Arsenal's Attack Needs To Click Quickly

Match Review: Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool - Premier League 24/08/15

This was a curious game. Neither team played well in their first two games, but Liverpool had won both, whereas we’d already slipped up badly. While neither team lost on Monday night, both will feel they could and should have come away with the win. We can definitely feel more aggrieved not to have taken the points though, as there were a number of contentious decisions that went against us.

We were dealt a massive blow before kick off, with the news that Mertesacker and Koscielny both missed out, the former through illness and the latter through a back injury. In their absence, Wenger paired Chambers and Gabriel in the middle and with Bellerin also playing, it made for a back four with limited Premier League experience. I imagine that Wenger was concerned about the pace of some of Liverpool’s players, leading to his decision to play Bellerin over Debuchy.

The new look defensive partnership struggled in the first half and Liverpool could have scored three goals at least. Just three minutes in, Coutinho fired against the bar after Chambers failed to step up with Gabriel for the offside trap. Alexis had a decent chance to head us into the lead just a few minutes later, but could only put it over the bar after an excellent cross from Monreal. Then came the controversy. Cazorla split the Liverpool defence with a stunning pass behind to Ramsey and the Welshman finished well, only to see the offside flag raised. Replays showed that Ramsey had timed his run perfectly, despite Brendan Rodgers ludicrous statement that his ‘shirt’ looked offside. What a clown.

Despite our legitimate goal being ruled out, we were second best for most of the half. It’s not like we were being dominated, Liverpool just had the better chances and our defence looked less settled. Chambers in particular struggled badly, giving away the ball a lot and struggling to track runners in behind him. He was at fault when Coutinho picked off one of his passes and Milner ghosted in behind him. Gabriel made an excellent slide tackle to prevent Milner’s first shot, but the rebound fell back to the Liverpool man. Milner poked it towards the corner and Cech got down to save sharply.

It was the first of three telling contributions from our new number one. Cech made two more excellent saves, one at point blank range from Benteke and then a fingertip stop after Coutinho had rinsed Bellerin and curled a fierce shot towards the corner. After a nightmare home debut and a shaky performance at Palace, Cech saved us here and we’d almost certainly have lost the game if not for his heroics.

In the second half we picked things up a bit. Chambers looked more composed and we started to assert ourselves in midfield. One thing we desperately need though, is for our strikers to find their scoring touch. Alexis looks just short of the sharpness that saw him blow teams away last year and he missed a golden opportunity after some nice passing. Five yards out, he crashed the ball against the post, wasting what was probably our best chance of the game.

There was further controversy later in the game, as Giroud twice looked to have been fouled in the box. The first incident saw him pulled back by Lovren as he was shooting and he may have been better advised going down rather than fighting to get his shot away. Minutes later, he prodded the ball away from Lucas and was caught late by the midfielder, just inside the box. Ramsey’s curling shot may have taken the attention from what looked like a foul and a penalty.

We’ve now failed to score in 180 minutes of football at home this season and although our performances have improved slightly, I’m disappointed not to have at least seen us score. Certainly we have to put this result into the context of missing both our main centre backs at short notice and Gabriel and Cech’s performances are reason for positivity, especially as the former may be set for a run in the team. On a different day the refereeing decisions might have gone our way too, but I think with the close calls Liverpool had in the first half, a draw was reasonably fair result. Our attack needs to start clicking though, because we could soon find ourselves miles off the pace if it doesn’t.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Bellerin, Chambers, Gabriel (Y), Monreal, Coquelin (Chamberlain 84’), Cazorla, Ramsey, Özil, Alexis, Giroud (Walcott 73’)
Subs
Ospina, Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Chamberlain, Chamberlain, Flamini

Liverpool (4-4-1-1)
Mignolet (Y), Clyne, Skrtel (Y), Lovren, Gomez (Y), Lucas (Rossiter 76’), Firmino (Ibe 63’), Can (Y), Coutinho (Moreno 88’), Milner, Benteke
Subs
Bogdan, Moreno, Rossiter, Sakho, Ibe, Ings, Origi

Player Ratings

Cech - 8/10 - Excellent performance, preserved a point with a great first half display
Bellerin - 6/10 - Struggled against Coutinho, but offered much needed width down the right
Chambers - 5/10 - All at sea in the first half, but recovered his composure in the second
Gabriel - 7/10 - Looked very good under pressure and coped well with Benteke
Monreal - 6/10 - Not his best night, struggled like others in the first half
Coquelin - 7/10 - Did very well, showing no signs of a second season dip in form
Cazorla - 7/10 - As ever looked comfortable in the middle and partners well with Coquelin
Ramsey - 7/10 - A lot better than recent performances out wide, had a good goal disallowed
Özil - 7/10 - Difficult for him to influence in the first half, but probing in the second half
Alexis - 6/10 - Missed two good chances and still looks a little short of match sharpness
Giroud - 6/10 - Came close a couple of times, but we need more from him than he gave
Subs
Walcott - 6/10 - Another sub appearance passing by without much to note
Chamberlain - N/A

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