Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal: In game and Post Match discussion

Could it be because we've had a small run of home games?

Or they've been told in no uncertain terms they have to up their game because they were performing well below what was expected of them

fyi - Klopp did say matter-of-factly after the match that Migs is #1 and will start against Man City.

My first thought was that maybe Karius' selection was shop window stuff, but nobody else seems to be mentioning it so I guess not.

The post-game focus on Arsenal by the American Network comms (Lee Dixon, Phil Neville) was the only disappointment I have from today. What a great performance by us. Fantastic! I just wish there was no two-week break, but we'll have a ton of matches in short order once the players get back from international duty.

Something else I am reminded of, after watching a bit of Chelsea-Everton and Newcastle-West Ham prior to our match: The rest of the Premier League is BORING compared to a Liverpool match. We play such a better style of football for watching.

It was a flip up between Can and Salah for motm so i chose Salah, the game was electric. Arsenal were outclassed everywhere from defence midfield and up front the Reds were on fire.If Klopp sorts out the defence we'll be hard to stop.

Watching highlights with me mum & she can't stop laughing at Wengers face & she loves Klopp celebrations...

Only 2 small negatives for me.

Karius, only when he tried to keep hold of the ball, scared the sh*t out of me

and we should have scored 8. F***ing Peter F***ing Cech!

Other then that, pure brilliance from our boys.

An all round good day. No goals conceded, plenty scored, performances all round and no injuries collected. Good job.

Glad to see the Emre Can vote. I didn't vote for him but on reflection he should have been my choice.

Takes way too much stick that lad. Farcical people moaning about his contract demands last Spring.

Hope Liverpool don't rue not sorting it out because centre mids are not easy to replace or cheap.

Have a day off and revel in a keeper who could actually punch the ball.

That was actually really good to see.

But F**k man I had three heart attacks. What was he playing at? We were an unlucky deflection away from 1-1 and the game changing.

Anyways. F***ing buzzing still. Was fantastic to see Emre and Gini step up from the get go.

And that attack of ours... Amazing.

https://mobile.twitter.com/warriorlfc/status/899283833308295168

So honestly fellas: Would u put Karius in there next game @ManCity? IMHO he's not ready for hot stuff like that.... Did Klopp say in the meanwhile why he put Mig out and what he imagines to happen with the keeper position in the next time?

WHOUTINHO?

Coutinwho 

I have slammed hendo of late? But in all fairness, he was full of energy and did well in this game. Closing down spaces, moving the ball forward fast and winning challenges, that's what i saw. Well done.

I have slammed hendo of late? But in all fairness, he was full of energy and did well in this game. Closing down spaces, moving the ball forward fast and winning challenges, that's what i saw. Well done.

Yeah. Very average first 4 games but did well yesterday. Admittedly against a woeful midfield.

Still think he is a weak link in the side though. Should be adding way more goals to the team with the chances that come back out to the edge of the box.

I'd be surprised if Arsenal were that naive in their approach Robby - defensively speaking anyway.

They've (Arsenal) started playing with 3 at the back, the same as Hoffenheim did. They also play an open/fluid game, same as Hoffenheim do. If Wenger hasn't done his homework and seen how we cut through them then IMO he's asking for trouble. Let us play, and we'll almost destroy anyone.

It's that attacking quintet of ours (numbers + runners) that essentially makes us look so electric in attack, stifle us in midfield (Gini-Can) like Palace did and our much fabled "one-man-system" drastically loses it's verve, and completely changes the complexion of the game - where we have to go to 'grind-out' mode.

But if Arsenal do come out blazing for an open game, I think we'll do 'em, but you're right they could be a bit more clinical in putting their chances away.

I'm positive if we front foot them in an 'open' game at Anfield we'll be too much for them. If they decide to turn up and turn on an Italian master class in defensive organisation (not sure they are capable of that), then I wouldn't be so confident. It must be teasing for Wenger though, given the way his team play and the fact he'll know that our own defence can be 'gotten at'. It will be more interesting watching how he approaches this rather than Klopp IMO.

Putting aside the fact that this was the worst team we have faced this season, from our perspective that was perfection!

EDIT: Just seen Jürgen agrees with me on that perfection:

Jürgen Klopp hailed Liverpool’s demolition of Arsenal as “perfect”.

Klopp was delighted to see his players repeat the scintillating football they produced against Hoffenheim to show they can perform consistently well.

“So far in this season we learn from each game,” he said.

“Watford was not as bad as people said. It’s not easy to win there and we were close to winning there.

“We did better in the Hoffenheim game away and again against Crystal Palace. Yes, we couldn’t score a lot of goals, but we won.
“We played also a good game at home to Hoffenheim and then this was the next step.

“We did it again and was the biggest challenge for us today. We need to learn that we can do things like this every two, three or four days otherwise we will have a problem during the season.

“We wanted to do it today, we wanted to show it today. We wanted to prove it to ourselves, we wanted to be spot on from the first minute.

“We wanted to show our ambitions against a very strong side actually.

“We didn’t think about winning the game, we thought about the performance and the performance was perfect and the result was a result of the performance.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/Jürgen-klopp-hails-outstanding-liverpool-11067247

Yeah. Very average first 4 games but did well yesterday. Admittedly against a woeful midfield.

Still think he is a weak link in the side though. Should be adding way more goals to the team with the chances that come back out to the edge of the box.

Yep agreed, that one he skied, you just knew if that was Stevie coming onto that ball, he either smashes into the back of the net or takes a slight touch to his right, then smashes the ball into the back of the net.

So honestly fellas: Would u put Karius in there next game @ManCity? IMHO he's not ready for hot stuff like that.... Did Klopp say in the meanwhile why he put Mig out and what he imagines to happen with the keeper position in the next time?

As I mentioned a few posts ago: "fyi - Klopp did say matter-of-factly after the match that Migs is #1 and will start against Man City."

Basically he said he gave Karis a game to give Migs a rest, due to the  mental intensity of the previous matches. He said Migs wasn't happy about it, but accepted it. It's an odd one for me, but I guess given the outcome, it's good for the backup to get a game. They likely will use him for a match or two in September, maybe in the League Cup. Not sure about Danny Ward.

Just watched the MOTD highlights and my word, Salah is something else. What a player.
And Mané - is he the best in the league? Up there with the very best for sure.
Firmino oozes class as well. His work for our fourth goal, coming deep to start the counter attack, was beautiful. If he keeps scoring more regularly, he'll be one of the most complete forwards in the game.

Yeah. Very average first 4 games but did well yesterday. Admittedly against a woeful midfield.

Still think he is a weak link in the side though. Should be adding way more goals to the team with the chances that come back out to the edge of the box.

Yes, i still can't find an answer why he can't put on such performance every week. Yes, hendo should also chip in with a few more goals that will help the team a great deal.

Gomez was involved in three of the goals. He got burned a couple of times against their pacey wide men but his use of the ball was class. Make me more convinced he's the perfect partner for Matip in this moment.

Yeah. Very average first 4 games but did well yesterday. Admittedly against a woeful midfield.

Still think he is a weak link in the side though. Should be adding way more goals to the team with the chances that come back out to the edge of the box.

Have to agree about Hendo.

My player writings (like anyone cares) HAHA
Karius – 3. No shots on goal to the relief of us all. However, it’s hard to judge a keeper when there aren’t any. Yet he still found a way to make us all nervous on more than one occasion with his lackadaisical clearances. I mean WTH? Said it before and I say it again, this cat is # 3 in my book. Rather Ward get his games.
Gomez – 8. He had a few moments where Sanches got around him, but that’s going to happen. Each time he recovered well. All in all he defended him really well. His cross to set up the first goal was nice. At this point I rather he plays over TAA. Not only is he a better defender but also seems to communicate to the CB’s really well. Matip seems to play better with Joe over Trent.
Matip – 8. Did everything he had to do, and did it well. Played the crosses into the box really high today. I love that.
Lovern – 8. I can’t really give any of these guys’ bad marks. Once again another guy who did all that was asked of him without fault.
Moreno – 8. Good game for Berto. His pace showed once again and outside of a few mistakes he played exceptionally well. Because of his past we focus so much on ANYTHING he does wrong, but all players make mistakes each game. However, lately Moreno has showed us he is committed to playing more alert and disciplined. When he isn’t making silly mistakes the kid is a solid addition to our team. Let’s hope he keeps it up.
The midfield – 10. Wow. Remember when we were killing these guys? Arsenals lack of desire and tactics made everyone on this list better make no mistake about it. With that said so did these 3. Can looked fantastic yet again. Can was great, but Gini and Jordan really stood out to me today. Gini has played world class football the last 180 minutes. His willingness to take on defenders, push the ball forward, and passing has reminded us of why we rated him so highly and why we were so irritated with his first few performances this season. The kid can flat out play when right. Jordan looks like he is falling back in line with his old self. He takes a lot of unnecessary criticism, but the protection and energy he brings us is criminally underrated. He didn’t look fit the first few games, but seems to be more acclimated with each passing game. My favorite part of the match for him was him yelling at the line during a free kick with about 5 minutes to go in the game. He’s been our captain for a while now, but he’s starting to become our leader.  Gini and Hendo share MOTM for me.
Salah – Part of me wants to give him a 7 and the other wants desperately to give him a 10. I’ll meet in the middle and give him a 8.5. He’s sloppy with the ball at times and a tad reckless. On the run he is often too heavy and wild with his touches. But damn if the dude aint relentless and effective. The dude is a goal scorer, even on his bad days. Today he was our spark plug on the counter. His cross was the tits.
Mane – 9. That goal…….. SMH. If Phil is worth over 150 mil. than what is Mane worth? I said it just before the Watford game; he will be our first league 20 goal man. Though he may not be the only one. His run on Salah's goal to seal off the defender and push him out wide was so cerebral. 
Bobbi – 9. His header was set up by Arsenal playing with their heads up their tails, but that’s neither here nor there. Bobbi does so many little things to make Mane and Salah effective and rarely gets the credit. He may be the MVP of the season so far for me. People on here cry for us to get a better striker, but for my money there isn’t a better man for this club and this style at the position. His love for the club and selfless play is a understated to the umpteenth degree.
Super excited to see Daniel get a goal, with what he has gone through he certainly deserves it. If we can get a transfer or two in here before the deadline while keeping Phil you could be looking at the best 10 day stretch this club has had in a long time (coupled with the champion’s league qualification, getting a great draw, and beating the brains out of Arsenal)

Sublime, that's what we were today. Absolutely sublime. Tactically out thought, out fought and comprehensively out played Arsenal in every area of the pitch. We'll face tougher tests during the season, I'm sure but let's not take anything away from the lads, they played brilliantly. So, ratings.

Karius - did nothing to silence his critics today, but did nothing to prove them right either. Looked nervous when the ball came to him which is understandable considering the crowd kept going "ooooh" every time it did. Need to see a lot more before I'm convinced either way. 6/10

Matip - Did what was needed, except for that ridiculous and dangerous pass to Karius when Wellbeck was so close. 7/10

Lovren - Poor. If Jürgen thinks we're fine going into the new season without at least one other center back he wants his head feeling. 6/10

Moreno - Did what Moreno does. Energetic going forward, lackadaisical going backwards. 7/10

Gomez - One or two good balls aside, including the one that started the move for Studge's goal, I thought he was poor. TAA looks far more convincing as Right Back for me and needs to be restored to the side with post-haste. 6/10

Henderson - Performed adequately. Not much else to really say. A solid performance if an uninspired one but mainly due to the role rather than the player. What we need in that position. 7/10

Can - Was immense today and a close contender for MOTM. We need to get this guy's contract sorted ASAP because he's going from strength to strength and it would be a massive loss to lose him. 9/10

Wijnaldum - This was his best performance of the season today, arguably his best performance in a Liverpool shirt. That's not to suggest he plays badly, more that he's normally a solid seven out of ten player. Not today. 8/10

Mane - Superb again today, always a threat with his movement and scored a lovely goal. On another day he'd have been MOTM which is a testiment to just how good others where today. 8/10

Firmino - Typically Firmino with intelligent play and a great goal to cap it off. 8/10

Salah - As good as Can was today, Salah gets my MOTM vote. Every attack went through him, his diagonal runs, his pace and his intelligence were a constant threat. Defended well, attacked brilliantly, scored a beautiful goal and set another one up with one of the best crosses you'll see. For me, it was a  flawless display. 10/10

Of the Subs:

Sturridge was on long enough to rate. Scored an excellent goal but his pace looks to have faded and we lost a lot of cutting edge when he came on. I still feel he has a part to play in the club but the system needs to be adapted to get the best out of him if he starts and that's not going to happen in place of the regular front three. Good to have options though. 8/10

Gaffer - Gave Wenger a lesson in tactics today. Got pretty much everything spot on. 8/10


More like this, please lads.

#Wenger In!

Lovren Poor ? Where you watching same game or re run of hoffenheim

Absolutely brilliant performance from the lads, everyone stood up and did their job and we pretty much wiped the floor with Arsenal. Was very impressed with Gomez, him and TAA carry on playing ghe way they have and Clyne will struggle to get back in that team.