Majestic Ozil But Arsenal Defeated

“Something tells me the players will be up for it and happy to be playing football as an escape from the other goings on around the club.“

Kudos are due to @shardgooner for being so prescient when he made the above forecast in his preview of the LIVvARS Carabao Cup game yesterday. He predicted that a mixed team of youngsters and relative veterans under the technical leadership of Mesut Ozil would sparkle at Anfield. He was absolutely right.

Ozil magic

Despite falling behind very early the Gunners went about their business with a certain vigor and verve that had been virtually absent since they blew away Nottingham Forest six weeks ago in the same competition. Just as he did against Forest, Mesut Ozil sparkled in bringing out the best from the very talented group of youngsters that Unai Emery mostly inherited from the club academy. The likes of Willock and Maitland-Niles were clearly rejuvenated after confidence-draining performances versus Vitoria in the Europa League less than one week ago, when they were summarily hooked at half-time.

Arsenal plundered three goals in 17 minutes in the first half to stun the Anfield faithful into silence as maestro Ozil worked his pre-assist magic. Twice he found Saka with precise passes that turned into assists. Arsenal’s  equalizing first goal came when his goal-bound shot was palmed back into the danger area for Torreira to ram home. Second and third goals were scored by Martinelli and he too was the beneficiary of Ozil playing the penultimate pass that led to his opportunities. Don’t forget Martinelli scored a hat-trick vs Forest, with Ozil operating behind him as a #10 and he should have had another last night but failed to take advantage of at least with two other big chances. The lad has an uncanny eye for goal, and just like a certain Portuguese who was a teammate of Ozil at Madrid, he is a beast when the German is supplying through-balls. No wonder the traveling Arsenal fans chanted the Mesut Ozil song with gusto for much of the 1^st half often drowning out the majority Scousers.

Unfortunately for Arsenal just before half-time, Eliot of Liverpool, went tumbling to the ground after seemingly slight contact from a mistimed tackle by Martinelli which was adjudged a penalty. James Milner sent Martinez the wrong way giving Liverpool an important toehold back into the game.

The second half promised much drama as both teams maintained their attacking approach. Arsenal drew first blood taking advantage of an undercooked back pass by James Milner with Maitland-Niles applying the pressure. Ozil calmly flicked the errant ball back into his teamate’s path for the easiest of finishes.

But Liverpool kept pressing, apparently very familiar with the scouting report on Arsenal that under Emery the team almost always concede goals when in a winning position. At the 58^th minute mark Oxlade-Chamberlain was quicker to a contested ball than AMN and blasted home a worldie and four minutes later Origi steered a hard shot beyond the flailing dive of Martinez. All squared at 4.

Emery’s substitutions

No Arsenal fan would have been surprised that on the 65^th minute Emery’s first move was for Ozil to be substituted by Guendouzi. It may have been pre-arranged as Ozil and Emery engaged in perfunctory handshakes as he left the field unlike the cold stare between them when he was subbed 70 minutes into the Forest game.  Fans are now keenly aware that while Emery has a preference for young Guendouzi’s more energetic game he is technically inferior to Ozil. He is far less able to maintain possession game and to create chances. As if to belie this fear, in a 70^th minute counter-attack, Guendouzi slid a pass to Willock who from 25 yards out drove a thunderous shot that swung and dipped past the Liverpool keeper to make the game 4-5.

Emery’s next tactical move to defend this potential game-winning lead was to bring on Ceballos for Torreira, i.e. a #8 for a #6. As we at Uncensored (and others) have observed, so far in his tenure at Arsenal the Real Madrid man has not distinguished himself either defensively or offensively. I immediately tweeted the following:

Am sorry but this midfield cannot hold the ball.

— Shotta (@shotta_gooner) October 30, 2019

Emery’s third and final change, with Liverpool desperate for the equalizer, was in the 83^rd minute by replacing Kolasinac with Tierney, leftback for leftback. I castigated the move as insufficient to close out the game as it was a like for like.

Emery for you. Like for like change when trying to seal the deal. SMFH.

— Shotta (@shotta_gooner) October 30, 2019

Unfortunately my worst fears came to light as Liverpool finally secured the equalizer when Origi received a pass in the box with enough time and space to drive home past Martinez. The penalty shoot-out brought to a crushing end what promised to be a night of great glory for our football club.

Conclusions

Some say our loss was due to bad luck, others blame it on fate. Frankly I refuse to attribute our defeat to any supernatural force beyond our control. That is a cop out. Our loss was majorly due to the tactical ineptitude of our manager. I stand by my tweet:

Its all politically correct to say good game for the ARS, better luck next time, etc but we led for 4 times up to the 94th minute and couldn't win the game. That is poor for professionals and espec for the manager. Don't fool yourselves. #AFC #COYG

— Shotta (@shotta_gooner) October 30, 2019

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