62 attempts, 1 goal. Liverpool Cup defeat confirms Arsenal’s finishing problem

Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2    
FA Cup 3rd Round
Sunday 7th January 2024  4.30pm    

Arsenal completed a sorry hat-trick of defeats – two of them at home – in an admittedly entertaining FA Cup Third Round tie at the Emirates yesterday. However, entertaining as it was, and as delightful as much of the Gunners’ first half dominance proved, they failed to put the ball in the net, despite numerous chances.

 

Talk of the need for a clinical finisher at centre forward is not new, but it is definitely louder after the matches since Boxing Day. The question is whether or not investing in one of the required quality will put the club in Financial Fair Play hot water. Ultimately, the situation Arsenal now find themselves in is a legacy of not being in the Champions League for six seasons. Year on year, that meant a significantly reduced income, all the time paying wages at a level that required participation in the competition. The Premier League income is not insignificant, but European income is the cherry on the cake, and the Europa League is sadly, in money terms, week old stale Battenburg.

 

Despite there being no real need to rest players ahead of the midwinter break in which Dubai beckons, Mikel Arteta made a few changes. Jorginho was brought in, with Havertz switched to centre forward as Jesus was unavailable through injury. Aaron Ramsdale was given a chance in goal, and Reiss Nelson started on the left ahead of Martinelli. Liverpool were weakened by a combination of injuries and Mo Salah’s trip to AFCON to play for Egypt.

 

Arsenal wore their all-white kit which has become a tradition for the Third Round of the FA Cup. It’s not popular with the fans and the numbers on the back need a thick black outline as they are otherwise fairly pointless from more than 10 metres away. As for the ‘no more red’ slogan and the presence of Rwanda on the sleeve… discuss.

 

Reiss Nelson was being given an opportunity to show his value and an early chance really should have seen him put his side ahead after a terrific pass from Ramsdale. It was the first of several chances that you thought would be converted by the home side. The passing was sharp, slick and quick. Arteta’s team did everything but score. At one point Liverpool were hanging on to such an extent that the old ‘their name’s on the cup’ phrase came to mind, as chance after chance was passed up. Sometimes this was due to players either wanting an extra touch, or simply neglecting to shoot and passing to a team-mate who was not always in a better position. I envisaged Odegaard and Havertz as gunslingers at the O.K. Corall… being so slow on the draw their bullets wouldn’t have been fired until the sequel. The build-up play might have been a delight, but the end product was pure frustration for the home support. The goal attempts tally at half time was something like 13 to 2.

 

Liverpool didn’t muster too much before the interval. Nunez did have a free header from a corner than really should have gone in. It pointed to what is becoming a big of a concern for Arsenal, as corners aren’t being defended so well any longer. It was a portent of things to come. Trent Alexander Arnold – the away side’s captain for the day – matched Arsenal’s skipper by hitting the bar.

 

The domination couldn’t last for the whole game and Liverpool shaded the second half, aside from the goals. Arsenal did continue to create chances, as the game became a lot more end to end. At one point my old mate Doktor Schneide messaged me to ask -
Do you know how to set up a crowdfund page to help towards a huge neon sign above the Emirates saying: ‘Wanted. Top quality striker.  Apply within’?

 

Nunez was switched to the left wing and caused havoc for Ben White. It was an example of a tactical switch that Arteta might do well to learn from. Saka and Nelson could have swapped over to provide different problems, but stayed in position, until Martinelli replaced the latter and immediately livened things up for his side, except for generally failing to find a colleague when he beat his marker in the box. 

 

Aaron Ramsdale made the most of his opportunity. I don’t think he could be blamed for either goal and his distribution was at least as good as Raya’s. But when Jota came on I had a bad feeling as he always proves a thorn in Arsenal’s side. Liverpool hit the bar again, this time from a corner and it was a further one that proved decisive as Kiwior managed to head the ball into his own net. Supposedly a centre back, it wasn’t good. 

 

Nketiah, Smith Rowe and Trossard were thrown on to try and salvage a draw but the problem with Arsenal was they were constantly trying to be too intricate, to score a masterpiece of a goal. Great when they go in, but playing the percentages is always going to be more rewarding against Premier League defences. It was all threat, no end product. That attempt to score the perfect goal is an echo of the latter Wenger years. The title of this blog refers to a damning stat. 62 chances, one goal. That’s the record of the last three matches. That really doesn’t bear thinking about. A blip? Arsenal’s forwards have struggled to get consistently on the scoresheet all season. It doesn’t take Einstein to work out where the problem is with this team, and now that the defending is experiencing a dip, there is no get out of jail card, no last-minute Declan Rice header to save the day. 

 

Diaz made it 2-0 with pretty much the last kick of the game. It didn’t matter by then. On the upside, I guess Arsenal can focus completely on the two bigger competitions, and the inability to equalise means a longer break in Dubai. Nice for the players, eh?

 

A good chunk of the support are calling for Arteta’s head after the latest run, but that isn’t going to happen as long as he can get the team qualifying for next season’s Champions League. Yet, the fear is that psychologically his team are not particularly resilient. It feels the same as last season – they don’t always bounce back quickly from defeats. And failure to do that will cost a team any chance of winning the league. Although Arteta is not going to be relieved of his duties anytime soon, there is an argument that he is simply too inflexible to take the club to the next level. His ceiling might be remaining in the top four, but the side feels imbalanced. The loss of one player – Xhaka – seems to have made the team less effective, less fluid. Hence perhaps less goals this season. 

 

Let’s see what happens in the transfer market between now and the end of January. It feels like the team need an injection of something to re-find their mojo, to be a little less predictable, and to convert more of their chances. Right now, there is a sense of déjà vu with the side putting together a run of poor results and the manager not having any solutions. Dominance and chances are great, but ultimately meaningless if there is nothing to show for it. Arteta might have won the cup in his first season, but in the competition since, his record is woeful. Sure, it’s only third in the list of priorities, but if nothing else, can we get shot of that all white kit? The point’s been made, but the tragic events at Primrose Hill on New Year’s Eve suggest that for all the good intention behind the message, young men are still being lost to knife crime in north London.

 

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