Gunners humiliated in Anfield horror show

Reflecting on the match the day after when the dust has settled and it still feels just as painful as one of our worst performances for years ended in a 4-0 humiliation at Liverpool.

I always knew this was going to be a tough fixture and defeats are never easy to accept, but it is the manner of the performance even more than the result that hurts the most. Liverpool deserve credit for a great performance on their part, but in truth they didn't really have to work for their goals and we gifted at least three of them with some poor midfield play and woeful defending.

Petr Cech made a few great saves to ensure the score was kept down to four and not even worse. Even at 2-0 down at half-time, sometimes the optimistic side of me would say, 'well you never know we might make a comeback'. But there was just something about the way we played that caused my response to be 'no chance'. I just couldn't see us recovering from the appalling first half.

We did however make a bright start to the second half and actually took the game to them, but that was all to brief, as Liverpool very soon were back on top and making us look very amateur.

I've backed Wenger in the past, but I've got to say I really don't understand his team selection at Anfield. Admittedly the starting XI that was put out in the end should still have performed better than it did, but why on earth were summer signings Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac on the bench? Lacazette scored on his league debut against Leicester and has generally looked positive, while Kolasinac has been strong and solid at the back. So in a game we knew was going to be very tough why didn't they start? I just don't understand it. No disrespect to Danny Welbeck, he can be a decent player, but there is no way he should have started ahead of a striker we had spent so much money on.

Then there was the substitutions! Bringing Francis Coquelin on for Aaron Ramsey at half-time seemed a decent move, but the double change shortly after the hour mark had me baffled. I totally agreed with bringing on Lacazette and Giroud, but taking off Sanchez was insane. There are some suggestions he had asked to come off, but whether or not that is true who knows. But either way he is a game changer and should have been left on if we were to have any chance of getting back into the game.

We actually had the first meaningful shot of the match when Welbeck managed to get in behind the defence, but he fell as he took his shot which went over the crossbar.

It briefly looked like maybe luck could be on our side when Cech made a heroic save to deny Mohamed Salah. The Arsenal goalkeeper slid across his goal and somehow managed to deny Salah from point-blank range when it looked easier for the Liverpool man to score. On another day Liverpool could have been made to rue that miss, but instead they deservedly took the lead after 17 minutes. It was a good header by Roberto Firmino to beat Cech, but the manner in which we gifted them possession in the build up was truly awful.

Cech reacted quickly to prevent Salah from getting a shot in before denying the same player again soon after as Arsenal continued to live dangerously.

We were being outplayed and I wasn't feeling confident, but I knew the game could change in the blink of an eye if we could get a shot in, but other than a half chance blocked by the home defence we offered very little.

Liverpool made our task even harder when they added a second goal five minutes before the break as Mane curled a shot beyond Cech.

It was all Liverpool and of all our eight shots in the entire game none were on target. What was most disappointing is the few times Liverpool goalkeeper Lorius Karius touched the ball he didn't look all that confident so we should have tried to put more crosses in and at least try test him from range, but we didn't give him anything to do!

We started brightly for the opening minutes of the second half, but ultimately still didn't really create much and Liverpool were soon back on top. Salah forced Cech into another great save, but Jordan Henderson wasted the follow-up which he blazed over. But it wasn't long before Liverpool added a third shortly before the hour mark. Hector Bellerin gave possession away far too easily as Salah robbed him of the ball on halfway before racing clear to score.

Lacazette and Giroud were sent on and did their best to help Arsenal's lost cause, but it was too little too late by then. Mesut Ozil sent a shot wide and that was about as good as it got for the visitors. Rather than any sniff of a comeback it instead got worse for the Gunners as substitute Daniel Sturridge added Liverpool's fourth by heading home Salah's cross 12 minutes from time.

It could even have been five for Liverpool had Cech not tipped over an effort from Salah late on. Cech conceded four, but actually had a decent game to be fair to him. On the whole though almost all of the players were woeful on the day and it was simply not good enough!

OPPOSITION VIEW
Liverpool fan Darren Warburton believes his side more than deserved their victory after a dominant performance at Anfield.

"It was a huge game at the start of the season and it was Liverpool who showed their metal," said Warburton. "We dominated in huge spells and should have been out of sight in the first half alone.

"Cech was Arsenal's only player who turned up and made a great save to keep the score at 0-0. It was only delaying the inevitable as Firmino scored a nice header to open proceedings not long after. Arsenal's only real chance came from Welbeck who blazed over and should have done better.

"Mane then curled home a great second goal to continue his blistering start to the season. Salah on another day could have had a hat-trick and was a constant threat with his pace.

The second half was much the same - with Arsenal players showing very little commitment and gifting Liverpool the ball throughout, which is asking for trouble with the Liverpool counter attacking prowess.

"This was then evident on the third goal that sealed the game. An Arsenal corner, resulting in Salah then nicking the ball off Bellerin who ran most of the length of the pitch to score with a cool finish. Game over!

"The game could have easily been six nil to Liverpool, but they settled for four. Sturridge scoring the last goal with a close range header from a superb cross from the man of the match Salah.

"Most of the talk has been around how poor Arsenal were, which is fair, but give us credit, we dominated from start to finish and wanted it more.

"More questions will be asked of Wenger as some of the selections were strange to say the least and clearly the players are not playing to their potential. As for Liverpool it's onwards and upwards - bring on Man City!"

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Normally I say the international break so early in the season is so silly, but for once I am actually very glad it is there. Let's get the transfer window out the way - hopefully sign another player, although I'm not holding my breath - and then regroup and attempt to bounce back from this horror show of a performance.

We've had some notable poor performances in recent years, but for me that was by far the worst. It is still only early in the season as we've only had three league games, so there is still plenty time to bounce back. But that shows that realistically we are again not going to challenge for the title this season.

Even if we bounce back and thrash Bournemouth at home in our next league game it will not banish the memory of this match. There is a lot of hard work to be done and Wenger and the players have a lot to prove in the coming weeks.

Defeats will happen that is inevitable for any side, but failing to show commitment, hunger and desire especially in big game like that is inexcusable.

With more talk of players going then arriving it will be an interesting few days before the transfer window closes, but for me whatever happens Wenger and his squad need to take a long hard look at themselves after that display.

After Bournemouth our next away game is Chelsea and, if we are to avoid another repeat of this one, we must drastically up our game. I just hope we can have a much better and positive September!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS

Away defeat for wasteful Gunners

Jese Rodriguez had a debut to remember as his goal saw Stoke record a 1-0 win as Arsenal's first away game of the 2017/18 season ended in defeat.

Following on from their opening day 4-3 win over Leicester, Gunners fans knew this would be a tough test as we've always found trips to Stoke tough. 77% possession and 18 shots on goal sounds positive, but we were far too wasteful with just six of those going on target.

Alexandre Lacazette had a goal ruled out for offside and there were also a few penalty shouts that didn't go Arsenal's way, but we only have ourselves to blame with a lack of killer instinct in front of goal.

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech was called into action to deny Jese inside the opening three minutes of the match. At the other end there was a shout of handball against Erik Pieters, but I don't think there was a lot the Stoke defender could have done about it anyway so it would have been harsh if the referee had penalised him.

Danny Welbeck was denied by a decent save from Jack Butland in the Stoke goal before another penalty shout for the visitors. Hector Bellerin was brought down by Mame Biram Diouf in the box. It was a hard one to call as there wasn't much in it - the Stoke man did appear to try and pull out of the challenge, but still connected. Arsene Wenger wasn't happy with the decision, but I don't think too much should be made of it. The only decision that was really frustrating was the handball shout against Kurt Zouma in the second half.

Both sides wasted further chances in the first half with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting shooting straight at Cech, while his Stoke team-mate Ryan Shawcross sent a powerful header harmlessly over the crossbar. At the other end Aaron Ramsey latched onto Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's deep free-kick, but Butland was equal to it and produced an excellent save to deny the Welsh midfielder.

Jese's debut goal came within two minutes of the restart after the home side intercepted a poor loose pass from Granit Xhaka and worked the ball forward. Jese then played a one-two with Saido Berahino before sending a low shot across goal and into the far corner of the net.

Another Oxlade-Chamberlain cross caused danger after 55 minutes and it appeared to hit the hand of Zouma. I feel it should have been a penalty as it was a clear handball, but I also believe we only had ourselves to blame for the defeat for not converting our other chances.

Arsenal continued to create chances as Bellerin latched onto a pass from Mesut Ozil before seeing his shot parried by Butland, who also managed to get in the way to thwart Welbeck's attempted rebound.

Welbeck headed over the bar soon after before Ramsey shot straight at Butland. Those missed chances almost cost Arsenal dearer as Stoke came very close to adding a second goal, but Berahino saw his header excellently tipped over the bar by Cech. Shortly after Choupo-Moting sent a shot into the side netting.

Substitute Olivier Giroud very nearly made an instant impact after coming on 24 minutes from time. The French striker flicked the ball through to Welbeck, but a combination of the Stoke defence and a decent save from Butland kept his fellow striker at bay.

Ozil saw a shot blocked before shooting wide soon after as the chances continued to come and go for Arsenal. With 18 minutes left on the clock Arsenal thought they had found an equaliser, only for Lacazette's effort to be ruled out for offside. It was a very tight call and very hard to call, but it is difficult to have too many complaints as the slightest bit of his foot was offside even though it was marginal.

Arsenal had one final chance to nick a point deep into injury time but Giroud headed wide from Nacho Monreal's cross.

OPPOSITION VIEW
Stoke fan Loz Crouch hailed the spirit shown by his side following their home victory.

"This was a huge result for us," said Crouch. "There's always a special atmosphere for home games against Arsenal but there was a particular feeling of nervousness and excitement for this one.

"Our team is looking radically different in terms of both shape and personnel and no one quite knows what to make of it yet, so an early season test like this was just what we needed to see if we're looking up to scratch after a disappointing season last year. Thankfully we passed it, if not with flying colours at least with a good helping of guts and guile and a much-needed dose of "old Stoke" spirit.

"The game was tight, with bursts of energetic play and sloppy mistakes on both sides. I thought we just shaded the first half but it was quite end-to-end, both keepers having to make smart stops. Welbeck was a nuisance and Arsenal got in behind us down the right a few times too, although both teams were restricted to half-chances. Of our (home) debutants (Darren) Fletcher is looking like a shrewd acquisition and just the sort of calm, experienced head we need in the middle, while Jese was busy enough and Zouma looked rock solid at the back.

"Scoring so early in the second half was almost as much a curse as a blessing as we inevitably dropped deeper and deeper and Arsenal pushed and probed around our defensive third. The pleasing thing was that we seem to have regained the compactness and organisation we lacked so badly last year, and although Arsenal did cut through once or twice we remained pretty firm. Hearts were in mouths when Lacazette smashed home but the replays showed the little toe on his right foot was offside and the liner was correct to raise his flag.

"I said last year after you beat us easily at our place that people's patience with Hughes may have finally run out, but he's banked a bit of credit this time. It was long overdue - we haven't beaten a top-third team for almost two years - and this game brought a feeling of goodwill and optimism back to the bet365 that was almost entirely absent last season. Arsenal had their moments but looked like a team badly missing Alexis and without much else to shout about. The pressure on Wenger will not take long to build again.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
All eyes now turn to our next match and a tough trip to Liverpool. Some would take a point from this game but, due to the loss at Stoke, I feel nothing other than three points will do this time.

When the fixtures came out I was hoping for at least six to seven points from the opening three games. I knew back-to-back away games at Stoke and Liverpool would present very tough challenges, but if we are serious about wanting a better title challenge we must beat Liverpool.

We are creating chances, but we need to be more clinical especially in periods of a match when we are on top. We should be killing a game off not spurning chance after chance and letting other teams back in.

We also need to tighten things up at the back and I am very relieved that Laurent Koscielny should return from suspension at Anfield. There have been some decent positives from the opening two games, but positives don't win titles, points do, and we need to make sure we don't drop too many more.

I'm not convinced as to whether we can get the win at Anfield, but the performance certainly needs to go up another level.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS

Gunners edge Foxes in thrilling opener

Arsenal unsurprisingly made hard work of it, but they got the job done by taking all three points as the Premier League season began with a seven-goal thriller against Leicester.

I was buzzing to be there in attendance and the atmosphere was electric and probably the best I've ever experienced at the Emirates, but at times the tension was unbearable and at 3-2 down I genuinely thought we'd thrown the points away.

We produced some great attacking moves at times, but then undid it with some woeful defending and we definitely won't get away with that too often if we play like that again this season.

For the neutrals it must have been a superb game to watch, whilst I was sat there thinking my record of having never seen Arsenal lose live at the Emirates was under threat. Myself and two Gooner friends, Rob and Tim, and my brother, who happens to support our bitter rivals Tottenham, had an incredible view near the front and the reaction as we got our third and fourth goals was insane.

Before going into talking about the match action, I want to single out a handful of players for a mixture of reasons. For me Nacho Monreal was the man of the match. Nobody was faultless as collectively the players showed some weakness during the game, but I thought Monreal looked so controlled, calm and collected for the most part and I much prefer him at centre-back to when he plays full-back. Especially in a game where collectively our defence was a bit of a shambles at times he stood out and at least helped to steady the ship.

Left-back and summer signing Sead Kolasinac impressed and his little spin in the second-half was great to see, while fellow new-boy Alexandre Lacazette took just two minutes to score on what was a decent league debut for the French striker. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain worked tirelessly throughout and I am hoping the fact he started the game will help to quash rumours that he could leave.

Although these were all decent positives, we can't hide behind the fact we shipped in three goals at home and they really were sloppy goals to concede. We got away with it this time, but we really need to defend better than that in the future. Yes we were without Laurent Koscielny, but if he was to get injured or suspended at any other points this season we need to make sure we can cope better.

The player that disappointed me the most was Hector Bellerin. I don't like saying this as normally I'm a big admirer of his and maybe he is just lacking confidence in himself following his injury last season, but he looked a shadow of the player I've seen before. He had the ball in decent positions and previously he would have tried to take players on, but in this match he just either passed to a team-mate or lost the ball. He didn't make the most of his electric pace and on that performance I wouldn't start him next time, so I really hope he gets back to form soon.

So onto the match...well it couldn't have started any better could it. Inside the opening two minutes of the match Lacazette met Mohamed Elneny's cross with a great header into the bottom corner and I briefly wondered whether maybe we'd open up the floodgates and put the game out of sight. It definitely didn't turn out that way!

By the half hour mark we were 2-1 down following goals from Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy. Three minutes after Lacazette's opener Okazaki nodded in following Harry Maguire's headed assist. Kolasinac forced a save out of Kasper Schmeichel in the Leicester goal before Vardy put the Foxes in front after scoring from Marc Albrighton's cross. Although he has taken responsibility for his error it was poor how Granit Xhaka gifted possession to Leicester to set up the visitors' attack.

It almost got worse when Rob Holding needlessly gave away possession but, fortunately for the Gunners, Okazaki's header sailed just wide.

But Danny Welbeck levelled the scores on the stroke of half-time with a huge equaliser to give us more hope of swinging the game back in our favour. Mesut Ozil, Lacazette and Kolasinac were all involved before the latter set up Welbeck to score from close range.

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech had to be alert to deny Vardy and Riyad Mahrez in the early stages of the second half, but within 11 minutes of the restart Leicester were back in front. Vardy's header delighted the travelling fans, but it was a really poor goal to concede and the defending was very poor.

With 23 minutes remaining Arsene Wenger sent on substitutes Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud and the duo both made a goalscoring impact to seal the points for the Gunners. In fact, Ramsey very nearly scored even earlier as within a minute of coming on his header went just wide. Schmeichel then saved Xhaka's half-volley before Arsenal's two goals in the final eight minutes of normal time gave the hosts a 4-3 win.

Ramsey latched onto an inch-perfect pass from Xhaka before firing home an angled strike. Leicester fans won't have been happy with the goal as the ball did appear to hit Ozil's arm before Arsenal won the corner from which the goal was scored from.

Schmeichel tipped Lacazette's effort over the bar before that man Giroud powered home a header in off the crossbar from Xhaka's resulting corner five minutes from time.

OPPOSITION VIEW
Leicester fan Tom Earl believes substitutions were a key factor in the outcome of his side's defeat at the Emirates.

"Both teams still seem to have an issue with defending," said Earl. "I think the subs changed the game. Arsenal's were decent and Leicester's were awful.

"But I have a slight grumble with the Ozil handball that won Arsenal the corner.

Earl also gave his view on Arsenal's summer signings adding: "Lacazette looked a handful and should get plenty of goals. Kolasinac is a beast, he might get a few bookings though."

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
It wasn't the best of performances overall, but considering our previous poor record with opening day fixtures I was delighted and relieved to see Arsenal get all three points.

With tough back-to-back away games coming up at Stoke and Liverpool it was imperative that we won this one and, whilst I can't deny there was some worryingly poor decision making on show at times, it was an excellent result.

If we can iron out the silly mistakes then who knows, but one thing is for sure, that was one hell of an exciting start to the new season.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS

Gunners lift shield with shootout win

Welcome back to my Arsenal blogs for another season as we go on another emotional rollercoaster ride for the 2017/18 campaign.

Admittedly the Community Shield is a bit Mickey Mouse, but Premier League champions Chelsea are always a tough nut to crack so to get another one over them at Wembley is a big morale boost and a great result.

Whether a team wins or loses the Community Shield the result shouldn't be over analysed as it is really only a friendly, but we played well considering the players we had missing and for Arsene Wenger to beat Antonio Conte yet again is a great feeling. Although it was only a pre-season friendly, when we lost to Chelsea 3-0 last month some undoubtedly thought we can't compete with the champions despite having beaten them in the FA Cup Final in May. This latest result at least proves again that we can match them, but we need to make sure we do it in the Premier League when it matters a whole lot more.

Arsenal started brightly and came close to opening the scoring after 22 minutes when new signing Alexandre Lacazette's shot hit a post.

Captain Per Mertesacker was forced off with a facial injury 10 minutes later, with summer signing and goal hero Sead Kolasinac coming on in his place.

Arsenal were indebted to Petr Cech shortly after the half hour mark when the goalkeeper produced a great save to keep out Pedro, who was later sent off.

Alex Iwobi showed some great footwork in the box before the break, but was unable to match it with a decent shot as his effort was comfortably saved by Thibaut Courtois in the Chelsea goal.

Arsenal's failure to make the most of their chances was punished within a minute of the restart as Victor Moses, who was dismissed when the sides met in last season's FA Cup Final, slotted home following Gary Cahill's headed assist.

But Wenger's men continued to battle strongly with Mohamed Elneny forcing a decent save out of Courtois with a cross-cum-shot. The Chelsea goalkeeper produced an even better save when he superbly tipped Granit Xhaka's long-range strike wide for a corner.

Chelsea were reduced to 10 men when Pedro was given a straight red card for a clumsy challenge on Elneny 10 minutes from time. Arsenal profited from the resulting free-kick as Xhaka's delivery was headed home by Kolasinac.

With the score tied at 1-1 the game went to penalties and the new shootout system was used for the first time. The new format was designed to prevent the supposed advantage that the team going first are thought to have. After the first penalty the next team then takes two consecutive spot-kicks. The first team then gets two successive penalties and it continues until a winner is found - fortunately in this case it was us! I wasn't actually sure what to make of the new format as I don't feel it really added anything, other than confusion, but rules are rules and we won so all is good! Theo Walcott, Nacho Monreal, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud all scored their penalties to give Arsenal a 4-1 win in the shoot-out, while only Gary Cahill was successful for Chelsea. Alvaro Morata put his penalty wide while Courtois blazed his over the bar.

OPPOSITION VIEW
Chelsea fan John Feeney admitted his side had been beaten by the better team on the day.

"Not the most eventful game, but Chelsea created very few chances and Arsenal deserved the win in the end," said Feeney. "Courtois made a couple of impressive saves which kept us in the game, the one from Xhaka in particular.

"The lack of depth in Chelsea's squad was highlighted and they definitely need three or four signings to put up another title challenge after selling so many."

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Lifting silverware at the start of the season feels good, but we need to make sure this is just the start and we make it count in the Premier League. I have no idea how this season will pan out and if we can mount a serious title challenge this time around or if we are going to end up in another frustrating league campaign again.

Beating Chelsea always feels good and take nothing away from Wenger and the players as we deserved the victory today and I am delighted with the outcome. But let's make sure we maintain the pace until May and, although Lacazette didn't score at Wembley maybe his goals can propel us to great things...who knows, let's wait and see!

The Premier League campaign is just around the corner and I can't wait, especially as I will be watching the game live at the Emirates!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS