Five Things We Learned From The Arsenal Game

Mane is class

On his day Mane is absolute quality. The confidence he shows when facing a side like Arsenal is just superb, never afraid to take a man on he caused the Gunners several problems on Saturday and also scored a great goal at 40 minutes.

Frustratingly he can sometimes go missing in some of the smaller fixtures but I still feel he is a player that will have clubs knocking down doors for him in the summer. Mane is a real asset and one we need to make sure we keep hold of.


Image via yahoo.com

Klopp needs a plan B

A solid performance against Arsenal for Jurgen Klopp has once again highlighted his strengths and weaknesses as a manager. At the moment he has proved his side and set up can take on the cream of the crop but he can't seem to find a plan B.

When facing teams like Leicester, Hull, Burnley etc the Reds just have no clue. Against a defensive side favouring the counter attack, Liverpool look completely out of options and Klopp clearly needs to work on that. I partly feel some of it is down to stubbornness, trying to force a system against every opposition instead of adapting slightly or playing less fancy football. Time will tell if anything changes this season or whether we have to wait until the transfer window to truly find out what Klopp's plan B is.

Risky Wenger

Wenger's team selection was definitely related to Klopp's lack of a plan B in my opinion. The massive decision to drop Alexis Sanchez backfired on the manager but prior to the match I could actually see some of the method in his madness. By playing more directly and utilising Welbeck AND Giroud, on paper that should have caused Liverpool problems, but it didn't.

It was no surprise when Sanchez did enter play that Arsenal really started to light up. 

Arsenal fans are always good entertainment


Battle for 4th

Collecting three points from Arsenal at Anfield is a huge bonus for Liverpool as they cling on to their hopes of 4th. With Manchester United failing to beat Bournemouth the weekend has ended very positively for Klopp's side.

However, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City all have games in hand. Liverpool face City in a couple of weeks and so do Arsenal but United have a relatively easy run in by comparison.

With a Merseyside Derby also coming up for Liverpool it would be just typical for us to lose to Burnely and then go and beat City and Everton. The battle for 4th is getting more and more interesting and the Reds desperately need to find some consistency if they are going to contend.