Arsenal vs Liverpool MOTD Highlights 1-1
Almunia has no business getting beat on the near-post. You simply cannot let N’Gog score from that angle on your near side. The first half was great, the second half not so much. When Liverpool went down to 10 men, I thought Arsenal eased up the pressure and that the game would come to them. Give credit to Liverpool for fighting hard and preventing any clear-cut chances for Arsenal. If this game showed one thing, it’s how important Fabregas is as an orchestrator in midfield. We missed him.
You can also download the MOTD highlights.
If the book is to be followed, Cole’s is a clear red card
Cole Red: Watch
N`Gog 1-0: Watch
Reina Own Goal: Watch :: Watch (Sky says it’s a foul) :: Download
Wenger Interview :: Hodgson Interview
Twitter – @arsenalist
konkenilsky or however you spell just got sent off for a second booking in the space of 30 seconds after the first. very shaky game from both sides. i do feel sorry for reina though, in added time and you put the ball into your own net. i did think liverpool would win before that.
i thought we were too narrow, or liverpool were too defensive, we didnt have any counter attacks at all, we didnt set walcott raring down the wing or anything, nasris freekicks were poor although vermealen had a absolute screamer. arshavin was noone to be found and the same with chamak for most of the game, although it was his persistance that got us the equaliser.
but most importantly i think that if we are getting mark schwarzer we need him before blackpool, almunia was very poor at corners and had no presence. im embarrased to think that we lost 3-2 to wigan and blackpool won 4-0.
I’m just glad we scraped thru with a point!
Definitely need a new goalie!
n some more steel and grit in the midfield! They need to show more sense of urgency!
Rosicky was brilliant with the cross that created the OG n the chance that he had!
Thank you, come again Pepe
. Otherwise, it was totally unArsenal 
N btw, the individual effort from rosicky = Fuck nani !
Almunia almost got punished on one corner in the 2nd half but other than that, I thought he played okay. The ngog goal WAS NOT Almunia’s fault, that was an absolute rocket from 9 yards away.
I was very confused with Walcott’s positioning, and no one can be sure if that was under Wenger’s instruction or Walcott’s own volition. Instead of positioning himself right up against that right sideline, he seemed to wonder inside and always had 2 or more defenders to deal with, while also leaving himself out of position to make those 1/2 field runs he’s famous for.
Diaby was alright in holding up Liverpool’s counter-attacks but overall i thought the midfield had a very below average game. Nasri didn’t create much, Wilshere was seemingly (and understandably) a little overwhelmed. I’m convinced players like Nasri, Wilshere, Denilson, Ramsey all fit better in a 4-1-2-3 formation (or a 4-1-4-1, however you want to look at it) than they do in the 4-2-3-1 played today. None of those 4 are ready to be the center forward or particularly suitable to playing as protectors of the back 4. Unfortunately I don’t think Arsene tursts anyone besides Song on this team to protect the back 4 by himself, so we’ll see more 4-2-3-1 as long as Song’s not playing.
Hey Arsenalist, its good to see u back, I thought you might have left the virtual world given our team’s frustrating performances last season.Its good to know that there are true fans like you . Just a question ,which country are you from? I am from India .
Regarding your point of Fabregas being the orchestrator , in his absence I believe Rosicky and Nasri should both be given the responsibility together.
I just wanted to add a few more points here, I thought Rosicky played well here( please check his beautiful crossing style ) , I have always noticed when Nasri & Rosicky( when fit ) play together, more often than not , Arsenal play quite well. I might be wrong there. Theo walcott started brightly, but showed his immaturity when Rosicky put him through with a beautiful through ball, where instead of putting a good cross in, he went for the spectacular trying to curl the ball in the far post. Arshavin is still horribly slack when passing at times & very bad at tracking back. He even gave the ball away and Liverpool tried to threaten on the break. Has anyone noticed that if Clichy is one on one , he isn’t able to do anything ? certainly not Ashley Cole there , Nasri went missing in the first half, was quite bad at free kicks, his free kick technique is still suspect to me , he doesn’t even take a good run up to take it ,Koscielny is quite good,deserved 1st yellow, unfair 2nd yellow card I must say.
Almunia still doesn’t cover his near post and corners well, we were saved by clichy at the near post once, Ngog’s goal is similar to the Zlatan’s 2nd scored at the Emirates last season.
Diaby cuts a quite a frustrating figure, he takes on Mascherano thrice in a minute , succeeds twcie but doesn’t use the impetus to put himself in a position to take a direct shot. Of all our midfielders , only Rosicky & Denilson go for shots from outside the box.
I hope Wenger gets some sort of CB , anyone would do except old guys .
Not impressed. We definitely missed Fabregas and Van Persie until he was subbed in. Wilshere was overwhelmed although showed flashes. Diaby was his usual mercurial self. I agree that Rosicky looked much better and I’m pulling for him this season. His injuries have really put a dent in his career.
Almunia needs to go. The guy is second rate. He flapped at just about every cross in the box today. And Arsenalist is right, he should never get beat on the near post like that–although interestingly enough that goal was a complete team meltdown. Terrible give away.
We were lucky to get something out of this game.
we need a new goalkeeper as quick as possible and a new centre back. now with the ban of the new signed player we should have a good backup centre back. djorou is good but he has not pplayed much at premier league level and he was out the whole last season. we need another class defender. but we will not win anything with almunia between the posts, we need a keeper who can step up in close matches and make sure we dont concede a goal. unfortunately almunia cant do it so we need a replacement fast.
@ok….I thought Koscielny’s 2nd yellow was very harsh. Hopefully Arsenal can appeal it.
i was almost in tears ever since the goal til pepe reina gifted us one..
and about the goal almunia or almost anyother keeper could have done nothin about… frkin bullet… but i still think almunia had an average game… good save against gerrards FK but still too many fumbles if we wanna challenge for trophies…
Koscielny was good today, for his first BPL game he was brilliant.. he is quick! and yeah… clichy needs to work on tht one-on-one thing… hes way to easy to pass..
i think if we get schwarzer and an experienced CB, who can probably play defensice mid as well.. it would be amazing! back up for both positions.
i have a feeling this is going to be our ‘Flop’ year, dont ask why hope arsenal can prove me wrong.
We used so many useless short passes when the opponent went to 10 men. We are missing Fabregas so much after seeing this game, espeacially Nasri was struggle to provide the final pass. Finally, we urgently need the new goal keeper. I don’t blame him for the Ngog’s goal but we need the one who can save the acute angle shots like that.
reina is a gooner
LOL
I feel that Almunia doesn’t really know how to command the back 4! A good goalie can help them play better!
I think Chamkh found it tough to make his presence felt! but for the OG he did help by putting some pressure on Reina! If chamakh n van persie can play as the 2 forwards it would be nice!
Diaby was pathetic at times.. he’d skip past 2-3 ppl n then lose the ball cheaply!
Walcott was surprisingly not on the wing! wat was happenin there?
It’s diffficult to be harsh on them bc I mean it was the first game of the season plus it was a difficult fixture. Liverpool isn’t a mediocre team plus I’m sure a lot of unsettled nerves came into play with anxiety. I will be a gooner no matter what!!!! The season is long with much more football to look forward to & much more to expect! GO GUNNERS!!!!
almunia positioning is very very bad,we really need a goalkeeper and back up defender,if we get a world class keeper and a defender,i’ll bet for us winning the tittle..
almunia is fucking horrible… fabianski is even worse than that.. and the other two are way too young… i think the only person who doesn’t see that for some reason is AW although he is a brilliant man… they need to get their shit straight soon watching the game today i was not comfortable once with the ball flying towards the arsenal net
I’d like to see Arshavin employed in Fabregas’ role when the Catalonian isn’t fit. For me, Nasri does much better on the wing where there is only 1 defender waiting for him and Arshavin might be drawn into the game more often by being the center of attention. Certainly an injury risk but he does very well whenever he dictates play and orchestrates passes, he just gets lost on the wing occasionally
I think it was important we got that equaliser, especially with the resurgence of “hope” and “salvation” at Anfield. I reckon Rosicky should have scored about twice, Walcott hit the free-kick really well, the goalmouth scramble etc.. In the end just getting that late goal was most important for us.
Some people say it was two points lost. I think I have the sense to say it was a point gained. As for N’Gog ‘s goal, Almunia drops a clanger. He has to cover the near side, no matter how fast or high the shot is. If that’s Reina I imagine him palming it away with ease.
Then again, I wouldn’t want Reina in my side. He looked Fabianski’ish. Sagna’s cross was really standard fare and the keeper ought to have that covered all day, but the invisible man (Vermaelen) pressured him and he just dropped it at the head of Chamakh, who seemed to get some sort of knockout and then Reina fumbled it in.
Not that I mind. It’s a decent enough start to the season, getting a point at Anfield. Now if we could get Alex Song, Fabregas, van Persie and a couple of others back, we could really start getting on track.
On a side note, Koscielny was really solid I felt in the first half until that git Joe Cole brought him down. Seriously disgraceful for a proclaimed “English International” and a talent.
In the second half I suppose Clichy and Vermaelen were sleeping for that N’gog goal but fair play to them for the rest of the game, especially the Verminator as he managed to curb just about every Liverpool attack.
Then the sending off for Koscielny.. well, you get ridiculous red cards, and then ridiculous red cards. Torres was probably about to flick the ball over his head so I guess that was to his advantage. Before that he kicked Kuyt in the knackers and I felt that was a nice touch. Classy, Koscielny!
Good day then, to you all.
To: urkz
As I read through your post, I was constantly bothered by your lack of understanding about the actual situation at Arsenal and I seriously questioned your grasp of the English Premier League as well as the strength of the other title contenders. As Charles Prestwich Scott quoted ” Comment is free but facts are sacred.”, you have obviously not dealt truthfully with the dire situation at Arsenal.
Arsenal, has seriously been dealt a double whammy by Arsene Wenger’s inability to recruit and attract good and proven players. Koscielny could potentially become his worst signing ever, maybe only bettered by Francis Jeffers. Imagine someone on his league debut being sent off? Maybe that’s a premonition of things worse to come from Koscielny and that said, he shackled Torres well though.
Wenger’s desire not to recruit any top-class goalkeepers will haunt him for the entire season. While other title contenders can boast of steady and solid goalkeepers like Cech, Van der Sar and Reina, Arsenal is left with a pretty comical character in Almunia. He was quite poor throughout the season and his performances left much to be desired. When you are competing with the premier teams in Europe and England, it is important to have a dependable figure between the posts. Almunia is definitely not in the mould of Seaman, and Wenger should look elsewhere for proper reinforcements. No doubt Wojciech Szczęsny is a exciting talent for the future, he is still pretty far from the finished product.
Also, I believe that you are being too biased and not quite objective about Arsenal’s result. You mentioned that you were admittedly quite contented with Arsenal’s draw but have you ever realised that Chelsea had got off to such a flying start with a 6-0 demolition job? At least Arsenal should have edged Liverpool and not rely on a late late equaliser to grab 1 point. They are supposed to be a club with history and results recently are not reflecting of what they should be achieving.
That said, I have to applaud Chelsea and hope that Arsenal can survive long in the top flight. Once Fabregas leaves for Barcelona, Arsenal fans like you can kiss the title goodbye.
I can’t believe no one is rightfully blaming Wilshire for the Liverpool goal. The ball went right past him and he just………looked at it. Ngog picked it up and buried the shot. Quite bizarre.
“Koscielny could potentially become his worst signing ever, maybe only bettered by Francis Jeffers.”
Francis Jeffers or Theo Walcott. At least Jeffers was cheaper. Walcott just has no scoring instincts. He is just very fast and that’s about it.
To Ray Parlour’s Perm:
I hope you get my point that there are many players at Arsenal who are not living up to expectations. Or maybe not as good as expected. Wilshere and Clichy are people who can be blamed for the Liverpool goal, but personally, I feel that it is a collective mistake on Arsenal’s part.
“The ball went right past him and he just………looked at it. Ngog picked it up and buried the shot.”
You see, there are many players who are just making up their numbers. When they were just youth players or plying their trade in the reserve team, they were touted as the next “big thing”. But nowadays, players like Diaby, Denilson, Eboue, Bendtner and Djourou cannot be mentioned in the same bracket as the new exciting talents like Neymar, Khedira and Ozil.
Arsene Wenger may have faulted in picking the wrong “gem” but I have this gut feeling that these players have lost their motivation to excel after moving to a big club like Arsenal.
Anti-Arsenal
If you are implying the arrival of Wilshere is being met with similar anticipation to that of Diaby, Denilson, etc. then you clearly haven’t watched any of these men play and are in the ever-so-small minority. Much of England has high hopes for Wilshere and have seen him outperform players much older than him throughout his career.
How can you compare Chelsea’s bashing of a team that was in the Championship last season- a game in which Drogba, Lampard, Anelka, Malouda, and Essien all started- to Arsenal’s tie with one of the best clubs in the EPL in Liverpool, where Van Persie, Cesc, and Song combined to play 15 minutes?
Finally, Koscielny’s debut was not perfect but at the end of the day, he can only be faulted for surrendering one real scoring chance, which wasn’t an altogether spectacular one for ngog.
Anyhow, Arsenal’s debut last season was a 6-1 drubbing of Everton and we all know where Arsenal ended the season then. Let’s not overreact to 1 game.
Whatever said and done.. we need a center back and goalie bad. Honestly, with almunia and fabianski at the back, its a wonder how we’ve survived at the top, just imagine wht we’d be like with a goood keeper. Schwarzer might not be the best but the guys is consistent, something which we havent seen in long long time. And yeah lets not overreact. Last season man utd started off poorly with a loss to burnley in the first few games and still almost got the title. Plus liverpools all motivated and are looking good these days.. i just hope AW opens up the banks and does something quick before the window closes… by jan it might already be to late to change the squad.
[...] the deciding goal. And I’m still not quite sure what Pepe Reina was doing on his 90th minute own goal which cost his team two points. On the bright side, Joe Hart validated Roberto Macini’s faith in him by [...]
We need Cesc in the midfield. Nasri & Arshavin should perform better but instead Nasri lost in that game while Arshavin disappear in that game.
Agreed with everyone here about Almunia….he’s sucks with all the crosses in the box and the goal he conceded should be easily saved by other GK.
Not happy with the play until Rosicky, Walcoot & VPersie came in which make the different. Nway the season just started, so still happy with the single away point. Come on Gunnerss…!!!
P/S : Good freekick from Walcoot, never know he can do that!
Agree rizalregas, Walcott showed us something we haven’t seen before!
And yea, when Cesc isn’t available, Arsenal need to change their style because they don’t have anyone that can match what he does. Play a 4-4-2 with either Arshavin or Van Persie playing off the striker and put Walcott, Nasri, Rosicky on the wings with some steel in the middle.
On if he is still targeting a goalkeeper in the transfer market…
“At the moment it is better for me not to talk about that because it doesn’t help the keepers who play for us, so it is better that we focus on the goalkeepers we have. I believe Almunia had a good game today.”
it was what wenger said
is the game i saw was the same game as wenger saw?!…..almunia was below average.
on gerard freekick , the shot was where he was so it SHOULD NOT be a problem for goalkeeper.
and walcott’s freekick was also not good. if he wanted to score to that angel , it should be high and more rotating. else nasri’s freekick intentionally better
I agree that we cant overreact to one game! i think that the negative reaction is mostly coz we see that a slightly understrength arsenal cannot pull off results that easily.. we cannot survive without song, van persie, cesc, an on form arshavin n a better goalie!
i think nasri’s game was just a one off! I’m sure he can play better! but we cant place all the burden on him! Last season he played really well wen cesc was injured!
Lets hope they can pull off results in the next few games..
To grizzly:
I have to say that you are actually quite naive in your definition of talent. It has to be said that Wilshere has that LITTLE talent but he does not have enough of that potential to become a future World Player of the Year. At most, I believe that he will become a Arshavin or a Robinho, brilliant at times but so-so mostly.
Wilshere is not as talented as Neymar, Ozil and Khedira. Especially when he is not getting as much first-team football at Arsenal, and mostly just being a benchwarmer. Arsenal is not the place for what you guys claims is a “burgeoning talent”
Also, I think Arsenal is purely pathetic. There are fans that are mired in fantasy and still believes fervently in their team’s title chances. I think Arsenal is poor in defence and only average in attack. They are surely not in the same league as Chelsea, Barcelona and Manchester United. Even Liverpool is a better club than the Gunners. Arsenal should just wind up and watch others play real soccer. What’s the use of passing with fluidity but not able to place that ball into the freaking net?
And please don’t try and say that Arsenal won Everton by a large margin or that they have talent in depth! Come on, wisen up? A fluke is a fluke. And it surely doesn’t happen everyday.
Also for your information, Liverpool played a underpar team which I think Chelsea and Manchester United, or even Manchester City, could beat on any other day. Torres was just a substitute and a team with Ngog as a main striker are not a force to be reckoned with. So come on you “Arsenalists”, wisen up! Support Chelsea and leave the lousy and improvident side!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shey given
You see, all of you are like ostriches. Hiding behind the veil of anonymity and no one is coming out to defend your beloved club. You guys better hide and watch me lambast all of you!
I hate the fact that Arsenal fans so EASILY turn against one of their own. You blame a person for a mistake, fine but letting that mistake define your perspective of that person for the rest of their life is shameful. Almunia could literally do nothing to save that even if he was in the correct position which would have been a little to his left. The defence was also to blame, if a keeper does not have a good defence what can he do? I’m not saying Almunia is brilliant, but when he gets blamed for every little thing it is unfair. You call yourselves fans? No, you are just another pathetic whiny glory hunter.
to anti_arsenal … look how your team started this season in the community shield..
look who started for man u and chelsea… u were beaten up by the B team of man u when all ur player where on show…http://www.chelsea-mad.co.uk/rprt/mtch/blues_humiliated_by_united_545343/index.shtml so wait and see ..
dont worry money soon gonna run dry for ur team and ur club will have to manage by itself.. when u gonna be crying cos u can compete with debt free club like arsenal you will soon realise that u won only cose of good danation from abramovitch…
true we r not competiting enough and it s been 5 year trophyless but i am ok to wait 2 or 3 more year no problem… you at to wait 50year to win something… you know what its like..
hope u will win something this season cos it would be sad for you to wait another 50
good day mate
First of all, don’t chelski have a blogging site? Anti-Aresnal please leave this site and go talk trash at your own clubs site!! This site is for Arsenal supporters!
Secondly, we as Arsenal supporters should stop moaning about the keeper!Do I think Flapianski and Almunia is good enough?certainly not, but I do like Vito!Do we need a replacement no 1?Yes we do, BUT IN ARSENE WE TRUST!!He has done the write thing and will continue to do the write thing for this club! STOP MOANING and start supporting!!
Thirdly, WE HAVE THE BEST IN YOUNG TALENT IN THE WORLD!!! We will see how Ozil will just fade at Real Madrid, ask Ronaldo/Kaka/Raul etc… We just need to keep these youngster fit, they are ready.PS Diaby was the best Frenchman in the SWC! WE ARE THE CLUB FOR THE FUTURE!! WE DO NOT NEED TO SPEND 100mill to build a team
Fourthly, Koscielny had a brilliant game! He is the best buy Arsene has done (defensively)! He will only get stronger and better, take away the red card and you will realize he was awesome!
Fifthly, I cannot wait for BIG OLD SONG to come back! He will be our best midfielder this summer! We will be a whole different defensive team once he is back!!!
In SHORT:
KeepTheFaith
In Arsene we trust
[...] Next up we welcome newly promoted Blackppol to the Emirates who caused a major upset putting 4 goals past Wigan in the weekend. Kick-off is 2 am on Sunday the 22nd. Good Arsenal blogger the Arsenalist has all the match highlights here. [...]
To: KeepTheFaith
Oh Come on! I guess, like the Chinese described it, you are a frog in the well. Totally unknowledgeable about the Beautiful Game yet totally trying to be a smart aleck.
http://bluechampions.com/
Fine! I admit I am being stupid with my posts! I officially apologise to Anti-Arsenal and denounce Arsenal as only title pretenders!
Guys, i must say, I just LOVE this highlights pack! But there is one catch, as it is with every good thing in this world, and you know what it is!
Cmon, just guess…
Yeey! You where right, i can watch the whole thing. Now, I have another question for you, fellow Arsenal fans;
Is this Veoh player download free? And if I get it, will it enable me to watch the whole thing?
An answer or two is appreciated!
Cheers from Norway
And by the way, Anti-Arsenal; as i see it, you can be described in two ways. You decide yourself where you belong
You are either a real Anti Arsenal man, who just dont like Arsenal.
Or you are a very critical fan, which of course is good, and much better than the other option.
You sound very smart and very, what should i say, full of knowledge on the subject that is Arsenal.
You have your clear meanings and you argue with pretty much everyone in the comment section. In some strange way, I just respect you much more… ^^
Keep up your comments! They are enlighting and friendly, i think…
Cheers from Norway!
Who ever wrote comment 37, that is very childish! We are contenders! We will put a few teams in a panic and if you really have so much knowledge go and have a look at how we have started the EPL in the past! I like the slow start, we started of not as the favorites this year which is good!
KeepTheFaith
PS if you want to use my nick please study the few little things I always do to show some validity/class….
MOTD2 is on iPlayer now
To Anti-Arsenal:
Fucking glory hunter, I love Arsenal not the titles. It is called passion.
So get the fucking out from this site.
sorry iam a big puff , full of crap , i support the blue cos i got nowhere to go, i like money a bit like a prostitute does , so i am the bitch of roman, the blue r shit , they were good only went mooooridiot was here, but i was cos he spend 230million pound that he got the title , i know… i love to watch the blue and i like to watch terry… i love terry, i loved him as much as i love terry to screw bridge wife.. thats proper chelsea attitude.. we r fair play to our wife friend .. we score on then
to KeepTheFait: sorry iam a blue iam an idiot.. i should respect you guys cos i am a petite person with no brain and just got the money to answer your quality football
to Swedegooner; you right , i go fuck my friend wife for a change ( i got one but she dont like the fact i am fat , stink and got fluffy hairy toes..nd i am a smurk)
to arsenalist:
sorry to disrecpect your site: i swear to go annoyed all the other site.. chelsea dumb douch site first
to Sonofkick : dear u r right we r a great shitbag of team , resêct to you to make me aknowledge it
to Darren: thx mate for the info
so and peace, i go back to my grave full of crap
in arsene u trust and u should goes He dat best
In Arsene WE TRUST
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