To be perfectly honest, I would not be surprised in the least if Brendan Rodgers comes to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal on Monday night with the opinion that a point would be a brilliant prize for Liverpool to take home with them.
After all, apart from that crazy early Saturday a couple of years ago, the Northern Irishmen has had very little to cheer about after his clashes with Arsene Wenger and the Gunners. And Liverpool have been pretty far from impressive so far this season, despite them having six points on the board after their first two Premier League games.
Everyone already thought that they would come to north London and try to park a big red bus, even before Rodgers suggested the same in his pre-match press conference, as reported by The Mirror. He spoke a lot about possession of the ball and how you do not necessarily need to dominate it to win and the message was clear; defend and counter attack.
The Liverpool boss said, “It is a game against a rival you are going to be competing with at the top end of the table.
“Arsenal, like many teams, are still trying to find rhythm and flow but while doing that you want to win.
“West Ham got a good result there but with [Alexis] Sánchez back he is a real catalyst for them and they played well at Crystal Palace.. It is a challenge we are looking forward to.
“If you assess games against Arsenal we have always had dominance of the ball, especially at home. If you assess the last 10 games Arsenal have lost at home, it was about dangerous possession for the teams who won.
“They only averaged four shots on target with 43% possession. That tells you you don’t need to dominate the ball but you can dominate the space.
“That is important in the away games. Tactically we’ll arrive in a good mind about how we can win it. There are certain games you look at the approach to get you the result and that is something we have been working on this week.”
It sounds almost as if Rodgers is preparing the Liverpool fans for a tough 90 minutes, but as much as he may be annoying, he is not daft and he did spend time under Jose Mourinho. So could Rodgers be trying a bit of mind games here in an attempt to get Arsenal ready to face an obdurate side so they can take us by surprise early and get a lead to protect?
Brendan is a brilliant coach no doubt…and he is definitely not known for packing the bus…
I admire him though..
Giroud will park the bus for Liverpool defenders. He wont allow the defenders to move one inch.
If He likes, let him go and borrow Mourinho’s blue Yokohama Bus, Ozil and Sanchez go still Hama them. Remember last season’s game at Anfield Rogers? Yea! Now u remember.
Hope he uses yokohama tires on the bus! We know what happen with mourinho on that one!
Dont worry …we have our own mini bus parked upfront named Giroud who prefers defending rather than scoring!
Hey calm down just calling a donkey a donkey and not pretend it being a thoroughbred!
Hey NIKK………stop it!……. Pls just stop it!……. He ain’t a donkey, He ain’t a minibus……He’s a Traffic marshaL and warden….. He holds up all our plays
United sliding.
Chelsea battling.
City are flash but
not tough?
Win Monday and Arsenal
will be 2nd =
The EPL is Asenals to lose now.
Leicester city have 7 points, man u have 7 points and Man city have 6 points and superior goal
difference. Dont worry we will reach our crown 4th place trophy.
oLd roger ain’t known for Bus parking tho he might wanna try……… Roger that!
Arsenal’s record vs. LPool over the past few years has been very good. Even that 5-1 loss that everyone seems to reference every time LPool is mentioned was an anomaly. That season Arsenal played LPool 3 times and won twice – not so bad.
I have confidence Arsenal can continue to dominate. Even with their new signings, LPool still relies mostly on 3 players – Henderson, Mignolet and mostly Coutinho. Arsenal still has more players contributing to wins than LPool.
I m a still enjoying manu drawing with Newcastle. ..especially after van gaal says it was a fantastic performance lol.
Also enjoying spurs and west ham results.
Will be bjoying these even tomorrow.
Then on Monday I ll worry about Pool game
any idea why LEWANDOWSKI was left to start up their match against hoffeinhem from the bench?….. Perhaps he’s our man! *How Rumour starts*
Same reason why wanyama handed a transfer request jjajajajajajajaj
Don’t buy it but it’s fun
Should Arsene buy Victor Wanyama?
He would definitely add some steel to the midfield.
As long as Ramsey is preferred on the wings when we have natural ‘fit’ wingers wallowing on the bench…
Then don’t cry me a River after the match. I still think Ospina should be given a chance i.e to sound a wake-up bell to Cech… That’s just me tho.
@soopaaoen. Real are trying to sign lewa no? I think benzema is our signing to be announced next week. Reus and benzema not listed in their teamsheets not even on the bench. Reus to Rm benzema to us. On lpool I think this gane needs caution they are an unknown with the new sihnings such as clyne and firminho. Obviously they’ll pose some threat with benteke and ings. As man city said attack attack attack! But with caution and coquelin and the defence at home 🙂 I truly hope we have ox or theo on the rw and not ramsey. Lastly in order of preference which striker would you want if they all wanted us and wereavailable? Lewandoski, cavanni, benzema. That Is my order of preference.
Lewandoski ticks all the boxes and scores big goals in big moments. Other than him no one is a “special talent”. I wouldnt mind Draxler if you cant get Lewa at least he has a lot of upside
First Priority: DM. God help us if Coq cant play in a big game!
This is a game where we can really use Walcott/chamberlain to neutralize the treats from their wing backs.. But trust Arsene… Trust Ramsey.
Or maybe play Ramsey first half, then Theo when the defense looks jaded because am very sure we gonna mesmerize them in their 18yard box a lot.
Scoreline Arsenal 1-0 Pool..
Brendan Rodgers high pressing game will be jettisoned as soons as he steps into the away team dugout. Rodgers has given instructions to his Reds to defend stoutly and strike on the Gunners’ defense whenever they momentarily switched off attacking. Therefore, the Gunners must guide against any momentary loss of concentrations and be ready to contain the Reds counter attack threats whenever they launch them. The Gunners MUST be poised and have the eagle’s eyes to see any movement by the Reds and neutralize it before it’s hatched. The Gunners MUST be wise as a serpent and be stronged as the steel and dominate the game as a lion dominates the Den. The Gunners MUST convert all the chances they created in the game and any chance or chances that fell to them must be put away by them. The Gunners must not give the ball away or concede possesions to the Reds.
WENGER PRESS CONFERENCE
on expecting a signing…
I expect like you but at the moment we are not close.
on people saying Arsenal need to sign someone…
I listen to everybody but my job is to make decisions, to select and make decisions. Even if I look everywhere and listen to everybody at the end of the day I have to make the decisions. If I just listen to people’s opinion, many players who have signed here starting with Vieira, Anelka and Henry would never have signed here at the end of the day. I have to make the decisions.
on whether the window should still be open…
I stand on the fact that when the championship starts the transfer window should be finished. It’s as simple as that because it’s to easy to say, ‘We’ll play three or four games and see what we’ve missed, then after we’ll correct it quickly with a lot of money’. I think it’s too big an advantage for clubs who didn’t work well during the transfer window.
on whether this has been the most difficult transfer window…
It is difficult because there’s more money in football, more clubs with big resources, and less players available. The funds are there more than the players who could strengthen the squad. That is a big problem. People know that you have the resources and they want you to buy players from clubs who do not need your resources, and who are not necessarily prepared to sell.
on whether there aren’t enough No 9s available…
There’s a shortage in the world. It confirms what I just said, that there’s a difference between financial power nowadays and the availability of top-class players.
on whether fans have to lower their expectations…
It is simple. For any deal, when you want to buy something you go to see the owner and if he doesn’t want to sell, he doesn’t want to sell. You cannot buy. In our job it is exactly like that. When the players are not free you cannot buy them because it’s the club who decides, the person who owns the contract who decides. In Europe you have maybe 15 clubs with a huge financial resource.
on whether it’s been frustrating because of that…
I’m always more focused on developing the team, the players we have and getting everyone on board that we have at the club. We want to develop players as well rather than over-thinking whether to buy. I’m not against buying when it is a plus for your team. If it’s just to buy a player at the level of the players that you have to make people happy, I’m not ready for that. If it’s somebody who brings something that you don’t already have in the squad, then of course you want to do that.
n whether that proves how hard it is to sign someone…
t is hard, believe me, to get a deal over the line. It’s difficult as well if you’re not completely inside the deal, to know what happens. Did the player not want to go? Did Manchester United not want to spend more? I don’t know.
on if the players that have joined rivals would not have improved Arsenal…
I don’t know that. I cannot [not] deny that. What you want for any player is the need to buy in this position. [You think] ‘Is this player making your squad stronger?’, and you have to say yes or no. I think we have strong players in every position.
on if other teams strengthening makes Arsenal weaker…
I was asked this question two years ago when some clubs bought 10 players [and people said] ‘How do you feel, you have no chance now’. What you want is to focus on your own strengths and make sure that you develop your team. The cohesion, the style of play that everybody knows are important qualities. We live in a society that is hungry for news and news is good, I can understand that. But you have to absolutely be convinced that it strengthens your team.
on if the club is doing all it can to get quality in…
Of course. What is our target every day, every morning from morning to night, we try to be as good as we can in every single department of our club.
Spoiler: Arsenal have finally won something they didnt win last season 4TH place trophy.
Sunderland, a team scrapping relegation every season, are getting criticised heavily because they only spent £21m this transfer window.
Arsenal, one of the top 10 biggest and richest clubs in the world, have spent just £10.8m this window. No one says a word…
‘Oh there aren’t any wc strikers out there that we can get so we can’t actually buy anyone’ I hear you say. But answer me this: what’s stopping us from buying a defensive midfielder? Money? None available? Clubs won’t sell? Nope, none of those. Poor management is the answer to that question.
I don’t see the point in waiting to the end of the window to sign a player we could’ve bought two months earlier and have them worked into the team with a good preseason. Some players aren’t available until the end of the window, but a defensive midfielder? Of course they’re available. Several have moved this summer already. And if we don’t end up signing a defensive midfielder, that’s even worse management.
What do u think of Arsenal ?
Neutral supporters 4TH place trophy.
I predict L’pool will sit back (not quite parking the bus) and hit us on the break – Benteke against Mertz – no problem as long as he keeps a firm grip on his shirt for 90 mins.
I’m confident of victory once Benteke is neutralised.
Wasnt it Benteke marking Mertesacker for that corner he scored in the FA Cup final?
Well if Rogers plays Benteke as a defender and Wenger puts Mertz up front then problem solved
I’ll probably get a record number of thumbs down for this but Benzema doesn’t impress me at all – over rated and ridiculous transfer fee for his age. He lost in place in the French team to who for a while ?
If I was at RM I’d score goals – it’s a 2 horse race every year , he’s surrounded by some of the best players in the world and unlike the PL half the Spanish teams give up at half time when they’re losing.
Sorry Arsene , just cos he’s French doesn’t mean he’s great.
My prediction Arsenal 1 Liverpool 2.
Just seen Carl Jenkinson’s sending off. If he did that in an Arsenal shirt he wouldn’t be forgiven. So foolish…
Wenger says there are no top players available who are better than what we have.
Cohesion, money dont buy success, Giroud and Coqulin are world class, we have too many midfield players, other teams were better prepared than us becoz they played more pre season games than us, the refree gave a wrong decision, opponent team made too many bad tackles,
excuse after excuse, no tactics, 4th place mentality.
Learn to read thoroughly, AW did not say that at all.
Enough with the negativity already.