GWT: PL Matchday 3

[YNWA14]

The only person wasting other people's time here is you. Once again you got in over your head because you couldn't understand what you were reading and instead decided to insult. As pathetic as that was, what made it even more amusing was how obvious the reply you should have made was. None of it is a surprise with your track record though as you seem to be unable to get past your personal insecurities on this forum. Of course I could tell you to stick to the topic at hand, but then we'd be blessed with things like how people should be drafting Alexander-Arnold ahead of Felix, De Ligt, Havertz and Sancho.

This is more of what I expected from you. Keep going please; as always it's quite enlightening. You seem to have a firm grasp on the topic at hand.

 

[Cassano]

Last comments and then off to sleep.

• Arsenal need their fullbacks healthy. What they put out today isn’t cutting it.

• How is Lacazette never in any big match? That alone gives me qualms about the manager.
• If I’m Lacazette, I want to leave
• Anyone who thinks a solid plan is letting TAA and Robertson have the run of it and putting balls into the box is stupid
• Trent wasn’t even great today.
• A little more on Emery, but his ideas that it was a “soft penalty” are beyond crazy.

• Aubameyang might be skilled, but he can’t hold the ball for crap.
• I have no idea why Arsenal bought Luiz
• Ceballos isn’t ready for the pace of Liverpool. Few are, but it’s a big gap between Newcastle and Burnley
• I like Pepe. He’s got a bucket of skill. But did Arsenal really need another attacker? Couldn’t 80 million buy a defender or three?
• Between this and the Spurs visit (where they stole a result with a mask and a gun) I think the gap between the top two and the rest is still pretty far off the mark
• I don’t want to see any more joke Liverpool / Arsenal roster comparisons. I’m not sure if any Arsenal player gets in Liverpool’s 11.

Honestly, in finishing the rewatch of the match (hard to give it true focus with a fantasy football draft party) I see more of why Liverpool didn’t buy anything. They’re not even 3/4ths of what they should be. I realize Klopp is happy with the win, the effort and all that, but they can be much better.

Valid points, but I would like counter the bold.

Our two starting fullbacks are injured. Both Tierney and Bellerin have excellent overlapping ability that'll improve our playing style. Any team in the league besides City will be hurting without their first choice fullbacks gone in today's game.

As you saw from the match, we barely created anything. When we did, it all came from Pepe. Last year's visit at Anfield, we created nothing. We have a serious problem with dribbling and running at defenses. Iwobi was the guy who did it for us last season, but they got a much better player.

80m gets you Harry Maguire who I'm not convinced is better than David Luiz who cost 8m. Red Bull rejected 72m for Upamecano and Rugani was really the only other player seemingly available but he's not a considerable upgrade over what Arsenal has. He's like the Italian Rob Holding, who we expect to see back in a few weeks.

 

[YNWA14]

I think Rugani would have been a good signing. He's better than Luiz at this point, especially at defending, and still has room to improve. Luiz needs to be insulated and Arsenal really can't provide that.

 

[Cassano]

I think Rugani would have been a good signing. He's better than Luiz at this point, especially at defending, and still has room to improve. Luiz needs to be insulated and Arsenal really can't provide that.

I'm not convinced he's better than Luiz. He looked very pedestrian last season.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

80 million is what you get if you’re buying from the epl.... you can get better defenders elsewhere.

 

[YNWA14]

80 million is what you get if you’re buying from the epl.... you can get better defenders elsewhere.

There are some good defenders in the PL, but generally yes.

 

[Cassano]

80 million is what you get if you’re buying from the epl.... you can get better defenders elsewhere.

I wanted Hermoso and Llorente, but they both chose Atletico immediately.

 

[Chimaera]

Part of not creating anything to me is related to not playing Lacazette and Auba, but also because the midfield gets run and the backline is bad. I also think Arsenal’s players were done a disservice by not having a go. Playing bunker and counter did provide a few chances, but it also meant Liverpool were going to get 2-1 at least

I mean, I don’t know that 80 had to go towards just one player. I also don’t know if that massive upgrade was available. I just don’t know how many managers of quality would have looked at Arsenal’s squad and said get me another 80 million pound attacker with Auba and Lacazette. Maybe 45 on a winger and 35 on a defender better than Luiz?

I do concede the fullbacks out issue, though I would say Bellerin hasn’t been trending up of late prior to injuries. So relying on him to improve things is a bit risky.

It’s clearly a work in progress, and they’re much improved, I just think they decided to fix problems they had through improving the one strength they did have.

 

[les Habs]

This is more of what I expected from you. Keep going please; as always it's quite enlightening. You seem to have a firm grasp on the topic at hand.

I do, unlike yourself, hence your inability to do nothing but troll. Always amazes me people don't even know the club they say they support.

 

[Havre]

Without scrolling back, did United fans feel any type of way about James celebrating his equalizer rather than going and picking the ball out of the net?

If he had kept on going for just a little longer the game would have been over by the time CP scored their winner

 

[maclean]

Finally got to see the new Arsenal yesterday. To be honest I spent most of the game wishing I was cheering for the other team, because they were heads and shoulders above, constantly winning possession and pushing forward fluidly the way I wish Arsenal would more frequently. That said, Pepe was worth every penny, the only player out there that was a consistent threat, definitely a fast favourite.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

On the Lacazette vs Firmino debate.

Other than a Liverpool fan, I am also a fan of Lyon and I have watched Lacazette tear up la ligue 1 for many years.

First their style, they are not even close, Lacazette is a poacher, finisher and a dribbler. He has very good pace, vision and first touch. He is more comparable to Sturridge than Firmino IMO. He is explosive and he is lethal if given space his work rate is ok but nothing exceptional. He is better than he has shown and he should get 20+ goals if he was given more playing time.

Firmino is nothing alike. Firmino is not a pure finisher, he actually often bottle easy scoring chances. He is a creater and a running machine. He is always pressing hard and when he gets the ball he is always looking to feed his teammates (Mane/Salah). He is often tracking back in his own defensive zone to support his team defensively. He is very frustrating when in a scoring chance as he has a tendency to miss easy goal opportunities but he is also able to score amazing goals. As far as his role, it is hard to describe, Liverpool is not where they are without him. Actually, Salah and Mane should offer a portion of their salary to him as he creates so many scoring chances for them. Klopp has often described Firmino as Liverpool engine and he is 100% right. Anytime Firmino is not playing you can see a definite step down in terms of pressing and scoring chances. Firmino never stop moving and always run into channel to get space. He likes pressing hard and he is not afraid to tackles hard. He is very strong with the ball and he always battle hard. Although biased Virgil Van Dijk as said he is the hardest striker along with Aguero to play against.

I don't think there is a stats for pressing and running in the channel to open space but if these stats existed he would probaly be by far #1 on these lists.

 

[bluesfan94]

Not sure how anyone is arguing arsenal outchanced Liverpool. I think you can say arsenal had the better chances in the first half and were unlucky not to score first which may have shifted the balance of the game.

 

[Havre]

Not sure how anyone is arguing arsenal outchanced Liverpool. I think you can say arsenal had the better chances in the first half and were unlucky not to score first which may have shifted the balance of the game.

Agree.

Liverpool deserved to win and there was a period in the second half they completely dominated the game, but it just as easily could have been Arsenal scoring from a set piece. And even if Luiz is prone to those kind of things you normally won’t be gifted two goals like that. The second Salah obviously took well. Even if Luiz makes a huge mistake there was still work left to do.

In the PL top teams rarely lose when they score first. I think Liverpool would have had a tough time going one down. Auba, Pepe and a fresh Lacazette can do some serious damage on the CA.

 

[Ajacied]

I was shocked at the difference between Liverpool and Arsenal. It easily could've been 6-1. It still baffles me why the Gunners didn't improve their defense as drastically. Luiz was abysmal.

 

[Live in the Now]

They needed to fix their attack and defense IMO. Couldn’t do it all at one time, so they did their best.

The attachment to Wenger and older players is what allowed them to fall so far behind Liverpool. I like some of their players a lot, but I wouldn’t take any of them in our first eleven. We had some absolute shit teams in the past but now the shoe is on the other foot.

Luiz had a bad game, but considering who he was playing against it could have been worse. Salah is going to score 30 goals again or more, to defend the second goal would have been difficult even if he didn’t have a yellow. There was a great pass by Fabinho there.

 

[AB13]

According to who? Need some proof.

The goals and assists are very easy to look up anywhere and an undeniable fact, and the chances created vary depending on source, it is very hard to say what is defined as a chance. There are sources that say very different things, but I looked at Sky Sports. Do that.

 

[AB13]

On the Lacazette vs Firmino debate.

Other than a Liverpool fan, I am also a fan of Lyon and I have watched Lacazette tear up la ligue 1 for many years.

First their style, they are not even close, Lacazette is a poacher, finisher and a dribbler. He has very good pace, vision and first touch. He is more comparable to Sturridge than Firmino IMO. He is explosive and he is lethal if given space his work rate is ok but nothing exceptional. He is better than he has shown and he should get 20+ goals if he was given more playing time.

Firmino is nothing alike. Firmino is not a pure finisher, he actually often bottle easy scoring chances. He is a creater and a running machine. He is always pressing hard and when he gets the ball he is always looking to feed his teammates (Mane/Salah). He is often tracking back in his own defensive zone to support his team defensively. He is very frustrating when in a scoring chance as he has a tendency to miss easy goal opportunities but he is also able to score amazing goals. As far as his role, it is hard to describe, Liverpool is not where they are without him. Actually, Salah and Mane should offer a portion of their salary to him as he creates so many scoring chances for them. Klopp has often described Firmino as Liverpool engine and he is 100% right. Anytime Firmino is not playing you can see a definite step down in terms of pressing and scoring chances. Firmino never stop moving and always run into channel to get space. He likes pressing hard and he is not afraid to tackles hard. He is very strong with the ball and he always battle hard. Although biased Virgil Van Dijk as said he is the hardest striker along with Aguero to play against.

I don't think there is a stats for pressing and running in the channel to open space but if these stats existed he would probaly be by far #1 on these lists.

Lacazette was that kind of player at Lyon, fair enough, but he is completely different now. He drops a lot deeper and looks to create for the likes of Aubameyang ahead of him, and often comes back and defends in his own half. He works just as hard as Firmino, up and down the pitch in full sprints. Pay close attention to it next time you watch us.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Ndombele suffered a minor injury during training and will miss today's game. Kinda sad. Would've loved to see him toy around with Newcastle's midfield.

However, with him out and Son and Alli becoming available again, I expect Poch to not set up the team in the same stupid way he did the first two games. I hope he never reverts to that.

As for Lo Celso, Poch thinks he needs more time to ease into the squad, since he was never part of Spurs pre-season.

 

[Blender]

80m gets you Harry Maguire who I'm not convinced is better than David Luiz who cost 8m. Red Bull rejected 72m for Upamecano and Rugani was really the only other player seemingly available but he's not a considerable upgrade over what Arsenal has. He's like the Italian Rob Holding, who we expect to see back in a few weeks.

Uh...what? Maguire is definitely a better defender than David Luiz, having watched both a lot over the last few years. It's night and day at defending, Maguire is vastly superior as David Luiz has never been known for his ability to defend 1v1 or mark guys in the box. David Luiz on the ball is a much better player though, as his passing from the back can be incredible.

 

[Burner Account]

Bournemouth staying within one to nick a point at the end. Love it.

 

[hatterson]

So the commentary says maybe Ederson was lucky to stay on after a rough challenge at about the 10-15 minute mark.

Will have to rewatch when I get home to see the challenge.

 

[Blender]

That second Manchester City goal was ridiculous.

 

[Burner Account]

Bournemouth staying within one to nick a point at the end. Love it.

Well shit

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Harry Wilson?