Liverpool and Arsenal Struggle in Europe

August 13, 2008 by CLDsport

Champions League: Arsenal and Liverpool struggle Both Liverpool and Arsenal struggled this evening in their respective Champions League qualifiers. The Reds only managed a 0-0 stalemate in Liege, while Arsenal were outplayed for much of their 2-0 win over Steve McClaren’s FC Twente.

With the Premier League campaign just days away, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will surely be worried after a poor performance in the Netherlands this evening.

FC Twente were the better team for much of the game, and really should have scored with Marko Arnautovic and Romano Denneboom both coming close.

The absense of Kolo Toure in Arsenal’s backline caused many a problem, with Eljero Elia and Denneboom wreaking havoc. With Fabregas also missing, Aaron Ramsay and Denilson played alongside each other in midfield. The youngsters failed to make any impact on the game.

Despite this, it was Arsenal who broke the deadlock on the hour. A free-kick from Robin van Persie deceived the home defence, and William Gallas managed to somehow scrappily force the ball behind the line.

As FC Twente began to tire, Theo Walcott’s pace finally paid dividends. As the youngster got on the end of a ‘hopeful’ throughball, he sqaured to Adebayor, who slotted home under the body of keeper Boschker.

The victory should easily be enough to see Arsenal progress to the highly lucrative group stages, but Wenger should be concerned ahead of the season for his young side’s hopes.

Steve McClaren said after the match;

“I think we should have scored in the first half. You don’t get many chances and you have to take them. We didn’t do that. We lost concentration on two occasions and got punished.

“That’s what happens in Europe against the top teams. The inexperience in the dressing room showed and we have to learn from it.

“But I can’t fault the performance. We had Arsenal rattled, especially in the first half.”

Meanwhile, in Belgium, Liverpool only managed to draw 0-0 with Standard Liege. The Belgians dominated the majority of the match and could have been 2-0 up by half-time.

Liverpool were lucky to escape when Fellaini headed against the post early in the match, but the ball was deemed not to have crossed the line before Reina managed to clear. Replays suggest it was a tough one to call.

Reina was the hero again when he saved a Liege penalty - although the handball that the penalty was awarded for was clearly outside the box, and therefore the penalty should not have been given.

Liverpool were clearly struggling to up their game from pre-season friendly mode. The Red’s strikeforce - including new boy Robbie Keane - had nothing to work with throughout the match, hardly seeing the ball.

Gerrard started the match on the bench due to a slight thigh injury. Liverpool’s performance was so dire however, that he had to be bought on for the last 25 minutes.

Even his introduction was fruitless though. Liverpool can only be thankful that they did not concede this evening, and can take the draw back to Anfield in a fortnight.

Were Liverpool and Arsenal’s performances an indication of their season ahead, or just pre-season rustiness? Truth be told, both clubs will have to improve dramatically if they are to enjoy any success in the coming months.

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