Well we all had the opportunity to closely scrutinise and compare Walcott with Mahrez on Saturday, having watched it which of the two would you prefer at THOF? Both had the best of the half chances and neither could convert them into goals. I know who I would prefer to be turning out in the glorious red and white of Arsenal next week at Watford which would you?

It seems to be coming clearer that Arsenal didn’t even put a bid in for the Algerian, the strongest rumour circulating is that it was Mahrez’ agent was feeding the press to get a better deal for his client.

To a certain degree it is understandable that Wenger didn’t try and get involved. If your philosophy is that you are only going to buy if that purchase improves the existing squad then it sort of makes sense. Is Mahrez really that much better than Theo?

While we are on the subject of comparisons, who do you think is the better striker out of Welbeck and Vardy? Well, I suppose that while Welbeck is injured the answer has to be Vardy but when both are fit the answer should surely be the other way round. Vardy might not come across as the sharpest tool in the box but he knew enough to see that he was being brought to be an understudy and as soon as Welbeck was back he would be riding the pine. There was no other way that this was going to play out and as such the best Arsenal could offer him was a three year deal and that was generous. This restriction made it easy for Leicester who simply made him an offer of four years which was an offer he couldn’t refuse and we move on or am I missing something?

We have to do Mustafi again but for a change try to imagine for a minute that you are Peter Lim the owner of Valencia who happens to also be one of the most successful investors in Singapore, so we can take it as green that he knows a thing or two about negotiations; he also has a lot of connections with the EPL so he also knows how things work here.

OK, it is pretty clear that Arsenal have made a bid for Mustafi so if you were Peter Lim what would you do? Accept the offer or knowing that you have Arsenal in the bag wait to see if Chelsea or even Liverpool come in for him? Let’s not forget that Liverpool are desperate for additional bodies in defence and the fact that Klopp is a fellow German would also surely be a draw.

Who cares just spend some money and buy him. Not that easy really. Unfortunately it’s not Tesco’s in which the price for every item is fixed, all you need to do is pick one up and take it to the counter and pay for it. But we need him just make it happen Wenger; if we had had him against Liverpool we might well have won. Not so, it is easy to forget that ‘A’ he played in the Euros and therefore would not have been ready to play against Liverpool and ‘B’ that he was injured; he is only now getting close to being able to play again.

Could you imagine the fall out if Wenger had signed a player who was not good to go? In the mean time it has given Wenger the opportunity to get a good look at Holding who even the most mean spirited of Arsenal supporter has to admit is doing well. This means that in the near future we are going to have Gabriel and Koscielny on the pitch and Mertesacker, Holding and Chambers on the bench as cover. Where does Mustafi fit in?

I suspect I will read comments that this is just another example of Wenger’s indecision; so in advance of that, I think that it is worth remembering how decisive the club were when signing our last significant player – Xhaka. As clear an example as you will find of a player who came available and would improve the squad, no fuss, no faff, £30 million paid, job done.

The whole thing I suppose comes down to whether you believe Wenger or you don’t, I am fairly obviously one of those who does, I believe him when he says that he is ready to spend if the right player becomes available. I agree with him when he says that good players become available at the end of the transfer window. Lacazzete is available now and the club have put in a reasonable offer for him, Lyon are playing hard ball and have reportedly upped the asking price to £70 million. A figure that doesn’t reflect the value of a player who couldn’t even get into the French Euros team; so now imagine you are Wenger, do you spend the money you have on Lacazzette today or wait a little longer and try and get Draxler?

Many people predicted that a beating was on the cards as many predicted that we would score a few ourselves and so it was. Possibly the biggest surprise to me was that we looked as though we were going to win for the better side for forty six of the forty seven minutes played in the first half. Theo’s penalty miss was quickly put right a few minutes later when he accurately slid the ball past a helpless Mignolet and not only were we one nil up we were looking good. So much so that I started to think that I may have read this one completely wrong.

Comments from FGG such as “Coutinho is over rated” started coming to mind and concerns about the potential long term mental damage to Holding should we suffer a thrashing seemed way off the mark. But then with just one minute before the break everyone decided to pick up the script and give it a good read. Coutinho’s free kick from distance was so good it only warranted the slightest of sighs of annoyance as it flew into the top corner. Czech was well beaten but worse, much worse it gave Liverpool the belief that they could get more than just a draw from the sundrenched afternoon at the Emirates.

And so that proved. Liverpool came out after the break with renewed belief and quickly took the lead through Lalana. This was followed shortly after by Courtinho and then finally by Mane turning Chambers inside out.

Things were looking grim, people around me started walking out, the groans aimed at Wenger were getting louder and some people were even saying things like “we should have brought a central defender and a striker”. Really, who would have thought? I searched for my inner Zen consoling myself that this was predictable and I should not be upset because winning is not the only reason I go to watch Arsenal (OK that bit’s a lie). The mood of the crowd had changed, the groans aimed at Wenger were getting louder but just as those very groans were about to turn into full scale abuse, up popped Oxlaide-Chamberlain to slalom past the Liverpool defence and fire in through the smallest gap at the near post.

Wooo, this was getting exciting. Wenger sent the kitchen sink down the touchline to warm up before throwing it on, and it worked; Chambers flicked on into the net a delightful Cazorla free kick making it 3-4, and for a moment we allowed ourselves to dream that the full come back was on. Alas, it didn’t happen as we know but the next best thing did and that was that we witnessed a really exciting game. Never a dull moment at Arsenal, bring on Leicester and let the signings begin.

Player ratings:

Czech: another commanding performance. I can’t see that he was at fault for any of the goals but I will defer to GIE for a more knowledgeable view. 5

Bellerin: We have a saying around where I sit which goes: when things are going wrong think of Hector. Did you see that tackle he made in the dying minutes when he raced back at turbo speed, amazing and uplifting at the same time. I have not seen replays but Hector had the air of the veteran about him, calm collected, right place, right time. 6

Holding: I have been looking forward to writing this: the man was outstanding, his passing ability, his accuracy, both short and long were excellent. The idea that he was going to be the one to buckle proved unfounded; all the problems came from the Chambers and Monreal side. 7

Chambers: there was a time in the first half when I was thinking this man is going to be MOTM but then his passing started going astray and then he started going astray. If Koscielny is fit next week I would keep Holding and drop Chambers. 3. OK I will give him an extra point for his goal. 4

Monreal: I thought he and Chambers were responsible for the last three Liverpool goals. The left flank was constantly exposed. Nacho’s positioning was all over the place. 3

Elneny and Coquelin: Our midfield dogs of war, love’em. For the amount of work they both put in they deserved more. 7 each.

Ramsey: Europe’s second best number 10 carried on where he left off at the Euros which was very good;  it is easy to forget how effective he is when played in his natural position. 7

Iwobi: Not a good day for Alex; he really was the weak link. His inability to find his man when a simple pass was all that was needed had a huge knock on affect so much so that I would say that it reduced Sanchez’ effectiveness by 50%. 4

Sanchez: with no one to play the quick one twos that make him so effective he was reduced to being isolated for much of the game. It is too early to say whether he can or can’t be a number nine; we will only know that when Ozil, the king of the assists returns. 6

Walcott: Theo thrived when fed but that was not as often as he needed and so he faded. Still good from Theo though, I liked what I saw. 6

Just a few days until the start of the campaign, surely the best time to dream that Arsenal can finish one place higher than last season.

Or perhaps you are a “realist” and think we will finish outside the Top 4; that the spending frenzy by The Oilers, Liverpool and United will condemn us to the Europa League at best.

What do you think?

written by Big Raddy