Match thread?

comment by Granit Xhaka: Thanks for the memories, but it's time to LEAVE #NotMyCaptain (U3245)
posted 49 seconds ago
do a match thread tu
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No.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Our game plan was to hit them on the counter. We did that well in the first half. Gwendouzi shouldnt be asked to defend wide areas. Luiz mistakes killed us.

Sad that we lost our head again at their place.

Emery confirmed that Monreal could leave Arsenal.

Should wait until January.

If I speak, I'm in trouble 🤷‍♂️

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

A bit disappointed with the performance, but did we really expect to get a result against the current Champions League winners, who got 97 points last season, at Anfield?

Liverpool are simply too good. That’s what it comes down too.

Sometimes you just need to hold your hands up and accept the opposition are better than you.

We have players capable of doing much better but the tactics were wrong.
Playing from the back at Anfield is just crazy. Also playing a narrow midfield against the best fullbacks in the league

Thing is IAWT, for most of the first half, our tactics were working. If Pepe has scored that chance, the complexion of the game changes and Emery is hailed as a tactical genius.

Second half, Liverpool stepped up and we didn’t rise to the challenge. I don’t think Xhaka/Gwen should have started & I think Lacazette should have come on much earlier. But apart from that, I don’t see what else he could have done differently.

We could have tried to play it long to bypass the press, but Aubameyang can’t hold the ball up and his aerial presence would be futile against VVD/Matip. Likewise with Lacazette. We had no-one who could retain possession and carry the ball forward either a la Cazorla. Ceballos wasn’t up to it today.

I think there are things we could have done differently in parts, but I really think the quality of Liverpool’s personnel was always going to be too much for us. So what difference does it make anyway?

Sorry Samir but completely disagree. Auba chance came from a poor mistake from their GK.
Pepe chance also came from another bad mistake from them (don't remember who). What other clean chance did we actually created from open play?
I can understand Emery wanted to play from the back but after that chance we almost gifted to Mane, the instructions should have clear to play long.
Also as you said, Guendo - Xhaka just doesn't work and the longer we persist on that one, the more dramatic it might get.
Torreira would have caught Salah. And what was the point to introduce him (a DM) when we were already 3 down?!

Fecking hate to say it, but Liverpool really are very good.

Torreira, Willock and Guendouzi should be our midfield going forward. XhakaaXhaka and Ozil coming in to replace Guendouzi and Willock for the odd game.

No idea what Emery will do though.

IAWT,

The gulf in class between us and Liverpool is vast. We were never going to create an abundance of chances. And even then, some of the chances they had were from our players giving the ball away in dangerous areas, so it works both ways.

I don’t agree with playing it long when we don’t have players who can hold the ball up or keep hold of it. Liverpool would have dispossessed us every time, keeping pressure on our defence and their attacking phases would have been relentless. We were snookered either way.

Liverpool have much better players and a much better team than us. It should be no surprise that they won so convincingly. We have a while to go before we can get to that level. Our season objectives will not be defined on games like today.

Let’s hope for a big performance & result against Spurs. Otherwise the happiness surrounding the fan base will be short lived. And the last thing we’d want is to dwell on a derby defeat heading into the international break.

Samir,

I know the gap between them and us is big and I wasn't hoping to get a result yesterday but I wanted to see some improvement.
Saints, Chelsea (super cup) and even Norwich frustrated Liverpool more than what we achieved yesterday and that was all to do with having the right approach. It says a lot when Klopp said in post match interview that he was surprised by our formation (not in a flattering way!). It was like dropping lambs in a pack of wolves.
People talking about positives and that the results is not as bad as previous season and although this is true, I think it is more to do with them not being 100% (yet) rather than us closing the gap.
I'm sure we will be fine in the long term as we have players to conme back and that we have enough attacking power to trouble most of the team. Plus, by the look of it, Chelsea and United are still in transition period.
But at the moment, we are fighting for that 4th spot, at best. Especially if our tactics don't improve fast vs the top team.

IAWT,

For what it’s worth, I do agree that in the second half in particular, we should have released the shackles more. I still believe the Xhaka-Guendouzi selection did influence our game plan, as neither player are mobile enough, nor do they release the ball quick enough. That is completely on Emery.

But I think we both agree that no matter what we were going to do, ultimately, a loss was always the most likely result. This is the one year where Emery needs to get CL football if he wants to continue his career a Arsenal manager, so results matter more than last year. Performances have to pick up too, but I am willing to give him some slack on it (for now) because of the injuries in key positions and players who clearly aren’t 100% match fit.

You sound disappointed that we may only get 4th at best, but that was always going to be our target, surely? Liverpool and City are cut from a different cloth, Spurs for me are (on paper) 3rd best team in the league after the other two, which means we are fighting it out with United and Chelsea for 4th.

If things click, who knows, we may even get 3rd? But that is realistically the highest position we could potentially finish.

comment by Samir - Bottlers FC (U2630)
posted 13 hours, 2 minutes ago
A bit disappointed with the performance, but did we really expect to get a result against the current Champions League winners, who got 97 points last season, at Anfield?

Liverpool are simply too good. That’s what it comes down too.

Sometimes you just need to hold your hands up and accept the opposition are better than you.
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Dont think Emery got his tactic right allthough it worked for a half

That's an understatement!

comment by 🇫🇷 🇫🇷 🇫🇷 Emery.....if I speak about him, I'm in big big trouble 🇫🇷 🇫🇷🇫🇷 (U10012)
posted 3 hours, 30 minutes ago
Samir,

I know the gap between them and us is big and I wasn't hoping to get a result yesterday but I wanted to see some improvement.
Saints, Chelsea (super cup) and even Norwich frustrated Liverpool more than what we achieved yesterday and that was all to do with having the right approach. It says a lot when Klopp said in post match interview that he was surprised by our formation (not in a flattering way!). It was like dropping lambs in a pack of wolves.
People talking about positives and that the results is not as bad as previous season and although this is true, I think it is more to do with them not being 100% (yet) rather than us closing the gap.
I'm sure we will be fine in the long term as we have players to conme back and that we have enough attacking power to trouble most of the team. Plus, by the look of it, Chelsea and United are still in transition period.
But at the moment, we are fighting for that 4th spot, at best. Especially if our tactics don't improve fast vs the top team.
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Agree and disagree, IAWT. Agree with you that Emery got his tactics wrong. I heard what Klopp said after the game. He was surprised with our tactics and it played in their cards more than it worked for us. He said also that Liverpool needed a much better performance to win against us than on other occasions this season.

Agree with you on Emery tactics to play from the back and to have a diamond midfield. Gwendouzi isnt the right player to keep the ball or win it back in wide areas. Ceballos had a day off.

https://twitter.com/NaughtyNelson15/status/1165552107149234177

What exactly is the difference between Luiz' foul and VVD's ?

So the part you disagree with is Klopp saying they needed a better performance to beat us this time?
Well first, it could have been just a polite thing to say. He will never gonna public and say that was easy peasy, will he?
Secondly, it could also be that Liverpool are not firing all cylinders just yet? As I said in one comment above, Saints, Chelsea and even Norwich (despite the final score line) frustrated hem more than we did yesterday.
Again, I'm not panicking (just yet) but I really believe that we need to stop being this naive in big game and get our tactits right because otherwise, our top 4 chance will evaporate very quickly.

Next week is another big test. Let's see what Emery has line up in his sleeves.

Can't argue with that IAWT. Naive tactics by Emery.

Good summary here as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYl2SwlbS6c

I'm not sure about Ceballos. Good player, but seems a but dumb. Wtf was that pass across our own box? He did it last week aswell.