please log in to view this image Venue: Emirates Stadium KO time: 19:45 GMT Date: Thursday 20th January 2022 Overall Record Wins: 81 Losses: 92 Draws: 62 Last six meetings Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (League Cup) Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal Arsenal 0-3 Liverpool Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (League Cup - Arsenal win on pens) Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool (Community Shield - Arsenal win on pens) please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Team News: TBC
We should be well up for this one. The spirit we showed in the first leg after going down to 10 men was immense. Crowd will be up for it too. Good that away goals don't count as that removes any disadvantage if they score (other than us needing to score of course) Should be a cracker.
Totally agree... very balanced team selection and great to see Tomiyasu & Odegaard back. Think we can edge this 2-1 COYG!
The wider concern for me more than the performance is that we've spent £150m on this team in the Summer, yet we don't have a squad capable of competing on two fronts in the cups and barely enough depth in the league. What the **** have Edu and co. been doing? How are we still so unprepared for the season where we have such few options in critical areas of the pitch? Even playing 1 game a week, we cannot go through the rest of the campaign with these players. We still have a (outside) shot of top-4, but we NEED players now. There's 10 days left of the window, there really isn't time to waste. A striker and midfielder needed. ASAP.
Sort of worked you're trying to reference Partey here maybe? If so, I'll give it about 2/10 for fishing. Not enough people on this board for it to ever really have worked though. You can only dream you'd got Partey for £50m
Really disappointing result and performance last night. We started brightly enough and if that Lacazette free kick had gone in, it might have changed the complexion of the game. But when we went 0-1 down, with a lucky scuffed shot, we just folded. Players stopped running at the Liverpool defence and our defenders simply didn't have an out from the back, so they started floating balls over the top and handing possession back to Liverpool. I know we had a few players coming back from injury, covid, AFCON, so the performance can be understood as being a bit lacklustre. Tomiyasu had a bit of a mare and got done for the first goal, but I'm not going to be too harsh on him because he's been brilliant so far this season. Partey should never have played, the man was on a plane from Cameroon a few hours earlier and clearly wasn't ready for this game, as a result he now misses a crucial league game at the weekend. Must do better.
so did we plus we had a very inexperienced 17 year old starting yet tbh after your early burst we were comfortable for the rest of game and could probably should have won by more
As I alluded to in my post, if we were ever going to win this game, we needed to have everyone not just available, but fully fit, and there were a number of players we had who didn’t seem themselves yesterday. We also needed to rely on you lot having an off day like you did at Anfield. Which highlights my issue - if we rely on our best XI being fully fit, and cannot cope with a few absences, then that is terrible squad management. You’re never going to have the perfect conditions throughout the season so you need to cope with that. And we can’t. I don’t want to make excuses because you won fair and square, but I’m just frustrated that we made it so easy for you.
So it will be top 6 or bust for Arteta; and let’s be honest it should really be top 4 or bust, but as we know “the process” was essentially rebooted in the summer.
Thing is, this squad is in transition. We've all been saying for ages that we need to get rid of players like Kolasinac, Luiz, Bellerin, Willian, AMN, Torreria, Guendouzi, Chambers etc and for the most part, Arteta and Edu have moved on players that have been on our books for ages and aren't of the required standard. They've brought in players like Tomiyasu, Ben White, Ramsdale, Odegaard, who have been brilliant. Players like Lokoga and Tavares who are great additions to the squad and promoted players like Martinelli, Saka and Smith Rowe to the first team who have arguably been our best players. That process is not complete though and we still lack depth in the squad, so the players who I've mentioned are being relied on too much. We saw against LIverpool that half of that team looked tired and fatigued, obviously covid, injuries, AFCON and suspensions haven't helped. Getting the squad right is a process, and it's going take time. So I'm not going to criticise Arteta and Edu, because so far they have done just about everything right.
Sorry but I can’t agree that they’ve done everything right. They’ve done some things right, but they’ve also done a lot wrong in my view. Edu was responsible for signing Willian and we know how that turned out. Edu also supported Arteta in wanting to keep Xhaka AND the decision to give him a pay rise with a new deal which was also a monumental mistake. Edu was also pivotal for the Cedric and Pablo Mari signings and now we are trying to get rid of them despite them signing 4 year contracts with us not too long ago. Then, when it comes to selling players, there is the fact we are only getting £12m combined for Mavrapanos and Guendouzi - which are derisory fees, to be frank. In some situations, we have even had to pay players to leave. So he’s not done well on this front either. Reportedly, Edu also wanted to extend Emery’s contract even after the Europa Leage final embarrassment and it was only when the majority went against him that we didn’t do this. Talking about injuries and Covid aren’t valid enough reasons when this applies to all the clubs too. Likewise with AFCON. The simple fact is we were not prepared for players departing for AFCON and our depth is shocking. We knew this was happening for ages and did not plan appropriately. We have let 4 players leave this window, not brought anyone in and then we bemoan our lack of squad depth. This is self-inflicted. As for Arteta, I’ve made it clear numerous times that I think he’s extremely fortunate to still be in a job. This season, he has done ok, but he’s achieved nothing yet and still has a lot to prove. I’m still not totally convinced he’s the man to get us back to where we want to be, so jury is still out.
