A lot of pundits in the last couple of weeks have described what character they expect to see from Arsenal if they truly are capable of being Champions this season. To be fair those talking are well qualified to know what it takes to get over the line.
Gary Neville said the best teams wouldn’t feel sorry for themselves regarding injuries and suspensions, and that the players on the pitch would still believe they could find a way to beat Liverpool at home. Mostly, those who started on Sunday did that. Especially in the first half, we played like a side offended by the overreaction to our only defeat since April. insulted perhaps by the notion that we would be underdogs at our own home against opponents with a poor recent record against the top 6 and who have only ever won 4 times in the League at the Emirates.
Roy Keane though was left questioning our mentality when in the second period we seemed to choose to sit back and try to protect our 2-1 lead. Tactics that essentially gave Slot the initiative. To paraphrase, he suggested the Gunners played like they hoped they wouldn’t concede a 2nd equalizer, not actually believing.
Yet I have often heard previous Premiership winners (including the two mentioned at Sky Sports) who have said the sign of maturity is reading the room and assessing the situation.
That sometimes if it’s not your day, it’s better to dust yourself off and take the draw rather than risk everything and have nothing to show for our efforts.
In his later years, Arsene Wenger would drop points by searching for more goals, leaving his defence exposed despite leading. He never would have parked the bus like Arteta, but who’s to say you don’t equally concede by pushing too many players forward?
There’s pros and cons to both approaches and you can’t base your opinion only when the result suits.
Putting the debate about systems to one side, we ended the match with a makeshift back 4, literally only one of them first choice. Gabriel limping off made an already anxious crowd more nervous, increased when Timber also had to be subbed.
That’s when the man management of Kiwior becomes an issue. The 23-year-old couldn’t have been confident coming on having been a sub subbed at Bournemouth. Our manager also could have trusted the experience of Zinchenko and not a teenager yet to start in the Prem. The latest player washed his hands off.
Salah’s goal came after Trent targeted Skelley being out of position.
Once the 4th goal of the game went in, I would have bitten your hand off for the final whistle. On 85 mins it was felt that Saka and Martinelli had run out of legs, our attack now looking weaker because of how Jesus has been utilized.
The visitors should have had the initiative in the last 15 mins, and we did well to manage out the situation. Some on social media have responded with the usual conspiracy theories that seem to greet us every time we drop points (didn’t VAR just award us a soft pen in the Champions League?)
The only agenda is in the media. The BBC for example on the same day published articles calling us underdogs for this fixture and then stressed this was a better result for Liverpool?
In reality, it might not feel like it now, that’s a decent result given the circumstances.
Previous versions of Arsenal lost that match.
Take the point and live to fight another day
Dan
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
