Arsenal had scored just 3 goals in our last 4 League games – totalling 360 minutes – but when faced with a 2-0 deficit to Liverpool we came back from 2-0 down to make a 3-2 lead in the space of 6 minutes, so it is not true that we can’t score goals.According to Wenger, it was just a hangover from our game against Manchester United when we had 32 shots on goal but only hit the net once. Wenger admitted that the setback mentally affected his team in the first half tonight and they were just scared of going for the goal. After the game, Wenger said: ‘I felt in the first half we were paralysed and frozen. We played too deep. We gave the ball away to often and looked second best.
‘But it was down to the psychological factor and the bearing of the [Manchester] United game was there.
‘But at half-time we were only 1-0 down, it could have been game over. We showed quality and character in the second half. We played inhibited in the first half.’
But when it looked all over at half time Wenger must have given a brilliant half time talk and somehow persuaded his team to start fighting for the points. ‘I told the players the good thing is we are only 1-0 down, we had a great opportunity to create a different phase,’ Wenger told Sky Sports after the game. ‘What we did was not good enough, we had nothing to lose, we wanted to go for it.’
And they did! The players obviously listened and we had an incredible start to the second half after going 2-0 down. Surely this will now give us the belief that we really are a top team and can play like our second half every week?
Surely we must give some credit to Wenger for turning this around?
Sam P