Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool: Frimpong red card and Liverpool substitutions change the game
The starting line-ups
An Aaron Ramsey own goal and Luis Suarez’s tap-in gave Liverpool their first league win of the season.
Arsene Wenger was forced to play Samir Nasri despite his imminent transfer. Emmanuel Frimpong replaced the suspended Alex Song, and various injuries in defence meant that Carl Jenkinson started at right-back, with Bacary Sagna on the left.
Kenny Dalglish left out Luis Suarez for fitness reasons, so Dirk Kuyt started on the right. Behind him was Martin Kelly, chosen over John Flanagan.
Overall this was a match lacking in technical quality – the best chances came from mistakes and long-range efforts rather than clever creative play, and it was only after the red card that things opened up and Liverpool forced the issue – otherwise, it seemed we were heading for a 0-0.
Early stalemate
Dalglish had the flexibility to play either a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3, depending on the positioning of Jordan Henderson and Dirk Kuyt. He went for the latter to prevent being overrun in the middle of the pitch, which meant we had a fairly stereotypical 4-2-3-1 v 4-3-3 battle, with the midfielder with the most time on the ball being Frimpong. He was Arsenal’s best player and yet was arguably the main reason they lost the match, dismissed for a reckless tackle on Lucas on 70 minutes, having picked up a needless yellow card after just seven.
The perils of a holding midfielder receiving an early caution have been discussed many times before (most notably during the Copa America, when this became a theme of the tournament), and in addition to Frimpong’s eventual dismissal, Arsenal were hampered because he spent much of the game pulling out of tackles, which meant Liverpool could often break through the centre.
On the other hand, in possession he was good. With Henderson usually picking up Ramsey, and Charlie Adam retreating to a position near Lucas, Frimpong had plenty of space in the midfield. And, a little like Santos midfielder Arouca in the Copa Libertadores final, he used this freedom in a deep position to storm forward and launch attacks, rather than just passing sideways. His passing (through sometimes inaccurate) was generally forward, and he came close to a goal with a good long-range shot after a powerful run.
Liverpool pressing
That was of particular help to Arsenal, because their passing from back to front was, like in the Newcastle game, extremely slow. The injury problems didn’t help – Sagna was uncomfortable bringing the ball forward on the left, and the same could be said for Thomas Vermaelen when he had to move to the right after Laurent Koscielny went off. With Sagna and Vermaelen out of position, plus Miquel and Jenkinson making their league debuts and understandably a little nervous, Arsenal’s passing from the back was poor.
Equally, Liverpool should be given credit for their pressing. Kuyt, Henderson and Stewart Downing all worked hard to pressure Arsenal players, whilst Adam is less mobile but had a good game without the ball, making five successful tackles and three interceptions.
Liverpool had a good amount of possession and worked the ball forward well, particularly through the full-backs, but there was no obvious approach to actually scoring a goal, other than by using the height of Carroll. Arsenal’s centre-backs should be commended for how they dealt with him, and whilst the Downing-Carroll combination works excellently in theory, the former is still yet to find the latter with a cross from open play in Liverpool’s league season so far. Downing’s only successful cross was a low one from the right, miscontrolled by Kuyt.
Jose Enrique was arguably the best player on show, and Theo Walcott had no idea how to try and beat him – Enrique can match him for pace and is also solid positionally, and Walcott had no impact on the game. Walcott and Arshavin also need to come inside into goalscoring positions when the ball is on the opposite flank – Walcott says he wants to play more central, but on one occasion in the 28th minute, he was on his heels on the right when a run into the centre might have presented him with a tap-in.
70th minute
The game remained a stalemate until the 70th minute, when two things happened. First, Frimpong was sent off. Second, Raul Meireles replaced Kuyt and Suarez replaced Carroll. As these events happened simultaneously, it’s impossible to say which had a greater impact on the game – though it’s fair to say that they were both crucial.
The extra man meant that Liverpool dominated possession. Until the 70th minute, Arsenal completed 322 passes to Liverpool’s 281 – from the 71st onwards, it was Arsenal 105, and Liverpool 142. The momentum was clearly now with the away side.
That gave Liverpool the foundation to build moves, but Meireles and Suarez were the two who created the chances. With Arsenal reverting to a 4-4-1, the former found space between the lines to play clever passes, and Suarez offered fresher legs and better movement than Carroll. Meireles passes towards Suarez created both goals – the first fortunate, via Ramsey’s chest, the second excellently-worked. Suarez found plenty of time and space to complete passes in the final third.
Arsenal were exhausted late on – Nicklas Bendtner was introduced, but Arsenal were beaten.
Conclusion
A fairly poor game until the final twenty minutes – indiscipline cost Arsenal, but Dalglish’s tactics were spot on. He matched Arsenal at 11 v 11, then introduced players to exploit the holes at the back after the red card.
Arsenal were a long way off looking a competitive side. Lacking experience deep in the side and lacking creativity further up, their selection problems for the Manchester United game are even more serious because of Frimpong’s suspension, Koscielny’s likely absence, and Nasri’s transfer.
Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool: Frimpong red card and Liverpool substitutions change the game
Best player on the field was Vermaelan – absolutely dominated Andy Carroll.
I thought so too. All things considered, Vermaelen was the best player on the pitch.
Yes Vermaelen was excellent. I don’t think it can be exaggerated just how much he was missed last season.
even koscielny dominated carroll until he went off….the difference? carroll lack of motivation, the arse centre backs huge motivation = higher jump, stronger tackles.
I might be splitting hairs, but didn’t Arsenal play a 4-3-3 rather than 4-2-3-1? Last season they had a clear double pivot with Song and Wilshere with Fabregas in front of them. Today it looked like Frimpong was the clear holder with Nasri and Ramsey in front of him. But it was quite fluid as they often swapped positions
Yeah, I’m quite sure Arsène now favours a 4-3-3 now Cesc’s gone and Nasri is on his way to City. 4-3-3 IMHO is actually the best option to get the best out of Wilshere, Ramsey, Gervinho and Walcott…
I think he’ll end up 4-3-3 when Nasri goes, agreed. Could probably call this a 4-3-3 I suppose, but Nasri fairly high up, Frimpong-Ramsey more of a partnership, I thought
Nasri was indeed playing between the lines, but Walcott and Arshavin appeared to be genuine outside-forwards, only falling level with Nasri during defensive phase.
So 4-2-1-3?
Fair point;
Also, for me Liverpool were very much playing a 4-1-4-1 as opposed to 4-3-3.
Downing is not an outside-forward by a long shot.
Maybe not, but that’s what he played as: Liverpool defended by having Downing and Kuyt press high up, as opposed to two banks of four. Also, Downing and Kuyt switched flanks fairly often. Both traits of wide-forwards as opposed to wide-midfielders IMO.
That`s true.
I guess we could call Downing a ‘false outside-forward’, since he has very little in his make-up that would characterise such a player.
I don’t agree with Henderson’s positioning in the main graphic. For me, L’pool played a 4-2-3-1, with Lucas and Adam the ‘2′ and Henderson the central-attacker of the ‘3′. Also, it seemed to me that Lucas did more to nullify Ramsey than Henderson, dispossessed/pressured him on numerous occasions.
Not nit-picking, just how I saw the game from a tactical POV.
Lucas was very good, I thought, and joined the attack a bit more than previously. Ramsey was missing for large parts. On the other hand, Frimpong was not so bad for a league debut…once he settled in.
It wasn’t his debut.
I think you and ZM are both right- it can be explained, I think, by Henderson’s good workrate vs Adam’s relative immobility. In defense, Adam certainly took up a left-center role alongside Lucas, and Henderson dropped back to cover Ramsey as needed in a right-centerish role. Then when Liverpool transitioned to attack, Henderson worked harder to get up and support the attack, often ending up noticeably further forward then Adam or Lucas.
Then the knock-on of this was when Arsenal broke forward too quickly for Henderson to track back in time, Lucas covered Ramsey for him, as you pointed out. A testament, I think, to Lucas’ superb play and leadership in midfield
Yes, agree with all of this.
yes, agree…henderson almost had a free role.
Uh that Frimpong! What a terrier!!! He looked like he was gonna bite someone in the neck. He played very well though alongside an Aaron Ramsey who was having an off day. Additionally I think Szczesny deserves an honorable mention. He put on a terrific performance!
It was frustrating to watch Arsenal this morning. Nasri and Arshavin were often timid in tackles and 50-50 balls, Walcott was timid with his runs (Enrique is awesome, but please, there is no way Walcott cannot outrun him in a 25 yard sprint) and Ramsey’s passing, crucial to the midfield play, was relatively horrible. Gotta go to Ikea! Anyway, if they qualify for the CL, they’ll buy, otherwise, long season ahead…
Enrique is much faster than you think, he was a sprinter when he was younger.
If Liverpool want a real go at it this season I think they need to have Mierles and Aquilani first choice over Henderson and Adam respectiely and they need to not start Carroll every game. Adam gives up the ball too easily, Henderson doesn’t bring much more than work rate at this point and Carroll slows down their attack every time. Just my opinion though.
I agree about Meireles for sure, he is a very good player and I’m surprised he’s not considered first choice over Henderson or Adam. Henderson in particular doesn’t seem to offer them much. I know it’s only been 2 games but I’m not sure I saw what the fuss was about last season either.
If Meireles can’t get into the team, maybe Wenger could put in a cheeky bid?! would certainly improve arsenal squad.
disagree meireles would improve arsenal. He’s a very similar player to ramsay/rosicky/wilshere in the sense he keeps the ball well, although, the arsenal players do this even better.
Meireles was injured for most of preseason, and he’s just getting back to match-sharpness (you could see that today, even as his movement was excellent). Hopefully, that’s the reason Henderson is being preferred to him at the moment. Otherwise, I don’t know what Kenny is thinking–Hendo will be good some day (maybe even as good as Meireles!), but he’s not there yet.
As for Aquilani, it’s not even worth thinking about. He’s gone. No one really understands it, but one suspects it’s because of a combination of Aqua badly wanting to go back to Italy, and Dalglish having a very strong belief that A) Suarez’ best position in the middle, B) Andy Carroll is going to be very good and C) you need to be a strong tackler to play in central midfield in the PL (I say “strong” rather than “good” because he likes Adam there). Taken together, this leaves no place for Aquilani, since he can’t play wide like Meireles can. Point C is particularly questionable (see Meireles’ excellence playing in a double pivot with Lucas under Hodgson, not to mention Modric, Scholes, Carrick et. al.), but it seems inescapable, as Kenny has never played either in CM except in the last 20 min of a game we were chasing versus West Brom.
I think we’ll see this 4-3-3/4-5-1 in most big away games this season, and it’ll generally be Carroll that makes way rather than Suarez or Kuyt–and, yes, I agree, the team is better with that lineup.
No, most of this is garbage. In addition, it doesn’t matter what position Aquilani plays he is useless thats why he was discarded.
What exactly is the garbage? I’m happy to have my mind changed, but it’d be easier if you actually said what you disagree with.
Just to be clear, I was the first Dennis with the comment about Meireles the second one at 12.00 was not me. stupid comment. As it goes, what you said made sense to me.
Dennis, I have to disagree with you on Aquilani. He is a superb player, but was on a different wave length to the majority of the technically/tactically inferior English players.
Some of the best play I have seen of Liverpool in the last 10 years was when Aquilani was playing with Steven Gerrard against Atletico Madrid at Anfield.
His link up play, tiki taka passing (at times) and movement between the lines was fantastic to watch.
Also, simply stating he is useless is pretty unproductive.
As many commentators have been saying, Aquilani is too “soft” for the premier league; however, this game was calling out for his inclusion towards the end. IMO if Aqua stays – a long shot – then he should be used late in games when there is more space between the lines as players tire. He is excellent when given time on the ball – one reason he does so well in Italy is the slower pace – and can play excellent balls for players to run onto. Although Meireles came on and played well, I thought Aqua would have been perfect with all of the space on the field.
This report is pretty spot on (leaving aside the formations debate above).
Agree about Walcott, he just didn’t seem aggressive enough with his running. He should be looking to get in the box when the ball is on the other wing and he should certainly be using his pace to get in behind the defence. Today he mostly seemed to come short, wanting the ball played to feet and then when he had it, as ZM said, he didn’t know how to get past enrique. He’d do better getting up and running first, so the ball can be played ahead of him and he can use his best asset, pace.
Also interesting to see Frimpong’s chalkboard. I thought he looked really good today (obviously apart from the silly red card!) And seeing those passes underlines the difference between him and Denilson, who would have played last season.
Agreed–but the entire front line for Arsenal was poor today. With a make-shift back four, you really need your attacking players to conjure up a goal, and they didn’t. In the 10 or so minutes before he was sent off, Frimpong was the best player on the pitch.
Walcott didnt combine with van persie enough, they have a good understanding, with van persie dropping deep and walcott making central runs, but that didnt have enough here. Arshavin was also poor. The full backs didnt get forward (understandable with sagna LB and newbie RB) and nasri was possibly one of the worst players on the pitch. Obviously didnt want to get injured for his new move, so didnt go in for tackles, passed poorly, and never looked to break into the penalty area. Good to see the back of him after his attitude.
I think Walcott and Van Persie will suffer knock off effects from Cesc’s departure. The mechanism of RVP dropping deep and Walcott cutting inside relied on Fabregas delivering the ball to Walcott. If one part of the trio is missing, the whole becomes less effective. In the past, Walcott has thrived on chasing passes played beyond the defense. Without Fabregas’ incisive through balls though, he will need to develop his game. In particular, he needs to learn to receive the ball into his feet and beat his fullback one on one. Now 22, and entering his seventh year as a professional, he’s still a one dimensional player, over reliant on his pace and therefore too easily nullified by a deep and narrow defensive line.
True, but obviously the whole team will suffer from Cesc leaving. you don’t lose a player that good and not miss him. The point about having no one to play the through balls is a good one, 7amkickoff had some good stats about that. It seems no one in the current midfield can find those forward passes and Arsenal will definitely suffer because of that
Its never a good sign when all we have to say for an asset right now is his pace.
I guess he may be a good writer when used with a ghost writer, I don’t know about that one.
On the subject of red cards for holding players, how is it that some seem able to get away with so much? I’m thinking about De Jong and Mascherano, these guys can have days where their entire game seems based on fouling, but I can hardly remember seeing either get many reds! maybe this is a key skill holding players need now, escaping yellows?
While both can play borderline dirty at times they are two of the best defensive midfielders in the world. Their positioning is usually good enough to avoid major fouls.
They certainly are, that’s kind of my point. maybe you don’t get to be the best in that position without managing to get away with quite a bit of the dirty stuff?
Not to mention Von Bommel
It always seemed to me that Van Bommel was less violent in actual tackling, and more on off-ball situations. Maybe that’s the “art”: doing things when the refs focus is elsewhere …
Mascherano usually stops tackling so hard once he gets his customary yellow, (although he was sent off in a very silly way against Uruguay in the CA2011). The De Jong crazy tackles i remember are usually balls in which he has to give a good sprint to get in position to tackle. Maybe with a more solid Manchester City defensive positioning he doesn’t get thrown in those kinds of situations as often.
I think that’s the best way to deal with Barcelona. If you foul them on the ball, you concede free kicks and risk getting cautioned. If you bump them off the ball you can eliminate passing opportunities, and disrupt their give and go’s. It’s cynical, but a hallmark of Madrid’s most successful matches. Messi would look up expecting to see Pedro bursting toward goal, and instead find him on the ground.
Mascherano gets plenty of red cards. Frankly, it’s his biggest weakness as a player.
Besides his height
I don’t buy into the hype surrounding Liverpool at the moment. Dalglish has undoubtedly done a good job so far and has clearly improved a struggling team and a weak squad.
But I just think they’ve spent far too much money on average players and don’t seem cohesive yet.
Carroll is far too static. Adam is not anywhere near the class of Xabi Alonso. I don’t see it with Henderson – he’s a decent young player, but nowhere near worth what they paid for him and probably not good enough in the long term (certainly not as the replacement for Gerrard that’s being suggested.) Downing is a good player, but lacks pace – something they desparately need.
Meiereles and Aquilani are better than Adam and Henderson. If AC Milan manage to get Aquilani at the £9m that was being mooted then it’ll be a steal.
What’s the hype? (Genuine question.) Are you saying LFC aren’t a legitimate threat to get back in the CL? Or that they’re not a threat to win the title? Because, while we fans can dream a little this early, I don’t know anyone who seriously believes the latter, but I also don’t see any reason a team as flawed as Liverpool can’t be 4th.
Also, it’s something of a strange criticism to accuse Liverpool–starting 5 players who weren’t with the team last December, and 4 who were playing their second competitive game together–of not being cohesive. No s***!
And I think it’s a myth that Downing lacks pace. Villa fans mostly agree he’s just as fast as Young.
no one is accusing liverpool players of anything, he is merely stating his opinion on their performances. so according to you, just because the players joined recently, we are not allowed to comment on their performances??
I believe enrique has been a great signing, his past 2 performances have been good and it looks like he is playing well with the team but henderson hasnt been that great.
aside from enrique, the other 4 – adam, henderson, downing and carroll got a chance to play together in pre-season. Then they played sunderland at home and an arsenal team which is going through a lot at this point in time. Its true that just because they joined they may not be as cohesive as a unit but the issue is that there hasn’t been any noticeable improvements since pre-season. The only positive has been Suarez – the guy who didnt play in pre-season – he has been involved with our best chances in the past 2 games, whereas players like henderson and carroll who practiced together in pre-season haven’t been as convincing, in my opinion.
Okay, “accuse,” poor choice of word. But surely it’s a little early to get on them for not being cohesive. Nor do I see how saying that somehow means I was arguing you couldn’t criticize them at all. The rest of your post, I agree with. I hope I haven’t given the impression otherwise.
Good grief, Downing lacks pace??? He is the fastest player on the squad according to Darren Burgess (and my eyes). Enrique is probably a close second.
Agreed re: Meireles and Aquilani. Meireles was one of the finds of the year last season.
JH – I have to agree. As a Liverpool fan I am not looking forward to hearing over and over again “that pass from Adam has gone slightly awry”. As for playing Henderson over Meireles, well, that’s just a joke. If he’s supposed to be Gerrard’s replacement then it’s going to be another 21 years till we win the league.
Jesus, we Liverpool fans can be negative. Henderson is 19! In his second game in a Liverpool shirt! *And* he was perfectly cromulent. To put it in perspective, Lucas was three years older than him when he was “Rafa’s biggest mistake”/”worst midfielder in the PL”. Meireles is clearly better than Henderson, yes. Still, seeing as Meireles was injured and thus hasn’t played more than 45 minutes of football since last season, it’s by no means clear Dalglish actually prefers Henderson.
Ignoring age and nationality Henderson was OK. Good in possession, gets forward ok but a little weak defensively. Can he make a tackle? He doesn’t play like he deserves to be a starter but maybe it’s a fitness issue with the other options.
Right, I agree with all of that. He’s not good enough (yet) to start regularly on this team, but it’s more than a little early to start sharpening the pitchforks.
Henderson’s 21, not 19. He’s not great, but he’s a rare player that fits both the 4-3-3 (furthest right of the midfield trio) and the 4-4-2 (center or right). How many other English midfielders can say the same? Dalglish is rightly pursuing tactical adaptability, and players who fit the two main English formations are valuable.
He certainly doesn’t fit the right side of the midfield under any circumstance, not for the moment – the constant desire to track the ball infield means that time and again the right-back will get exposed by the lack of support from the right midfielder, which is exactly what happened against Sunderland when Larsson took advantage of an inexperienced LB in Flanagan. I’m certainly not saying he’s a bad player, but until he works out his positioning he’s not of sufficient calibre to play out on the right.
Playing him in the centre (ahead of meireles) is strange enough, but I really can’t imagine him doing well out on the right. apart from maybe work rate he doesn’t seem to have any of the attributes that are useful in that position.
Yeah, as I say below I don’t come across very well in this post and that wasn’t the impression I wanted to give!
Although having said that I do come across as not getting behind the team and obviously I don’t want to give that impression.
Frimpong clearly impressed me. His distribution and tackling was good although his youthful in-your-face aggression was his undoing. As a Liverpool fan, i can’t see the so-called crisis Arsenal are supposed to be in. The need a good left back, a play maker in the mould of Ozil/Gotze/Silva and to an extent a commanding hard defender to partner Vermalaen. I think in Song and Frimpong, Wenger might have found his defensive rottweilers since the days of Gilberto. Every top and successful team has had them: Chelsea- Essien, City-De Jong, Man U – Keane, Barca-Mascherano, Real – Pepe, Inter-Materazzi, AC-Gattuso…the list goes on.
The “crisis” is that Arsenal will most likely not buy anyone unless/until Wenger is fired. That said, I liked the way the young kids played today–lots of heart, and some interesting potential as well.
Yeah forgot to add that as a Ghanaian, i am looking forward to seeing Frimpong in a Black Star jersey. Him combined with Boateng will offer us boundless energy. Back to your reply, true Wenger might not buy anyone else but do people remember the doom & gloom when Henry left, somehow they managed to nearly knock Liverpool out in the quarters had it not been for sending off of Toure. Weirdly, i have faith in Wenger despite my 21 year allegiance to Liverpool. The hunger those “kids” displayed was immense and a joy to watch.
Am I right in thinking Frimpong is also eligible to play for England? Has he definitely declared in favour of Ghana?
Yeah, he’s declared. Never too late to tempt him though…
The problem with the English national team set up is a lack of clear development plan for the upcoming youth players. For those with dual nationality, it’s a nightmare. They might be given a cap and then promptly discarded thus being ruled out of contention for future international tournaments. I love England as equally as Ghana, but at least in Ghana, we do recognize talent when we see it. England needs to follow the German model and start introducing the youth to the national team. As much as Capello tries to blood new talent, next year at the Euros i am sure these names will still be on the starting team sheet irrespective of performances: Rio, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Terry, Rooney & Carrick. Only Rooney justifies his automatic inclusion.
The Germans on the other hand have removed Ballack from the team and are now working on making sure young Mario Gotze makes it. Frightening considering that only last year in March Ballack was the team captain and Ozil & Muller were then unknown figures. Will Smalling, Jones, Cleverly, McEachran, Carrol, Frimpong(assuming he’s tempted to reconsider) et al be trusted with the responsibility of representing England?
steady on. Frimpong is an awful distributor of the football, although a fierce tackler. Would like to see his pass completion stats, im sure it would be embarrassing.
@3rnald0
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/E41VKO4RZ5yW3e3MsJd6
Here’s the chalkboard you wanted. And you’re wrong. There are a few misplaced passes but for the most part his passing was quite neat and progressive.
“i can’t see the so-called crisis Arsenal are supposed to be in”
Arsenal have lost Fabregas whilst Rosicky, Wilshere, Diaby, Gervinho, Song, Gibbs, Traore, Koscielny, Djourou and Frimpong are either injured or suspended. That’s basically half the first team. Against Liverpool, one of the centerbacks, the right back and the defensive midfielder had 6 minutes of Premierleague experience, combined, both of the experienced defenders were played out of position. I’d say that’s a crisis.
How to apportion the credit/criticism.
Arsenal looked there for the taking but Liverpool seemed happy to play for a draw and hope to get a winner somehow, although you couldn’t see how!
I can’t remember the last time Arsenal looked less like scoring. Nasri’s run and shot being about the only moment of danger they created in the entire game. Did both sides defend well or were both attacks poor?
It was hard to see what more Arsenal could do considering the playing options available to them. With Walcott and Arshavin struggling to make an impact Arsenal were playing for a draw at best. Liverpool looked comfortable without impressing but you knew they would improve once Suarez got on, although I don’t know why they kept Henderson on.
Liverpool were fortunate in that it was a good time to play Arsenal, but Arsenal were probably playing Liverpool at a good time as well. Performances like that will probably result in more conclusive defeats.
Agree 100%. You should post more often, makes a change from the usual garbarge you see here.
Liverpool weren’t happy to play for a draw. They wanted to attack, however, as always they were toothless without Suarez. Check out some of last spring’s Europa games to see what LFC look like without Suarez, for example 0-0 with Utrecht, or the last 20 mins vs Sunderland last week. Carroll leading the line does not lead to chances or goals.
Granted Carroll offered nothing to build off but one of the key aspects of Liverpools play in the second half of last season were the number of bodies that flooded into the opposition box during attacks. Liverpool didn’t over commit today, which given they were away to Arsenal isn’t a surprise but Liverpool were pretty conservative. Kelly didn’t get forward much and on another day Enrique will be far bolder.
Sure, when Maxi, Kuyt and Meireles play they are smart enough to crash the box and help Suarez out. But it’s not “overcommitting”, it’s just smart play.
But anyway, what about just Carroll? His movement and positioning are terrible. For example, the one time Henderson made a clever forward run (in the first half), you can see a big space behind Henderson’s man and Carroll is coming down the center…perfect opportunity for the striker to burst forward, take a through ball from Henderson and get in on goal!
But Carroll just lopes forward lazily, not even full speed, and starts drifting off to the right, offering no help to his teammate whatsoever. Ramsey, who is tracking back, realizes that there’s a big space there and looks over his shoulder to check it out, but nope…nobody there. Henderson tries to make the best of it by putting a move on his man, but the attack fizzles.
Carroll likes to hang out behind defenders on the far side from where the ball is, asking for it to be lumped over. That’s why he was called for pushing vs Sunderland in the first match, because he’s easy to mark that way. His positioning and movement are awful (in contrast to Suarez, of course, whose movement is incredible).
Dalglish’s tactical vision for this team (if not necessarily his player preference) is starting to become clearer. In the preseason we saw two formations: straight 4-2-3-1, usually with Aquilani in the hole, and a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid basically identical to the formation played today. The main difference between preseason and now, of course, is that Suarez is now available. When Suarez is in the team with Carroll, he plays in the hole behind Andy, ostensibly replacing Aquilani in the 4-2-3-1, but really transforming it into the 4-4-1-1 of last season (against, for example Man City: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/04/12/liverpool-3-0-manchester-city-liverpool-find-space-between-the-lines/).
So that leaves the team with two main options, one for when Suarez and Carroll are both playing (4-4-1-1) and one for when one of them is left out (4-3-3). Joel Radaj did two excellent guest posts at the Liverpool Offside this summer that outlined the 4-4-1-1 (http://liverpool.theoffside.com/team-news/weekend-guest-post.html) and the 4-3-3 (http://liverpool.theoffside.com/miscellaneous/weekend-guest-post-friendlies-and-formations.html). The 4-4-1-1 usually includes an attacking player on the left (with Downing, an attacking player who stays wide) and a more narrow player on the right. This right sided player has a very difficult role, being responsible for linking midfield and attack, providing late runs into the box, adding ballast to the midfield, and defending the right side. Kuyt is very good at this, but for all the moaning about Meireles being “shunted” to the right, he’s really perfect for the right side in this system.
As Joel points out, the most striking thing about the 4-3-3 is that it has a much more fluid midfield 3 than we are used to seeing from Liverpool. Thus, Lucas, playing in this system, was allowed to break forward and play the pass that led to the second goal, something he very rarely has a chance to do. He has all the skills to be good in the opposition third, he just tends to lack composure (not today!), something he will hopefully develop as he gets more chances close to goal. That said, just as I’ve long thought one of Arsenal’s main weaknesses is that they let Song leave so much space in front of their defense by driving forward, I worry that Adam won’t be able to cover Lucas if he starts playing too big a role in the attack. This is especially true because, while Arsenal’s CBs are fast and athletic, we have to play Jamie Carragher and (God help us) Soto Kyrgiakos.
What both formations have in common, however, is that they do have a Lucas-Adam/Gerrard partnernship as their base, even if it’s not as rigid in the 4-3-3. This reminds me of ZM’s article about Chelsea’s title winning side two years ago (http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/05/10/chelsea-premiership-champions-2009-10/), where Ancelotti regularly changed his system, but always kept the same base of three central midfielders. Considering that Dalglish equally likes to tinker, perhaps keeping this double pivot as the base will be Kenny’s equivalent.*
*Note: I’m not saying LFC is going to win the league. Just that they may be better at switching up the tactics because they have something consistent to rely on.
Interesting stuff. I would also worry about allowing Lucas to get forward, leaving just adam or gerrard to cover defensively. I don’t think either of those two are really the sort of player to do that job. Incidentally, does Dalglish never play Gerrard ‘in the hole’ when playing 4-2-3-1 like Benitez used to? I think this is surely his best position
Interesting point you make about Dalglish playing a left sided midfielder high up the pitch and the right sided midfielder playing deeper and narrower it has echoes of Liverpool the last time they played under Dalglish. Barnes playing high up as a left winger Houghton tucking in on the rightside of midfield with McMahon and Whelan anchoring the centre, Rush leading the line with Beardsley playing in the hole so to speak.
I have often felt Daglish’s best Liverpool sides included Aldridge and Beardsley, rather than Rush. Aldridge scored 63 goals in 104 games. Rush never matched that strike rate in his second spell. It may be true that Rush was hampered by a declining team and advancing age from 1991-1995. However, post-Juventus, he was certainly never as good as during his first spell, and probably not even as good as Aldridge
Yeah fair point I always seem to forget Aldridge but your right he had a great partnership with Beardsley and I think Liverpool were a better side before Rush’s second spell.
Ill add my two cents. Liverpool’s use of Henderson and Kuyt was pretty clever. One would act as an offset striker to Carroll while the other cut in from the wings or played behind. Defensively one of the two would take control of the wings, but for the majority of the game, it seemed Downing was the only true natural winger (which is fine, just observing). In the beginning, Enrique overlapped, but after a couple Walcott scares, the overlapping was called off, Enrique stood back (unless Downing covered) and Walcott was nulled throughout the rest of the game. Good combination play from Liverpool after throw ins; Adam made some good tackles and passes but not that good from set pieces today. In the beginning, it seemed Henderson and Downing would overload Jenkinson’s side, but he held his own.
For Arsenal, tough with the myriad of injuries. Nasri really can’t play in the middle when the defense is set up. Vermaelen did a great job on Carroll, and it seemed in the beginning van Persie acted as a False nine to add a body in the already makeshift middle three, but was soon asked to stay up after the Walcott dribbled in only to have Arshavin at far post, no one in the middle.
2nd half Suarez did a good job dropping back, dragging CB’s with attackers hitting the space. Overall, a good game until the red card.
Not too upset with this result as a Gooner. The injuries and suspensions Arsenal is suffering forced a very second string team. And the reserve team captain (Miquel). Vermaelen was a hero. All game I was thinking “if we had him last season we would have won a trophy for sure”. Jenkinson scraped by in his debut but he was struggling and he may be injured too. Sagna used his experience well but the man is as one legged as Long John Silver. Koscielny please get well soon? Frimpong, what can I say. Real impressive but 2 rookie tackles from a rookie. He was driving the team forward with his energy. More consistency and better tackling and he may well deserve the “New Essien” tag people gave him. RVP didn’t do enough, Theo in fairness was double teamed every time he got the ball (remember in the 4-4 with Newcastle he destroyed this same left back.) but his positioning and off the ball movement were horrible and he didn’t make enough runs into the box. I was starting to think he was tired. Yes he is a speed merchant with average technique and not the smartest footballer but I’ve seen him do better. Hope he learns from this. Arshavin and Ramsey remind me of Chamakh. Started off well but they lost their mojo.
I’m not expecting much good from Old Trafford next week. Today and next weekend will likely be the weakest Arsenal team we see this season (I hope). Liverpool has cause for concern though. They struggled to win and scored 1) an offside goal and 2) one which directly took advantage of the missing holding midfielder. Even with Suarez on the pitch for them to not create more late in the game isn’t a good sign.
Bit of unfair criticism of Walcott imo – everyone seems to love to hate him – with regards to his inability to make an impression on enrique. Firstly, it’s unreasonable, I’d suggest, to expect walcott to just contemptuously beat every fullback he comes up against simply because he’s quick. Imo when one of your players is losing an individual battle with an opposition player, we should be looking at the manager – Wenger is the reason Theo spent 90 mins looking clueless not Theo.
Let me clarify: you can’t just moan because one of your players couldn’t beat an opponent in an individual duel; we don’t lambast every defender who can’t live with Messi’s dribbling, we talk about the need to compress space, to man-mark or to defer responsibilities to better equipped players. In the thread and article for the Real v Barca match there’s lots of discussion of who would be best to push up on messi and who to cover etc, but if you notice, none of it just lazily slags off carvalho specifically, it’s just noted, quite sympathetically, that regardless of his other qualities, maybe pressing messi in false 9 mode isn’t for him.
In that post, a tactical personnel switch is advocated and I’d advocate one here which is that firstly, it might not be the game for walcott; a robust rearguard who are likely to defend deep and narrow aren’t what he’d ideally like to be facing. But assuming you’re going to play him, don’t just let him flounder against a fullback he can’t beat; try swapping wingers at the most basic tactical level, see if he can skin kelly and let arshavin try and create on the other side. Better yet, think analytically and swap someone who could be used against enrique into that position – any of arshavin, nasri and RVP, all better dribblers and with better delivery/final ball – whilst putting theo up against the ageing carragher (think back to the world cup and his horror show vs the USA where he couldn’t live with altidore and looked like a red card waiting to happen). That might have made more of RVP’s efforts by simply winning him a load of freekicks to take. And these are just the simplest of things, proactive things, that wenger could have done, which don’t even begin to cover different formations, strategies and specific tactics he could bring to games.
But no, any of that would require some non-rigid thinking, a shocking departure from the depressingly predictable and prescriptive arsenal paradigm of RVP drops deep as false 9 whilst arshavin cuts in from the left and shoots, walcott beats his fullback and fabregas/nasri moves beyond RVP confusing the defense blah blah blah puke. And, (so typical) what was he doing bringing on Bendtner at the end? Did he really think that we were suddenly going to get so much better in possession having lost a man and suffered a loss of morale that we were going to now easily work the ball into crossing situations to make the most of his aerial ability?? Bendtner is a striker, I think that much is obvious, and he’s the type who needs you to supply him with chances because his strengths lie in finishing, heading, penalty box movement etc. From that point of view he’s not the choice when you’re struggling to even hold the ball, much less fashion chances and when space is going to open up as liverpool seek to exploit the man advantage. (Have him on from the start with a strike partner and that might work).
Instead of introducing him, it would have been much better to bring on some pace to try and sneak a goal on the counter. And from that point of view, a tired RVP, a collaborative, technical, forward, isn’t who you need on the pitch when you’re down a man against a buoyant opposing side who are pressing forward.
It’s the more frustrating seeing the same result against the same tactics (defend the width of the penalty box with the back four and drop your midfielders into the hole to deny it to arsenal) all the time – when the squad we have has so much attacking variety – we can field a classic 442 if we want with chamakh and bendnter up front – we could play a naked counter attacking team with ryo, AOC and theo as a front three, we could play a classic 4-2-2-2. Instead we’re predictable and get picked off with depressing regularity against quality sides and frustrated by weaker ones.
I just can’t help but feel that Dalglish would have won with either team, and that’s pretty bad.
Some pretty harsh criticism here, but some that I agree with. It also crossed my mind during the game that Van Persie was not the ideal forward to be playing with when we were down to ten, but he is quite simply the best forward player in the squad at the moment and it seems fairly unthinkable to sub him off. Arsenal do seem to lack a bit of tactical flexibility (wenger has to shoulder the blame for this) but honestly, who could they have brought off the bench to actually improve on what was on the pitch? the squad was bare bones
Great, funny, and sad stuff here. Reminds me of a quote from Friedrich Schlegel (apologies for the academic reference): “It is equally fatal for the spirit to have a system and to have none. One must thus decide to join the two.” Ya gotta adapt as the game proceeds…
…”Vermaelen was a hero. All game I was thinking “if we had him last season we would have won a trophy for sure”.
And,what trophy would that be???
under-25 ELP teams??
lets face it,getting”boys”playing 40plus matches a season – is just no good.
Well, lets see, he would have had a better thance at stopping Zigic’s goal in the Carling Cup final, that’s one. We may not have lost/drawn with Newcastle. We may have beaten Man City in January with his runs from deep as they didn’t know what to do with defenders running at goal but Song’s confidence was low. And that’s just the top of my head. Not saying we would have beaten Barca but much less goals conceded on set pieces for sure and goal difference is a pretty strong guide to league position. And Arsenal conceded over half their goals from set pieces.
“getting”boys”playing 40plus matches a season – is just no good”
right… which is why Vermaelen, the 24 year old vice captain, was sorely missed last season…
Frimpong really impressed me, and is a good back-up for song, but both will be missing for the next few games, so cant see a great start for arsenal this season.
Vermalen was great and the best player on the pitch, but i see kol as his back-up rather than his partner. Arsenal need to spend money on buying a good partner for him, someone who is quick and intelligent, i still think they have yet to replace gallas (a good partner for verm). Djourou could be a good partner in defense, but i think he needs to devolop more, and should be used as cover instead.
I also think arsenal need to bulk up their squad:
They need cover for RB, as jenkinson is no where near ready to cover sagna.
Where was traore today, is he still at arsenal, if so he him and gibbs can fight for LB.
They need cover in midfield, i see wlishire (when back) and ramsey as rirst choice, with diaby a good option for attackig midfield (something different), but they need cover for the deep playmaker position.
And finally they need cover in the wide positions desperately, i see walcott and gervinho as first choice, but theres no cover, two player need to be brought in, unless nasri by some sort of luck isnt sold.
Players to sell:
Rosicky is not arsenal standard, and has no end product, as well as wasting the ball, he needs to leave.
arshavin needs to leave, has gone stale, has a big salary and doesnt press enough defensively.
Finally bentner needs to go, lack any technical ability and has poor movement, something arsenal need with the way they play, chamack is a much better option despite being low in confidence right now.
Would be interested to see who you think this CB is that you are thinking of? And remember this isn’t FIFA or Championship Manager.
I think Rosicky is fine for Arsenal. I have heard he is great on the training pitch especially for the younger midfielders that Arsenal is breeding (Wilshire/Ramsey/Frimpong/Aneke/Lansbury and more in reserves). Hee is aging and people always write him off, but for a team of ‘boys’ as everyone points out i think it is crucial to have his experience; playing over 80 games for his country, been to World Cups and with plenty of European experience. I agree that he isn’t as cut and thrust as he used to be, but i feel that his ability to cover the three midfield positions and i don’t feel that he wastes the ball as often as you say. Agree on Bendtner, especially as we can con someone into paying a reasonably large , probably the same with Arsharvin (maybe back to Zenit)
I think AOC and Miyaichi will be cover for the wide positions, and remember we are talking about cover. Walcott/Gervinho will play majority of games but although both AOC and Miyaichi are young they can give those two a break. Also if Arsharvin doesn’t go he will provide cover on either wing.
haha no im not thinking of manager games, i just think with the 30 million from fab sale(5 million not part of it yet if im right) they could afford to buy a CB that could help results straight away, not saying spend anything like 30 million, but if he cost 15-20 million then i think they can afford it. I was thinking maybe hummels, thought if wenger is on a budget, i think collicini would actually been a quality signing. Even if you consider djourou first choice, i really dont think Miquel is good enough as cover, seeing as there will undoubtly bee injuries.
My problem with rosicky is he offers no goal threat, so cant really be used as the attacking mid, he can do the job deeper, as a partner for song, but the last few times i have seen him, he has tired to make that killer pass far too much, rather that keep the ball and make good decisions, which for a player of his age is unforgivable.
Those two are not good enough as cover, and walcott and gervinho wont be able to play every premiership and champions league game, as well as FA cup, last season arsenal had nasri or walcott for the right, now they have replaced nasri with a talented player but with no experince in the top flight at all. I really do think they need to bring in two player for the right and left, who can score goals and creat them. Doesnt have to be big money, just good cover.
I have read that it doesn’t seem to be the actual transfer money, rather the increasingly large wage demands that come with a high profile player costing that much. And it seems the board isn’t willing to give pay rises to those who are currently in the squad, like Nasri, to the ‘going rate’ for players his value, i don’t think they will be willing to pay the 150k a week (ball park) to sign those types of players. Agree that sure since we have money and are stable that we should go out and spend it. But the players have to be for the right price, but also be the right type of players to fit out system, and not defer from the nucleus that we have now (which i believe is one that can win) which was the problem with say Gallas. Wenger is not as stupid as people make him out to be, quite the contrary really. And lets be honest, how many athletic, quick, intelligent, ball playing centre backs are there floating around that are interested in leaving their club?
I agree that Rosicky isn’t a goal threat at all (not many players are at the Arsenal at the moment) but i still believe that he is good cover and good for the team. I wouldn’t think his wages would be killing the club, and believe that he does more good for the club then bad.
I don’t believe that they are good enough right now either. One played Championship and one played in the Eredivisie after playing in high school but there is only one way to get better, and reach their undeniable potential and that is by playing as much as they can. I do believe that a wide player would be good for the club but have a feeling that they might be leaving that role for Arsharvin. Considering all the time and effort that they put in with Theo and going out and getting a new winger, from a team who we could have signed another player, i just don’t know if it will happen. I would love to see them bring in a good, quick winger that could create and score and is willing to have low wages and be second string, but again, how many of those around are there?
Interesting point but I don’t think Cesc can be replaced overnight. His importance to the team was as much to do with his skill as the fact that they came to rely on him. This is an important point which you may have missed.
you make good points, and it is very hard to find affordable players, and i am very much for long term planning. I believe arsenal do that well and develop young players well, but they will not succeed this season without some experienced players. And the fact they sold a experienced player for big money, and might be selling another one, i think warrents buying one experienced player, namely a CB for me. And even if they dont buy a top experienced player, i believe there short there, as the youth used in this match is far too inexperienced for cover right now. So at least one CB signing, even if its cheap cover.
I think gallas actually suited the team well, the faults defensively that season were with the midfield, and now annoyingly, with the midfield sorted, the defense needs sorting. This is wengers fault as he used gallas knowing he would start to decline with his age and his body getting injured more. Djourou really could be the answer, but its a big gamble, and i would want another player to compete with him at least.
I think they should go on loan then, because them playing for the club now would surely mean losses/draws which wouldnt be great for confidence. I think nasri is gonna go, if he stays then that does indeed change things, but as it stands with him set to leave, i do think arsenal do need to sign a player to replace him, but not a big star, i think walcott and gervinho deserve starting spots, but a player who can fight for the spot and make a difference in matches. I would say a player who can dribble well, and score goals.
Frimpong is just going to miss one game.
For me it was quite shocking (even with this makeshift squad) to see such an immobile Arsenal!
I think that they need a Sneijder-type of player (if not himself) to replace Fabregas. Unless they make transfers I see them doing like Hodgon’s liverpool. However, I was, too,impressed by Frimpong’s performance until he was sent off.He really could help.
ZM, as a long time follower of you blog i gotta say…i dont enjoy the new direction. it wont stop me coming here, but i always prefered the ultra-tactical pieces. going in depth into the pysche of some managers was like discovering a new world you know? something’s out there, the concept isn’t new, but the the process of carrying it out makes it unique. that uniqueness is what you brought to a niche audience in football.
enough with the morbidity. keep on keeping on!
PS: if i get a coaching job, would you be interested in assisting? serious question
Thought Lucas struggled yesterday at times. Looked a little slow tracking back… Frimpong, haven’t seen much of him but aside from his Red Card, I liked him alot. Look really calm, composed and if he hadn’t been stupid, Arsenal would have held on, for sure.
Liverpool were not playing their best but the thing is we won
Combination.
1. The insistence on playing one up front. Van Persie doesn’t play well upfront alone. He can do if he has support from a handful of midfielders.
2. Theo Walcott.
Walcott is useless. If it weren’t for the fact he’s English and there was so much hype made over his signing, he’d be out the door. I think he’s not helped by our style of football – he is at best a kick and run player. His general touch is useless and as has been said many times, he has no trick and no left foot. He’s predictable. A classic example of how footballing ‘intelligence’ and intelligence in the traditional sense are very different.
3. Suspensions
4. Injuries.
1. Van Persie scored 18 goals in 17 matches playing up front alone last season. The problem is that Fabregas and Wilshere is missing, which mean Arsenal lack drive in the centre of the pitch.
2. Theo is obviously not useless, he scored+assisted second most last season. I agree he lacks some technique, but he obviously has a knack for scoring.
I actually feel that if Walcott wasn’t English and wasn’t as highly scrutinized by every English person (even Gooners) that he would probably be twice the player that he is now.
He can still be English…if he just goes to Spain he’ll score tons of goals and have a wonderful career. To watch him trying to act tough and making crazy eyes at the ref like he wants to punch him on Saturday was sad. Far from being useless, this is a player with rare pace who is considered a serious talent by Messi and the Barcelona players who have faced him and Enrique won MOTM for shutting him down!
Really great article with very interesting information. You might want to follow up to this topic!?! 2012