Team News: Arsenal vs Liverpool

Huge stamp of approval on Ramsey's recent performance there, to play him ahead of Diaby. Of course, it could be Wenger letting Deschamps know he takes the player's return to full fitness very seriously. Liverpool have a midfield of bruisers and hard workers which means our lads in midfield are in for a rough time, especially Jack. Calls for our quick passing, one touch game. Good luck, lads!

I need an Arsenal win for £250. What the ***** was that defending all about

What *****e defending in that half. I dont know how Liverpool are only 1 goal ahead. Mertesacker, Szczesny, Vermaelen - all have made basic errors.

It seems the guys keeping the stats for TV are eager to show Liverpool ahead own the possession stats, whereas it is a lot more even than suggested.

Giroud!! Now for a come back.

Fantastic strike, lets hope we don't ***** up again, and can grab a winner somehow

I just hope the Gibbs injury isn't too serious, because Santos really is hopeless at defending...

Defending Wenger too much! I'm shot of him and his flops

Jenks*

I've been sticking up for Santos. Not any more. I saw nothing from him that to suggest he should play for us

We don't have the players for 4-3-3 and with Santos we're playing 3-4-3 and don't have the players for that either. We need 4 in midfield (and 4 in defence) against any half decent opposition.

We need to sign another left back quick, or try Miquel there if Gibbs remains injured. No more Santos please, he isn't a defender.

Rambo was unlucky for the second goal, it was a good tackle, but the rest of it was utter crap, defending like amatuers. Amos, I posted exactly the same thing on Twitter a few minutes ago. Awesome second half, ***** first half. It's not good enough, Wenger needs to start bollocking them before the match even starts.

AW's excuse that our defence is nervous because of mistakes in the big games earlier in the season is a bit pathetic. If they can't handle the pressure of big games then he needs to get defenders in who can.

Where the hell did we find Santos? any chance of paying someone to take him off our hands?

That is a very good question gunnerman but not likely to prevent Santos getting Silvestred.

There is nothing wrong with our defence, this is the best defence available to us. There is noone out there that can better what we already have. These are not the dweebs you are looking for. The january window is evil, it needs to be destroyed.

Santos isn't the main reason our defence has struggled because he's not really played that often. The rest of our defenders haven't been great either. Sagna, Vermaelen, and Mertesacker were all at fault for the first goal. Santos is often caught out of position, his passing is sloppy, he is constantly diving in with tackles and getting nowhere near the ball. In additon he looks overweight and seems to lack stamina. I just don't rate him the same way you don't rate Arshavin Amos, I've got nothing personal against him (he seems like a nice guy in fact). (",)

Santos was doing well enough last season until he got crocked at Olympiakos. This is a different team and the current fit just doesn't suit him. He's not really what we need with what we have in midfield and up front at the moment.

How has Sagna's stock fallen so far. He has gone from being the best RB in the league to poor. And don't get me started on his crossing - does he actually aim at the nearest defender?

Defensively abysmal - the back 5 should be embarassed to pick up a pay cheque, Arsene if you can't sort them out, is it beyond the realms of fantasy to get someone that can? Santos is a shockingly bad defender, already potentially Wenger's worst signing - him vs Ribery / Robben, what could possibly go wrong?!

Sagna had a good game today, in my view and apparently, was under instruction to go forward more after Gibbs went out injured. Yes, he slipped for their 1st goal but that happens to even the best players. I liked as he was very aggressive early on, going into headers (very few contested headers with him much after he clashed heads twice, with Johnson and Suarez). He was against Suarez and Johnson for much of the game and did well, in my view.

If you say so shewore :)

Sagna slipped but was caught out by a miskicked pass from Suarez. Even so there was a lot that went on before the ball went into the net. Vermaelen should have made the clearance even though he went with his weaker foot. Szczesny's block ricochets unfortunately off Wilshere and Sagna's attempt to block Suarez's shot deflects off him into the net. I guess there was some poor defending in there but......!

Aside from that stray pass near the end that gave Liverpool a chance at the death, Santos wasn't that bad. Both of their goals had a bit of good fortune- the Sagna slip set in motion the comedy of errors - and a lucky bounce followed by a lucky deflection - that led to the first Pool goal. Despite Santos' error on the second Downing got a lucky bounce. It happens. Liverpool played like a relegation threatened team - 9-10 men behind the ball at all times, only the useless Sturridge as a long ball outlet. If not for Suarez Liverpool would be safe from the drop but not close to qualifying for Europa League. Which is why this game was so frustrating. Liverpool is crap, we should have beaten them. And would have if our celebrated manager could get his head around the fact that defending is kind of important too. Less than 24 yours left in the transfer window. After tonight's match Arsene said he'd be active so I'm guessing that means two players going out on loan?

http://www.london24.com/sport/arsenal/sagna_to_miss_bradford_trip_as_wenger_set_to_rotate_1_1735837 I think this is why Sagna's crossing has gone to pot again in recent weeks. He was supposed to miss the Bradford game six weeks ago with a foot injury but he played that game and has played every minute since bar Brighton. I'd imagine it's still troubling him.

Exactly that, prits - "The problems with this squad are in the head, and they need to get their confidence in shape - very fragile at the moment."

Do you think if you put a back 5 of Maldini/Nesta/Cannavaro/Zanetti/Buffon in this team they'd still make the same calamatous errors? Cos I do.

If midfield doesn't cover well enough then it won't matter greatly who we have in the back four. Which was the substance of a complaint Adams made to Wenger a decade and a half back when the 'famous back four' were shipping too many goals. At present we're playing with three strikers. Walcott offers next to nothing to midfield security and while Poldo tries harder than Walcott it's not his game either. In games against decent opposition we need more in midfield than we offer at present.

Because defenders who never make massive ricks don't exist. Even Adams didn't earn his 'donkey' name for nothing. But teams that don't make that many massive ricks do. Those are teams that generally reduce the pressure on their defenders and earn them just a little more time to be in position and play the ball with a little more certainty. It's not that hard to have a defensively secure team. It's just harder to have a defensively secure team that can win enough games to get where you want to be.

Did i say defenders that don't make massive ricks? I said that don't make them per game, there's quite a difference i'm sure you'll agree. I appreciate that this league is all over the shop and I think even Utd's leaked more goals than us (?), but that is absolutely no excuse for the complete howlers and comical defending we've been so guilty of this season, it's actually the worst defence under Wenger we've had.

The defence over the last few months has appeared to be all over the place positionally. Is that because they're not paying attention or trying to do too much because of poor cover from midfield? I'm not tactically astute enough to be able to work that one out. But the defensive mistakes are there for all to see and it needs rectifying. We can't keep giving teams a head start.

We looked fairly composed at the start of the season. As soon as the inquests at home started and we found it tough going against the top sides, the doubts appear to have crept back in and has hounded the side since. If we had one composed player to just focus on the ball and clear/block against Henderson, that 2nd goal wouldn't have happened. For the first, same thing. Vermaelen should have focused on the ball and firmly clear it. No danger! He panics and misses his attempted clearance. One positive though was how quiet they kept Sturridge. Didn't recall him getting a shot off.

Okay. He got the ball after the Vermaelen air shot.

Sturridge had a shot in the first half after losing Vermaelen but the ball from Suarez was sublime. One for the stattos "13 - Arsenal have made more errors leading directly to a goal than any other team in the PL this season" @optajoe

Ouch! Just checked to see that goals against stats while better than Manure, is now 10 behind City, 5 behind Chelsea and 2 behind Everton. United has improved defensively, since the return of Vidic and Smalling. Clearly, we have to do a lot more work to get some improvements as well. My recommendation is to persist with the same back 5 as often as possible, to allow them build trust in one another and better understanding. Of course, I have Gibbs, Sagna, Vermaelen, Mertasacker and Szczesny in mind. Santos has to be given special fitness training before the weekend game, if we have to use him. I am sure Jenkinson will do a better job at LB than he will; throw Meade on even, or Kos at CB and Vermaelen at LB. we can't make much with Santos as he appears beyond redemption. Even his team mates don't feel too confident with him around.

What was the rick for walcott's goal last night then? I don't accept that every goal is the consequence of an individual howler, it doesn't stand up to any scrutiny - if someone's made a great run, or got ahead of the defender, it's completely different to a massive howler - you're dismissing it for the sake of it. No one's said we don't need balance, but I can't see how the balance would iron out these "accidents" as Wenger called them last night - he doesn't mention anything about midfield cover which is funny.

Leaving Walcott free the box? It would've been someone's responsibility to pick him up. I'd go for Leiva ball watching as the individual error there. Not getting tight on Giroud? Agger failing to get between Giroud and Walcott then. Some errors are more glaring than others but most ricochets and miskicks are likely, and often justifiably, to be seen as individual errors whereas also they're sometimes less avoidable than positioning or covering errors. You can always find a mistake somewhere in any goal but individual errors are reduced the more time you give defenders to set themselves properly. What was the individual error in Liverpools first goal? Sagna slipping trying to adjust to a scuffed mis-hit pass? Vermaelen failing to clear a good ball into the box with his weaker foot or not leaving it to Szczesny? Maybe Ramsey not watching the ball and clearing it as it rebounded from Szcesny? Perhaps Sagna and Mertesacker didn't close Suarez down close quickly enough when the ball broke loose? However I'm not dismissing anything, we didn't defend well enough that much is clear, I'm simply pointing out that defending, collectively and individually, is more nuanced than you're willing to see.

The Defending for Southampton's goal at old Trafford, last night,was comical too. Triple individual errors, in that case. However, the strikers got the goals and all was forgotten.

Exactly that, if Walcott had've put away that fantastic chance straigh after we'd have had the momentum and probably won the game (obviously you don't know with us). Utd's defending this season really has been appalling, just goes to show how even worse we were when we played them, doesn't it? If Wenger can't get this bunch of players to perform better then we need someone that can.

Last day of the window and it is obvious fans in all of Arsenaldom have given up on Wenger doing any last minute deals. he wins that battle then. ;-)

The battle of "wits" with the press and fans who want him to "spend some money" in the winter window. He did his Spin and the days have worn on to the last day.

I feel Wenger (indeed, most Managers) are relieved that this day has come and will pass too. Fat Sam has had his own fair share of whining about how it is a period of so much uncertainty for managers. This is why I would rather Wenger stated firmly, from the start, that he won't be doing any business (Fergie did so and only brought in Zaha under special conditions) in the window. That way, should anything happen, it will be under special circumstances. Of course, that can only be easy when the squad he has few weaknesses and is doing well. It is a double edged sword of sorts; it could either cause complacency in some players or result in the players rewarding the manager's trust with better performances.

Those were my sentiments too damiano. It would be silly to rule out the possibility of any transaction at any time and wouldn't solve anything anyway. Wenger had ruled any deal out for Villa a couple of times already but you'll find reports today that Wenger has made a last ditch bid to sign Villa today. It doesn't matter what he does or doesn't say. The circus will go on anyway.