“We Didn’t Even Jump” Arsene Wenger Blames The Defense For Liverpool Result

Arsene Wenger revealed that he was disappointed with Liverpool late equaliser that robbed his side of three points but admitted that it was a fair result as Liverpool dominated the game, “It was maybe a fair result, but we are disappointed to give a goal away with a free header from a corner.

Arsene Wenger

“It was an intense game. We played a little bit with a handbrake on in the first half, and Liverpool played well.

“We lost the ball too quickly in the first half — when you are not used to something it was frustrating. It was important for us to come back before half time, and 1-1 was a good result [at the break].

Wenger felt that his side did not offer anything in the first half at all as Liverpool’s’s front three caused the gunners a lot of problems. However, he was happy with a better second half showing, “Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho, in the first half, caused us problems, as did Raheem Sterling. We gave them more problems after the break.”

“Olivier Giroud was quite sick overnight, and he became more influential in the second half. But in a long period of stoppage time, you have to survive two or three corners and free kicks.

Wenger blamed the defence for conceding the goal that costed them 2 points in the end.

“For their goal, we had plenty of defenders on the pitch. It’s disappointing that we didn’t even jump. You want everybody to be focused on the corner.”

Given how the game transpired, Arsenal were lucky as both their goals came against the run of play. They probably should have held on as they had the numerical advantage in the nine extra minutes after Fabio Borini’s sending off.

Wenger’s side had just three shots compared to Liverpool’s 27, which gives us an indication of how little the Londoners created. They also recorded the worst possession stat since 2003 as Liverpool had the ball for more that two-thirds of the time compared to their opponents. Given all the stats, Wenger was happy with the point, “My first job is to win the games. When you are 2-1 up with minutes to go you want to win — but objectively 2-2 is a fair result.”