Liverpool FC: Why They Were Lucky and How Luis Suarez Saved the Day

Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool were lucky in recording their first away win at Arsenal since 2000. The Gunners fielded a depleted side, and Luis Suarez offered far more quality and movement than Andy Carroll, and together with Raul Meireles pulled Liverpool across the line.

First things first, this was the poorest Arsenal side Liverpool has faced in a very long time, so there is no point in getting over-excited.

Fabregas was sold to Barcelona, while Song, Wilshere and Gervinho were all suspended; Koscielny was forced off after 15 minutes due to back spasms, and Frimpong was sent off with more than 20 minutes to go. Luck played a big part here and had Liverpool not taken all three points here, it would have been a very poor result.

The Reds lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Kuyt, Downing and Henderson regularly switching positions.

Meanwhile, Charlie Adam and Lucas played as holding midfielders, which neutralized the threat of Samir Nasri and Aaron Ramsey, although Adam sometimes ventured forwards.

Liverpool looked solid in defense, without ever looking overly threatening going forward, and 51 percent of their attacks came down the left-hand side in the first half.

Jose Enrique was Liverpool's best player for the majority of the match. Granted, he had a few nervous moments at the back, but nearly every time he ran with the ball, he beat his man and created something for his team. Certainly, he looks like the bargain of the summer at £6 million.

He and Stewart Downing were Liverpool's most consistent threats, teaming up well and consistently getting the better of the inexperienced Jenkinson and debutant Miquel (Koscielny's replacement).

Andy Carroll, to his credit, pulled off one great header, which was well saved, and a lay off to Martin Kelly which nearly resulted in a goal. For the most part, Vermaelen coped well with him and Liverpool's attacks were often static and predictable.

Despite having a numerical advantage in midfield, with Nasri only occasionally tracking back to defend, Liverpool's passing moves often broke down at crucial moments and they only managed a few good chances in the first 60 minutes.

Turning point

The two biggest factors of the game were Frimpong's sending off, and the introduction of Luis Suarez and Raul Meireles to replace Dirk Kuyt and Andy Carroll.

Now, it could be argued that Liverpool's dominance in the last 20 minutes was due to the sending off, and that certainly was a factor, but even more important was the Suarez-Meireles combination.

Liverpool instantly had more intelligent movement and link up play with those two on the field. Andy Carroll may have won his headers in the first half and tired the Arsenal defense, but he was rarely involved in the build up play, waiting predictably in the centre for a cross or a long ball.

The Guardian's Paul Wilson put it well when he wrote,

"
"

""Just a few minutes of cleverness and movement brought a greater reward than the previous hour-and-a-bit's attempts to play the ball up to the big fella, a point re-emphasised by Liverpool's second goal. It could have gone either way while Carroll was on the pitch, but at the end it was the Arsenal fans moaning bitterly about not seeing value for money.""

"
"

Case in point, for Liverpool's first, Luis Suarez dropped deep to receive a pass, turned and ran at the defender, released it to Meireles, and beat his marker before receiving it again and getting a bit of luck with the deflection off Aaron Ramsey.

Lucas, Meireles and Suarez teamed up for an intelligent bit of one-touch football for the second in probably the best bit of football in the match.

Carroll has had a good run of games now, and his proponents will continually point to his display against Manchester City as evidence of his quality. The question is, though, is one game enough return on the huge investment Liverpool made, and will he be able to put in that kind of performance on a regular basis?

Time and again in recent years—and mostly throughout history, bar a few exceptions—intelligent passing and movement has shown itself to be more for effective than long-ball tactics.

Certainly, Liverpool has often looked a better side without Carroll.

Indeed, last week against Sunderland, they looked out of ideas when Luis Suarez was taken off, and Carroll's head was the easiest thing to aim at as the pressure mounted.

Of course, they were aided by the sending off, but there can be no denying there wasn't a significant improvement in the quality of play when Suarez and Meireles were introduced.

Most likely, injury and fatigue was the reason for both Suarez and Meireles not starting, but the notion that a Portuguese international should lose his place to Jordan Henderson, after proving himself in his first season in England as one of Liverpool's best, is absurd.

Dalglish faces a significant problem. By paying so much for both Carroll and Henderson, I doubt the owners would be too impressed if their huge investments were relegated to the bench, but if they continue to be second best to their replacements, he can't afford to keep starting them.

After all, no one is bigger than the club.

In terms of formation and tactics, Dalglish got it pretty much spot on yesterday and his decision to leave Suarez and Meireles out was understandable. Liverpool looked comfortable without ever looking great.

That being said, Arsenal were missing several first-team players and haven't had such a disrupted side for a long time, so it would be wrong to see this game as the benchmark for how Liverpool will perform this season.

In the end though, a win away at the Emirates is a good result, no matter which way you look at it. But certainly, Dalglish has a few selection issues to ponder in the coming weeks.

At long last though, at least Liverpool have a problem that's worth having.

For more, follow me on Twitter, Facebook or subscribe to my RSS Feed.