Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal: Liverpool see more of the ball, but Arsenal have the finishing touch
The starting line-ups
Robin van Persie had two chances and scored two goals, and the gap between the teams is now ten points.
Kenny Dalglish rewarded Stewart Downing and Dirk Kuyt for their good Carling Cup final performances with starts. Steven Gerrard was unfit to start, Jay Spearing was used in the holding role, and Jamie Carragher replaced the injured Daniel Agger.
Arsene Wenger had fitness worries over Tomas Rosicky, Thomas Vermaelen and Robin van Persie, but all three started – so Arsenal were unchanged from the win over Tottenham last week.
Van Persie admitted after the game that Arsenal didn’t truly “deserve” to win the game, while Wojciech Szczesny says they were “killed” in the first half. Liverpool did more in the final third but consistently failed to hit the target.
Shapes
Liverpool’s team selection suggested they’d be playing 4-3-3 rather than 4-4-2, but it was more like the latter. Kuyt drifted around to the right of the pitch but close to Luis Suarez, while Jordan Henderson shuttled across the pitch on the right of a midfield four.
With Stewart Downing staying wide on the left, it meant Liverpool’s shape was lopsided. And the same went for Arsenal – they had Theo Walcott wide on the right, and Yossi Benayoun coming inside (though seeing little of the ball) on the left. That meant that the teams were playing down the same flank – Liverpool down the left, Arsenal down the right, summed up by the below graphic at half time, which also shows how dominant Liverpool were:
Battles
It was difficult to find a key area this game was contested in – the sides both looked too open and lacked structure in midfield. One interesting battle was Theo Walcott against Jose Enrique – Walcott got in behind for an early chance, but from then on the Spanish left-back kept him quiet by using his strength. Martin Skrtel played to the left of the centre-back duo, meaning Carragher’s lack of pace wasn’t exposed when Walcott came inside.
At the other end, Arsenal were pushing their defence high up the pitch, and Liverpool continually had problems with the trap, bringing attacks to a premature end. Suarez was the main danger, and although he won a penalty and went on a mazy run to create a good chance for himself, he often conceded possession when trying to beat an opponent, generally when picking up the ball in the channels.
But Liverpool were the better side, pressing well and making Arsenal’s passing sloppy. Henderson had a decent game by bringing energy high up the pitch, and the one area Arsenal should have capitalised on more was when Spearing moved forward to close down Alex Song or Mikel Arteta – that created space for Rosicky, but he didn’t have a great influence on the game.
Second half
What changed in the second half? In terms of personnel, very little. Dalglish surprisingly waited until the 88th minute to make his first change, while Arsenal’s substitutions didn’t have a key impact.
Arsenal were much improved in the second half, though, and Liverpool’s midfielders became wayward in possession – Charlie Adam tried too many of his long diagonals, Spearing seemed to be under more pressure when he got the ball, and Henderson simply wasn’t involved – attempting less than half the passes he did in the first half.
Alex Song’s game was a microcosm of his season – not great positionally, defensively suspect, but a couple of excellent passes through or over the defence – the assist for van Persie was reminiscent of his pass for the winner against Everton in December. Surprisingly, Song plays more successful through balls than any other player in the Premier League.
In the end, the game was decided by nothing more than efficiency in the box. Liverpool had more possession (54%-46%), more shots (12-10), played more passes in the attacking third (134-79), played more crosses (38-8) and won more corners (12-0). Yet Arsenal managed to get more shots on target (7-4). This is the story of Liverpool’s season, particularly at home – they dominate the game but fall down when it comes to goalscoring. Usually that’s been enough for a 0-0 or a 1-1, but van Persie’s sheer ruthlessness in the box meant they suffered their first home defeat of the season.
Conclusion
Not a game with much tactical interest. Both sides named their expected sides, and then neither coach made any key substitutions. Dalglish’s decision to go for more of a 4-4-2 shape was interesting, especially as Liverpool dominated possession early on, but they seemed to tire in the second half.
Arsenal have played better and lost this season – they didn’t do much particularly well here, aside from two excellent balls and two excellent finishes.
Haven’t watched a whole lot of Arsenal this season (this was the first EPL game I’ve seen them in for a while.) Is it fair to say that Van Persie is now playing as less of a false 9 and has instead taken on the role of a more orthodox out-and-out striker? If he has been less involved in the build-up and has concentrated more on getting on the end of moves then that would partly explain his better goal return and fit in with Arsenal’s shift from being obsessed with possession to a slightly more direct game.
Very good point – with Fabregas at Arsenal, we always tried to play slow tippy-tappy football with Cesc very high up the pitch and RVP as a false nine, often even deeper than Fabregas.
Now Wenger definitely changed our style of play to more of a direct counter attacking side, with the wingers and target man RVP being our most important players usually.
Indeed, am planning to write something on this soon. From a 10, to a false 9, to a 9.
Oooooooooooh, that’s fantastic to hear ZM! Really looking forward to this one
The lack of any real striking partner must have had a huge influence on Van Persie’s evolution. When he first started at Arsenal, he could play in what could be considered his natural position – dropping between the lines as a number 10 – with Henry playing high up against the back four (in broadly the same way as Rooney’s partnership with Hernandez last season.)
After Henry’s departure, though, Van Persie has never really had another striker that he can play alongside. Adebayor was decent, but their styles never really complemented one another. He was also inconsistent. Neither playing RVP off Adebayor as a number 10, nor ahead of him as a number 9 was particularly effective – not got the best of RVP.
Fabregas is probably the one player that comes closest to being considered a “strike partner” – driving forward from the tip of the midfield to exploit the space created by Van Persie dropping deep (the classic example of a “false 9-false 10″ relationship.) With Fabregas’ departure, Arsenal lacks any player who can play this role. They now play with a more static midfield, reluctant to drive in behind to exploit the space created by Van Persie – necessitating that he stays higher up the pitch. It has been well documented that Arsenal lack striking options this season – they have no-one who RVP can “play off of.” Perhaps more fundamentally (given that Arsenal play with only one striker anyway – though their lack of squad depth in this area should not be understated), they now also lack driving runs from midfield. Adding more pacy wide players – Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain – means that Van Persie’s role has shifted from creator (on and off the ball) to finisher. It has also greatly increased the goalscoring burden on him.
With Arsene Wenger playing Rosicky and Benayoun in the last couple of games as part of more of a front 4 – hinting towards greater fluidity and ball retention – might this suggest that RVP will be expected to drop deep more in the coming games? Or am I overthinking the effect the introduction of Benayoun for Gervinho might have? It’s certainly been effective against the bigger teams in the last two games – it’ll be interesting to see Arsenal’s strategy when they next play a smaller team (if there is one at all.)
In response to JH
I think that Benayoun is a place holder for Gervinho at the moment. I think that AW is giving Ramsey and Gervinho a bit of a rest because they have been used so much this season. Rosicky arguably has been more effective than Ramsey, but I can’t see AW keeping Gervinho out of the XI for much longer
Didn’t RVP play as a winger early in his career?
Yes, he used to be a left winger.
From 11 to 10, to a false 9, to a 9
11–>10–>9.5–>9. lol.
I think you should write about: From an 11, to a 10, to a false 9, to a 9. At Feyenoord Van Persie was a left winger.
I also look forward very much to this piece.
I think it is very loud and clear in the first half of this match. check this image posted by ZM above – http://tf-chalkboards.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/images/052PK.png [direct and long balls] . I am thinking at that time as Arsenal are not having much of the position .. why can play better the position play. But your point explains all.
Oh ofcourse, hence why during the week Holland’s manager was claiming that now, RVP is a proper CF. It’s better for us IMO, him having more scoring oppurtunites has helped infinitely, before this season Arsenal had a real striker problem
What i’m wondering however, is if Arsenal have switched to more of a 4-2-3-1 with Rosicky being higher up the pitch in more of an Attacking Midfield role, where as before we seemed to be playing more of a 4-3-3 with 2 Central Midfielders, one slightly deeper than the other. If there has been a switch, what does that mean tactically?
Or am i just wrong?
I doubt Dalglish’s ability to change games with subs
To be honest, if Liverpool put their chances away there wouldn’t be a need to change games. And with 3 first team players out injured – Agger, Johnson, Gerrard – the bench wasn’t the strongest either. The only 4 viable ‘game changing’ options would be Bellamy, Carroll, Maxi and the unproven Jonjo Shelvey. Bellamy could have been brought on earlier, I’ll give you that; but Carroll’s lack of mobility would have broken down Liverpool’s busy pressing and movement, while neither Maxi or Jonjo offer anything defensively; even if Henderson went missing in the second half on the ball, his pressing off the ball was significant.
The eleven on the pitch were playing well and creating chances – any substitute would have reduced the effectiveness of Liverpool’s play. This wasn’t a game that needed changing, it just needed finishing…
I agree on with you on that point. King Kenny usually has a good set up for starting games and getting results but lacks the flexibility and boldness to alter his plans to win games. This was most highlighted in the match at Old Trafford where Liverpool played deep and stood of Man U the whole game even when they were 2-0 down late in the game.
but then he won against man u in the FA cup by changing his side with subs
Arsenal were very poor in possession again, which was a common theme in many of their recent defeats (e.g. Fulham, Milan). Thought Walcott was particularly bad in this respect, every time he got the ball it seemed to end up at a Liverpool player’s feet within a few seconds. Only reason Arsenal won this game was van Persie’s brilliance and Liverpool’s poor/unlucky finishing.
To justify Arsenal’s victory with only “van Persie’s brilliance” (although he obviously is brilliant…) doesn’t tell the whole story.
Both goals were initiated by fantastic assists, the latter coming from Alex Song in the same way as Arsenal scored the winner against Everton earlier this season – so I think this move is a fixed idea in Arsènes gameplan, which they often do in training, so you have to give him credit for that aswell.
Have to agree with the part about possession though
Obviously Van Persie didn’t score the goal entirely by himself. But, he only received to balls in the box the whole game and buried both of them.
Unfortunately Arsenal failed to create more goal-scoring opportunities. Maybe Liverpool deserved a point. But the man who really deserves credit is Szczesny.
I hope Wenger is going to improve the squad for next season because some players are simply not good enough for Arsenal’s ambitions. Walcott ended almost every Arsenal attack down the right.
I used to love Arsenal for their beautiful football but since this year it’s not the same anymore. Something has to change.
A mention of Szczesny’s performance would hardly be amiss in the article.
“some players are simply not good enough for Arsenal’s ambitions. Walcott ended almost every Arsenal attack down the right.”
yeah, well, everyone in the bar was saying the same thing during the Tottenham game and wishing he’d be removed – I was starting to think so myself – and then he stepped up to get two goals.
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Does anyone know why Wenger substituted Diaby such a short time after he had sent him on? He had a quite good showing after returning from injury, so hopefully he’s not injured again.
It was because he appeared to re-injure himself again. The announcers mentioned how right when he was taken off he went straight to the dressing room. Thus I assume he is indeed hurt.
OK thank u. Hopefully hes alright.
My understanding is that he had a slight hamstring pull. Did you notice that he had a 100% pass completion of 13 in all, two good dribbles and a shot on target? I hope to see more of him starting games and giving Song or Arteta a break.
I see him playing more in ramseys role, he is a good dribbler and shooter and can press high up the pitch.
Yes I guess so. Still it’s great to have him back in the squad after becoming the (almost) forgotten man of the Emirates.
Im excited to see him back in action, think Fab actually forced him back a couple of years ago into deeper positions where his positioning was found out. I hope to see more of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqJS4FRsnA4
Hamstring.
We are joke man. “We didn’t win because we didn’t score enough goals”…like we scored one. Deflection and lucky goal. All over again same torture to watch. Unsuccessful passing from Adam, lost Henderson, clumsy Downing, 2 flops and 2 goals credited to Garragher. Tactics? See the result.
Ten’s of corners without even one of them to create a chance. “Players missing”"Henderson’s significant pressing”??? Joke man.
Its season of big hopes and lets face it already…BIG DISAPPOINTMENT(despite the cup we have won with bad performance and lots of luck). 7-th game in a row in Premier league without a single win. I am tired and really frustrated of watching our games. Every weak same frustrations. And the blog and headlines …who we are kidding? We suck , that’s the only truth i have seen this year.
At the and , like years and years all over again, i am hoping to see us playing good football next season.
P.S. The phrase that i am hearing all year “British talent”??? Yeah perhaps in some other clubs not here.
I understand your feelings. Since Benitez has left it’s all going down at Anfield.
=D
To be fair, as a gooner, my heart was in my mouth the whole time, until the final few minutes. Liverpool played well, would have won the game based solely on performance. I think all they lack is a game changer, good team performance but noone to provide that spark. Honestly, if Stevie G was fit, it would have done Liverpool alot of good today.
If you’re writing this now I’d hate to read what you wrote while Hogdson was in town. It’s a process to get over poor ownership. Give them time.
…at least the football’s positive for goodness sakes.
I thought Kuyts positioning was interesting throughout the game. Seemed to be trying to get goal side of Song early on but then moved higher up the pitch trying to drag the arsenal centre backs out wide which he did well but of course had he of been playing his position from the start of the match at the end Song wouldn’t have got so much time and space to feed Van Persie for the winner.
Ok SCLiverpudlian. I was professional basketball player once. They had time 30-40 games this season. If you are well paid professional how much time you think you will get to prove yourself in highly competitive environment? Positive changes were brought by new owners. With them new positive energy was here. So…you have the basics, but just face it…no performance. I am shore that any one can stick goal or make an assist or two in over 30 games. We didn’t even had that pleasure from all of the new guys. So if you are manager or owner how many chances you will be ready to give?
How many time Cisse and Pogrebnyak needed???
I really can’t understand Liverpool’s season. In the first half, we were consistently excellent, but simply couldn’t finish. We were poor for a while when Lucas got injured and Suarez was out, but it looks like we were starting to get back to the early season form today.
But how to explain the abysmal finishing? Suarez once scored 49 goals in a season–he may not be RVN or anything, but he can finish. Kuyt is usually an excellent poacher. Bellamy, Gerrard and Adam are typically goal scorers. Okay, Downing and Henderson are genuinely poor finishers and Carroll has never hit his stride, but either the main goal scorers are all horrendously out of form at the same time, somehow the tactics are contributing to worse opportunities (I think can’t be true with all the chances we’ve had) or we should just chalk it up to random noise. This is even clearer with the penalties–we’ve missed 6 of 10! Adam, Suarez and Kuyt were all reliable penalty takers until this season.
This isn’t meant as an excuse, but assessing what’s going on is important in terms of deciding where to go from here. I wasn’t a big fan of the last transfer window, but now that these players are here, do Dalglish and Commolli conclude that they made decent decisions, but LFC got unlucky this year? Or is the team really as bad as its league position? Overreacting to what may be unrepresentative could be just as dangerous as doing little.
The back 6 (including Reina and Lucas) is superb. The front five has some good players, and there are plenty of promising players who haven’t contributed much yet (Henderson included). It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.
You might just have been unlucky. The fact that you have hit the post 20-25 times might suggest that, and your low conversion rate is unusual for such a high-placed team. Expect regression towards the mean next season. You should expect to let in more goals as well though…
Unluck doesn’t usually define a season, and you can’t really put 38 games down to unluck. I think it has more to do with confidence and mentality.
Perhaps. I genuinely don’t know. But “confidence and mentality” isn’t any more subject to empirical proof than being unlucky. If half the shots that had hit the post had gone in, they’d be 4th or 5th and no one would be saying anyone but Downing and Henderson lacked confidence. That isn’t to say that you’re wrong–it’s surely a combination of factors–but even the sample size of a full season’s chances really isn’t *that* large. A few going the other way could have changed a lot.
The loss of Lucas cannot be underestimated – it changes the way the whole team plays. After Lucas, our next best holding player is Gerrard, and we’ve seen him sit deeper than Adam & Henderson fairly often. This prevents him from getting forward and providing assists for the strikers – and we already know his crosses have been the best service Carroll’s received thus far. Having Gerrard as the deepest of the trio means Henderson and Adam need to perform better offensively, but Henderson lacks the confidence to take on players, get in the box, and just shoot in general, while Adam’s had some moments but not enough quality. Adam’s also had to do more defensive work – it’s no surprise his best games were next to Lucas, but the added defensive component to his game means he’s playing his hollywood balls from deeper down the pitch where they’re less successful, and giving away fouls, etc. Add to that the fact that neither Gerrard nor Spearing can do Lucas’ role full justice and the back four will have more work to do (evidenced in the Bolton loss where the goals came from midfield runners), meaning Enrique and Johnson can’t roam up the pitch as much as they did early in the season – and with our right midfielder, be it Kuyt or Henderson, tucking inside often, our play loses width on that flank.
Of course, none of this answers for the toothlessness in front of goal – some of that might be down to pressure; many of the new signings have already mentioned how they’re not used to the pressure of being expected to win week in and week out. None of the new midfield signings are true goal scorers, Suarez’s chance conversion remains appalling, Kuyt’s lack of an extended run in the team seems to have affected his form, and while Carroll’s picked up of late, he’s not mobile enough for a game like todays.
I’m mildly surprised that Carragher hasn’t been tried in the Lucas role – maybe they tried it in training and it didn’t work.
Or Agger for that matter
He was tried there, and it was a disaster. Pulled the entire shape of the midfield far too deep (Carragher strayed no more than five yards from the back four) and it resulted in ManU dominating us in the midfield. The other resulting factors were an entirely isolated front two and a series of lumped clearances falling into open space.
If anyone should play in Lucas’ role from this point forward, it should be the oft overlooked (because of previous injuries, not quality) Aurelio.
Well, perhaps you forgot to take into account that Carragher, to put it bluntly, sucks on the ball. And frankly, sucks at everything but last ditch tackles. He was at fault for both goals today, and not for the first time this season.
I certainly agree about Lucas–he’s our best player, and losing him was devastating. I do think that if Lucas had stayed healthy and Suarez hadn’t gone mad in that game against Man U, that we would’ve had a good shot at 4th, as I think we’re playing better than Chelsea and Arsenal up to that point, and hopefully the tide would have turned a little with the finishing. Trusting Spearing (a natural box-to-box mid) to be Lucas’ backup was IMO the second biggest mistake of the transfer window after Downing.
However, as you say, Lucas doesn’t explain the finishing, which is the glaring problem.
Liverpool – Dominant in possession, but poor at finishing. Standard performance at Anfield.
In defense, they looked a bit shaky with Carragher,though he wasnt tested by Walcotts pace like I thought he would be. Instead he got dragged around By van persies movement and failed to track him for both goals. But Skrtel cleared most balls into the area and Van Persie had to be extremely efficient to help arsenal win. At LB, Enrique kept walcott as bay with some solid defending and sticking tight to him, though it meant he couldnt get forward himself which could have helped downing more. At RB, Kelly didnt have any direct opposition and motored forward whenever he got the chance, though he lacked the quality to really harm Arsenal, this was really a game for Johnson.
In midfield, spearing was helped out in deep midfield by Adams and this helped Liverpool dominate possession. Spearing kept possession well with simple short balls to Henderson or Adams and marked Benayoun out of the game – one of his best performances yet. Adams mean while dominated the game, showing off his great range of passing was and rarely put under pressure from Arteta. His dominance faded in the second half as he started to go more direct and lost the ball too much, while he let Rosicky get goal side of a few too many times, though he wasnt punished for it.
Henderson also showed a great game, given specific instructions to move out to the right wing to allow Kuyt inside, he have on of his best performances. His price tag has made people believe he is some sort of attacking playmaker, but he was never that sort of player, his best attributes are his energy, tackling and crossing. So this shuttling role suited him well, he was able to escape the attentions of Song and put in some decent balls from the wing,one of them making the first goal. He was also an excellent outball for the team, which allowed them to dominate pressure. Downing on the left didnt have as big an impact, as he rarely beat Sagna and therefore didnt offer the penetration he was supposed to. He also left Sagna free to cross for Van persies opener, summing up a average performance from the English winger.
Further forward, Kuyt and Suarez were excellent in there movement, opening up the Arsenal defense time after time. Kuyt was allowed to play a narrow role with Henderson and Kelly providing the width, so he was able to find space and was Liverpool’s biggest weapon. He constantly looked to exploit space created By suarez dragging Verm out of position and should have scored a couple of goals. Suarez was excellent with his movement as said, but he tried to do too much when on the ball, and was awful at finishing today.
Overall, Liverpool defended as a team excellently; sticking tight to walcott and Benayoun, pinning back the fullbacks (though sagna was able to get forward for his assist) and stopping the supply to Van persie. They also played some great build up play; Adams dictated play, Henderson was constant outball and provided penetration down the right (my MoM) and Kuyt and Suarez cut apart the Arsenal defense with great movement. But ultimately, they couldn’t finish their chances, with Kuyt and Suarez the biggest culprits.
Sounds like your a Liverpool fan, shame you don’t know the name of what seems like your ’star’ central midfielder.
really? I’m not a liverpool fan at all, if anything I prefer Arsenal (not an arsenal either). But I think it was plain to see Liverpool dominated the game, it was just Suarez and Kuyt were awful at finishing, Van persie was world class at it.
Have I got a name wrong? again not a liverpool fan so could get it wrong…
Yeah, Kane, you say “Adams” instead of “Adam.”
And I think you should watch Henderson more if you think his best attribute is tackling.
But as always, a very insightful comment. Always enjoy what you write.
Ah yes, I think its because I always hear it like that ha
I dont think its his attribute, but he can definitely tackle I think. He is similar to Ramires for me, best at providing energy and runs towards the right wing (More ramires of Brazil under Dunga Im thinking of). Henderson can play the CM and RM role at the same time, which gives a player like Kuyt freedom to move inside.
The problem is when he is played as the attacking midfielder, he is poor there; hasnt got great passing or technique and isnt much of a goal threat. Equally he cant play as the holding midfielder as his positioning and possession play are poor. Henderson is good for the one position, making his price very overflated.
But thank you very much Sam
I agree that Henderson is mediocre at attacking midfield, and that he’s not great positionally yet, but I don’t see where you’re getting that he’s not good at keeping possession. He presses well and recycles the ball–there’s are his two best attributes at this point in his career. Well-suited IMO to be Lucas’ partner (though of course not the deepest lying player). I think he’s already basically Meireles without the finishing ability and can be quite a bit better. Most likely scenario I see is he becomes peak Lampard without the goals, which isn’t a superstar, but still is a damn good glue guy.
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What are the chances of Song making a Yaya Toure style shift forward? Song is positionally suspect, and poorly suited to covering for the back four, but might be excellent in a box to box role, or even in a muscular number 10 role.
I think he is a great Box to Box player, it is Arteta who should cover more, he is a better passer and has better technique, so can help pass it out from the back and remain a player to keep possession. Song can offer more going forward with his drive and incisive passes.
For next season, I’d like to see Song or Wilshire furthest forward, Arteta or Ramsey deeper, and a newly signed tackler at the base of midfield (Ideally, we’d try to pick Madrid’s pocket. Apparently Diarra is on the outs, he’d do very nicely)
I would go for arteta – song – wilshire
with arteta holding, Song playing box to box and wilshire pushing up the pitch (though able to drop back and help defend).
Then ramsey could come in for arteta and learn from him about where to play.Frimpong could be back up to song. And diaby could give a different option to wilshire as the attacking midfielder.
I think its elsewhere they need signings, especially if Van persie leaves!
With or without Van Persie, Arsenal need another striker.
I was thinking this after the game that M’Vila could play at the base of a fluid midfield with Wilshere and Song. Thoughts?
Arsenal – Were very lucky to win.
Defensively they were wide open and should have lost this game by 3 or 4 goals. Verm was constantly dragged out of position by Suarez, creating space for Kuyt. Kol was Arsenals savior, covering excellently for his partners mistakes and if not for him Liverpool surely would have scored more. His own goal was harsh on him and I hope it doesnt tarnish a good game today. At fullback, Sagna and Gibbs were pinned back and couldnt get forward to provide Arsenal with an outlet in attack (Arsenals attack depends on fullbacks getting forward). Sagna was able to escape Downing’s attention for the assist but rarely could get forward long enough to help. Defensively, Sagna played a great game against Downing, but Gibbs was caught out by Henderson and Kelly.
In midfield, Arteta played an average game in the first half (being forced off in the second half) keeping possession well, but having his choices cut off from him, with Benyoun, Walcott and Van persie marked out of the game. Song found it hard to get into the game at first, as Henderson and Kuyt just played in different areas of the pitch. But he grew into the game, as he didnt have anyone really pressing him, he was allowed to get forward and gave Arsenal some drive from midfield (his assist for the winner was fantastic). Rosicky played higher up, but either found himself having to drop deep to get the ball or finding space in behind Adam but losing the ball when he got into dangerous positions.
Further forward, Benayoun and Walcott couldnt get into the game, with both marked out of the game by spearing and Enrique respectively. Van persie rarely got the ball himself either with little support, though he finished his chances excellently.
Overall, Arsenal were wide open in defense, didnt get cover from midfield and couldnt get the ball forward. The trio of Van persie, Benayoun and Rosicky were rarely able to link up like at Spurs last week, while Verm and Song were poor in their defensive positions. But there were some positives; they got the result, Van persie showed his excellent finishing abilities, Song showed excellent drive from midfield in the second half and Diaby had a good brief return from injury. Diaby could have a much better time with Arsenal now Fab is gone, who seemed to block Diaby from ever playing as the attack midfielder (his best position).
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Adam also has tunnel vision
Thanks! As always, awesome article.
But I think there is a small mistake at the formation picture: Carragher and Skrtel must be swapped. It is easy to check this fact using average position, for example, here http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/506788/MatchReport/England-Premier-League-2011-2012-Liverpool-Arsenal
I was always under the impression that Song was very good positionally. What’s the problem with him then? Is it due to Arsenal’s insistence on rotating their midfield trio or is he simply not good enough defensively to play a holding role in front of the back four?
I know that he’s good at getting forward and creating chances, but surely he’d be more effective in a Busquets-style role, with the two players alongside him and the two full-backs given greater attacking license.
He can be dragged out of position quite easily (tends to want to press higher up the pitch) and hasnt got the mentality to get into free space and keep the ball moving (like busquets).
For me he is Arsenals new Viera, he can offer drive from midfield, incisive passing (a new quality he has added this season) and can press higher up the pitch.
Arteta suits the holding role much better. He is positionally good, has excellent technique and a good range of passing. He is excellent at keeping the ball and getting it forward consistently. He also has that coverted “footballing brain” where he can dictate games and control the tempo. His only weakness in this position is he isnt great with players running at him, as his tackling skills arent the best, he more like Carrick in that he intercepts the ball.
Arsenal scored 2 goals and an own goal, Liverpool scored zero. That’s not bad luck, being a crappy finisher, or hitting the post, or having your pen AND the rebound saved. That’s called just being bad. Arsenal may have been poor, especially in the first half, but they didn’t win thanks to luck. I can understand calling luck a deflected shot, or a ball bouncing weirdly due to bad pitch or weather, or a defender slipping due to bad pitch, etc. None of Arsenal’s goals were lucky, and none of Liverpool’s misses were unlucky. Though I’m sure there’s plenty of people out there thinking hitting the post is “bad luck”. I cringe when I see these claims of mystical “luck”, but none ar as bad as the claim a lot of “pundits” are guilty of, that scoring a goal close to the final whistle is lucky! Presumably because the other team don’t have time to come back (?) I wish stupidity hurt…
Or: People who don’t think the same as me are idiots!
It’s not luck most of the time true. But at the same time no-one in football can make a sure thing of anything – finishing is never a sure thing, as nothing is. Even if you are a poacher supreme these things happen, let alone Liverpool, who are inhabiting that thin line between not quite the perfect finish and missing a little luck. A good finisher, and they would be as good as anyone in the league, and their position would probably reflect that.
Completely agree. Especially when it comes to hitting the woodwork. Hate when people say ‘that’s unlucky’. IT’S OFF TARGET just like their other shots off target. & then you also have to factor in the keeper. Yes Liverpool were poor at finishing but Szczesny was on form, saved all their SOG & techinically didn’t concede from from LFC.
Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.
Hi! I just love the images you put in here. They fit so well with what you’re trying to say. I’m sure you’ll reach so many people with what you’ve got to say. Good luck!
Pretty good post. I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts.
THIS IS A VICTORY OF JUSTICE
Stunning quest there. What happened after?
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I haven’t watched much EPL this year. Has Coates played at all for Liverpool? I remember before he transfered, he was considered one of the most talented CBs out there.
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This is another great analysis, but when are you going to discuss how Barca went down to 10 men, one goal up, then played with a back three of Alves, Adriano, & Mascherano, and still won?
I dont think he will do one, I didnt watch the match. But even without watching or reading about it I know they went 333 and kept the ball well (80% to 20%) ridiculous.
i fopund an exellent match report though, goes into good detail
http://twelvepointsports.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/barcelona-3-1-sporting-gijon-i-used-to.html
Liverpool is most enjoyable team to watch, so many fun moments, How couldn’t Liverpool score this game? Nobody know, It seems like that there need for fine tune at final third for Pool, fluffing after fluffing, player always 0.5 second late for everything in front of goal I think.
OK, since I’m a bit younger, can somebody tell me how RVP’s season ranks among striker seasons in England since around 1990?
To me, it’s just unbelievable, it’s like he’s reached some pinnacle of the craft. Two chances, two goals. And the second was very difficult technically.
He’s been doing this for over a year now. Aside from that glaring miss vs ManU, seemingly EVERY chance he converts, even the technically challenging ones. And I think of chances like the first against Barcelona at the Emirates when he beats Valdes near post. Incredible.
So, how does it compare to the heights of Henry et al?
For a start, he does it without Henry’s advantage of pace.
The only teams Van Persie could not score against in the PL this season are
Fulham (no more chance to score)
Newcastle (yet to play the second game)
Wolves (yet to play the second game)
Man city (yet to play the second game)
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Hi! I just love the images you put in here. They fit so well with what you’re trying to say. I’m sure you’ll reach so many people with what you’ve got to say. Good luck!
I still can’t believe how shambolic Arsenal’s back four is at times. It was so easy for Liverpool to hit them on the counter by making the pitch as wide as possible and pushing on thier full backs. On another day, the post wouldn’t have saved Arsenal so many times. I wondered if the 3 points is actually just papering over the cracks?
If anyone wants a read of my view on the game: http://thompsontalkstactics.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/liverpool-1-arsenal-2-3rd-march-2012/#more-420
SPAM ALERT! The link goes to a Rick Astley video – how very drole, Mr. Thompson.
On another note, who else thinks the picture of Steve McClaren with the umbrella in the top left should be replaced with a picture of a squatted AVB in a tight raincoat as a more contemporary picture of abject failure?
Kipp
Not SPAM. Took me to his blog and decent stuff I must say.
Hmmmm, I clicked it a few times and it seems sometimes it goes to a blog and sometimes your redirected to different advertisments. One of them gave me a threat warning with AVG so…. Enter at your own risk!
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First of all I must congratulate you Mr. Cox for the quality of the work that you’re putting out. It’s hard to find good reading on football and only you along with a handful others provide quality insight on tactics.
Secondly, I wanted to know how you come up with the formation diagram, specifically the positioning of the players. Are you using another service/website or do you adjust positions based on your personal reading. You mention for this game that Skrtel played on the left in central defence but the diagram puts Carragher there. Just wondering.
It’s just a program I had made – nothing you can buy I’m afraid!
Not looking to buy really. Was just curious. You put out a much more accurate reflection of the pitch than others.
Ah thanks!
a tale of 2 keepers. sir chesny on good form. Reina, as i often observe on here , making mini errors . robbie savage on 5live immediately questioned Reina for the 2nd goal. beat at near post. i was surprised with his first. his position seemed good, but how about putting your hands up Pepe !??. reminds me of a tennis volley that i often play well but a friend of mine does what Reina did. tries to react instead of just hands up & blocking the main space anyway. you can always move your hands from that position to where the ball is going if it is not coming straight to you.
I’m not sure how accurately does the take-on stats reflect the “success” of a move.
I don’t think those 8 of 11 take-ons by Suarez were actually failed (in the sense, it doesn’t conceed posession) as maybe many of those times he won at least a corner kick? Liverpool had 13(!) corners, most of them won by Suarez.
Please, correct me if I’m mistaken.
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