A quick round up
It's been a decent 2007 so far for Arsenal, first we scored 4 against Charlton (and it would have been a lot more had Carson not been playing) and then 2 great, but unexpected wins against Liverpool at Anfield.
I say unexpected not because I didn't have faith in Arsneal getting a result but simply that Liverpool have been so strong of late at home. Having said that I was saying to a Liverpool supporting friend on Friday that they haven't really played anybody really decent at Anfield so far this season and so that proved correct when Arsenal turned up.
In both games we did what we needed to do and that's get in front. Generally the story of the season so far has been a two headed beast, score first and win or score second and struggle. So when Rosicky scored against the run of play it played right into our hands, that meant Liverpool had to push forward for a goal and that lead to space for us to exploit, and so we did. When they got it back to 2-1 it was a pretty even game and were it not for a bit of Henry magic the last few minutes could have been very tricky. In isolation Liverpool did OK in that game and while 3-1 was deserved it could equally have been a draw.
But when taken in context with Tuesday night it highlighted some problems for Liverpool. Benitez made two mistakes by fielding a weaker side on Tuesday, firstly he underestimate Arsneal's younger players and secondly by doing so he would have given them a big boost in confidence. If he had named his strongest side he might have put a little doubt in the players minds but by not doing so he played right into their hands.
I won't go over the game but need less to say both Baptista and Aliadiere had great games but as with Saturday the early goals put all the pressure on Liverpool. In Aliadieres defence I think he looked half decent against Portsmouth without actually doing a great deal but his problem is now we have 4 players on form in front of him.
A moment I liked was in commentary when Liverpool scored their 3rd Any Gray questioned the Arsenal young players resolve, a few minutes later Baptista scored another and his question was answered in no uncertain terms. Dudek got a fair amount of stick but in reality, especially in the Carling Cup game, he didn't stand a chance with most of the goals.
All in all 2 great results but I don't think it changes much, we all know if Arsenal play a side wanting to go toe to toe with them on a football basis they will come out on top, Blackburn tried and got burned in a similar fashion to Liverpool. On that subject it's Blackburn again this weekend, if they try and play football again they could be in a bit of trouble but the good news from an Arsenal perspective is Bentley is suspended for that game. At the Emirates I think he was the source of most of the danger from Blackburn, with him out I think we might have a better chance.
I say unexpected not because I didn't have faith in Arsneal getting a result but simply that Liverpool have been so strong of late at home. Having said that I was saying to a Liverpool supporting friend on Friday that they haven't really played anybody really decent at Anfield so far this season and so that proved correct when Arsenal turned up.
In both games we did what we needed to do and that's get in front. Generally the story of the season so far has been a two headed beast, score first and win or score second and struggle. So when Rosicky scored against the run of play it played right into our hands, that meant Liverpool had to push forward for a goal and that lead to space for us to exploit, and so we did. When they got it back to 2-1 it was a pretty even game and were it not for a bit of Henry magic the last few minutes could have been very tricky. In isolation Liverpool did OK in that game and while 3-1 was deserved it could equally have been a draw.
But when taken in context with Tuesday night it highlighted some problems for Liverpool. Benitez made two mistakes by fielding a weaker side on Tuesday, firstly he underestimate Arsneal's younger players and secondly by doing so he would have given them a big boost in confidence. If he had named his strongest side he might have put a little doubt in the players minds but by not doing so he played right into their hands.
I won't go over the game but need less to say both Baptista and Aliadiere had great games but as with Saturday the early goals put all the pressure on Liverpool. In Aliadieres defence I think he looked half decent against Portsmouth without actually doing a great deal but his problem is now we have 4 players on form in front of him.
A moment I liked was in commentary when Liverpool scored their 3rd Any Gray questioned the Arsenal young players resolve, a few minutes later Baptista scored another and his question was answered in no uncertain terms. Dudek got a fair amount of stick but in reality, especially in the Carling Cup game, he didn't stand a chance with most of the goals.
All in all 2 great results but I don't think it changes much, we all know if Arsenal play a side wanting to go toe to toe with them on a football basis they will come out on top, Blackburn tried and got burned in a similar fashion to Liverpool. On that subject it's Blackburn again this weekend, if they try and play football again they could be in a bit of trouble but the good news from an Arsenal perspective is Bentley is suspended for that game. At the Emirates I think he was the source of most of the danger from Blackburn, with him out I think we might have a better chance.
posted by Andrew Gilfrin at 4:41 PM
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