Liverpool 1 - 1 Arsenal

Phew...

An exciting game to start the season, overall not a bad result. I think we played well in the first half and poorly in the second half. We started with a lot of a possession but without really threatening the opposition goal and towards the end of the first half came the red card for Joe Cole. I'm just glad that Koscielny didn't pick up a serious injury to be honest. Kos went to clear the ball and Cole jumped in and caught him heavily below the knee. I think it was a reckless challenge which could have resulted in serious injury so I think the red card decision was correct. I heard the pundits after the game saying the usual "he's not that kind of player" and " he was just trying to block the clearance" but to block a clearance you should jump in front of the player and not right at him.

We came out very poorly in the second half, Liverpool seemingly revitalised by the red card and conceded an early goal to Ngog who hit a great shot in at the near post after some sloppy play by Clichy and Arshavin. I rate Clichy highly but he really frustrates me sometimes when he's under pressure on the ball in defence and tries to be clever instead of putting the ball out for a throw. I think Alumina could have done better with the shot as well as it was near post and even though it was a good strike you would expect a top class keeper to be saving those.

Picture from The Telegraph.co.uk

After the goal Liverpool had a sustained period of pressure and it almost looked like we were playing with 10 rather than the other way round. But as the half went on we came back into the game and Liverpool drifted deeper allowing us to exert more pressure on them. Theo and Rosicky came on and we started to dictate the play without really creating much. Then Rosicky picked up the ball and played a one-two, jinked past a defender and almost scored but for a great save from Reina. I thought that was our chance gone but then a cross came in from the left and Chamakh showed something we have missed for a few seasons by getting in front of Reina and it came off his hip, against the post only for Reina to carry the rebound into his own goal. In the last couple of frenetic minutes Koscielny got a second yellow for handball which seemed very harsh considering the Liverpool player was only about 2 meters away and he barely had time to move his hands away.

Positives

- Koscielny had a good game and showed good pace against Torres in the second half. Luckily his injury wasn't serious
- We showed good persistence to keep going until the end and get the equaliser
- Lots of possession against a good team away from home

Negatives

- Came out poorly in the second half, should have controlled the game more with the extra man
- Failure to convert possession into chances, there were two or three occasions where a shot was on but the player opted for a sideways pass instead

Overall it was quite a good result considering the players we had missing and that it was Hodgsons first game in charge. We will definitely need to improve though for the games ahead. Let's hope we get a new keeper and centre back in sooner rather than later...

Mr F