Football News: Liverpool v Arsenal - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

Liverpool v Arsenal A Liverpool Perspective

A game that really lacked entertainment value but still managed to produce drama at the end. It was an odd game, with Liverpool really struggling to get their forward line into the game. There were a number of reasons for it, poor passes into them was probable the biggest, as it took until the second half to produce any decent accurate balls into their feet. Another issue was the movement, which saw a lot of replication of runs - particularly the deeper midfield pair Gravenberch and Mac Allister, who made the same run a number of times, reducing the available options to the man on the ball. Worse was their tendency to both run forward, forcing Wirtz to drop deep to cover for them, which happened a lot and he was forced to act like a defensive midfielder a number of times. That is not getting the best out of any of them.

Unless the team is losing late in the game, those two should never ever both be forward at the same time. Not just because it then requires Wirtz to be alert and his attacking threat is nullified, but because they tend to just get in each others' way. They both think along similar lines, spot similar openings and make the same run to take advantage. Over time, as they get back used to playing together, I am sure they will work it out so that only one makes the move forward at a time, but right now it is the main cause of Liverpool's disjointed play. As the players gain match sharpness and familiarity with each other's game in their new roles, I am sure that be sorted out.

As usual though, Slot's ability to tweak the team during the game to crank up the pressure on the opponent was impressive. He is like a boxer, feeling his way into the fight, sizing up his opponent in the early rounds and then all of a sudden takes charge of the fight. The first half slow, patient passing around at the back to try and bait the opponents into leaving gaps can be a bit dull to watch, but it is incredibly effective. It is pulling the opposition around and making them work, tiring them so that there are gaps to exploit in the second half. It is actually incredibly reminiscent of the Liverpool of the early 1980s, who won everything and they did it by grinding the opposition down over the 90 minutes. Slot's team is the same.

You could see it in this match, as Liverpool started to control more of the play after about 60 minutes, helped by the arrival of Jones in midfield. But there is still a lot of work to be done on bringing the unit together and building the innate understanding that the players need to have of each others' runs and movement. There is still a looseness to the passing at times that also needs to be ironed out, something that usually just needs match sharpness to get rid of. Overall though it was a close game, but Liverpool just about deserved the victory due to actually having the ambition to go out there and try to win it, rather than looking for a point.

Arsenal

Arsenal were very disappointing, I know they lost Saliba after 5 minutes to injury, but that is not the reason they lost. In fact, his replacement was one of their better players in the match. The reason they lost was down to one man alone - Arteta. For all the talk of him being a disciple of Pep Guardiola, he is producing performances that suggest his real icon is Tony Pulis. When he first took charge, Arsenal under him played good football, they were exciting to watch and they were improving. But recent years seem to have taught him the wrong lesson and instead of looking to keep playing good football and getting some gains from good set pieces, he has just thrown out the good football and is playing for set pieces.

The problem is that, apart from the constant recruitment of full-backs that are a threat from set-pieces and are actually centre-backs who can play there, the players Arteta adds to the team do not suit the way the Gunners are playing. And that is where it all fell apart. The midfield, apart from Rice, was poor. Zubimendi was all at sea trying to play like this. He needs to be in a ball-dominant team to get the best out of him, not a team that looks to win corners in the hope of making something happen. He is not physical enough and ends up just getting bypassed by opposing attacks. Merino is so lacking in mobility that his only real use in this system is to be a big body at set pieces.

Added to that, Arteta lacks Slot's ability to tweak things to take control of games. He just seems to throw on players with little real plan. The fact that, even at 1-0 down in the final minutes of the game, you still had the embarrassing spectacle of Jurrien Timber time wasting and refusing to get off the floor, even after Gakpo twice tried to help him up, tells you a lot about what they are getting instructed to do. It is the lack of ambition after coming up to 6 years in charge and a billion pounds spent that would bother me if I was a Gooner. But they seem to 'trust the process' even if that process is not apparent to anyone else!

It is odd that a team with such a solid backline is afraid to push forward a little more. They have such a solid base to operate from that they could afford to be a lot more attack minded without leaving themselves wide open, even against the better sides. If they keep being so negative, it will end up in yet another negative result at the end of the season.

Liverpool

Alisson - had a much easier game than against ten man Newcastle, which tells you a lot.

Szoboszlai - the best player on the pitch, even without that free kick. He was exceptional, getting up and down at pace, playing an exquisite 60 yard cross field pass to Wirtz's foot (incredible touch by the German too) and he inverted at the right times and also got down the flank when that option was right. His ability to pop up all over the pitch from right back and pick passes was like some kind of cross between Gerrard and Alexander-Arnold. Bradley and Frimpong actually have a real fight on their hands to hold onto the right-back slot, he genuinely looks like he could be better than either there. Though he is also badly missed from the centre of midfield! All that and managing to look nearly as good as me while doing it. His movement caused Arsenal so many problems, he was able to find himself space in dangerous areas high up the pitch, but had the work rate and pace to get back into his defensive position when the ball was lost. He also got forward at the right times, other times he would drop in between the two centre-backs to create a passing option when the ball was being passed around at the back to try and bait Arsenal in. He was a right-back when the ball was lost, but when Liverpool had possession, he was free to roam. The key thing was that he had the intelligence to use that freedom to help the team.

Konate - a much better performance, but he is still making basic errors which could cost the team. A number of times he was far too busy grappling with the man he was marking to just deal with the ball being played in, like he should have, and it sailed over his head into a dangerous area. So a step forward, but far from a great performance.

van Dijk - an excellent performance from the captain. There was no header that went unchallenged in his area because he was too busy with the opposition players - he remembered what he is there, to deal with the ball. And win it he did, again and again and again.

Kerkez - a very good game from the Hungarian international. Madueke has the ability to beat anyone, but he never gave him a moment's peace, even when beaten he was right back at him again straight away, harrying him.

Mac Allister - still a long way off the pace and struggled badly, but he needs to play to get back to sharpness. Luckily he was not put under any real pressure to take advantage of his lack of match sharpness. I would have liked to see him play with a bit more caution, with him not being at his best, instead of charging forward at every opportunity. Now there is Wirtz up there, he just ended up crowding the space and not giving Wirtz any room to play in. Plus Gravenberch often made the same run, which is something they need to work on, a bit more communication would not go amiss.

Gravenberch - a decent game, though he did get forward a bit too much for my liking, which forced Wirtz to drop off and end up protecting the defence. It is clear the trio in midfield are going to take a bit of time to come to an understanding of each others' games, but at least the three of them are all conscientious enough to be able to cover for each other.

Wirtz - showed some moments of genuine quality, including that beauty of a take from Szoboszlai's cross field pass, but often ended up as the deepest lying midfielder, which is not ideal. However, you cannot fault his effort for covering and how well he did when in that position. There are definitely signs that he will come good.

Salah - he took a bit of stick for his performance, though I am not sure why. Not just was he up against the meanest defence in the Premier League, but he got no service until near the end of the game when he must have been tiring. Considering he kept Gabriel pinned back and unable to double up on Ekitike, allowing him more space to operate, I would consider it a decent game.

Gakpo - decent game, but the lack of service gave him little chance to do more than he did.

Ekitike - got no service, but put himself about as much as possible. New boy Mosquera gave him little time or space to work in.

Jones - replaced Mac Allister in the 60th minute. Bringing him on helped Liverpool to step up their game, he played very well, mostly sitting in and allowing Wirtz to just stay up high and operate where he is most effective.

Gomez - was brought on in the stead of Konate in the 78th minute after Konate pulled up. Had an excellent game, he made sure not to get caught up in a personal battle and instead concentrated on the ball.

Chiesa - replaced Ekitike in the 78th minute. Like Ekitike he never got the service to really affect the game.

Endo - took the place of Wirtz in the 88th minute. Closed out the game in his inimitable, combative, abrasive style.

Written by Tris Burke September 04 2025 06:27:26