Anfield 2009 and all that

So far the main focus of the media’s attention following our 2-1 win at Anfield on Sunday has been about Arsene Wenger’s ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ half-time tirade.

It has been credited with sparking the revival that turned a 1-0 deficit into a memorable win.

We were badly off the pace during the first half and Liverpool’s midfield were dominating the game. This was Liverpool’s strongest side and we have been seriously undermined by injuries, so the prospects of a win seemed remote during the break.

Glenn Johnson’s early own goal was crucial, and from then on we looked like the only team who wanted to win the game.

Wins at Anfield have always been special for Arsenal ever since Michael Thomas drew the curtain on the most exciting finale in club football with his winner over 20 years ago. But more recently than that 2-1 wins at Anfield have been significant during Wenger’s reign with the club going on to win their last ‘Double’ and go unbeaten for an entire season. And you can be sure that the players will have been reminded of this in the last few days.

I’m sure those who were in the away team dressing room on Sunday would have been shocked by Wenger’s outburst, and it may have been the spark that our season needed. But I suspect there’s more to it than that.

Liverpool are a team suffering a serious crisis in confidence and despite their strong play in the first half they hadn’t capitalised on their superiority with too many serious goal chances.

Denilson gave Javier Mascherano a whack on the thigh late in the first half and his influence on the game was never the same after that, and he was soon substituted following the second goal.

Without the Argentine snuffing out our passing we regained greater possession of the ball and with Andrey Arshavin finally getting some decent service the goals finally came.

Thomas Vermaelen was made Man of the Match by the Sky pundits, but for me it was Arshavin who deserved the award.

He isn’t the most industrious of players but what he does is often of the highest quality and decisive. Evidently, he’s also a battler and something of a tough nut to crack. As Wenger’s pre-Burnley press conference alludes to: “On Monday, he was out of the game, the next day he is in. It’s as miraculous as that, I don’t know if he has a miraculous healing process at home. He is a tough boy, always wants to play and that says a lot about his spirit and determination. I’ve not met many with his pain threshold. I’ve had a few - the Nigel Winterburns, Bouldy, Dixon, Keown - tough boys. Andrey is a hard boy, especially for a forward.”

I bet if you hadn’t heard the boss say it you wouldn’t have put the little Russian’s name in the same bracket as the famous back four when it comes to toughness.

With Arshavin playing a more central role the team almost has a central spine with some real steel about it. Cesc Fabregas and Vermaelen are no shrinking violets. Unfortunately our goalkeeper is. So along with buying another striker – and please make sure this one’s joints are made of something other than glass – we also need to buy a replacement for Manuel Almunia. Hopefully, Lyon’s Hugo Lloris is somewhere on the bosses Christmas shopping list.
 

Happy and healthy holidays to all.