Liverpool v Arsenal featured no shots on target for the home team. When their attack is so poor then is the title already Arsenal’s?

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Too early to call Arsenal champions-elect
I don’t want to come across as some doom-monger – I’m glad to get the three points (especially at Anfield, finally) and we move. That being said, I wouldn’t be quick to assume Arsenal are just going to retain the title – we absolutely need to score more goals.

It’s fine for now – treading water in this early part of the season is something I don’t mind but we’re currently on pace to score 59 goals after only scoring 71 last year. Some drop-off was to be expected given we did not adequately replace the attackers we sold but that obviously won’t cut it and it will almost definitely catch up to us if things don’t change stat.

Also, 71 goals in this day and age probably won’t win us another league title. Only United (92/93, 08/09), Leicester and us in 97/98 were worse. I know we definitely have the best defense in the country and arguably the world but 1-nils are some fine margins to be living upon.

Arteta has got to figure out how to get a tune out of our attack this season – either some change in tactics or an astute January purchase. Long term, I honestly think we need to take a look at a change in the backroom staff.

Either that or we win the league anyway and neutrals b**** about how unwatchable we/the league are/is this year.
MAW, LA Gooner (And I will gladly drink those neutrals’ tears btw.)

How did Liverpool not threaten Arsenal?
Anfield away is never easy. This is Liverpool we are talking about !! And so it proved. Liverpool are not the finished article – but under Iraola and if they decide to invest on players other than wingers then I think they will be the team to challenge Arsenal for the next 2-3 years.

But they’ll need to get their heads right. A few years ago when Arsenal lost, they were accused of excuses and playing the victim. Often the criticism was fair. But Arteta and the players clearly decided 18 months ago that enough was enough. Despite what the media would happily peddle, the big change at Arsenal has been the winning mentality. No whining. No excuses. Demands. The foggin standards.

And so after a game in which Liverpool played well, what did we hear? The penalty they didn’t get. And again. And again. And again. The carnival of ex Liverpool players in the media will let the current ones talk about that all day. But nobody is discussing the fact that – for all their possession and territory and the 400 mio that they’ve spent up front – they didn’t have a shot on target. And only the Mac Allister miss really threatened that. Arsenal are great defensively – but that’s a problem.

But nobody admits it. Rather be unlucky. Rather be a victim. I’m sure Arteta and co are delighted tonight. All 3 points and signs that the biggest post-point deduction rivals that they have aren’t a match between the ears yet.
Johnno

…LFC have broken maths. They have managed to make 125+123+116 = 0.
Colin COYG

…Did I hear Danny Murphy on MOTD say that Liverpool failed to register a single shot on target in the entire game against Arsenal and that, that was the first time that had happened SINCE STATS BEGAN?

And Liverpool’s are second only to Coventry for fewest big chances scored in the PL this season with SEVEN (to Coventry’s five)?

They spent HALF A BILLION QUID on strikers in the last 2 years.

Is that not astonishing?!?
Colin

Thank you Mac
If you live on this side of the Atlantic, you have the unfortunate experience of having to watch Premier league games on NBC. On commentary, Peter Drury is fine, but Graeme Le Saux is a tough listen during Arsenal games.

He literally doesn’t go 5 minutes without how Arsenal are a disgrace, while completely ignoring anything done by literally anybody else. The man goes on and on about how Arsenal are cynical, about how Gabriel flops too much, and about how Arteta is outside his area and complaining to the ref all the time.

The way Graeme talks about them, you would think that Arsenal broke a bunch of financial rules, or some Arsenal player slept with a teammate’s wife, or someone kicked a cat. Of course, Graeme – you wouldn’t know anything about such a club, would you?

All of which is why I want to give a big thank you to Alexis Mac Allister.

In the second half, this man performed such a sad and hilarious flop, trying to get Madueke sent off for a pretend headbutt, that even Graeme had to point out how embarrassing it was.

Let’s be clear – Graeme still kept calling Arsenal cynical, both during the match and after in the post match show. But for the first time, he had to couch it with “I know other teams do it as well, but…”.

Graeme admits that non-Arsenal players dive? I never thought I’d see the day.
Girish, (imagine letting a team that “parked the bus” have multiple shots on target), AFC, Chennai

Get used to it, Andoni Iraola
Two defeats, two egregious refereeing decisions.
Rob

How was that not a penalty?
I’ve no dog in this particular fight, but can someone explain to me how a penalty wasn’t given against Jurien Timber’s shirt pull on Alexander Isak as he was trying to attack the ball in the Liverpool v Arsenal match yesterday?!? I’m completely and utterly baffled!

In all fairness, I have a bit of sympathy for the referee as there is a sea of bodies and a lot of stuff to try and observe all at once. VAR, on the other hand, well that’s just unforgivable and a complete dereliction of duty. Even Stevie Wonder can see that there is a very high change of Isak heading the ball coming in from the free kick IF Timber doesn’t pull his shirt and hold him back, preventing contact from being made. In fact, there’s a strong argument that this is DOGSO and the IFAB rules themselves state:

Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.), the offending player must be sent off.

There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that Isak attempting to head a cross coming in from a free kick towards goal is 110% a goal scoring opportunity – that’s not to say he would score, but the “opportunity” is there. I can’t think of a single argument that justifies how absolutely no punishment is given by the referee via VAR intervention and even those with the most rose-tinted Gooner glasses have to admit that they got away with one there. Mikel would still be having a meltdown NOW if that had happened to an Arsenal player and wasn’t given!

The sooner we take VAR away from incomptent/corrupt referees and into the hands of an independent body, the better. Do this and I guarantee a lot of the hatred for VAR goes away. It’s never been about the technology and all to do with the users – a tool is only as good as the person using it. Can’t wait to see Howard explain to us why we’re all wrong and how actually, it wasn’t a penalty….
Jeff G, West Brom Villan
(Chin up Zion, you’ve still been monumental for us so far this season and we all forgive you!)

Arsenal perspective on the penalty shout
Whilst I admit the shirt pull from Timber was stupid and could easily have been given on another night, I don’t think it was as stonewall as everybody is claiming. The camera angle clearly shows the pull, yes, but it also does not give any proper depth perspective on where the ball is in relation to Isak at that time. The front and back views pause when ‘Ball passes Isak in 2D’ and it looks like the pull has stopped him for stretching the inches required to head it in.

However, in reality it is well past Isak already, and the pull has no impact whatsoever on Isak ability to head that ball. It still ‘could’ have been given as a foul and penalty, and Arsenal fans and Timber could hardly complain too hard, but i think VAR did well there to realize it wasn’t a clear chance (or a chance at all). Hence the non appeal from Isak, or review, which would have been a Pen and possible red for denial of clear scoring opportunity.

Go back watch the replay and think about it in 3D. Which is seemingly too much to ask for any pundit or broadcasters it seems. Correct decision (just about).

While the above is factually true, the correct decision could still have been reached through sheer incompetence by VAR rather than good judgement.

But credit where it’s due I want to give them benefit of doubt here as they used similar logic to not fall for the antics of that cheating pieces of &^%* Mac Allister.
Hats (Konsa is a machine, did not realize he was this good)

That Man Utd squad just does not work
Adam Clery did a gread video the other day, where he talked about how the issues at United are far more than just the manager.

He then demonstrated how, even if you had a fully fit squad and picked all the obvious players in the obvious roles, it is still full of holes. Specifically, a mix of player profiles that simply don’t work together in any tactic or formation without massive flaws.

You have wingers who don’t want to stay wide and so will always cut in; full backs who aren’t suited to providing high energy up and down the line; midfielders that get their space impeded by either inside forwards drifting in, or a midfield three that has no where to move forwards and has players either out of position or wasted as they try to cover all the gaps left.

Then in defence you have either sloth and calamity or inexperience. And that’s with a fully fit squad.

It is a car crash created over multiple windows.

Until I saw this so ably explained, I was actually willing to give Wilcox the benefit of the doubt. On paper he seemed to have made decent signings in that each one seems decent, while being hampered by the incredible lack of money available. But in reality there is no coherent plan or vision beyond “PL proven”. They don’t fit together.

The crazy thing is that somehow Carrick has actually had them creating plenty of chances in spite of these huge deficiencies. But of course, the issues at both ends – finishing chances and stopping opponents from finishing theirs – have massively and understandably overshadowed that small success.

You probably wouldn’t believe it but I’m generally a pretty positive and glass half full person. But I seriously cannot see how this gets fixed in the next two to four windows with feet in reality. Sure, some kind of elder striker like Ivan Toney would provide a focal point who knows where the goal is. You can chase down Ait Nouri for left back. Both should be priorities that **arrive** on Jan 1st. But finding a suitable centre back who can come in, solidify defence and bring Yoro and Heaven along is a huge ask. Then just the little matter of shifting and replacing 10 players.

Final thought. How is it possible to have so many players with big egos, and yet none of them have any ability to lead? I’ve watched that Rogers goal more than a dozen times and it basically tells you everything in one short sequence: Bruno plays a blind hospital pass rather than keep possession for a second for which Mbeumo gamely but unsuccessfully battles, then with the midfield completely exposed by that idiocy, Maguire shuffles wide to avoid responsibility as per usual and Martinez is caught between two options. Now, Martinez is a complete prick, and should have been gone in the summer, but if I was seeing that nonsense unfold in front of me, I’d lose my sh*t too.
Badwolf

Who do Man Utd need for relegation battle?
United fan since 93 here, and i for one would just like to say how much i am relishing the prospect and excitement that comes with supporting your team in a good ol relegation battle for the first time in my 3 odd decades of watching football.

There is only one man for this job, forget Eddie Howe and his professional new approach to management or Naggelsman and his tactically nuanced german engineering, forget Conte and his bombastic siege approach. Give us BIG SAM.

Yes the English expert at Relegation battles, Ratcliff wanted an english core, and theres no better man to create a English Identity than Big Sam. Give Big Sam the job and i assure you there will be genuine excitement for us during the games, we might even get our very own “Bruuuunooooo” moment of a 95th min goal that lets us survive in the premiership on the last day of the season.

I for one cannot wait to be entertained fighting for survival this season. Just please not another drab rebuild with fresh promises of new long term approach from the new IT managers bringing their own new players. Get us the man who will dress this dross of a squad and shape them into a defensive English battering ram. Give us BIG SAM!!!!
KC (Glory Glory man utd and reds go marching down down down??)