talkingOfArsenal.com

We had a really good game at Anfield, one which, had I been offered the final result before the game started, I'd've had bitten the offering hand off.

We started out badly enough, conceding a goal within the first seven minutes. Gallas and Almunia need to drum into any Arsenal wall, that they need to stand still, and stand strong when the ball is taken. They need to require, they need to force the free-kick taker to do all the hard work - taking a free kick and getting the ball over or around the wall, and then back under the crossbar or back inside the post is no mean feat.

The Arsenal defence made it too easy for Gerrard to blast the ball through the wall. I was watching the game with another Gooner mate of mine, and before Gerrard took the free kick, I turned to him and said:

"That free kick is not far out enough for anyone to score by curling it over or around the wall - whoever takes it will have to try and blast it through the wall".

Sure enough, Gerrard blasted it - if only the wall had stood it's ground, things might've turned out so different. And on a side note, I really love Gallas' mentality. If you see the game again, watch what Gallas immediately after Liverpool score.

Gallas catches the ball as it bounces back out of the net, and is running to the halfway line even whilst some Liverpool players are running over to celebrate the goal with Gerrard. It did two things - firstly, it was almost a way of degrading the value of the goal to Liverpool and secondly, it told his own team mates that he had every faith in the team to respond to the goal. It was Gallas saying to any Liverpool or Arsenal players that might have been watching - "... yes, Liverpool have just scored, but so what? Arsenal will score too...".

This is the kind of spirit that we were missing last year, and the year before that.

Wengers men are made of stern stuff, and within a few minutes of having conceded the goal, Arsenal were playing  brilliant football, dominating the park to the tune of about 66% possession. Liverpool were reduced to playing like the away team, attempting to "smash and grab" at every opportunity.

I should make mention of two players that I thought had (relative to their own high standards) very good games. Fabregas and Hleb. What a pairing. The way they're playing at the moment, when those two get their game together they are virtually unstoppable. The other Arsenal players also played brilliantly, however if there's any criticism to be had (and I know this sounds a tad harsh) I would probably (but only just!) level these at Eboue and Rosicky. For Tomas, I can understand as he's only just beginning to get match fit after injury. I was a little more disappointed with Eboue - a few too many missed passes, and his tackling in midfield left a little to be desired. On the positive side for him though, he troubled the Liverpool defense with his pace and his unpredictability - and his shot on goal that came off the bar was almost perfect. Like I said, any criticism of the players would be a tad harsh.

I'm not going to go into too much detail in terms of a match report, there are too many good Arsenal blogs out there that will do it better justice - suffice to say that for me, we missed two gilt-edged chances, both of which, had they fallen to more experienced players, would have resulted in a little bit more composure in front of goal - a touch to bring under control, followed by an unstoppable rocket.

After the game, out of a straw poll by text of five of my 'Pool mates, four of them agreed that Liverpool were lucky to come away with the draw. The fifth sent me a text reply saying "...yes, but Liverpool also had their chances...". I challenged him back by text asking - "...err, what were those chances?" - I'm still waiting for a reply from him(over 24 hours ago).

To summarise the game - a draw is probably just about fair, although I thought Arsenal shaved it. However Arsenal need to learn to be composed in front of goal. Just because the post is wide open, doesn't mean the ball will necessarily end up in the net if you poke at it any-which-way-but-loose. This team has the potential to make history, their passing, their angle-making movement, their pace, their strength, their stamina - all these things go towards creating chances whichever team they play on this planet, including the Brazil of old. What they need to learn to do, is take those rare chances when they come - if they did, they would be unstoppable.

Wenger will make sure that the team learns from these mistakes long before we host our home game against Man Utd - which is in a week or so.