Arsenal vs Liverpool 2-2

After watching the game yesterday, i am pretty sure every Arsenal fan is asking themselves: "How good can we be, if we could play well defensively"? I would say pretty fucking good! The way the team has played offensively for the past few games is very, very impressive. Quick one touch passing; moving the ball around from side to side; great runs on the wings; good through balls; we have basically done everything you could want from a team to do when they are attacking. There is one little problem: we keep playing absolute shit defensively and give away cheap goals ALL the time! This is extremely frustrating for me to watch because in the past we have struggled in attack, where we can't create chances and we just pass the ball around. We are finally playing very well moving forward and we can't take advantage of it, because we have guys making embarrassing defensive errors non stop.

There is no doubt in my mind that with the amount of chances we created we should have won yesterday's game. We started pretty good until we decided to give Liverpool a gift and go down 1-0. Suarez miss kicked a ball, Sagna slipped and fell, so Johnson crosses it, Vermaelen completely misses the ball and it goes to Sturridge who should have scored. Instead Szczesny made one of the few good saves of his night and the ball went to Suarez. If you read this blog last week, you will know that i mentioned Mertesacker being a complete pussy and being scared of the ball instead of trying to block it when West Ham scored against us a few days ago. Yesterday he did the same shit! This time i took a picture:

The guy is not even looking at the ball! He is too busy trying to turn his body so he doesn't get hit! That's fucking embarassing!

At least Sagna was looking at the ball and trying to block it. I have defended Mertesacker the whole of last year. I thought he needed time to adjust to the English style of playing and i also kept saying that we need a physical presence in our defense. The problem is that Mertesacker is anything but Physical! This guy is the SOFTEST big guy i have ever seen. Not to mention that he is slow! So i am going to have to admit that i was wrong, when i said that he is a good buy for us. I still think we need a big guy like him in defense but we need someone who is way more athletic and who can move!

Once we were down 0-1, we continued to be impressive going forward but we couldn't finish the chances we created. Meanwhile Szczesny and Mertesacker kept taking turns to see who he can fuck up worse than the other and we were lucky Liverpool didn't score more on us from our own mistakes. On top of everything, Gibbs got hurt and the genius Wenger put Santos in, instead of putting in Koscielny and moving Vermaelen to left back.

In the second half we kept pressing well and putting Liverpool under pressure but Henderson made both Mertesacker and Santos look like morons and then got a lucky bounce to make it 0-2. I give the team credit for not slowing down and  we got back into the game with two quick goals. First, Giroud scored with a good header from Wilshere's cross. Then he set up Theo with a little pass in the penalty area and Walcott blasted it past Reina for 2-2. Until the end of the game we had more chances to score, twice we caught Liverpool on counter attacks from their corner kicks but each time the finishing touch wasn't there. At the end, good old Santos decided to see if he can fuck us over single-handedly and gave away the ball to Suarez, who wasn't able to convert. 

After the game, Wenger said that we showed "tremendous spirit and that our team is top, top quality" - translation: we probably won't buy anyone even though we need a left back more than ever.

Besides his huge fuck up in the build up for Liverpool's first goal i thought Vermaelen was decent today. I can't say the same for Mertesacker. Besides the picture above, he passed the ball straight to a Liverpool player in the 26th min which led to a immediate counter. He was beat way too easily by Henderson for his goal. He is a liability, but i don't think Wenger will admit it and change him for Koscielny. Sagna also had fault for Liverpool's first goal, even though i am sure he didn't mean to slip. The rest of the game he was ok.

In midfield everyone was great today. Even Ramsey! He played further back than normal, kind of where Arteta plays for us and he did a good job. He was working hard, doing some defending and some attacking. He didn't make major mistakes, i give him credit for a good game! Cazorla was very, very good especially in the first half. Some of his through balls were amazing and Theo and co. should have capitalized better. In the second half he disappeared a bit but was also involved in most of the chances we created. Wilshere was good as usual. Always very active and always attacking with the ball. Gave a great cross for Giroud's goal.

Theo scored a great goal but also missed a lot of chances. One bad miss was after a great lob-pass by Santi, he wasn't able to control it quick enough and the danger was gone. Some of his crosses could also have been better but he plays with more confidence than before and doesn't allow the mistakes to bring him down. He is also starting to shoot with his left foot as well, and he was awfully close to scoring in the 69 min. Podolski had a good game as well. He created a lot of chances, and passed up some good opportunities to shoot to set up other people. Giroud was also very good. Scored a good goal and gave a smart assist for Theo's goal. He had a great chance to win the game for us in the 86min but couldn't get the contact needed after a great cross from the wing. He keeps scoring though and that's what we want.

I left Szczesny and Santos for last because they deserve special attention. Szczesny made some good saves but also had some horrible mistakes. He came out for a cross in the 27th min and was no where near the ball, luckily for him Podolski cleared off the line. Then he decided to dribble the ball after being pressured by Sturridge, lost it, and we should have been scored on again! I think that Wenger is making a big mistake by not giving Mannone any games (FA Cup is a good example) which doesn't create competition for Szczesny's starting job. Szczesny is getting sloppy and making bad decisions but there is no threat for him to get it together.

And finally our "top, top quality" left back: Andre Santos. I have written way too much for this clown and i am absolutely clueless how come journalists don't ask Wenger straight up "Why is this guy even on the pitch"? That's a legitimate question. Why is Santos playing for us when he is super slow? I am not talking average left back speed, i am talking every left back in the Premier League will outrun him easily. I know he can tackle but you need to be able to move. Not to mention his effort is rarely 100%. Look at the video below (make it full screen) and tell me if you think that this guy is running as hard as he can to prevent the Liverpool player from crossing....