By Boris Mellor
February 15 2006

Liverpool had 22 shots to Arsenal’s 7, but only a third of Liverpool’s shots were on target, one of those a saved penalty, compared to nearly 50% of the Gunners. Liverpool had 13 corners to Arsenal's one, and that was on the 91 st minute.

Probably the second best chance of the night was Adebayor’s clear sight on goal – but stopped from scoring by a misplaced line decision.

Make no mistake Liverpool clearly deserved their victory, but with their strikers so proliferate in front of goal it is hard to see them as real challengers to Manchester United or Chelsea, or Arsenal as real challengers to Liverpool’s third spot.

With all the hype this was poor fare indeed – Liverpool’s midfield dominated but the forwards could not score. The Gunners midfield created very little, leaving Henry frustrated and Adebayor hustling on his own. It was a clean match but the Thing from Tring gave the usual shit decisions – the penalty was highly dubious, and to me Adebayor, who was certain to score, was wrongly given offside.

Wenger had no offensive power on the bench – only midfielders and defenders, the match was dreary and when the goal came it was a relief that something had happened. The midfield played as strangers – rarely managing to link up. Only three players emerged with any real credit – the fantastic Jens Lehmann, the perpetual motion of Toure, and the hustle and bustle, combined with the Kanu type skills of Adebayor.

Ironically it was not one of the numerous crosses that beat them (the usual weakspot), but the brilliant shot by Hamann that came from outside the area finally led to the breach of Lehmann’s almost impregnable goal. Jens did well to save it – but couldn’t stop Garcia’s follow up. It was far too late for Arsenal to retaliate.

It’s hard to find positives out of this, but one is that the defence is beginning to look more resilient, if Arsenal could get a real left back playing for the team then the Gunners should also improve their offensive play.

It is often forgotten that the team was always strong on the left, with Cole, Henry and Pires causing havoc. Now the wide midfielders get little effective service, no fault of inexperienced back, who are so worried about defensive weaknesses that they are rarely able to get the by line and cross. This means everything is funnelled through the middle, making it easy to crowd out any creativity. Without the overlapping the team is rarely able to break out at speed.

It is hard to see any immediate relief until the Gunners get two class full backs return to the team. Sure they will beat lesser teams, but not those in the top three.

Indeed the whole of Arsenal’s defence has been disrupted, game after game has produced a different line up; it has become such a major concern that it may be why other areas have been neglected. The midfield will now need working on.