with a lot more style!).
I agree mainly with what you say about being the more dangerous looking side, although that was more evident after you went one nil up.
As a Liverpool fan, unfortunately I have to agree with this. Liverpool had a lot of possession on the edge of Arsenals area without ever really looking like scoring. Arsenal sat deep and counter-attacked with purpose. I never thought we would get back into it and Arsenal thoroughly deserved their win. I just hope you win it, couldnt stand chelski or the mancs winning it!
Joe, have you noticed that of the other so-called "big clubs," Arsenal get the most respect from Liverpool supporters?
Thought about it again with these two posts from Reds fans. I think the feeling is mutual, too. I found myself almost giddy when Liverpool came back to win the Big Cup, and Stevie G went out of his way to wish us luck in that game last year.
We hear nothing but shite from Man U fans (most of whom don't even understand the game) and the Chelski bunch probably feel so guilty about winning with Russian gangster money that they're pretty ugly with their opinions.
Did you notice that when Thierry was subbed for Theo near the end on Saturday, the crowd at Anfield gave him a huge cheer?
Maybe it's just that Liverpool fans really and truly KNOW the game and its history, and it shows.
Of course I want to see Arsenal win at Anfield -- Saturday, tomorrow and always -- but I feel respect for Liverpool at every turn.
I wish we could play them for the Prem title on the last day of every season.
I am surprised about your post. As a Liverpool supporter I agree that your more clinical finishing and individual quality won you the game at Anfield.
I hardly think it could be described as a 'Smash and Grab' and certainly the media reports I read agreed with my initial analysis above.
I wish you good luck for the rest of the competition and confess if you stick to the same plan tomorrow you will probably knock us out the Carling Cup too.
California Steve - good post
we also need to remember that a majority of the media are Liverpool fans. This is hardly surprising considering the all conquering Liverpool teams of the /80s, when most of these media guys were wee.
My view is to ignore the media most of the time. How many times have you been to a game, read the media report and thought you'd been at the same match?
Back to the match. I thought the Arsenal played well. The rest has done TH14 good at a number of levels - he is fresher / fitter but he also knows that Gilberto has done an A1 job as captain in his absence and he needs to live up to that.
Actually, most of the print media is based in Manchester. There isn't a bias for ex-Liverpool players as TV pundits for the BBC and they don't write the headlines, neither do Ian Wright or Lee Dixon.
I haven't seen a blog article on bias in the media lately (if ever) that actually named names and argued that certain papers went for certain teams. Maybe you should write one, or some one in charge of the other gooner blogs that has older supporters commenting.
by bias, i mean preference, not anything overly malicious, although the Sun under Murdoch was stupidly pro-manure, not least b/c he also owned stocks there. I always thought the Mirror purposely leaned pro-arsenal as any good competitor to the sun would do.
Agreed it is a welcome change that I get posts from opposition fans that don't include obscenities and abuse. As you say Liverpool are a side with on the whole decent fans who play the game the right way and so good luck to 'em.
As for the Mirror bias it is because Piers Morgan who was the chief editor was a massive Gooner as to why they are so pro AFC.
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