Liverpool - on the bus. Siege mentality

Another defeat at Anfield, a game with high pre-match expectations that ultimately left us all deflated. Let's unpick this, shall we?

Early vibes from the squad

First off, the pre-match gossip. No Zinchenko, Vieira, or Nelson in the squad, but one of the youngsters is. This strongly suggests a deadline day exit is on the cards. A modest fee or loan deal, perhaps, but at least we're shipping them out. Honestly, it's for the best for everyone here. A dressing room full of senior players knowing they'll never get a real sniff of first-team action isn't beneficial to a serious training atmosphere, let alone squad morale.

Then, disaster struck almost immediately. William Saliba limping off in the third minute. A massive blow, and for the second season running we are playing this duel without Big Bill. To be fair, I didn't expect Arteta to throw Mosquera on straight away, even if he is supposedly Saliba’s understudy. The typical Arteta move would be to move Calafiori to center back and put Myles on the left. But then again, if he was brought in specifically to be Saliba's backup, when else do you bring him on? In this regard, Arteta has shown some growth from last season's conservatism. Thankfully, on the right, we had Jurrien Timber to support Mosquera’s integration. The man's an absolute beast at right-back. He's got it all – attacking prowess, defensive solidity, immense mentality, and that crucial coolness under pressure. That said, Mosquera had a pretty good game himself. He was not fast and clinical with forward passes, as Saliba is, but the way we played on a day didn’t really scream “creativity”, did it?

The midfield was a huge letdown for anyone hoping for some bang-bang. We lacked a proper number ten, despite having three options sitting on the bench. Not least Eze, who is supposed to be completely match fit and should walk straight into the team, especially if we're looking to hit teams on the counter and exploit space behind their defence. Given that we were not really planning to have a great deal of possession, who was better adjusted than Eze for such a game at the Anfield?

Instead, our number ten for the day was Mikel Merino. Now, I like Merino, but with him in that role, our attack just looked disjointed. He simply doesn't connect the play together. All our attempts were individual efforts, and only Madueke looked like he might make something happen. He got the better of Kerkez a couple of times but couldn't quite capitalize. Still, at least he was getting into dangerous positions; he was the only one to actually stress Allison.

On the left, Gabriel Martinelli looked absolutely despondent. I adore Gabi, I really do, and I love his character. But if this is how he's going to play all season, I don't see why we shouldn't cash in for him yesterday. His value will only tank as the season progresses, simply because he won't get the minutes. He's been like this since pre-season, and I think it's because he senses Arteta is bringing in a primary alternative for the left wing. It's tough for any player to go from guaranteed starter to one of the back-up options. We still have Trossard and Madueke who have started on the left already. Gabi is effectively one of several second-choice left wingers. It's not a nice place to be, and I would rather see him have a far better chance of building a proper career elsewhere.I wanted him to start today because he's always been pumped up against Liverpool, always caused them problems. But the player I saw yesterday isn't capable of troubling a training mannequin. I don't think keeping him benefits anyone. I'd rather see Nwaneri in that role yesterday if he's not comfortable out wide; he'd be far more dangerous there.

Winning half the battle isn’t enough

It's fair to say that with our defensive setup, we completely nullified Liverpool. They were so devoid of ideas that Alisson actually resorted to time-wasting in the first half on their own patch! The home crowd had nothing real to cheer for, so they just exploded for a random tackle that yielded absolutely no benefit. It's an achievement that we managed to completely shut down Liverpool, and I was pleased to see the home crowd so inspired. But that's only half the battle. The other half should have been delivering the knockout blow, which never materialised. We actually let them off the hook after such a questionable home performance.

Arteta brought on substitutes far too late. It was clear Liverpool hadn't found their rhythm yet, but Slot would change his approach at half-time to try and push for the win. Szoboszlai started pushing much further up the pitch, they basically threw more bodies forward than in the first 45 minutes and started to build up the threat step by step. Arteta completely missed the boat when it was vital to bring on our attacking options.

Liverpool building up pressure in the second half until the finally score - CannonStats.

After the 60th minute Liverpool had already gained momentum, with the crowd roaring them on, and it all built up to their goal. Wirtz had a couple of good moments. Ironically the German was shut down by Bournemouth and Newcastle, but got two very decent chances against us. He's still being physically dominated by bigger players, but I think he'll adjust to that. Same as Zubimendi, who’s also getting pushed around by the likes of Van Dijk, but at least he operates deeper in the midfield and will get into fewer physical duels over the course of the season.

Well, Liverpool ultimately nicked all three points with a peach of a free kick – a proper screamer for the home fans. I don’t know for how long they will bail themselves out with long-range strikes. They bagged one against Newcastle, completely against the run of play, and then scored against us yesterday. And while their lack of attacking invention throughout the game is something we could be a bit positive about, how many teams in the league can put up the same organised defence as Arsenal did? Maybe five, but for the rest, Liverpool will still be absolutely fine, banging in goals left and right.

Eze finally got his debut around the 70th minute and I reckon he wasn't quite ready for the physical battle that unfolded on the pitch. I know people got excited, but I didn't think he offered much of a threat down his flank, and I feel he came on at the wrong moment. He came on when Liverpool were pressing, so the game state actually demanded solid defending. I think if he'd come on around the 50th minute, it would have been a completely different game, where he could have held the ball, driven past players, won a couple of fouls, and perhaps even picked out Gyokeres with a clever pass. Gyokeres, who unfortunately confirmed our main fears about his abilities. His main strengths – power and pace – that worked so well in the Portuguese League are cancelled out by the best defenders in the Premier League. That's the qualities primarily sought after in the top teams in the league. Saliba and Van Dijk won that battle against him, he was basically pushed out and was able to receive the ball on the far edges of the box. I know some people would say that Gabriel and Saliba also managed to shut down Haaland several times, and they'd be right. The problem is, how do we go against solid defenses with him leasing our line? Soon we are visiting St James Park and it’s not very clear how we plan to get goals against the team, where similar powerful defenders keep winning duels.

In general it's totally fine if we rely on the Gyokeres to score goals against the bottom half of the league – that's a valuable contribution. But at the same time, I feel this wasn't a game where he could help our team score. And if Arteta saw that it was not the best game for Viktor, that he was disconnected from the rest of the team, he could have left Merino on the pitch as a number nine after bringing on Ødegaard and Eze, and Dowman later on. At least Merino, as a striker, connected the play; he could have protected the ball with his back to goal, given a couple of passes, and at least given the ability for our wide players to get into shooting positions. He was our number nine for a good chunk of last season. I've mentioned it before but he's too slow for a midfielder, he lacks pace, and he lacks the ability to turn quickly. But as an old-school number nine who plays with his back to goal, just to link up others, he's a decent solution.

It’s not the result, it’s the journey, right?

We would probably win the game with Havertz and Saka in the squad, but in the end, who cares? They're out for some time and we bought a lot of players with complementary qualities, but Arsenal's attacking unit looked completely disjointed. We created only a handful of chances in Premier League so dar from open play. I know some might say we played on Old Trafford and Anfield. However, worse teams than us have scored more against Manchester United and Liverpool have conceded four goals in their starting games, so all of the teams are beatable. Basically, we only battered a promoted team at home – that's not a big achievement and it is not enough of an achievement to dream of winning the league.

Arsenal xG in the three opening games: only Leeds stands out - understat.com

Currently, none of the top teams are ideal. Spurs have lost to Bournemouth. Iraola, by the way – what a manager, losing four starters and still getting all three points at White Hart Lane, that's just an amazing achievement! City also look completely tired of Guardiola. Liverpool's defence isn't the strongest, so none of them are ideal. But Liverpool aren't ideal with 9 points in the bag. They have a clear strategy on how to win 70% of their games: through sheer, top-notch attacking talent. By saying to the opponent, "Go on, have your six chances in the game, and we'll have our six, and we'll bet we'll score more goals than you."

It's so frustrating that we let them get away with all three points after they have created very few chances. And the problem isn't losing to Liverpool when they score a wonder goal; the problem is that we didn't have a go at a clearly flawed opponent. The problem is that Arteta waited and waited with his defensive setup and apparently was satisfied with us heading to a 0-0 draw. He brought on the change in the game when the momentum was already gone, and that's the problem with Arteta’s mindset. It's frustrating that the Liverpool coach can slot their attacking midfielder into a wing-back position, and that wing-back, in the 83rd minute, scores with a magical free-kick. In the 83rd minute!, when he's supposed to be falling down from the exhaustion our left wingers have caused him! Instead he becomes one of their main creators and heads straight to the Man of the Match award!

Slot, instead of putting a conservative centre-back like Joe Gomez at right-back, brings on a player who can actual contribute to the more powerful attacking play. And that's the bravery Arteta likes so much talking about in press-conferences, that's the attitude of someone who believes they're entitled to all three points.

Playing for 45-55 minutes in a completely defensive game, designed to suck all the energy out of the home side, sounds like a decent strategy. But it's not worth a penny if it's not afterwards complemented by a ruthless attacking display where you come and grab what's yours. Playing for 0-0 away from home used to be Mourinho’s trademark, but his time of glory has long gone. The last time he won using this formula, was when all the other contenders were quite average. That's simply not the case anymore. We're facing a team stuffed with attacking talents like Salah, Isak, Gakpo, Wirtz and Ekitike, such a serious firepower.

Losing points at Anfield with four first team injuries and four summer signings as starts is not a bad result in itself. It isn't going to derail our title chances too much. But what will affect our chances is the squad losing belief. If the players see that the home team can't create a single moment and we still walk away with zero points, it erodes their confidence. The team need to know that they are not only about “damage control”, but also about “inflicting damage”, leaving the loudest crowds silent and frustrated. The squad needs to believe that we can actually punish the better teams on hostile grounds and that feeling wasn't there on Sunday.

Now, we're heading into the international break and return against a declining Forest team. That's not the real concern, though. The real question is: can we break the loop and win against Newcastle away from home? Can we actually dominate the decent mid-table teams that roll out traditional deep blocks?

And, ultimately, can we actually win the biggest duels in the Champions League with this mindset and bravery?