FIVE Things we learnt about Arsenal this weekend
While it was by no means a thrilling performance, Arsenal will be pleased with their 1-1 draw at Anfield on Sunday, particularly as they were minutes away from defeat. So what conclusions can we draw from the game about Arsenal at this early stage in the season?
1. A new keeper has to be brought in
I mentioned this in a previous article, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record it has to be reiterated that Arsene Wenger must bring in a goalkeeper this summer if Arsenal want to mount a strong challenge for the Premier League title. Sunday’s game merely served to confirm Arsenal fan’s already well founded fears that Manuel Almunia is not good enough. He flapped badly at a number of crosses and failed to stamp his authority in the area. Although David Ngog’s goal was well struck, a better goalkeeper would have fancied his chances of saving the Frenchman’s shot. There is still time for Wenger to act this transfer window, and he must do so quickly if Arsenal are to be serious contenders this season.
2. Koscielny looks impressive
Laurent Koscielny made his Premier League bow in one of the toughest arenas in England, yet he already looked totally comfortable at this level. Admittedly he did not have a top class striker playing against him, but he looked calm, composed and solid on his debut. Fernando Torres appeared to have the beating of him on a couple of occassions but he showed his pace and quickly got back to snuff out the danger. His game was soured by a sending off, but the decision seemed very harsh indeed and it does not yet present a cause for concern. Although it is very early in the season, Koscielny is already looking like a shrewd acquisition by Arsene Wenger.
3. Rosicky can be an asset this season
If he manages to remain fit, Tomas Rosicky could have a big part to play for Arsenal this season. The Czech midfielder showed some excellent touches when he came on against Liverpool. He delivered a dangerous cross which Vermaelen headed wide, and was unlucky not to score after a superb jinking run into the box was followed by a shot that was excellently saved by Pepe Reina. To date Rosicky has been dogged by injuries during his Arsenal career but if he can stay fit for the majority of the season he could be an effective player for the club.
4. The defence still looked a bit shaky
For the most part the Arsenal backline looked solid. The defenders were not caught high up the pitch as they have been on previous occassions, and Koscielny and Vermaelen looked to form a good partnership in central defence. Gael Clichy looked suspect on a couple of occassions but he also cleared a Ngog header off the line. What was negative was the manner in which the goal was given away, a breakdown in communication and a poor pass gave away possession, and Liverpool quickly made them pay. Arsenal have been guilty of making these kind of mistakes in recent years and they will need to try and eradicate them from their game to avoid conceding cheap goals.
5. Fabregas was missed
The Arsenal midfield dominated Liverpool’s in the first half and towards the end of the second half, with acres of space often being found by the Gunners’ midfielders. There was a lack of clear cut chances created however and Marouane Chamakh did not have an awful lot to feed on. Arsenal missed Fabregas’ ability to play a killer pass and had he played the result might well have been different. Keeping Cesc Fabregas has been a huge shot in the arm for Arsenal and he will undoubtedly have a big role to play this season.
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Clichy was only exposed because up against two and Arshavin never backtracks to protect. Arshavin was below par. The problem actually is not one non-performing player on the day, the issue is Arsene stating:
AW: “I believe (Manuel) Almunia had a good game today.”
A GK spinning around like a headless chicken flapping 3 times after thin air never reaching a crossed or passed ball – that is a good game ???
Arsene, please don’t f**k up our season again, for the entire football world it is obvious that we nee a GK (topdraw) and 2 CB’s (recognized ones). We don’t need Aluminium, we need steel in the back.
Send Alu and Flappy to the Championship.
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The championship? Excuse me sir, but you won’t see many ‘keepers at second division level as poor as yer man Almunia, don’t palm your rubbish off on what is an excellent league.
Agree with the article, other than I thought Arsenal’s two centre halves were caught too far apart on more than one occasion, but it’s a new partnership and I am sure they will improve.
Any side would miss Fabregas, but I feel that the players Arsenal had out yesterday should have been more than good enough to at least prise Liverpool open on more occasions. The Liverpool back four were excellent, as were the midfield for the most part, but understandably, down to ten men for so long, they badly tired in the last twenty or so allowing Arsenal lots of room. Good teams would have put a tired Liverpool away. In the circumstances a good point for Liverpool and a decent one for Arsenal, but I can’t help but feel that Arsenal will be the more disappointed. Not with the point, but with their lack of penetration against a tired ten men.
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Liverpool are a very good team and defensivly one of the top teams in the league, so when they decide to play the 2 banks of four game its very hard to break them down. I was very dissappointed with Liverpools lack of ambition against Arsenal at anfield at the weekend. If Liverpool had any real intentions of competing for the league then these are the occassions when you have to play to win.
Should you ever be disappointed with a draw at anfield??? no i dont think so. Liverpool are still up there and will compete for the top 4, minimum, this season so an away draw for Arsenal is a good result. No Fabregas and RVP for only 10mins, No Song or any other actual DM on the pitch and we still dominated midfield. Sure we need a new keeper and at least 1 more CB but the signs were a lot more positive then negative from the weekend.
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A result i’m pretty sure most arsenal fans would have taken before the match, but after the sending off? Probably not.
Definitely agree with the article on most counts, although i do think that sometimes the Arsenal defenders were caught out badly.
Get rid of Almunia seems to be the main lesson to take from the match.
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