₦airaland Forum

BlueRayDick:
I hope FA investigates and slam him. To think even Xhaka that was separating the fight became enraged and nearly fought Henderson himself ; it means whatever he had said must have been inappropriate

The look on bobby's face carry weight

iamoyindamola:
The masterclass of pairing Tomi with Salah deserve praise
Arteta is growing by games

the thing is sometimes this tactics works and the coach wins and is praised and at other times ,they are found out and loses and are criticized. The important thing is having the courage to try .

Jodera:
Lol, Blueraydick you still dey give Leno rating when be say na Ramsdale keep for us? Na so you like Leno reach? .

Lol, just kidding sha, but do well to edit it under Ramsdale on goal

Very nice analysis and takeaway from the match

Thanks for the observation, Leno Don enter my head

BlueRayDick:
My post match analysis

OUR FLUIDITY IN ATTACK

A lot has changed in our attack play. I rememver how we lamented here last season about Arteta being defensive minded first above any other thing and how we were struggling to score goals from our defensive games. However things have significantly changed since pre-seaon ; in fact we've scored at least 2 goals in each and every match we've played except for the man utd match in which we put 1 past their goalkeeper.

Our change in fortune in attack showed in our attack play yesterday. Jesus was giving Van Djik serious problem contesting for aerial balls even when he's not as tall as the defender. Saka and Martinelli made life a living hell for Tsimikas and Alexander-Arnold respectively. A lot of people believe Martinelli would be too hot for Trent to handle and that was exactly what played out. Our front 3 is so good that u always believe in them to have a shot on target at least at the end of a counter attack move. I will rate Martinelli 9/10, Saka 8.5/10 and Jesus 8/10 for the match yesterday.

OUR STEELY MIDFIELD

The joy of seeing a fully fit Thomas Teye Partey take charge of the midfield is something that can't be explained but better experienced. Partey along with Xhaka practically made Henderson suffer in the middle. I observed loserpool wanted to play through the middle but we snuffed the living daylight out of their midfield. Odegaard may not have been in that hot blistering form we want but that didn't stop him from dictating play from the middle. The fact that Xhaka was getting confident and getting into attacking positions in contrast to his non mobile football in the past year makes it all enjoyable to watch. I will rate Partey 9/10, Xhaka 8.5/ 10 and Odegaard 7.5/10.

OUR BACKLINE THAT LIMITED THE ATTACKING THREAT OF LOSERPOOL

Yesterday may not have been the best of days for our defence as they shipped in 2 goals that could have been avoidable if there was much positional awareness on the part of our two CB'S, yet it could've been worse.

On the RB Ben White was simply amazing. He did a very good job in stifling loserpool's attack on his side of the pitch. Tomiyasu practically kept Salah in his pocket all game and only released him the moment klopp gave up and subbed him off out of frustration. Gabriel and Saliba dealt with Loserpool's goal threat through the middle exevot for the two goals conceded in the match. Saliba is indeed a rock. I hope I'm not the only one that has noticed Saliba has been involved in turning defence into attack which had led to goal or goal scoring opportunities of recent? It looks so unreal that the young man is still 21. The scout that recommended him.should have his pau doubled abeg. Gabriel messed up with the error leading to goal, but we are grateful he picked himself up and did that feint that allowed Saka score the second goal. I'm rating Ben white 8/10, Saliba 8.5/10, Gabriel 7/10 and Tomiyasu 9/10.

AARON RAMSDALE IN GOAL

Our goalkeeper didn't really have much to do in the match as our defenders were up to their A-game except for the two goals that shouldn't have happened. I like the fact that Ramsdale able to see the game out, cos I was scared seeing Turner trying to come on. It's just so annoying that we can't have two good goalkeepers in one team, I mean I watched Leno play vs West Ham yesterday and was wishing he could've stayed as backup goalkeeper to Ramsdale but then it is what it is.
I will rate Ramsdale performance 6/10 sha.

OUR SUBSTITUTIONS

Honestly I didn't pay much attention to our subs cos I was already high as 4ck and was oy concerned about us keeping the slim advantage till the final seconds. I noticed Tierney wasn't bad tho.

OUR GAFFER THE MAIN MAN
I bet Klopp didn't see that Tomiyasu plot twist coming ( none of us saw it coming anyways). I mean the moment we saw Zinchenko was doubtful, the next thing is to think of Tierney playing in that LB position. Arteta springing a surprise on us all made it difficult for Klopp on anybody to plan for that. The fact that the joker worked really well and Salah was tossed inside Tomiyasu gucci bag should be credited to Arteta. Arteta outwitting Klopp is something that gives us all joy. I will rate him 9.5/10 for this game abeg!

Astute! Well done sir!

We need to work on that defense , imagine we didn’t have the fire power we currently have. No be Wetin we go dey talk be this.

It’s not everyday we will get lucky case in point the match against the scummies

I've seen some comments by Auba.
I think it was totally unnecessary.
If he's talking like this.
He can't play under Pep or Ferguson.

Anyway, life and football goes on.

My thoughts on the game

1... Mentality: It's no brainer this have to be the first. I remember two days ago when I talked about how this game will be more of the mental challenge than the physical (footballing) challenge and it showed ystdy. It was as if our negative mentality seeped into the players mind when we went a goal up early as we seemed to be very much afraid against In the first half as we retreated and retreated. We kept losing 50/50 balls in midfield, we couldn't even transition in attack again and even our GK known for always passing out from the back or doing buildup was just budeying the ball and Liverpool was really dominating us and dictating proceedings. Kudos to our defence for seeing us out and standing strong that first half while against all odds we grabbed the 2nd important goal(another form of mentality) through fine work from Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli, Gabriel and Saka after a quick break at the end of first half.

But then everything changed in the 2nd half. Times like this is why I need "All Or Nothing —Arsenal" cos I really needed to know what transpired in the dressing room and who gingered them up(aside from Arteta) and make them realise than they're 10x more better than what they dished in the first half. Second half was amazing! Immediately we stepped foot into the pitch, we started playing like the Arsenal we came to know. We turned the tide, dominated Liverpool and dictated play no matter how Liverpool tried to wrestle it back away from us. We brought that top notch mentality that we were known for throughout this season. Even when Liverpool equalised through Firmino, it was as if they looked for trouble . We double-bombarded the attack and first time in a long while I saw a whole Liverpool under klopp retreat deeper. Ystdy game just proved that we've finally overcome that mentality block we had in recent years against big teams and I'm glad we were rewarded with the winning goal after such great performance.


2...Defence: The back 4 is proving to be one of the best in the league. Their coordination, speed, aerial-winning, confidence on the ball and physicality is one not associated with arsenal from the previous decades. This arsenal defence is rock and it's amazing to know that the perceived weak link is (Gabriel). This is someone who played a very very good game ystdy aside that error that led to Liverpool's first goal. His role in that 2nd goal was better experienced than imagined. Who noticed how he scanned back, saw Saka coming at his back before he(,(Gabriel) made that run into the box to a dangerous zone to drag away Liverpool defenders in order for them to free Saka, then did a feint move for Saka to score. That movement itself is underrated. Great game from him but he needs to cut out silly silly errors from his game. This is like the 3rd error leading to goal in just 9 matchweeks.
Saliba is a Rock. Not only is he a handful to defenders but the way he boost attack is something else. He's like a Midfielder in that defence and I'll say he's one of the chief reasons why we can efficiently keep highline. His reading of the game, his physicality to engage defenders or snuff out attacks before strikers think of getting the ball and ability to kick-start attack before opposition settles is something people rarely talks about. If he goes on in this manner for a long time, he'll become my all-time CB. No capping!
Ben White sha. His intelligence is out of this world. He's easily grown into that role and made it his own. Imagine being played out of position yet you're one of the best in that position (no be JuJu be dat? ). His role in that first goal might be underrated but If you observe keenly, you'll see how Liverpool pressed us in that event cutting out passing lanes to all our Midfielders. His ability to spot out Saka with a very good pass who himself was just coming out from offside position is something very few FBs in the league would think of. That pass itself disorganized Liverpool who were just trying to rearrange themselves from their counter Saliba stopped and made us counter attack them. It's no wonder Liverpool's defence was all over the place during our first goal. Genius work of art from White.
As for Tomi, we all know he's very good in all aspects and he's very very good with double-feet but ystdy, he was just a different gravy, a real different gravy (in Ben White voice). For someone to keep Salah silent and make him take just one shot (which is even off target without power) is a real testament to the work he did. How he won every aerial duels when Liverpool wants to switch from one ends towards Salah side. Best part was that he didn't shy away from his offensive duties in helping Martinelli. For Klopp to remove Salah when he needs goals around 60 or 70min mark speaks volumes. Best performance for Tomi in an arsenal shirt for me.

3... Midfield: I've been saying it mostly that we have one of the best Midfield trio in EPL since last season (Partey, Xhaka and Odegaard). The creativity, steel, workrate and determination from those three is the best you'll from any Midfield triumvirate. To totally dominate Liverpool's Midfield that have Thiago and Fabinho, Henderson and Firmino is no mean feat. Not everyone in the league can do that to the extent of Liverpool playing deeper. Big credits to them.

Tbc....
Cc: lordfave98

4...Attack: Martinelli was Man of the match for me but nothing is giving my joy than my front three. Their workrate, creativity, decision making and skills each of the front 3 is something most teams lack. All three doesn't have great height but the way they jump for aerial ball to win it and their good ball control is giving me joy. Their understanding with the Midfield and fullbacks and the way they're fluid in attack(knowing when to tuck in or go wide) is something that adds unpredictability to our game. It's no wonder goals are rampant. They so terrorised Liverpool that Klopp have to put in Konate to minimize threat. Long may it continue

5...Arteta: The way things are going, I might soon turn AKB(Arteta knows best ). The way we changed the game in the second half must be a big credit to him while his tactical tweak of using Tomi at Lb was a very very good call. I was jittery at first but he proved why he's the coach.
The way we approached the game, his assemblage of players who are highly technical on the ball(GK inclusive) and our positional sense(watch the way we always attack the half-spaces which makes us easily evade any opposition pressure) is really a good work on how far his imprinted his ideas on the team. Never have I felt so much joy watching arsenal than this season (Infact, since December of last season) and this I say... Thank you Arteta.

I'm so glad for the 3 points
Leeds next after uel

Long may our form continue
COYG!!!

Spy360, remember when I told you Liverpool's game will be harder than Tottenham's game and we need to grind 2x harder than what we dished against Tottenham? What do you think about ystdy game. Do you still see it as an easy win when compared to Spurs?

Iamoyindamola, how did you see Odegaard's game ystdy especially his visionary passes. Did he impress you with his visionary passes ystdy?

kokaneprodigy:
We need to work on that defense , imagine we didn’t have the fire power we currently have. No be Wetin we go dey talk be this.

It’s not everyday we will get lucky case in point the match against the scummies

I still think that defence was solid ystdy except for that Gabriel howler. Gabriel aside that howler was even good and if we isolate that error, all individuals in that defence was great.

The first goal was an error obviously while the 2nd goal was good work (pass) from Jota and a good run from Firmino. I would give credit to those two for the goal than to think of criticising Saliba. Aside that, I don't think of how Ramsdale was overworked, and if you think the defence wasn't overworked because our midfield and attack was dangerous, checkout how the first half was played when the defence was under pressure as our Midfield and attack was dominated yet Liverpool couldn't work the keeper .

Jodera:
I still think that defence was solid ystdy except for that Gabriel howler. Gabriel aside that howler was even good and if we isolate that error, all individuals in that defence was great.

The first goal was an error obviously while the 2nd goal was good work (pass) from Jota and a good run from Firmino. I would give credit to those two for the goal than to think of criticising Saliba. Aside that, I don't think of how Ramsdale was overworked, and if you think the defence wasn't overworked because our midfield and attack was dangerous, checkout how the first half was played when the defence was under pressure as our Midfield and attack was dominated yet Liverpool couldn't work the keeper .

check our clean sheet stat so far this season. that should tell you all you need to know.

I repeat it’s the fire power that’s saving us.
Do you know we’ve not kept a clean sheet at home in EPL this season ?

kokaneprodigy:
check our clean sheet stat so far this season. that should tell you all you need to know.

I repeat it’s the fire power that’s saving us.
Do you know we’ve not kept a clean sheet at home in EPL this season ?

The bolded is mostly because of basic/childish errors.

Saliba error Against Leicester
Ramsdale error Against Leicester
Gabriel error against Fulham
Gabriel and Xhaka error against Tottenham
Gabriel error against Liverpool

Mostly Gabriel is the culprit here and if he'll just cut out the error in his game we'll get more clean sheets. It's only Aston Villa and Liverpool (2nd goal) in our home that I know doesn't involve basic error. It means we would have kept more clean sheets than we have originally. And lf you notice, the team is growing and organisation have been excellent which is the most important

Jodera:
Iamoyindamola, how did you see Odegaard's game ystdy especially his visionary passes. Did he impress you with his visionary passes ystdy?

Whích visionary pass is that
Remind me abeg

iamoyindamola:
Whích visionary pass is that
Remind me abeg

Top two highlights
1... The assist to Martinelli. It's only someone who's visionary will be patient and lay that ball in a position where Martinelli just needs to take a shot without any touch or movement. His pass itself already made the decision for Martinelli to take that shot

2... The pass to Ben White in the 2nd half. That pass took out 3 Liverpool players and created chance for Ben White for a cutback but unfortunately White's execution was unsuccessful

Jodera:
Top two highlights
1... The assist to Martinelli. It's only someone who's visionary will be patient and lay that ball in a position where Martinelli just needs to take a shot without any touch or movement. His pass itself already made the decision for Martinelli to take that shot

2... The pass to Ben White in the 2nd half. That pass took out 3 Liverpool players and created chance for Ben White for a cutback but unfortunately White's execution was unsuccessful

Lmao
For the first goal it's normal pass and Arnold made it easy
That's no visionary pass, bringing something out of nothing is visionary
For the 2nd pass can't remember

But Kudos to odegaard for the assist as that open up the game

iamoyindamola:
Lmao
For the first goal it's normal pass and Arnold made it easy
That's no visionary pass, bringing something out of nothing is visionary
For the 2nd pass can't remember

But Kudos to odegaard for the assist as that open up the game

Lol, with the space afforded before making that through pass, Odegaard could have passed it just along the side for Martinelli to run with the ball and adjust his body for a shot which would have made Liverpool players to block him. But that singular decision of being patient and laying the ball behind all Liverpool's defence for a one touch shot eliminated any decisions Martinelli might have to make

You might underrate it but that's truly visionary. Most Midfielders in this EPL won't do such

iamoyindamola:
Lmao
For the first goal it's normal pass and Arnold made it easy
That's no visionary pass, bringing something out of nothing is visionary
For the 2nd pass can't remember

But Kudos to odegaard for the assist as that open up the game

Bro, you can’t undermine Odegaard ‘s pass that led to the first goal and call it “normal.” It takes intelligent and visionary players to give that kind of through pass and I’m sure you know.

The pass that went behind Liverpool defense and Gabriel Jesus . He could have put Martinelli in a tight position if he had chosen to play the pass sideways.
Like Jodera had rightly stated, the pass itself already made the decision for Martinelli to take the shot.

It’s passes like this that make us praise the likes of De Bruyne, Xavi, Modric.

toluxe0075:
Bro, you can’t undermine Odegaard ‘s pass that led to the first goal and call it “normal.” It takes intelligent and visionary players to give that kind of through pass and I’m sure you know.

The pass that went behind Liverpool defense and Gabriel Jesus . He could have put Martinelli in a tight position if he had chosen to play the pass sideways.
Like Jodera had rightly stated, the pass itself already made the decision for Martinelli to take the shot.

It’s passes like this that make us praise the likes of De Bruyne, Xavi, Modric.

Thank you bro. You really get my point

Jodera:
Spy360, remember when I told you Liverpool's game will be harder than Tottenham's game and we need to grind 2x harder than what we dished against Tottenham? What do you think about ystdy game. Do you still see it as an easy win when compared to Spurs?

Liverpool was easier to me.

Our first half wasn't good. But the two goals at both ends of the half favoured us but we totally dominated the second half. Taking two leads despite playing fairly poorly means it would have been easier.

Again, Liverpool are more technical while Spurs are physical. This too favoured us because we were more technical than them.

Against Liverpool we controlled the wings easily and our best players were the front players.

Take away both errors, there's no way Liverpool was going to score. Same as Spurs but they focused more on defending which made it harder.

Jodera:
Lol, with the space afforded before making that through pass, Odegaard could have passed it just along the side for Martinelli to run with the ball and adjust his body for a shot which would have made Liverpool players to block him. But that singular decision of being patient and laying the ball behind all Liverpool's defence for a one touch shot eliminated any decisions Martinelli might have to make

You might underrate it but that's truly visionary. Most Midfielders in this EPL won't do such

Arnold made it easy, he could have track down martinelli

Make this guy rest

Omo, When G.Jesus went to the ground as if he collapsed, only God knows what was going through my mind. My heart was literally in my mouth
Thank goodness nothing happened to him and he even went ahead to cause the penalty we scored the winning goal from.
Excellent all round performance from him.

To think we got him for just 45m pounds in this hyper inflated market

Jodera:
The bolded is mostly because of basic/childish errors.

Saliba error Against Leicester
Ramsdale error Against Leicester
Gabriel error against Fulham
Gabriel and Xhaka error against Tottenham
Gabriel error against Liverpool

Mostly Gabriel is the culprit here and if he'll just cut out the error in his game we'll get more clean sheets. It's only Aston Villa and Liverpool (2nd goal) in our home that I know doesn't involve basic error. It means we would have kept more clean sheets than we have originally. And lf you notice, the team is growing and organisation have been excellent which is the most important

So what’s wrong with my initial post where I said we need to work on the defense. Cos na where this argument start.

I said we need to work on that defense, you typed a rebuttal claiming the defense is fine. I pointed evidence with stats, then you went on to say the defense is prone to errors.

Jodera you sure say Spy never collect your password.

Jodera:
Omo, When G.Jesus went to the ground as if he collapsed, only God knows what was going through my mind. My heart was literally in my mouth
Thank goodness nothing happened to him and he even went ahead to cause the penalty we scored the winning goal from.
Excellent all round performance from him.

To think we got him for just 45m pounds in this hyper inflated market

That tsimikas was just swinging hands dangerously yesterday
He caught saka too in the first half

iamoyindamola:
Arnold made it easy, he could have track down martinelli

I see people blaming Trent but I don't blame him sha. Liverpool defence was already disorganized due to our quick counter While Trent and the defender (was it Henderson or Matip) needed to both track G.Jesus run and Odegaard who was advancing.

Remember, Martinelli came from deep and it'll be difficult for Trent to keep up with both Odegaard and Martinelli at the same time. I see people blaming Trent for that goal as just looking for scapegoat

Jodera:
Omo, When G.Jesus went to the ground as if he collapsed, only God knows what was going through my mind. My heart was literally in my mouth
Thank goodness nothing happened to him and he even went ahead to cause the penalty we scored the winning goal from.
Excellent all round performance from him.

To think we got him for just 45m pounds in this hyper inflated market

The market is actually not inflated, it’s clubs like PSG and Man-U that are trying to stay relevant in the news that are artificially inflating the market.
Tales of I no sabi book but I get fine handwriting.

iamoyindamola:
That tsimikas was just swinging hands dangerously yesterday
He caught saka too in the first half

Omo, I wonder how ref didn't see that Saka own. He almost broke Saka nose

In whatever we do, make Auba no score against us November 6

kokaneprodigy:
Make this guy rest

Omo the werey just made November 6 bloody

Jodera:
I see people blaming Trent but I don't blame him sha. Liverpool defence was already disorganized due to our quick counter While Trent and the defender (was it Henderson or Matip) needed to both track G.Jesus run and Odegaard who was advancing.

Remember, Martinelli came from deep and it'll be difficult for Trent to keep up with both Odegaard and Martinelli at the same time. I see people blaming Trent for that goal as just looking for scapegoat

Bros Arnold is assign to martinelli by the way Henderson got odegaard
Arnold completely lost martinelli

For those worried about Mart…