Willock with a fantastic chance to wrap it up, slices his shot badly

total *%^@ from Willock. Not even on target. I want to like him but he hasn't done anything of note the whole second half of the season

is it worth saying we haven't been eviscerated by their fullbacks? last time they had us on toast. Better tactically? Or is this just Liverpool on the beach?

that is another fantastic save from Martinez, deflection, spinning right in to the corner

Thought Tierney and Holding did quite well at the back


Judging by this performance it will be several thousand years before we are competing again

Truly dire. Still, better to be dire and win than dire and lose I suppose.

Odd game. Not sure how we did it but I’ll take that. Still aiming for 8th though.

Mané was magnificent. Watch the replay, Pépé.

Either way, the game was won. It’s nice to enjoy the moment.

not obliterated by the full backs, but the game was just as one sided as the one at Anfield. We have improved but we can't really kid ourselves that we deserved it. The second half was much better, far fewer clear cut chances and fewer times we were actually opened up.

Liverpool almost certainly lost some focus but were still a mile better than us. Mané is some player, inside, outside - beats his man every single time. I rate him higher than Salah without doubt

Only 3 more games to endure then we can put this horrendous season to bed.

What a great, if unexpected, result.

As others have pointed out, though, there is no point in kidding ourselves. Liverpool weren't completely at it and gifted us two goals but were still much better than us.

Not sure any of our players gets in the team they fielded tonight.

How good is Martinez?

Not pretty, but seeing how Liverpool is the best team in the league and we're attempting some sort of rebuild after hitting absolute rock bottom under Emery I'm not sure we CAN beat them any other way at the moment. Lots of lessons to be learned from a performance like this.

The backs to the wall defending was a good warm up and preparation for the City cup semi. I think their guile and one touch stuff might give us more problems than Liverpool’s crossing approach. But also feel like we should be able to get forward a bit more against their defence.

Chances of us repeating today’s lucky result are slim so we need to play a lot better

Very. Comms made a good point at how often he catches, not just crosses but shots. Doesn’t parry them away.

Liverpool not the same team after the Covid 19 outbreak. It would have been more romantic had they stayed undefeated and we go this result.
I'll take any kind of win at this point. Had Mustafi been in, we'd have lost. I'm convinced of that. Martinez was decent enough other than 1 or 2 glaring mistakes, which no keeper can afford against a top side like LFC.

Concerns not abated by that performance although I thought Tierney Holding and Martinez were good. Should have been the defence in the Spurs game. Even when Ceballos came on he never got any midfield control. In order to play to Xhaka strengths we lose so much across midfield. More questions from this performance than answers.

Arteta needs to say at the press conference- we will get flogged by many teams if we play like that in the future.

Yep, its rare to see such assured handling these days. Most keepers parry balls away.

If he carries on like this there might just be an argument to suggest his all round game is better than Leno's. He's very composed, more assured in possession, more accurate and quicker with his passing and better on crosses.

Leno has been brilliant for us with his razor sharp reflexes and point blank saves but I don't think he's great with the ball at his feet and is a bit of a flapper when crosses come in.

It is hard to see Martinez continuing at this level indefinitely but if he does he certainly doesn't deserved to be dropped.

Glaring mistakes, AG? Apart from the time he was caught in possession he was pretty much faultless.

Central midfield. It's just not there. One powerful player in there makes a difference. Then add a good centre back. We have two good keepers, a good attack and reasonable fullbacks. That central defence to central midfield axis is just a huge weakness.

Agree with this. I actually think we have plenty of good players in the squad, but our spine needs an upgrade. Hopefully the Partey rumours are true.

He’s got at least three more games to impress. That’s a decent run in the side against some stiff opposition. And crucially the things you’ve highlighted he seems to be better at are the things we need for the majority of games we’ll play, as we’re planning to be possession dominant I would guess, apart from the fewer games against City, Liverpool... Bayern Munich

That win wiped the smiles off the cocky Pool supporters from my neighbourhood

He started well for a game or 2 and then sort of drifted into very average for a while. He has picked up again recently but I always wonder whether he's doing a Walcott and upping his game before the contract is renewed, only to revert to type after the deal is signed. £23m does sound reasonable though given some of the other numbers being floated around ordinary players.

And Martinez did afford them.

Surely we can flog Özil to Fernabache so that he can finally end his Arsenal nightmare and move in with Erdogan.

This save at the end didn’t get the mentions or credit it deserves. It is up there as save of the season for me.
The deflection and spin means Martinez had to reset and show incredible footwork to get across to ensure his dive is timed perfectly to just get his finger tips to it. It is a save GKs would appreciate more than anyone else.

I’d play Holding ahead of Kolasinac v City. In a backs you the wall deep defence performance he’s better. Of holding just has to play in a 30 yard vertical zone from his own 6 yard box and up he’s much more in his comfort zone. No space behind to run in to, he can stay nice and compact with his team mates and head and block everything away. It’s the sort of defending we’ll need against City.

More likely we’d have to pay them to take him off our hands. Wonder if there’s ever been such a case before, where the selling club has to pay the buying club to get rid of him? You’ve had free transfers where the selling club doesn’t receive any money, so in effect gives the player away. This would only be one step beyond that. Could this be called a ‘negative transfer’, if it happens?

I suppose it hasn’t happened because it would cost less to simply pay up a player’s contract to get him off the books. Özil’s annual salary is £18.2m (£350k x 52). With us being half way through July and his contract expiring on 30th June next year, that would now cost around £17.5m (£350k x 50).

Trouble is we’d have to pay most of Özil’s salary too. Might be cheaper just to keep him and never play him.

It comes down to whether he is a negative influence in the dressing room. Irrespective of whether he's disruptive or a model professional it can't be great for a team trying to establish themselves under their new young manager to see the highest paid player never making the team, and never have a chance of making the team. I feel even if we are stuck with paying his entire salary next season that we need to find some way to get him out on loan.
Arteta has been pretty clear about attitude and effort in training in order to make the match day team so we can only assume that is not being displayed by Özil because if he was Arteta would surely find a place for him among the 9 subs he's allowed even if he doesn't fit in Arteta's formation, shape and tactics

This might sound silly but we have Leno and Martinez who you could argue are both in the top 6 GK's in the prem right now. For a club that is desperate for finances to improve the squad it doesn't make sense to have such a valuable asset sitting on the bench all season.
It is brilliant ot have such a good back up as Martinez, and he's been very much needed this season with Leno's injury but is it a luxury we can afford ourselves?
I'm hesitant to say this because GK is really not a position you want to mess around with and many top clubs have had to go through numerous GK's until they've found a safe pair of hands but if for example an offer came in for one of them for £50m then it may be sensible to sell. It weakens that position but with greater opportunity to strengthen the squad as a whole.

With 4 recent goals coming from opposition defensive errors occurring from an Arsenal high press from the forwards Arteta is getting the perfect evidence to show his team that if these are his instructions they will work and we will get the rewards.
The high press is so effective but so complicated to perform. We're nowhere near good enough at it yet but we've had a few results from it. Liverpool's high press is fantastic, every man know his job and understands his position and the angles to cut off. Sometimes it isn't about closing down the ball it is setting the traps. At Liverpool Firminho, one of the most intelligent players, is their trigger. You can't just always press, it needs the right moment which could be a slightly bad first touch or a ball played slightly behind someone. I would love Arteta to install such a confident press in us but it will take time, years even.

This is essentially what United are doing with Alexis Sanchez by paying inter 175 grand of his weekly wages.

It’s utterly mental but it’s the only way out of it.

Arsenal bite their lip and agree to a free transfer and to pay anything above 180k of his weekly wages. The little *%^@** pisses off to Turkey and we continue to shell out a fortune but at least get 180 k a week to put towards other players salary’s.

His transfer is probably the worst arsenal transfer of all time now with 2 decent seasons then he has literally handicapped the side for the last 2 years playing appallingly and financially crippling us to.

Your right Dec,

We need 3 players right down the spine

1 defensive balling Winning midfielder ala Fernandinho or Gilberto
1 Özil no 10 type replacement who can show quality in the final third

1 centre back who can also lead and organise our defence

With Arteta saying he needs the boards help yesterday I found that telling. I do wonder if we could see a scenario with Arteta moving on.

Just looked up the players’ payroll at Fenerbahce this season. Their highest paid player is Luiz Gustavo on £68k per week, with Victor Moses their second highest paid player on £57k a week. If the website giving those figures are right, I don’t think they’d go anywhere near £180k a week for Özil.

https://eurofootballrumours.com/fenerba ... -salaries/

I don't think Mesut would give a rat's arse.

Strikes me he stopped playing - or wanting to play - after the World Cup. Since then, his ambition hasn't extended beyond what to do with his £18.2m salary. He's not doing anything or going anywhere that will jeopardise his finances.

I completely agree DHD. He will turn up for training and play if selected (if you call ‘play’ going onto the pitch and trying to avoid the ball). It would cost him money to do anything else, with fines and so on. But he’s lost his desire to play. The nature of his departure from the German national team and his time at Arsenal since signing his new deal in my view shows that.

At the end of his contract at Arsenal, I think it’s possible he’ll retire as he’ll be approaching his 33rd birthday. Or maybe he’ll go to America if he can find a club who will pay him for doing next to nothing, which is right up his street.

Quote:

'This world is about money, so when you are offered those millions you take them. Few people will ever earn so many. I am one of the few fortunates who do. I may be one of the worst buys in the history of the Premiership but I don't care.'

Sounds like something Özil would say. Actually it’s Winston Bogarde from way back when Chelsea couldn’t unload him nor force him out. At the time I thought that it was a mad one-off. Never thought that it would happen to us.

He could/should join and MLS side in the US. Others have.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sports/news/m ... r-BB16AFll

Update on Martinelli's injury, not expected back until 2021.

When was the last time we started a new season without a player out with a long term injury?