Topic: Round Table: Liverpool 3 Arsenal 3

[Corkboy]

Wasn't that something?

We started like whirling dervishes, all snarl and bite, snapping into the fronts and backs of them in a synchronous stylee. The first goal was no more than we deserved, and Firmino, our tough tackling striker, took it like a man for whom scoring one goal in 20 games was some sort of aberration, an injustice to be set to rights.

And then we gave them a goal.

Happily, we took that as an insult, albeit self inflicted, and set about tormenting them again, with Henderson losing the ball, regaining it, losing it and clattering into the impressive Campbell, whose part in our second goal was terribly unfortunate, in light of his overall display. The ball was slipped to Firmino by Milner, and Roberto again belied his stats by taking a deft touch and curling one past Cech, top right hand corner, pick that one out, pal.

And then we gave them another goal.

After that, we contrived to give Giroud his best chance of the game, ball in front of him along with a gaping net but he somehow managed to shovel it into Mignolet's grateful hands. Mignolet being Mignolet, he couldn't hold it but someone hoofed it clear.

Half time came and went, the game settled down a little, but we continued to have more possession, more chances, more passes. Mesut Ozil, the assist machine, was nowhere to be seen but Can's influence also waned. Maybe a German thing. In any case, Bellerin crunched Milner, leaving the Stakhanovite midfielder prone on the turf, and bowled into the box to feed Giroud who finished with a cute turn and shot, and if at this point, you were having Arshavin flashbacks, you were not alone.

At this point, we interrupt our scheduled review to note that Rafa was in the crowd. Rarararafa Benitez.

Our current manager had to act, and he did, bringing on Benteke, Allen and finally Caulker, and how pleased he must have been that our equaliser involved two, if not three of them. With Caulker occupying someone or other, Benteke finally got his head on one, and Joe Allen arrived in the box for a ball which seemed to take an age to descend, but which eventually did. Allen guided a first time volley low down past Cech and the stands went wild.

I don't know, folks. Arsenal were table toppers going into last night but a home draw is never a satisfactory result. We looked a very good side and we gave away at least two if not three soft goals. Mind you, I bet Arsenal weren't too happy with their defence either.  When you're a goal down with minutes on the clock, a draw feels like a win but it's not. It's great to see Firmino getting goals but not so much to see Mignolet kneeing them in. We can be utterly dominant and invitingly accommodating, a dizzying array of paradoxical football.

At least it's entertaining....

[BabuYagu]

That was one of the most entertaining 90+ minutes of football I´ve seen in a while. So many things to talk about - where do you start.

I haven´t seen mentioned much but that turn and shot from Firmino would have been one of the best ways to top off a hattrick I have seen. Such a shame he wasn´t a couple of feet further back when he struck it as it shaved the joint of the goal.

There were good-great performances all over the pitch that contributed to the win. I thought Lallana was excellent. He isn´t contributing much in terms of goals or assists at the moment but he always puts in a shift. His productivity is weird also as he never had that trouble before this season. His G&A per 90 for the since 2011/12 have been higher than this, often near or above 0.5 which is very good. The optimist part of me believes he will go on a scoring spree between now and the end of the season to bump his lowly 0.28 up to closer to 0.4.

Can turned in one of the best central midfield performances I have seen in the first 45 minutes. Then one of the worst in the second 45 (or however long he lasted). It was very strange especially with having a full weeks rest since his last game. Henderson reminded us why he is so important to the side. Ibe also had a good game although his decision making needs to improve. Sakho is beginning his road to match fitness (or injury depending on perspective) again and it showed with a few shaky moment. Mignolet wasn´t terrible. Could have done better with a couple of the goals beaten at his near post if we are being critical of him.

That Joe Allen finish was a thing of beauty. His Liverpool career is in a strange place now as he is probably in a lot of peoples thinking in terms of who we should look to upgrade but he´s playing very well when used. Question mark still remains whether he is too short to be a Klopp midfielder (he upgraded the shorter CM´s with players of at least 5'10 at Dortmund) and lacks the productivity to be part of the attacking players. Delighted for him getting the goal though.

Back to Firmino to end with. Is he the only Brazilian who doesn´t know how to celebrate? You just KNOW that shirt was coming off again if that 3rd had gone in. Is he a big Matthew McConaughey fan or something?

[John C]

Thank you Corky.

There was a tinge of disappointment at the game that we didn't do more, but 3 crackers against the potential champions gave me further hope for the rest of the season.

What say you good folk of RAWK

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Was all geared up to go and realised a couple of hours before that I hadn't in fact bought a ticket. I don't know why I fooled myself that I had, but I have an awful memory at the best of times so there you go. Instead I had a boss stream, supplied by the good folk on here as usual.

It was certainly a riveting encounter, we started very well and Arsenal couldn't handle us. Sadly, a couple of characteristic lapses cost us and before I knew it it was 2-2.

Can was imperious in the first half, ran that midfield, I was very proud of him and as I keep banging on about, the black boots are excellent and should be mandatory. Perhaps there could be some kind of honours system for boots where you can't wear flashy c*nt neon shite until you've actually won something, you could do different colours for different cups or awards or something. I remember back in 1986 and I heard about Gary Lineker getting the Golden Boot at the World Cup and imagining that he'd line up in shiny footwear next year. Such a disappointment when I saw it was just a shoe on a stand. Yes he faded in the second half (how many times did he get the 'man on!' shout? Seemed about 5 as he was turning very slowly once he tired) but it gave us the chance to change it up with Joe Allen so not too detrimental at all to his overall contribution.

I honestly didn't think Moreno was that bad, he can be brainless though, not sure that will ever change. You'd hope so and he is still young.

Milner was good, thought Toure was pretty good, I love his character, came out for some important tackles.

Mignolet was his usual self, some good but looked suspect for the first two goals.

Sakho coming back from injury for me took a while to get into the game but again I thought his passing was generally excellent apart from one very poor gift in midfield. Vital header to clear one as well.

Clyne was solid as ever, I really like the way he plays.

Lallana is very frustrating, he seems to try really hard but he lacks the cutting edge of a Kuyt in his prime, who could be relied to bring solidity, was deadly on penalties and brought more to the team than just running. Although his touch is much better, and he does nice tricks and turns, it doesn't always seem to go anywhere. He'd rather beat his man twice, try again, lose the ball and run thirty yards to win it back again rather than just go past a man the first time and lay it off. I remember him at Southampton and he didn't seem to overplay as much there. And, he was first in line to clear the corner for their second and completely shit the bed.

Firmino, that second goal, just brilliant. Loudest cheer of the night from me. But, taking the shirt off and lashing it after the first goal, not too impressed with that, it distracted me and I kept thinking 'What if he can't find it to put back on?'

Benteke wasn't great when he came on, but I did wonder why we managed to cross to Firmino about 4 times in the five minutes preceding Benteke's entrance and then promptly abandone that route for five minutes when he came on.

Joe Allen supersub, well played Klopp, it was exactly the substitution we had needed at the time. I thought the Caulker move was funny too, I know we've all taken the piss out of the 'stick the big defender up front' when Mourinho'd do it with Huth but I thought it was as much a move to disorientate Arsenal's structure as anything, to confuse who was picking up who and who was moving where.

Ibe needs to get on his bike and make some moves, he can be way too static but hopefully this will improve, his strength is a great asset to have and although it wasn't his best night I thought he was decent.

Once we went behind, I kind of thought we looked like we would keep going and get something, we were lucky with Giroud's miss although he does have one or two in him, which I guess is why everybody holds him in fairly low esteem despite his excellent goal record.

Arsenal were a good side, always have goals in them, Ozil was very quiet mostly so we must have done something right defensively despite conceding three, strange as it sounds. Loved Cech not getting anywhere Firmino's second. Haha, take that you helmet.

[Red-Soldier]

It was a great match, and mostly a great performance from us.

We should have won the game really, however, we found ourselves losing with just a few minutes to go.

We kept on going, our manager threw on the rescue party, and they did the job!

A draw was the least we deserved. 

Lots of positives, a few negatives.

[Crosby Nick]

We could be so good but I can't recall us ever being this easy to score against. Every set piece give us the jitters. Teams always seem to score with their first attack, getting silly now.

For the most part I'd say it's a case of personnel and that's why it's hard to now expect too much from this season. We're capable of winning a trophy or two, it just depends which games we choose to self destruct in.

Enjoyable to watch though and I like the way we've salvaged two home defeats in injury time now. Admittedly we shouldn't have been behind in the first place in either game.

Great goal and performance from Firmino, really hope things click for him now and he goes on a run. Would be great if in a year or two he's added to those list of names of great players who took half a season to adapt to life in England.

[steveeastend]

I don' want to critise any player contributing to this great game as they ALL did their job which was again enough for being the better team against a very good Arsenal side. Still I want to mention a couple of points which I think to be the reason why we couldn't win despite being the better team overall on this day..

First, I think there is no way Klopp could deny that he probably made a crucial mistake in the line up considering the opponent was a ball playing team. Why leaving the back four that exposed when having Toure in the defending line who clearly isn't physically fit enough for having the freshness and quickness to react when being one vs one against the likes of Ramsey and Giroud? I fear this could have been even worse with Sanchez and Carzola, both quick players who could have caused the back four even more problems so I guess we were overall lucky in this one.

Looking at our next game and I wonder what Klopp will go for in our defending set up which will be crucial again? You look at ManU under van Gaal being a passing team only, as boring as it is, which would require strict organisation in defending starting from midfield otherwise our defending line could look very stupid again, especially with an old and slow reacting Kolo in the side. It has to be Lucas then for sure, otherwise we could be moaning and whining sooner as Klopp and the players applauding the crowd after a passionate game again.

IN addition, I think our defending organisation at set pieces should be better at this point as Klopp is around long enough for having talked this over with the players, which players to be positioned at first post.. for sure this cannot be Lallana I would think..

Speaking of Lallana who did a tremendous job running himself into the ground in our pressing and build up play still leaves himself and the team kind of dissappointed when getting near the box with a chance to score where he still seems pretty clueless and probably lacking the right skills and training sessions in order to show better in his finishing which isn't his fault at all as there are no other options to go for at the moment. Along those lines it was Klopp who said that there is no problem with the number of games, just with the number of players around which begs the question how on earth could it happen that our last regime let the likes of Markovic and Balotelli go out on loan, while paying substantial parts of their wages and sell someone like Borini who still could have been a reasonable option considering the number of games to be expected. Did they really think they could have made it through this season with Benteke, an injured Sturridge and Ings?

The answer is pretty easy I think. Just as there are that many issues in our overall play, tactically and refering to more or less basic skills like defending crosses, positioning in attack when crossing coming in etc.etc.etc. which makes the current task almost an impossible one for Klopp and the players...

[Butcher Knife Roberto]

If anything, this game gave us a glimpse of the future. We've got the onions to stick in there with the best, we just have to keep believing that we can do it. Klopp himself alluded as much when talking about Firmino, and how he now finds himself in a 'good moment'. It's clear the kid has talent, and bags of it. Like all good things, the new Liverpool is gonna take a bit of time.

Sure, there are a couple of square pegs in round holes, and injuries certainly don't help. But make no mistake; given a couple of years, the right additions, the right levels of belief, Klopp will bring us number 19. We stood up to Arsenal, gave them one hell of a match, and came away wanting more. Even with some bumps along the way, it's a hell of a ride already. Think of where we might end up in a year or two...

[stockdam]

I don't have time for an i-depth analysis of the game but all I will say is that this game gave me a lot of hope for the future. We aren't that far off being a good side. We just need to be more consistent and to learn how to play against the teams who pack their defence and hit us on the break or at set-pieces.

At times we played great football against Arsenal. Firmino and Can played very well in patches and they will get better. Our defence needs to tighten up a bit but other than that we can play good football.

Klopp will probably try out all of the options that he has and see how each players settles into his style. Then he'll go into the transfer market in the summer to strengthen. Next session will be a big change but for now let's sit back and watch the start of a new era unfold.

[Grand Chilli]

One thing struck me watching the highlights back again just now. After Klopp arrived, there were a couple of games where it was noticeable we did the "running around and pressing" well, but didn't manage to win the ball in dangerous areas and make anything of it. That's exactly what happened for the first two goals last night - we actually gave the ball away in a bit of a sloppy way, but then didn't half make the most of winning it back quickly as Arsenal looked to clear! Really good to see and makes me (even more) optimistic for the future...

Next challenge of course is doing better against the teams that hoof it clear instead of trying to play it out neatly!

[LiamG]

Good tactical analysis here
https://theaustinreynolds.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/liverpool-arsenal-33/