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Morning all.
Short one this morning..
Mikel Arteta said in his post match press conference that Arsenal deserved more from the game at Anfield but did we? Apart from Noni Madueke, I thought we lacked a threat up front. Viktor Gyokeres was ineffective because I don’t think his teammates have worked him out yet. I don’t think the manager has either.
Good attacking play comes from speed, width and decisiveness. Not from playing a safe pass instead of a forward pass.
I don’t think either side played particularly well but when it came to a set-piece, it was Liverpool who were clinical.
The league isn’t won or lost in September so I don’t think fans should hit the panic button but I do wish we as a team would play with more freedom. Freedom to shoot from anywhere, freedom to be more adventurous in the way we play, freedom to try and do something different to the Arsenal norm which seems to me to put safety first and foremost.
Saying that, our playing out from the back yesterday was far from safe. It was close to being catastrophic although that might sound a bit extreme.
Gabriel Martinelli put a shift in defensively, he usually does, but he’s a winger with pace who every time he got the ball, looked like he didn’t have a clue what to do next.
William Saliba, who rolled his ankle during the warmup, had to be replaced by 21 year old Cristhian Mosquera. After a few nervous moments, he was as solid as a rock.
I don’t know about you guys, but I want to forget yesterday’s game and move on. It’s annoying that there’s now an international break so many of our players will be away from the club but at least our walking wounded will have two extra weeks to recover before our next game.
Yes, I’m pretty downhearted, frustrated too that after an excellent summer in the transfer window, we are still playing with what Arsene Wenger used to say, “the handbrake on”. I know it was Anfield but Liverpool were there for the taking yesterday, Arsenal simply didn’t look like a team which wanted to take them..
It’s transfer deadline day today and Arsenal are expected to be busy moving on a number of players. There’s still a part of me which believes Reiss Nelson could be a useful player to keep but obviously, Mikel Arteta doesn’t feel the same.
Arsenal are expected to announce the signing of Piero Hincapie today.
Catch up in the comments.