What Emery got wrong vs. Liverpool
There is a lot of blame to go around following the 3-1 loss to Liverpool but the man that must shoulder most of the blame is Unai Emery.
A decade at the highest level with Valencia, Seville, and Paris Saint-Germain, often succeeding because of Emery’s tactical nous and his ability to read opponents and exploit their weaknesses, means that we can give the benefit of the doubt. But having watched the approach to Liverpool away at Anfield, it seems to be tough!
It is not just the midfield diamond that ceded the flanks to Klopp's crew (who, for those not paying attention, have two pretty good providers in Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold). Nor was it the decision to try to keep possession without Lucas Torreira, the second-best passer. Nor was it the insistence on playing out from the back against arguably the best high-press team in the Premier League, just a week after another high-press team, Burnley, had given them fits.
Neither was it the reluctance to occasionally mix in the long ball (the two times they did it, it worked well) when there were speedy forwards like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe.
It is really difficult to figure out what pathway Emery sees towards success at Arsenal.
There is nothing wrong with adding Dani Ceballos for a season in midfield, but if you're trying to build something, do you really want everything to hinge so heavily around a player who is there on loan?
It is hard to find a natural home for Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the setups he has used this season, but is it really wise to write them off at this stage?
Arsenal finished two points away from third place last season in Emery's first Premier League campaign. They may well hit the target this season, or come close to it, but that has more to do with issues elsewhere. The real goal has to be reducing the 27 points that separated them from Liverpool in second. It is not clear at all that Saturday did that.
As for the European champions, they played with big-game vitality and intensity as Klopp opted to turn in one of his extreme high-press performances. We are not sure how often we'll see that from him this season. It is extremely taxing on the front men and the midfielders, which is why, incidentally, more rotation in the middle of the park this year is expected. Not to mention the fact that they have always been vulnerable to the ball over the top or teams with enough quality to break the press wide open.
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