Okay I am sure I was not the only one that thought Arsenal was dead and buried at half-time, and when Liverpool scored the second goal I was ready to bury my head beneath the cushions, but I have to admit that I was mesmerised by the way we fought back and proved that we never give up even when we are two goals behind.
We proved it against Man United, although we didn’t manage to get back on level terms (we could blame the ref for that one), and we got our just rewards for our efforts today after going 2-0 down. I was extremely proud of the boys, and I think Wenger was too after our very dodgy first half.
But he was still upset that we couldn’t hold on to our 3-2 lead when we got it 7 minutes later. “Yes, that’s the frustration of the night,” he said. “but on the other hand to be completely honest it could have been game over at half-time as well because we had a nightmare first half.
“We played too far from each other, not compact enough, not composed enough and overall at half-time we could have ben punished more. Mane missed his chance just before half-time and I must give players the credit because even at 2-0 we didn’t show any weakness, we didn’t give in any weakness and we’ve shown great spirit again and come back.
“It’s true that I’m frustrated that at 3-2 we couldn’t keep the result but overall what can you say? It was a fantastic game with quality going forward for both sides, us more on quick combinations, them more on fantastic counter-attacking pace and that’s why it was always an interesting game.”
Wenger was then asked if he should have done a Mourinho, and “parked the bus” but that is not a tactic that Le Prof recognises. He replied: “I don’t know what you mean by parking the bus, I don’t know who created this expression, but it has not a lot to do with football. We defended well, but you know that with their quality going forward they can always score a goal.
“I hoped that we could score one as well and I think in the second half we were not so much in trouble, but they have quality everywhere going forward and it’s difficult to say that you guarantee that you don’t concede a goal.”
Would Arsenal fans go to games if Wenger just concentrated on defence and tried to stop the opponent from scoring? Or would you prefer an open attacking game where both teams actually try to win the game?
Going by tonight’s game I know which one I would choose.
Sam P (A very happy Arsenal fan despite only getting one point)
Proud of what?
The fact that we consistently drop points at home? (Highbury was a fortress. the Emirates is a library)
The fact that our defensive frailties have not been addressed for over a decade?
The fact that our deluded old pensioner manager mentions good spirit even though the players could not be bothered in the first half.
Let’s get things straight. If Liverpool had a decent goalkeeper and put half of their chances away it would have been another 8-2 loss.
We have becone the premier leagueb joke. Fact
the real truth……
Damn,This hurt so much…but damn this is so true!
The score doesn’t reflect the performance. We were poor. The passing was atrocious. Even after scoring the third goal we could not keep the ball. Their 3rd goal was a result of Sanchez loosing the ball. I like free flowing football but of good quality. Today we suffered because of our extremely poor passing and that is not a good football game for me.
another real truth…..
We were lucky.
As usual teams just wait to capitalise on our nervous defensive mistakes. And slow start to games
What’s happened to Kos da Boss?
Why is the team so scared?
We couldn’t tackle a hot dinner.
Somebody please teach us how to tackle.
?
Anyway, Merry Xmas everybody.?
Thanks man, same for you!
I am satisfied with the result BUT
We drew despite of Wenger’s poor lineup not because of it.
Monreal was poor and Mustafi should have played instead. Kolsanic should have played instead of Niles. Xhaka should have been benched.
Ozil was my MOTM
Ian Write said after the match that “there is lot difference between Gorge Graham and Arsene Wenger as I have played under both managers… Arsene Wenger is not much concerned about defensive tactics whereas Gorge Graham was very strict to address defensive organization”
I think Arsene should look at defensive side of the game… This cannot be the philosophy all the time that you score 2, we score 4… There are teams like City in league who are so good at keeping ball, in that case one has to rely upon defensive tactics because unless and until you don’t have possession you can’t score… Once all timel best manager of Europe Sir Alex Ferguson said that unless and you are not conceding, you are not loosing at least… This is very true aspect of the game… Just look at the number of occasions where we could have easily win those matches but just because defensive errors we did not able to win the matches….
There are couple of aspect conceding goals.. 1st is when opponents score very spectacular goal like Xhaka scored last night or there is well crafted constructive teamwork goal which we have witnessed so many times from Arsene Wenger’s side so many times… And 2nd case is laps of concentration, Poor Positioning from defender just like Koscielny last night for 3rd Liverpool goal.. Just don’t understand where he was going? Poor miss passes which we saw against Man Utd… Or may be poor zonal marking for corners.. Conceding cheap free kicks in dangerous areas… In 1st it is acceptable that you may concede a goal and no one can do anything about it… But in 2nd case we can avoid of conceding goals… And why people say Jose Mourinho Park the bus and all… People just overlook that they are 2nd highest scoring team in league behind City and they have lowest goals conceding defense.. How foolish it is when people say them defensive team when they are 2nd best in going forward… Sir Alex Ferguson was also one of the manager who acknowledged the best to way win games is going forward and scoring goals but there are some matches where you can’t completely rely upon your attacking strength… In 2007-2008 double season of Manchester United, I still remember Champions League Semifinal between United and Barcelona where it was ended 0-0 at Camp Nou.. Just imagine that they kept a clean sheet against team who having Messi, Eto, Xavi, Iniesta.. And in return leg Paul Scholes scored stunner against Barcelona at Old Trafford… If United weren’t organized in defense then they would easily lose the tie in 1st leg itself…
I witness the game for 30 minutes when we were one goal down and I had to leave for work. However, despite one goal down, I still had the believe that Arsenal could come victorious or come out with a draw. The first goal could have been prevented but the back line was slow to act especially when Mohamed Sellah is approaching your 6 yard box! Overall, the result was good but we need to work on the back line as well as the mid field because Liverpool was not having any difficulties reaching our 6 yard box.
3rd goal for liverpool . 6 arsenals players near box and no one took firmino. pathetic positioning & concentration
I’d be proud if we’d held onto that lead!! The last time we beat Liverpool was when Podolski ❤ was in the team!! I dread this fixture now!!
23 goals we’ve conceded now.. that’s so poor! If only you got points for entertainment value… think we’d be top! That’s why we’re shown a lot on sky/BT because you never know which Arsenal will turn up..either the awesome one or the really sh*t one!
pathetic stuff. we could’nt complete 3 passes. we should have lost 5-0 if it wasn’t for Liverpool 6 self destruction minutes. save those 6 minutes it was amateurs against professionals.
Wenger has to go, he can’t take us forward, and because every other top 6 team IS going forward, we are going backwards.
in big games he gets tactically beaten almost every time
he doesn’t play our strongest team, even in big games
for years he is not addressing obvious problems in our squad
enough is enough
Who is the loony who thumbed down this excellent post. You have to feel sorry for his/her sanity.
How does anybody talk about pride about last night. A point against the team that all the AKB’s were saying were rubbish beforehand. Now the AKB’s are hailing this point as a great achievement.
What the hell is there to be proud of? We stunk for about 75 minutes , both before and after ouR 3 goals in 5 minutes. Even at the 65 minute mark with us 3-2 up for just five minutes past, we looked likely to lose and were fortunate not to lose by a landslide after the appalling first 5 minutes. Our 3 in5 minute spell was akin to giving a starving man a bottle of champagne which he had to finish in five minutes and then continue starving him AGAIN to death . Like this sick joke manager is doing to us fans, THE ONLY ONES, bar Jack Wilshere, who truly love our club. God how I despise and loath Wenger, Shark Kroenke and the entire board of Hooray Henrys who care nothing for the club and it’s very life blood, US FANS. Get out of our club all of you. Now!
” THE APPALLING FIRST 50 MINUTES”
Rather than saying that Wenger did well to motivate the team at half time we should be asking what does he say to the team before the game starts that makes us start so badly. He says afterwards that the team froze in the first half….why? Most of them are seasoned professionals so why would they freeze in a game at home like they did. Apart from 10 minutes in the second half we were awful and it was only that they had a goaalkeeper worse than ours that we got anything out of the game.