There was one obvious, unmissable takeaway from Arsenal’s 3-1 Premier League victory over Liverpool on Sunday – Martin Odegaard can’t function a long-lens digicam.
The celebration police had been out in full power as Arsenal’s skipper celebrated his aspect’s victory by stealing Stuart MacFarlane’s digicam to take an image of the pitch-side photographer. When quizzed on the standard of his photographs, Odegaard wryly admitted: “To be sincere, I do not know, it was a bit blurry!”
Placing apart Odegaard’s poor framing – and the unnecessary opprobrium it impressed – there have been loads of intriguing classes to study from an interesting contest.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s frailties out of possession are nothing new. But, Klopp has at all times hailed his right-back’s defensive ability set, insisting only a handful of days earlier than the journey to Arsenal that “it is not as unhealthy as all people makes it”.
The positional tweak which has seen Alexander-Arnold wander into central midfield when Liverpool have possession – a change that started in opposition to Arsenal final April – leaves the England worldwide much more uncovered in transition. However as Klopp revealed after the match, the German had intentionally ditched that method to make Alexander-Arnold’s life simpler when confronted with Arsenal’s wingers, as a substitute sending Joe Gomez infield.
“We did not use Trent in the best way we needed him for use,” Klopp fretted. “We needed Trent extra on the wing with higher safety with Joey within the centre. It may have labored higher nevertheless it did not.”
In consequence, Alexander-Arnold was shunted out to the periphery of the competition whereas nonetheless subjected to Gabriel Martinelli’s unrelenting surges. Solely two gamers within the Premier League have performed greater than Alexander-Arnold’s 140 passes into the ultimate third this season but he did not penetrate Arsenal’s blockade as soon as. With their creator-in-chief muzzled by their very own supervisor, Liverpool tried only one shot heading in the right direction – the membership’s lowest tally in any match this time period.
Klopp insisted he would “have accomplished it once more like that”. If he does replicate the failed experiment, it might not be his solely repeated mistake in opposition to the Gunners.
“It’s tough to organize for what Arsenal did tonight, particularly within the first half. Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard, roughly as ‘double 10s’ in a 4-2-2-2.” Klopp was discussing Liverpool’s journey to the Emirates within the FA Cup a month earlier than Sunday’s Premier League encounter when he uttered this line.
Liverpool knocked the Gunners out of the third spherical again in January however had been below excessive strain and gained by taking the few probabilities that they had extra effectively than the various Arsenal squandered. Arteta underscored his perception that Arsenal had been the higher staff “merit-wise” that day by deploying the identical system on Sunday.
Havertz and Odegaard wreaked havoc pulling Liverpool aside, drifting between the seams of a aspect that might not work out press them. Liverpool gained the ball again within the attacking third simply as soon as – the bottom determine of their total season. By no means was the devilish dynamic between Odegaard and Havertz extra evident than Arsenal’s opener. Arsenal’s skipper was afforded area to obtain the ball inside Liverpool’s outnumbered midfield because of Havertz dropping deep earlier than tickling an audacious move into the German’s stride behind Virgil van Dijk, who had been drawn to Odegaard.
Arteta needed to watch his aspect get torn aside by Manchester Metropolis on the Etihad when Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland carried out not wildly dissimilar roles final April – rotating positions to overwhelm Arsenal’s thwarted makes an attempt to press excessive.
It is not usually that Klopp makes a misstep and he held his arms up after the sport. “Arsenal deserved the three factors,” he shrugged, “little doubt about that.”
Liverpool could have been outplayed for the primary 45 minutes however Gabriel gave them a serving to hand to make sure it was 1-1 on the break. As Arsenal’s title tilt hung within the stability, Jorginho recounted the scene within the bowels of a flat Emirates. “We went into the dressing room and we spoke, we stated what we wanted to say and we didn’t drop the power of the staff.”
When Jorginho says ‘we’, he means ‘I’. The Italy worldwide conceded that he is among the most vocal members of the squad and defined: “However it’s all in a constructive method – simply attempting to assist as a result of the staff was good within the first half, so we couldn’t let the aim have an effect on us.”
Jorginho’s affect on Sunday prolonged past a operating dialogue. No Arsenal participant had extra touches, stitching the sport collectively because the Gunners wobbled at the beginning of the second half whereas additionally providing the bravery to interrupt the strains of Liverpool’s rearguard. Off the ball, Jorginho’s bellowing served because the set off of when to change to a man-orientated press.
The 32-year-old’s contract expires in the summertime however certainly Arsenal will set off the choice for an additional yr in his deal. If Sunday’s efficiency is something to go by, how can they not?
“The job now’s to not mirror on what they did and the way unbelievable they’re or how handsome they’re on high of it,” Klopp warned forward of the journey to Arsenal. The reverse is true within the wake of a defeat – Liverpool’s second of the league season: it is not all doom and gloom.
Liverpool had been with out Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai or Wataru Endo. Health points compelled Darwin Nunez and Andy Robertson to start out on the bench whereas Conor Bradley was sadly unavailable for private causes.
“We did not play sufficient soccer,” Klopp moaned nevertheless it’s arduous to grease so many new cogs within the machine. “We had a very new right-sided triangle,” the Liverpool boss defined, “We wanted to get used to that. It was tough to search out.”
Salah and Szoboszlai should still have a while on the sidelines forward of them however Nunez and Robertson are closing in on full health. Endo will probably be again from the Asian Cup by the point Liverpool subsequent line up, affording Klopp’s aspect some much-needed ballast in midfield. Because the German coach advised the defensive midfielder upon his arrival: “We actually want you. We have now a extremely good staff. Able to work, however very offensive.”
Liverpool shipped probabilities price a mixed xG of three.52 in opposition to Arsenal – the best determine the Reds have confronted in a Premier League recreation ever recorded by Opta. With only a few extra gamers again – or perhaps a bit extra time between matches – Liverpool are unlikely to undergo fairly a lot once more.
