Anfield Factor Costs Us by Dan Smith
Earlier in the week I asked the question ‘how could we be considered favourites for the title when we still had to go to Anfield and the Etihad, traditionally two or our toughest fixtures in the last decade?’
Some tried to argue about law of averages.
Others pointed that we are better than Liverpool this season which hasn’t always been the case in recent years.
Not true of course. Many times an Arsene Wenger Arsenal would finish above Liverpool but fail to get three points in the away fixture.
I felt some of my peers failed to understand the magic of Anfield.
Maybe it was an age difference, but some readers seemed arrogant about how hard it is to win in front of the Kop.
Some needed humbling.
Because if ever a result was owed to the mystique of a famous old stadium, it was this Sunday.
2-0 is a dangerous scoreline wherever you’re playing, with the next goal dictating the momentum. Conceding before half time is never ideal as it sends the opponent into the dressing room upbeat, completely changing a manager’s team talk.
It’s especially a mental blow when you had dominated for the majority of a first half more than anyone thought possible.
If anything, it was too easy, too comfortable for the Gunners, who rightly would have thought their efforts deserved more than a narrow lead.
That would have been the thought process at any venue, yet no place in English football plays on your psychology more than the one on the red half of Merseyside.
That’s why any Gooner looking at this with the simplicity of 1st vs 8th, did so with wishful thinking.
Whether it’s the history of the building, zero team takes advantage of the emotion of their ground more than the Reds.
That’s why their last 4 Champions League Finals came without them being Prem Champions. Because of European nights this stadium generated.
You sense Klopp’s senior players realised after the first half they couldn’t compete with us based on pure ability?
So, they relied on the elements around them. Henderson, Robertson, Arnold, etc, made a point at half time to surround the official, stroking up an atmosphere from the crowd that the referee had somehow been against them.
Their second half tactics were to be direct, crossing the ball at every opportunity waiting for the loose ball to fall to them.
Why it was so disappointing to concede the equaliser wasn’t just the obvious dropping of two points, but for so long our game management had been outstanding.
Whether it was Arteta ordering players to slow down the match, talent knowing when to lay down for ‘treatment’, Rob Holding’s display (bar the harsh judgement that he conceded a penalty), how our front three held up the ball ….. there was evidence how much we had matured .
Don’t let the 2-2 result take away from the fact that if we adopt those principles at the Etihad and Saint James Park, we can still be champions.
Dan
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
WATCH EVERY ONE of Mikel Arteta’s and Jonas Eidevall’s Full Press conferences by subscribing to our YouTube Channel – JustArsenalVids
I agree Anfield is pretty impressive when fired up, but deliberately lying down pretending to be injured isn’t maturity, any side can do that. The attempt to break up the game by gamesmansip indicated a lack of confidence that Arsenal could win by football abilty alone.
Sometimes it is
Debryune, Bernando Silva know how to use it to secure 3 points in tough matches
Thierry Henry revealed a referee telling him to stay down when he feels a touch if he wants to be awarded a penalty.
Given that many here argued before the game that jinxes are there to be broken, and that its nonsense to suggest that even plays a factor given this is a different team, to then claim arsenal only dropped points due to the anfield factor is gobsmacking. Arsenal lost because they imploded, nothing else. While I agree 100% that players do let jinxes get into their head, at half an hour gone, we were the better side by a country mile, two up, and cruising. The jinx was about to be laid to rest and city given a clear sign of our intent. Then, in a matter of seconds, xhaka implodes, the team loses its head collectively, and all that impetus is lost. Yes, liverpool used all the nasty little anfield box of tricks. Yes, it wasnt a penalty. Yes, we knew Tierney would give everything liverpools way. But that’s been the case since 1970, so xhaka can hardly claim he didnt know what was coming. Nor can the rest of them. The whole anfield noise thing is also a myth. It’s no noisier than any of the major stadia I’ve been to, indeed its one of the best to go to if your side gets on top – because the crowd gets ugly with the home side very easily. The truth is, arsenal had the game in their hands, and blew it. Indeed had Salah not missed the penalty, the press would be drooling over a famous win for liverpool, not a ‘miraculous draw’. Blaming the Anfield factor for arsenal falling apart at a crucial juncture is not only disingenuous its downright deceitful. Yes, the team is affected by our record there, but no, it didn’t help liverpool recover from 2-0 down. No, we did that all by ourselves…
I was claiming it before the game though
All week I was saying the chances of us winning at both Anfield and Ethiad were slim
We have produced so many classic in this campaign am beginning to lose track.
Surely history must be kind to us for this campaign.
The dark art is a part of the sport, we just haven’t mastered the art, Newcastle use it to disgusting effect both against us and Man United.
The Citizens are more discreet with their tactics.
A share of the spoils now felt like a lost because of that terrific start we made on that electric ground.
As an isolated result a draw at Anfield isn’t bad.
In the bigger picture, it probably means, we have to get something from the City game, and if we really are to be champions this year, that should be accomplished. It is not an impossible task.
Man, damn the ref to hell and back! All first 35mins when we were on top, he watched lackadaisically as our players get booted off the field with the likes of Saka, Jesus and even the much much maligned Xhaka getting the brunts of it all! And he entertained Liverpool cries all day long, while dishing out cards to Arsenal players for the faaacking same things that pools get away with again and again!!!! Damn that ref!! Were it not for the honest linesmen, the game would have long gone away from us bythe 60mins mark!! Henderson with the dark arts and getting in the ref’s face all day while the ref continues to entertain him. The much maligned Xhaka would have seen red if he got in the refs face half as much as Henderson did! What an absolute farce!! And Zinny?!!! Even my 8 years old son was tearing out his hairs at his obvious deficiencies all game long which MA who is sat by the sidelines somehow couldnt faaaaacking see!!!?? I would walk away right now if I were Tierny!!! Sorry for the exclamations, my BP hasnt come down since last night! Sorry!
I think Arsenal do still have an inferiority complex when we play Liverpool- especially at Anfield.
Liverpool cranked up the muscle after going 2 goals down and were helped in large part by a referee giving a free pass to Liverpool-as they usually do.
We were not confident enough when we went 2 goals up and if we had gone for it then we could have won the game. We were more concerned about what they could do to us rather than what we could do to them.
Arteta should not have taken Odergaard off- it was an open invite to attack us- when we could still have caught them on the break.
We did end up defending so far back-Liverpool were all over us and at times it felt like last year’s debacle.
I admit to being disappointed that we let a 2 goal lead slip through our fingers and nothing will change that. I came close to having to eat my hat as I thought we were stronger mentally this year – so although the team didn’t capitulate, they still made it very difficult for themselves.
I’m sure Arteta will review the performance- his and the players.
Thought of writing a piece from the tactical point of view but too busy for that, so I’ll keep it short here. The result was purely due to the tactical ingenuity of Klopp. He threw all his giant of players into our box, Van Dijk (6′ 5″), Konate (6′ 4″), Gakpo (6′ 4″), Fabinho (6′ 2″) and Nunez (6′ 2″) who came on later; with Salah and Alexander-Arnold pumping direct crosses from the right flank. Our tallest players on the pitch were Gabriel (6′ 3″), Holding (6′ 2″) and White (6′ 1″) for almost the entire game until Kiwior (6′ 2″) was substituted in at 80th min.
The tactic effectively nullified White who had to stay back, thus cutting off the supply line for Saka. Xhaka and Partey had to throw their bodies around in our box to double up on Van Dijk and Konate who were playing out of positions. As such, Ødegaard was nullified too without the two pivots behind him.
Because we were pinned too deep in our own half, the distance for both Martinelli and Saka to sprint to the other end was too far when they were put through. Jesus was left playing in the hole to connect to two players from our own half.
It was a highly risky tactic by Klopp as evidenced in the our goals and the number of dangerous chances we created when we countered. Instead of out passing us, Klopp forced our players to defend deep due to our lack in physicality. It could easily be 4-0 for us had we have a player like Golo Kante at his prime to snap on 50-50 balls and recycle them efficiently or a Giroud as a focal point to knock-down or hold up the ball.
One result has also effected the other. Having blown a victory at Anfield, winning at the Etihad becomes an even bigger mental hurdle. In reality though, our next game is crucial. Arteta has to try and rebuild confidence, and get them going again. If not the whole thing could be over before we even meet city.
This was Liverpool’s best home performance this season by XG in 60 mins. And we still held on to a draw. Have you seen Klopp’s Liverpool totally dominated football wise at Anfield? That’s what happened in the first 30 mins. And that was what gave the humiliated Liverpool players and fans the impotence to grow louder. Not Xhaka. Trent milked that little incident.
Sorry, Dan, but I simply can’t agree. There was no Anfield factor. And what “outstanding performance” are you speaking of in the title of your article? 30 minutes doth not make a performance. Yes, we were very good in that opening half an hour, but what good is it when we were fortunate to get out with a point by the end?
I’m sure most Arsenal fans would have taken a draw before the game if were offered to them but it was the manner of that draw that could, and I would suggest, will have devastating effects for the rest of the season. We fell apart. We were outrun, overrun, bullied again, and lost all the composure we have displayed this season.
Liverpool were there for the taking. When will we ever get another chance to hammer them, let alone do it Anfield, but we had that chance. We were so much better than them it was scary. And then Xhaka, for all talk of his renaissance, reverted to old Xhaka and lost his cool for no reason at all and woke up the crowd.
There was no Anfield factor, the boys just bottled it. They got bullied. We did have a few opportunities to get out with an undeserved victory but those chances weren’t taken and in the end we had to scuttle away with the meager rations we could salvage from a pitiful outting not worthy of a team with title intentions.
I’m disappointed and you all should be, too. We deserved better than what we got for the last hour of the game. It was just the same old usual roll over and let them tickle our tummy while they take what they want from us.
Spot on. There is no ‘Anfield factor’, there is only players belief that they cannot beat an opponent – because they haven’t for years. Psychology is very important in football, but its the team, not the stadium. Not only that, but for half an hour arsenal had overcome that barrier, faced as they were by an average side. Then they threw it away…
I think first half we were brilliant and we’re close to a great defensive performance in the second half
Wow, this article was written by Dan? He’s a bigger man than I to be this positive after throwing away a two-goal lead
Alot has been talked about Anfield and its atmosphere but let’s not take it away from the boys, they were tremendous. Remember only LUFC managed to take 3 points from there this season.
Going forward, I think the Emirates crowd should pick a leaf from the Kop and make it a fortress. Teams should be afraid of coming to N5.
Besides, I think there’s something mental about us facing both Liverpool and Man City, I believe that we’re one win away on either of them and we will go back to dominating every time like the old days.
I agree it was the Anfield factor that played a large part in our draw. But also, Liverpool adopted the dark arts when they knew they cannot compete with us fairly. The irony is that so many of their fouls were unaccounted for whilst Ben White was given a yellow for no fault which slowed him down and ultimately slowed down Saka. The referee and the other match officials should have been as strict with the Liverpool players as they were Arsenal players. Anyway, all is not lost andwith the we still have the destiny in our own hands. Win the remaining matches and a draw at Etihad will win us the title.
Liverpool are only behind City and ourselves in terms of home form, and we are historical horrendous at Anfield.
Form counts for nothing in these types of fixtures. Definitely a point gained, and a positive one, because the amount of noise a defeat would have created, may have been too much for our young side.