OK, Dudek in, Kirkland out. Nobody else suspended as far as I can tell (Smicer?) How do we stop what is undeniably the best team in the Premiership?
We need to play our own game and not worry about what Arsenal are doing. Our defence is strong, Dudek is back while Owen, Heskey and Diouf are quite capable of scoring goals. We need Murphy and Gerrard to play well in the middle to match the quality of Arsenal's midfield and if we do that, we're a big chance. GO LIVERPOOL!!
One thing we must do is go at them as we did at the beginning of the Southampton match. I am sure we will because we are playing at home, but we have to regain that fluency and attacking style we had back in September. Go at them on all cylinders and shake them up at the back. While they have a strong back four, they are not the quickest of defenders, especially in the middle. As always the key will be the midfield battle. Gerrard must not be intimidated by Viera, who I know he respects very much. He is coming back to form (slowly) and needs to really stamp his authority on this match early. Don't pay them too much respect and score more than one goal, we'll have to, to get a win in this one. They always score at least one!
Three straight clean sheets. We need to keep that up and nick a goal or two to win. Hope Franny the Clown isn't rewarded for diving. Lineup: Jerzy Carra Hyppia Henchoz Traore Diouf Gerrard Spuds Riise Heskey Owen Smicer Baros Biscan Mellor Cheyrou Arphexad
I disagree. I think Lauren and Ashley Cole have very good speed, though you did say the middle. I disagree there as well. If they're playing Keown, he's not fast but not slow either. Campbell definitely has speed, he's one of the faster center backs IMO. Cygan is a slow central defender, so if he is played then I would agree with you more.
That's as good a line-up as we can put out there. But I'll tell you, now that I have seen the CP match (last night), that we have to really turn things around if we are to have a chance tomorrow--any chance. Our entire midfield needs to have a top-notch match. Riise should be back on the left side, which is good. If Diouf can get back on track, we might be able to create some problems for Arsenal, and nick a 1-0 victory.
You're right I did say middle and Keown is out for this one. I based my thoughts on the assumption that Cygan is playing.
If Cygan plays, we have a much, much better chance. I've seen him play a few times this year, and he's very beatable. We'll get a few good free-kicks, at the very least. ----
Cygan reminds me of Peter Boyle in "Young Frankenstein". He is slow and robotic. Having said that, it will need to be someone other than Mikie to take advantage as Sol will have #10 as his sol(e) mission.
Agreed. And Cygan is not only slow, but he can't jump, either. Send Emile at him; for once, trying the long-ball, "Route 1" approach on occasion may make sense. Cygan can't handle Heskey; we'll either get set-pieces, or Sol will have to come over to support Cygan--which might free up Mikie. ----
You know those players that are somewhat highly rated, yet you just cannot find a single good quality about them? Well Cygan is one for me. When I say highly rated, I mean he won the French league player of the year or some or award from a magazine. I still don't know what Wenger saw in him.
Team: Dudek, Carragher, Hyypia, Henchoz, Riise, Diouf, Murphy, Gerrard, Cheyrou, Heskey, Owen. Subs: Arphexad, Diao, Baros, Smicer, Traore From:LFC.tv
ARSENAL line-up: D Seaman B Lauren, S Campbell, P Cygan, A Cole R Parlour, P Vieira, G Silva, R Pires D Bergkamp, T Henry Subs: S Taylor, F Jeffers, S Wiltord, G van Bronckhorst, O Luzhny
Arsenal 1, Liverpool 0 8th min. goal by Pires Good start by Liverpool wasted by Arsenal counterattack. Henry got through with only Dudek to beat. Great save by Dudek but the ball fell to Pires, who slotted the ball into the vacant net.
close to halftime at this stage...from what i can gather from soccernet, Owen has missed 3 golden chances, and we are lucky to be down only 1-0 to a Pires goal in the 9th. sounds like Dudek is at least playing well...
OK, now it is halftime, 1-0 to the enemy. sounds as if we have created enough chances to be level, but we simply cannot finish them. hoping for a much better 2nd half.
Good first 7 mins, then their goal on the counter attack let the air out of us. They dominated much of the rest of the half, except for the last five minutes or so when we seemed to get back on track. Owen certainly should have scored the 3rd of his three chances. The second he placed it well enough, but Seaman saved with his leg. The first he missed completely. Our main attack is to launch it to Heskey who is playing well and winning most of the headers. But creative it is not.
HT - Arsenal 1, Liverpool 0 According to Soccernet, end-to-end action. Lots of shots, especially for Arsenal. Dudek's excellent play and Owen's poor finishing keeping score at 1-0. Owen did poorly with two good chances and then flubbed a sure goal with 5 minutes to go. When is Owen gonna get his scoring touch back? Game after game it sounds like he gets chances he normally would put away but doesn't.
I am watching it and most of the problem is that they are closing us down very quickly so Murphy and Gerrard are pumping it forward. One out of three goes to Heskey and that starts an attack for us. But in between they get it and keep it, play possession football and build it up and look for Henry who looks very very dangerous. Diouf is battling hard down the right side with Cole, but Cheyrou is invisible. Murphy and Gerrard are doing ok, but Viera is winning that battle right now. Their goal really deflated us for a while and I am hoping we can attack at the beginning of the second half like we did at the first. But remember to leave some defenders back there for their counter.
great analysis. i'm only following on-line...i just think we need to keep faith in Owen and just try to play more positively. i'm glad that Diouf is doing better. i just worry that Henry is going to go off soon and the game will be over.