Arsenal - (A) - Post Match

[G]

I don't recall any.

Swansea. It doesn't always have to lead to a goal but they've been waltzed past too often for my liking.They aren't a great pairing for me.

[Shaggy]

Alonso back would a tremendous short term solution IMO.

[G]

Yes,yes it would.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

I know I'm stating the obvious - if we still had Alonso and Mascherano, neither Henderson or Lucas would be first team regulars.

We do need to strengthen our midfield

I know its harsh comparing them to those two but I don't think they'd be anywhere near the team.

[Rigadon]

Alonso back would a tremendous short term solution IMO.

You're Goddamn right

[Phoenix07]

We need a presser in the team alongside an Alonso type of figure, one with athleticism and mobility i.e. Mascherano.

We were really spoilt with Gerrard/Alonso in 04/05, Alonso/Sissoko after, then Alonso/Mascherano.

Rodgers has repeated the stance about control in midfield. He could try putting Joe Allen in to give it a go.

[el matador]

I don't think that Stevie is able to play central midfield anymore. He just doesn't have the legs or the bite to play there. He ducked out of plenty of tackles today which is unusual for him. I know theyre trying to prolong his career but if hes going to play at that level every game then there's little point because he was terrible today.

BR has never gotten our midfield right yet we've spunked loads of money on centre halves and now find ourselves having to play 3 at the back to accommodate them all.

Our transfer business this window has been very average. Mignolet ok, sakho ok, but aspas and Alberto is another 15m wasted. Then we have another centre back who cost 7m playing reserve football. We wanted mkhitrayan an attacking central midfield player, then costa a right attacking player then William who plays wide left.

Yet we got sakho and illori two central defenders. That doesn't look like a cohesive transfer policy.

Some of that money could have been put towards a top class centre midfield player which we all knew pre season we needed.

Were still in the top four but our form isn't convincing. BR hasn't got this balance right yet.

[Fierce]

Moses, bar his first game, hasn't been very good. Henderson has a great engine but he can't shoot or pass very well. Coutinho is the only midfielder we have with an ounce of creativity. The team has no stamp from the manager or a real identity. I have no problem with playing three at the back, but it feels like we're doing it because we have "too many" good CB's, and not because of a tactical decision.

Totally agree with the bit in bold. The rest is your standard, common or garden John Doe codswallop

Alonso back would a tremendous short term solution IMO.

Reckon? Alongside or replacing Lucas? Admittedly I haven't seen much of Alonso for a year or so, but he never had the legs to make the DM position his own so would need to be paired with a destroyer type

How's Mascher doing these days?

[~LFCHistory~]

We just lost to the best team in the league at their ground plus we were missing several key players (Agger, Johnson, Enrique and Coutinho isn't match fit either) a defeat always hurts but in the grand scheme of things this one wasn't that bad IMO.
If we don't win next week then I'll disappointed/worried. Oh and this 5 at the back nonsense needs to end, Agger to start against Fulham and a return to 4 at the back is what we need.

[Zapater]

I agree, Gerrard's time in a double pivot midfield should be long gone. He can roll back the years now and then like last time against West Brom. However against top teams it's not a viable answer. Would like to see Henderson and Lucas in there until January where I will hope to see us purchase another midfielder. I think we have some good players, however we're one light. As I've always said Lucas is good, but not as good as some of us think he is - not pointing at him, we're missing something in there overall.

On today's performance/result. I think we were definitely below par and some things could've been changed to get a better showing. There were still a handful of opportunities which presented themselves which could have changed the game. That being said losing to one of the best teams in the league away is hardly a disaster. We've shown we have the quality to play electric football and squash weaker teams. If we continue to win the games we should be winning, we should finishing at or close to the 4th place we need.

[G]

3 CB's worked pretty well last week. We also switched to a back 4 in the second half and not much changed in the way the game went. Our midfield is the issue,not the 3 CB's although I agree our best ball playing CB should be one of those 3 if we persist.

[G]

Totally agree with the bit in bold. The rest is your standard, common or garden John Doe codswallop



Reckon? Alongside or replacing Lucas? Admittedly I haven't seen much of Alonso for a year or so, but he never had the legs to make the DM position his own so would need to be paired with a destroyer type

How's Mascher doing these days?

I wanted to buy him on FIFA but they have him down as a CB

[el matador]

Against the better teams who keep the ball better having a man less in midfield is suicide. Arsenal had all the space in the world and we just stood off them.

Our default position was this mid-low block and i didn't see any pressure on the ball whatsoever.

For a manager who's entire philosophy was built around possession and pressing football we dont do either well enough. Its almost like hes put all his hopes on Sturridge and Suarez to win us games. But what about the rest of the game ffs

[greenbloodred]

I thought Moses was shocking when he came on, Coutinho's delivery, particularly his corners were desperate. We came close to a couple of goals but in the end we were beaten by the better team. Their defence ain't as bad as it's made out to be, Scezney in particular commanded his area well and they dominated midfield. Some over reactions to the defeat here, gone from worldies to no-hopers in a week, we're still in a decent position and in general on an upward curve. Give Fulham a smashing and it'll set us up well for the derby.

[EwarWoo]

Yet we got sakho and illori two central defenders. That doesn't look like a cohesive transfer policy.

Its not like we went out and said "**** it, we can't get a midfielder, we'll grab a couple of centre backs instead".

It wasn't an either or and had no impact on our failing to sign midfielders, it was just another position that needed strengthening.

If Skrtl has started the season gash and Agger had been injured again we had contingencies in place.