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