Such A Letdown!

So… Arsenal 0, Liverpool 0. And - if you ask me - both sides were lucky to get nil! 

Of course, if you’re a fan of one of these clubs - and, let’s face it, if you're reading this you almost certainly are - there is always an element of jeopardy about any game between these two powerhouses. But for a neutral that must have been as boring a game as one could possibly imagine. Two hours of my life that I will never get back…

An almost unforgettable evening. Driving to the ground in pouring rain wasn't a great start. Although I was optimistic. As my father used to say: 'It's Arsenal weather!' - although to be fair he'd say that no matter what the weather was!!!

As for the game, there are a few - but only a few - talking points. So I’ll concentrate on those. And then take a view of how things stand in the aftermath.

And I’ll start with team news. Afternoon rumours that Timber was out were unfounded, and Arteta named the side we anticipated. Both ‘first choice’ wingers were back, with the rest of the side exactly as anticipated. Havertz was back on the bench; but he’s clearly being reintegrated extremely slowly. I suspect that despite that massive raft of changes that will surely be made for Sunday he may only get half an hour. 

For Liverpool, there was no Ekitike. With Isak and Salah also missing, this looked to dictate how Slot would go about things. No genuine centre forward, so he packed the midfield and one of the three ostensibly forward players would rotate into the centre forward role. As if a midfield due of MacAllister and Gravenberch (a player I really like) isn’t extremely strong already. Arsenal’s trio often found themselves outnumbered and - for much of the time - outplayed. 

Arteta’s tactics were also on the cautious side. How much Manchester City's result the previous evening had dictated that call, we cannot be sure. Rice was much deeper than one might expect, but that may have been as much a function of the strength of the opposition. And Odegaard consistently dropped deep to receive the ball also. Chances were created early on, with Saka looking to very much have the measure of Kerkez and Timber continually looking to over- or underlap the winger. But the quality of chance was underwhelming, and Gyokeres was finding space almost impossible to find. On the other side of the field Bradley fouled Trossard twice, but inevitable the first name in Taylor's book was the diminutive Belgian (a pull back of a shirt deemed these days to be worse than a kick on the ankle or shin).

Arsenal did dominate the half, but there was a 10-minute period of Liverpool possession which boded ill for later in the game. What was fascinating is that the possession was very comfortable, with Arsenal barely pressing. In this period came the away team's best opportunity, as Bradley opportunistically lobbed Raya only to hit the bar following a misunderstanding between Saliba - whose knock back was hit with too much power - and the goalkeeper - who could only stab the ball away. Hearts in mouth as the ball arced towards the unguarded net...  

In that period of play, Hincapie's challenge on the speedy Frimpong set the tone for later in the game as it was a borderline foul/penalty; and Frimpong stayed down for two minutes as Arsenal headed for the other end of the pitch with Liverpool's players - led of course by Van Dijk - livid at the home side's refusal to put the ball out of play. 

At the other end, there were half-chances for Saka and Rice, but in truth nothing to bother a keeper of the calibre of Allison as crosses and cut-backs failed to find their targets. We could only hope that things might improve, as in truth it had been a tedious watch. Both sides, whilst in possession, had been happy to have the ball yet do little with it. Like being stabbed with a feather duster...

Second half; and this certainly did NOT improve as Liverpool started to boss possession, and I started to pontificate that the Arsenal players were looking tired. Yet whilst the away side dominated the ball, they did little with it as Arsenal stood off. The crowd were getting restless.

Now there's something about an Emirates Stadium crowd when things aren't going so well. Sure, we'd like to have something to rouse us, but we don't really do enough to help the players at such times. Around me, plenty of angry voices were telling the players to get closer to the ball, get stuck in etc. But the players looked unwilling and indeed incapable of doing so. Not that there was any real danger to speak of, with Liverpool's only attempts on goal being a succession of free kicks from Szoboszlai (invoking scar tissue from earlier in the season, of course). One of those skimmed the crossbar, but there was nothing to truly bother Raya. And - as we discovered later in the evening - this turned out to be the first time since March 2010 that Liverpool had failed to have a single shot on target in a Premier League game. In total, indeed, both sides raised a massive 0.88xG. Such an anticlimax!

And so with Liverpool having much of the ball and doing even less with it than Arsenal had whilst they dominated in the first period, the words 'boring' and 'sterile' could be heard in Block 17. Of course, there was jeopardy; one point the minimum requirement in order to match City (and Villa?...). All that there was left to concentrate on was the odd 'incident'.

The first of three notable incidents was when Wirtz - perhaps impeded by Trossard - went down in the penalty area. Again, it was a soft one. However, the German's imitation of a rag doll when Gabriel attempted to lift him back to his feet was laughable. Taylor soon waved play on.

Then Martinelli - on for Trossard - went down (and stayed down) in the Liverpool penalty area. Like the earlier incidents, it was all a bit soft. We didn't expect Liverpool to put the ball out of play, and they did not do so. Martinelli eventually ran it off. 

But there was major controversy as the clock ticked to 90 minutes. Martinelli challenged Bradley close to the technical areas, and the full back went down, clearly injured. However at the moment he did so, Martinelli was looking the other way. Not realising the severity of the injury. Gabi dropped the ball on the stricken Bradley's back and then - having watched the injured player drag himself back onto the field of play - looked to throw him back over the touchline. Cue handbags all around...

Now there are several things to say here. Firstly, it looks like Bradley - who has suffered no end of injury misfortune - is once again going to be out for a while. One has to have sympathy. Secondly, I'm really not sure why he should have looked to drag himself onto the field; because that looks like play-acting/time-wasting - and it clearly wasn't! And finally - and I say this with great care - Martinelli is 'not that kind of player'. And I certainly don't mean to tar him with the same brush that was painted when - for example - Ryan Shawcross did what he did to Aaron Ramsey...  I thought that at the time - and even mentioned it in a WhatsApp message to my Liverpool-supporting mate Ian straight after the game finished. Slot acknowledged that after the game, when he stated: 'I don't know Martinelli, but he comes across as a nice guy. The problem for him is that there is so much time-wasting from players... I am 100% sure that if he knew what the injury might be he wouldn't do that.'

So to find out that Gary Neville had eviscerated Martinelli in commentary, and that Roy Keane - who, lest we forget, admitted trying to end Alf-Inge Haaland's career! - ranted about the incident afterwards is a sickening turn of events, intended to set an agenda. It's simply not on - but is, I guess, a legacy from those old United/Arsenal battles of 20+ years ago. Get over it, gents.

Time for one last chance, as from a very late corner Gabriel failed to make decent contact on Madueke's cross to the back post; hampered, as he was, by Gabriel Jesus! That pretty much summed up the night. Although how amusing would it have been for Arsenal to undeservedly snatch a winner from a set piece with the very last kick of the game??

And so, following this result, the status quo was maintained at the top of the table. Tempered by the disappointment of this having been a frankly terrible game of football in the circumstances, this was the very least that those associated with Arsenal could have hoped for. The gap remains 6 points, one further game has been chalked off, and Arsenal have easier fixtures to play than Manchester City. We could almost afford to lose at The Etihad... 

Worth noting that Arsenal have failed to score home and away against Liverpool. The only two times this season that they have 'failed to trouble the scorer, (to give a cricket analogy). Also worth wondering where this Liverpool team - who looked so good in possession for so long - have been all season. Perhaps Arsenal should have played on Liverpool's well-established Achilles Heel and played in an ultra-low block? 

And finally worth noting the paucity of Viktor Gyokeres' performance. Because this was a genuinely bad one. Looking to go toe-to-toe with Konate (that's one thing you don't do!), he had just 8 touches of the ball (just one in the second half) in 67 minutes, and whilst one can have sympathy in the way the match was played, it was almost like playing with 10 men. If I were Arteta (and what do I know of these things) I'd be starting him on Sunday at Portsmouth t try to give him some confidence. But sitting him down for a few games afterwards with Jesus now back, and Havertz soon to follow. Something new must be tried now, for all the Swede's other laudable attributes. I don't wish to particularly single Big VIk out, by the way; the whole team were below par.

That's two of the 9 January matches gone now. Four different competitions in four games follow; and all away from home. There will surely be massive rotation for Sunday at Portsmouth, and an element of it at Chelsea in the League Cup on Wednesday. Arsenal will need to be at full strength for the main priority - a league game at Nottingham Forest that follows those two. And then it's Inter away in the Champions League (frankly probably Priority Number Two in the grand scheme of things).

Busy busy busy... Arteta will be doing a lot of juggling over the next couple of weeks. But we move on, and survey our kingdom from the summit of its highest peaks. Forget the performance against Liverpool; console yourself with the league table.

COYG!