At the beginning of the season I looked to this fixture as the stongest opponent we would have faced thus far. Tougher than ManUtd, and only second to Chelsea. As the season evolves, we notice that Pool have not lived up to early season expectations and that they are appropriately placed in 8th. So what happened? Do they miss Houllier that much or is it the lose of Owen? I would raise that it’s neither and that Pool are just the victims of bad luck!
Perhaps it’s not that simple, but let’s look at it for a second. First you spend a record on Djibril Cisse, to team up with your lethal striker Michael Owen. Owen decides, or management decides for him, that they will ship him off to Madrid for half his value. (Madrid spent 8 million on Owen while Chelsea certianly would have shelled out 16.) Less luck and perhaps more bad management, Liverpool did not worry as Milan Baros had just showed a spectacular Euro 2004. Than Cisse breaks his leg, than Baros gets hurt, Luiz Garcia, your last true striker, gets hurt only minutes into this last match against Monaco. Smicer is already out for 6 months, Babbel moved to Stuttgart, Dudek and Kirkland can’t decide which GK wants to play well, Kewell can’t get over a nagging injury and then the most important player on the pitch, Steven Gerrard, goes down to injury. All this and a new manager who is trying to instill his system with different players every week. As a fan it makes you want to pull out your hair!
During the summer, when things were looking good, the team seemed to be reacting well to the “Spanish “style.” Their new manager, from Valencia, had won a Spanish title and was looking to transfer that success to the Reds. The passing game appeared more lively, more precise and the squad was more organized. Every player was getting a touch as they spread the ball. Rafael Benitez had found an early balance with the team he had available. Gerrard, who is the most important element to Benitez’s style, was as influential as ever. He could, and was, changing the rythmn of the game by himself. Benitez could just not afford to lose key players for the game he designed. Problem is that he lost these players and then some.
All these injuries and than Monaco scores from a blantant handball and basically eliminates Liverpool from the Champions League. And the weekend game against Boro, Zenden scores his second goal when he is clearly offside. What Gives!
The Reds have been clearly robbed of any chemistry or chance to gel. At Boro they were forced to put seven “defenders” on the pitch, because they don’t have enough midfielders to secure positions. All this troop movement has broken the Reds ability to gain momentum or string together any points. Only once this season have they won back to back matches.
With so much disarray I would normally predict an Arsenal win. Needless to say the Gunners are not at their best but what also makes me apprehensive is the true disparity in the Reds home-away record. The Gunners must travel to Anfield where Liverpool are 5-0-1. They are 1-2-4 on the road, which tells me they are a different team when at home. But why? The same problems in line-up still exist whether home or away. This is something I can’t explain and reason for concern for the Arsenal.
28 Responses to “Liverpool Preview”
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November 26th, 2004 at 1:05 pm
Top man and good facts as well KyGunner. He is what I called a football fan and does his home work well week in week out. I look at Liverpool and think damn Arsenal are very lucky, but you don?t hear the Kops boss or even their diehard fans using injuries as excuses. With Arsenal you know what the scored is.
This game can go each way and whoever controls the midfield will win it unless something stupid happens. With all their injury problems up front and in the middle, who is going to score for them? As for Arsenal with Henry and Dennis not fit whiles Reyes is playing very well for that amount of money God help us. As Rick poll suggest he has been found out.
I am going for a draw
November 26th, 2004 at 1:14 pm
Why do you think they won’t score from set pieces? They’re quite good at them - Hypia - and we, as everyone knows, are quite bad.
November 26th, 2004 at 1:26 pm
Sol is back and will sort out the set pieces? He was not really fit for wednesday and I blame the captain for that goal. Should and could have done better.
November 26th, 2004 at 2:13 pm
Losing Sol was huge but losing Henry would be a massive blow. There has been talk of the players suffering from fatigue, but that does not convince me. Perhaps they could do with a bit more strength in depth but the only reason they look tired is because of the results and the same players playing each week.
Not a nice thing to say but with Liverpool struggling with injuries I see 3 points here. It will also be interesting to see how we respond against Liverpool this weekend especially as may be without Thierry Henry, who is struggling with an injury.
I say Arsenal will win this one if Wenger rotates the squad. This should mark the start of Arsenal’s recovery whiles nasty November is almost over. This is the team to win us the game.
Almunia in goal..
Hoyte — Sol — Toure — Cole
Freddie (on the left) — PV4 —- Flamini —- Pennant (on the right)
Van Persie —– Adam Birchall
Lauren, Reyes and Pires on the bench. Henry and Dennis out I guess
November 26th, 2004 at 2:15 pm
The problem with Reyes is the huge prize tag and needs a rest.
November 26th, 2004 at 11:13 pm
agree with most of your line-up… but with our striker issues, why would we put PIRES, our 2nd best scorer every year including this year, on the bench??
I would imagine Reyes / VanPersie up front… but I wouldn’t be upset if either Quincy OA or Lupoli started up front….
should be an interesting match for a variety of reasons… 2-1 Arsenal is how I see it.
November 26th, 2004 at 11:17 pm
we aren’t going to let in a set-piece goal in EVERY match… its just not possible. We are practicing defending them… we will get better at it, especially with Sol back in the line-up…
Liverpool are worse off than even us, on the injury front…. I don’t think they have a clue where goals might come from….
November 26th, 2004 at 11:19 pm
Unfortuneately, if Henry goes down, he is IT. He will have to step up and play well… alot of our players will have to shrug off whatever ails them… lack of confidence… or whatever…
time to band together and get it done.
November 27th, 2004 at 12:35 am
I am normally 100% with you KYGunner, and you never fail to make interesting reading, but I see things differently this week. It’s impossible to argue with your assessment of their bad luck and injury situation, but I disagree entirely on Owen. I haven’t seen Owen do anything noteworthy in at least 2 years. I think Liverpool were lucky to get what they did. I didn’t see any other teams banging down the door for Owen, and that’s a sure sign that clubs aren’t sure if he still has any magic. If Chelsea had really wanted him - for 16 million, or 9 miilion for that matter - they would have gotten him. Owen is a rich man’s Henri Camara. I’d much rather have Camara frankly.
As for some of the other comments I saw;
Hoyte???????? Give me a break!!!!!
Quincy? That was inspired. Never even thought in that direction, but it makes good sense.
I thought Van Persie was injured, or I’d like to see him too. Well… “see” is wishful thinking - its pay-per-view.
There is nothing wrong with Reyes that a goal or two wouldn’t fix. You don’t “figure out” a guy like Reyes. He runs you ragged and you beat him and bruise him for it. Sooner or later he will earn penalties or well placed free kicks for it, but at the moment the refs seem to want to teach him that, “This is the English Premier League kid, buck up!” Can’t say I like it, but what can you do? Cry in your Wheaties?
I think Stag is right on with a 2-1 win prediction. My second thought is that we just may score one or two more if our lineup is somewhat unpredictable, and some youngsters gel on offense. As Stag also mentioned, it might prove impossible for Liverpool to score, and they may play Arsenal for a 0-0 point.
I was thinking the other day that this Arsenal team is missing something that I saw most of last year, and also saw in the great Manchester United teams of recent years. They don’t exhibit any hunger. Not the cold-blooded killer variety, or the hot-blooded fist pumper variety. They are so good that they play as though skill alone will see them through. I’d really love to see the kind of predatory lust that Manchester players used to exhibit as they camped on your end of the pitch and you knew that it was only a matter of time. They looked like men with knives going after unarmed men who wanted to stop them, but who wanted to stay away from the knives a little more.
Arsenal - I wish you a crushing hunger.
November 27th, 2004 at 8:30 am
hope you’re right
November 27th, 2004 at 8:47 am
I thought Hoyte did quite well, much better than I expected, when he came on against PSV. But we can’t play the kids against Liverpool - they need to be fresh for the Carling; it’s their comp, they’ve done brilliantly to get so far against full-strength premiership opposition so it would be hugely unfair to jeopardise their (slim) chances of going all the way.
No hunger? The performance at PSV, the sendings-off, though stupid, looked like hunger to me. I think fitness is more of a problem - Henry’s achilles, Pires’s infection, Ashley’s inevitable exhaustion. Vieira and Reyes are more of mystery. I’d attribute some of Paddy’s poor form to Gilberto being missing - he said himself a year ago that he never plays well without him. Whereas Reyes, according to a good article about Ashley in today’s Guardian, is very down - the racist stuff, the horrible position he’s been in - has been really getting to him. Perhaps it’s a combination of that and being singled out for a kicking wherever he plays.
Owen, yes, I agree. He’s a pale shadow of the brilliant 18-year-old.
November 27th, 2004 at 9:56 am
What is the point playing the same guys if they are not 100% fit.
What is wrong with Hoyte? 5yrs old today ppl were asking Ashley Cole who. Now he is the best left back in the world. Players don’t become good sitting on the bench and I hope Hoyte get a chance knowing Lauren will not play in the next CL game.
Change is very good.
November 27th, 2004 at 10:02 am
I put Pires on the bench just to have some rest hoping he had a good rest for the week.
The reason why I went for Adams B ahead of Quincy and Lupoli is the experience factor. Reyes like Pires needs a break.
November 27th, 2004 at 10:47 am
In some cases, what you say is correct. However, a Henry at 75% is better than virtually any striker in the world. A Sol Campbell at 75% is superior to Cygan… in some areas, we have no choice. We are not going to throw 18-20 year olds with ZERO Premiership experience out there AT ANFIELD. Doesn’t make any sense. Wenger will pick his spots, and plug in a few kids where and when he wants. Thats what we pay him for… because Arsene knows.
November 27th, 2004 at 11:02 am
What’s wrong with starting players like Hoyte or Quincy? If young players are not introduced into first team football, how will Arsenal ever know if they can make it or not. You are not gonna win games by playing the same players that continue to under perform. So Reyes should sit and maybe come on as a sub, regardless of his price tag.
Wenger often talks about the mental strength of his team. I think it is his way of driving his team on without the need for hot-blooded fist pump variety. Arsenal has an abundance of skill, sureness of winning and strong mental strength without the need to compare ourselves against Manure. Manure win games their way - by overcoming their opponents thru physical play, ‘full court press’ type of football and wiping in hard crosses to cause confusion in the opponent’s box. There is no need for Arsenal to copy that type of football.
November 27th, 2004 at 11:07 am
Just read in ITV Football which quoted Wenger saying that Edu has decided to leave Highbury during the Jan transfer window. I speculate that we might see Marco Ne and one more midfielder coming on board soon.
November 27th, 2004 at 11:24 am
Bad. I’ve never liked Edu - too goofy and not very loyal: remember the celebrations last May when he wrapped himself in Brazil flag, not an Arsenal one? - but if we have to buy a replacement midfielder as well as one or more defenders, that limits what we can spend. There was a rumour about Marcos recently. He was supposedly thinking of coming to us eighteen months back. I’d be excited if he did, but if we’ve got to replace Edu maybe the budget won’t stretch that far. Bad.
November 27th, 2004 at 11:36 am
The key is set-pieces defending. If we don’t concede a goal from set-pieces, we will win.
November 27th, 2004 at 11:41 am
I believe you hadn’t seen much from Owen because Houllier was so one-dimensional. He used so many players in defense and left Owen to hold the goal scoring load by himself. He still scored goals despite permanent marking and double teams and he had some success on the international stage.
I love the “rumors” on the internet so some times I write one or two to be interesting. I read where Owen was valued at Chelsea for 16 million but Liverpool mgt. didn’t want a rival to have him. So the only other offer was the 8 million to Madrid. True?
November 27th, 2004 at 12:00 pm
Yes, Edu seems more excited to be playing for Brazil than for the Gunners. During a period last season, he did very well for us scoring a few crucial goals though he could be more consistent. For all Arsenal has done for him with his passport fiasco, I thought he would come around his senses but it looks like he has made up his mind. Marco Ne will be a good addition and not stretch the transfer budget.
BTW the news was from Sublime Football, not ITV Football - my mistake.
November 27th, 2004 at 2:10 pm
I agree, Andez. I have often thought of working out the statistics on our conceded goals to see where they are coming from exactly. But I don’t have to do much crunching to figure out that set pieces must represent well over 75%.
A few more statistics I have wanted to figure out is when The Arsenal have managed:
2-0 scorelines in the last two seasons.
Goals from crosses in the box during open play.
Goals from set pieces (crosses or short kicks).
Goals by a back defender (Ashley comes to mind).
November 27th, 2004 at 2:51 pm
Yes, but big if, though I agree that scoring shouldn’t be a problem for us: Henry loves running at the Muppet - his term -Jamie Carragher.
November 27th, 2004 at 4:04 pm
I want Hoyte in there against Rosenborg… thats for sure… with Lauren suspended… I’d imagine he’d be starting….
Again… if Henry is available, he starts at 75% of his best EVERY time… start him WITH Quincy… I don’t mind that at all…
Having watched Wenger and how he does things… I just don’t see it happening where he puts out young kids in a position to fail. Not his way, and he has been extremely successful. He has earned the right to do whatever he sees fit.
In Arsene we trust. Carte Blanche. He has my backing.
November 27th, 2004 at 5:40 pm
I love the explanation KYGunner.
I like the way you write, so I’d take a few of your rumors over some peoples “facts” any day. Keep up the good work.
November 27th, 2004 at 5:47 pm
Steven Gerrard? Arsene smokescreen? 100 million dollars for stadium rights? Wishful thinking? Spend Arsenal, spend!!!
November 27th, 2004 at 5:50 pm
I’m not saying change isn’t good. I’m not even saying Hoyte is crap. Its just that the last time I saw him, he looked like he needed a good deal more seasoning in the reserves. No disrespect intended Northstand.
November 28th, 2004 at 8:37 am
It’s misquoted apparently - Edu is still sitting on the fence.
November 28th, 2004 at 10:51 am
Kind of unrelated to our Pool game in 15 minutes, but I thought some of you might be interested. And some of you won’t.
After telling the press that The Arsenal would be too embarrassed to attend a “peace” meeting, he had this to say:
Ferguson re-ignited the feud last night as he prepared for Battle of the Buffet 2 - the Carling Cup quarter-final showdown against Arsene Wenger’s men back at Old Trafford on Wednesday - and insisted there is no need for him to issue a ‘calm down’ message to his side. He said: “We didn’t do anything wrong against Arsenal so there is nothing I can say to my players that would change anything.
“We didn’t do anything wrong at all that day, our behaviour was absolutely right. We have excellent discipline at this club, and I have no worries with my players on that score.”
Let’s hope our Gunners wipe the floor with Pool, and that on our way home the bus runs straight into this bloated fat-head.
COME ON, LADS!!!! GO GUNNERS!!!