Liverpool were fantastic; Arsenal fantastical; an embarrassing shambles; a pale, grotesque shadow of the side they should be.
A parody. They were humiliated by Liverpool’s attacking power and pace but added to their miserable downfall with their lack of organisation and determination. Once behind, it was over. All over. They had no belief and no leadership.
A parody. They were humiliated by Liverpool’s attacking power and pace but added to their miserable downfall with their lack of organisation and determination. Once behind, it was over. All over. They had no belief and no leadership.
It was summed up by the utter ridiculousness of Liverpool’s third goal; a concession that would have led to angry recriminations in Sunday league football never mind elite professional sport. Arsenal took a corner. But they left Hector Bellerin as their sole defender and when the ball was cleared to him he wafted a leg at it unconvincingly, trying to control it, with Mohamed Salah charging down and then running from deep in his own half to calmly steer a low shot beyond Petr Cech.
The second goal was not much less of a travesty for Arsenal as they, again, were attacking before they lost the ball inside the Liverpool penalty area. Then it was pass, pass, pass and a final pass from Roberto Firmino out to Sadio Mane who cut back across Rob Holding – what possessed the Arsenal defender to show him inside? – with the outstanding forward then curling a superb right-footed shot around Cech and into the corner of the net.
It was that bad. A Liverpool win, given the recent history of this fixture, was predictable enough and the manner of it was also wholly familiar. They were too quick and aggressive and incisive for Arsenal to cope and therefore laid down their own marker as to what this season could hold.
It was that bad. A Liverpool win, given the recent history of this fixture, was predictable enough and the manner of it was also wholly familiar. They were too quick and aggressive and incisive for Arsenal to cope and therefore laid down their own marker as to what this season could hold.
Maybe he will confound critics. The season is new. But what is so difficult is that the result and the flow of the game were so predictable. Same old, same old.
This is not to detract from Liverpool who have a free-flowing brilliance about them when they attack and are managing to cope with Philippe Coutinho who still wants to leave for Barcelona before the window closes. They scored four and could have had seven, eight, who knows. Arsenal’s best player was goalkeeper Petr Cech who produced a world-class save to spread himself and deny Salah before the scoring had even begun.
But begin it did and what is so awful about the way Arsenal defend – does anyone feel that three-at-the-back is working? – is the lack of pressure they put on the ball. They just do not press; do not harry; do not work. Summed up by the ambling Granit Xhaka in midfield and, ahead of him, Mesut Ozil.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
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