It was a most convincing performance by Kai Havertz, his rendition of the false nine faultless in its interpretation. The best you could say of Havertz in a first half in which he wafted about the pitch glancing headers and feathering shots was the point his selection at the apex of the Arsenal attack rammed home, namely just how badly they need a striker who puts his laces through the ball.
Were Havertz more inclined to aggression Arsenal might easily have taken a grip of this contest by the break. A free swing of his left peg in the box, and a cross begging for a willing forehead at the far post were chances he really should have taken.
He didn’t, leaving Arsenal vulnerable to the sucker punch, which would become cruelly ironic when the ball that flashed past Aaron Ramsdale to put Liverpool ahead came off one of his own, albeit from another free-kick whipped into the red zone by the mighty Trent Alexander-Arnold.
To further highlight Havertz’s unbearable lightness of being, Luis Diaz reacted like a sniper at the far post to gloss another rapid counter.
Liverpool were not the better team yet they full deserved their victory, only their second in six FA Cup ties against Arsenal since these two heavyweights met in the 1971 FA Cup final.
When the door opened Liverpool did not hesitate. Havertz, on the other hand, is all “after you Claude”.
He puts the feet into effete. At no point does he seek to break sweat, to give the impression that he might be busting a gut. The basic demand on the terraces is that a player gives his all for the shirt.
The German is like a championship boxer who does not like fighting. Audley Harrison springs to mind, a technically gifted noble artist who excelled as an amateur but could never quite adjust to the sheer grunt of paid employment. Harrison was good enough to win Olympic gold but floundered as a professional.
Havertz will always have his Champions League-winning goal, but not the career that we associate with big moments like that. Pity. He is not without talent, as he frequently demonstrates when in space. But when he has to fight for half a yard, the application is just not there.
The question is begged why Arsenal would spend so big to sign him?
Liverpool were also missing their sharpest edge. Harvey Elliott was given the responsibility of being Mo Salah for the afternoon. Elliott is busy enough. Perhaps too busy.
Salah’s genius is in his economy. He operates like an F1 car, banking energy for the moment he needs to put the pedal down. Suddenly he is gone and the ball is in the back of the net.
Elliott does not have the predator’s instinct. His movements are quick but the timing is not split-second. His value to Liverpool here was in his defensive output, dovetailing on the right side of midfield to give Liverpool the extra man. Salah does that, too, of course, then breaks to devastating effect.
Just as they did at Anfield two days before Christmas, two well-matched teams flew at each other. The intensity was impressive. Martin Odegaard rapped the Liverpool bar in their dominant early period.
Alexander-Arnold replied as the first half closed. Substitute Diogo Jota signposted the danger with a header against the frame. The unlucky Jakub Kiwior showed him how with 10 minutes to go.
Arsenal are left to ponder a rapid unravelling that has seen them bested four times in their last seven games. In each, they have dominated possession and shots at goal. The problem, is strikingly obvious.
In this awful run Arsenal have conceded the Premier League leadership and a place in the FA Cup fourth round.
The shift in dynamic was reflected by the decision of the RMT Union to act in sympathy with Arsenal by calling off their tube strikers at half-time. Not only did Liverpool steal the win, the travelling fans were spared a three-mile walk back to Euston Station. Timing, as ever, is all in sport.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/laYXLd5
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