Thought we played well but our shape disappeared once Nyoni went off and we weren’t able to build attacks as effectively after that.
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Only Macca has any aggression. All Arsenal had to do is chop us down and crowd us out. The ref just turned a blind eye.
I’m not happy about our lack of aggression it results in weak soft namby pamby stuff in and around the opposition penalty area.
Why didn’t Barcola and Gakpo swap sides a few times?
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I’ll add to my post above that I feel for Allison. Such a narrow game, so he must feel really guilty, thinking he cost us a point (which may or may not be correct, but that isn’t the point).
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It’s not about being slow. 100miles per hour football gets you nowhere.. It takes time to get the team to that level
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Arsenal are absolutely horrible to play against. Given the circumstances of that, we did ok. Not great, but we went toe to toe and on another day the outcome could have been so different. We showed a lot of fight, which was the most pleasing aspect.
Even though this was a setback, I still think that something good is starting to bubble up at Liverpool. There are issues, mind, and that midfield needs a lot of careful thought. I think at least one big name, expensive player needs to be benched to try to get some balance. And if we add another midfielder in the transfer window, we might see a couple of changes in the midfield department. The balance isn’t right, we can all see that.
Wirtz hit a lovely free kick and was unlucky not to score. Macca missed an easy chance for one who is (surprisingly) pretty good in the air. Isak was getting on the end of a cross and Timber pulled him back and it made all the difference. Nothing given.
Apart from those moments we huffed and puffed and had plenty of touches in their box, which they are absolutely not used to giving up.
Overall I would say we are a smidge short of their level as things stand, but there is nothing about their team or how they approach the game that I want to emulate. I’m glad Iraola is here. We are a work in progress but we are not too far off. I can’t wait to see how we respond to this setback.
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I was livid with the ref and VAR, they were time wasting from minute one and taking ages to take touches and corners but the worst one was not giving us a penalty for the shirt pull on Isak and Virgil was furious with the ref. After the match he said Everyman and his dog saw it and VAR stayed silent.
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How can you say he didn’t care he didn’t want to throw himself to the ground and tried to be honest but the ones that didn’t care were the ref and VAR and VVD protested vehemently!
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Half-full glass
This team showed that we can compete with the reigning champions, at least at Anfield. The difference was one error by Alisson.
Half empty
They were able to keep us at arm’s length far too effectively, Raya had less work than his crossbar.
Other thoughts
It is becoming clear that Alisson’s era has come to an end. He isn’t terrible, but he is not the dominant figure he was just a couple of years ago. Iraola needs a new keeper to build his team around.
Arteta’s Arsenal are just loathsome. They really walk that line of cheating in the box, holds and other obstruction that the commentators dismiss as ‘not quite enough in it for me for a penalty’ and seemingly lack the self-awareness to realize they say it over and over.
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Yeah, there was a noticeable drop-off once he was taken out. A Macca-Dom-Wirtz midfield lacks something.
Otherwise, we had nil shots on target . Our general buildup play was good, but Arsenal defended very well most of the times.
The biggest difference between the teams imo, beyond Atwell, was our naivety. When Isak doesn’t reach the ball because he’s pulled back, why doesn’t he immediately throw himself to the floor and putting pressure on the ref to give that penalty? I noticed only with the replays that he had been pulled back, and that will probably apply to most of us. There were a few other moments like that. Too nice, too naive. I miss Hendo in that midfield. He always was in the ref’s ear. At Arsenal, several English players do that on a permanent basis.
Beyond that, it simply was a day to forget, in which all key moments went against us. Shrug it off. We will come back from that.
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100%thought this for a while. It’s Wirtz or Dom, we are all over the place when they’re both on
.
Subs should have been dom>Wirtz, rio>Barcola, munoz>Gakpo. A new look attack as ours were tiring.
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We were doing it better with Trey than with Szob as Macca was the one with more licence to get forward with Trey sitting.
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Macca and Araujo MOM for me.
Just one of those days. Sloppy goal but Alisson made a great save later on to make up for it.
For 30 min we battered them and it could have been 3-1 on another day. Second half was 50/50, and subs didn’t make any difference, worse even.
If Isak made a fuss it would have been a penalty. He needs to speak to macca for tips 
I actually think Macca should be the go to replacement in the 10 role as he has more guile than Dom and crashes the box very well with late runs.
Dom the becomes the shuttler in midfield.
Should I get rid of the score as it’s starting to annoy me 
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Then mr monotone..blurts out…“why didn’t he fall to the ground…why didn’t he make more of it”…why…cause he plays for LFC…no the snidey cheating gits know as The Arse…
I agree. Iraola has only been with this team for 9 league games, and the marked, positive difference that I see, between this season and last has me excited. Our players are still getting used to each other, and the new system. The fight and desire, that appeared to be missing last year, is very evident.
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He made a brilliant save. Just his distribution has become a concern
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To be honest Raya’s wasn’t that good eithier it just seemed to bounce favorably at times.
Yes, VAR a joke but just thought Isak’s non reaction seemed a bit odd. Not saying he should throw himself on ground but typically strikers would be raging at that, even playing in the park. I wondered if he hadn’t felt it or realised how blatant it was
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