Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool was a game of two halves as the Gunners corrected their first-half mistakes.
In the early stages of the contest, it looked as though Arne Slot’s side were on course to thrash the Gunners.
Fortunately, the visitors fought back to see Arsenal draw 2-2 with Liverpool, coming from two goals down to take a point back to North London.
Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli were on the scoresheet, as the latter opened up about the importance of Mikel Arteta’s half-time team talk.
Gabriel Martinelli reveals half-time team talk motivation vs Liverpool
Martinelli had an impressive game at Anfield, causing problems through the middle as he occupied the number nine role.
The Brazilian was a much-needed source of energy and inspiration in the second half, but hinted that his improvement might not have been the case had the half-time team talk not been as impactful.
After the draw, Martinelli spoke to Arsenal’s official website, where the winger revealed what the squad knew about the contest during the interval.
“Of course, we wanted to win the game. We came here with the mentality to win it,” Martinelli began.
“At half-time, we talked and we knew that we could do better, and this is what we did. You could see in the beginning of the second half, we scored, and then we went for it.”
It wasn’t only the scoreline that showed Arsenal’s second-half efforts, as the expected goals metric says all that needs to be known about the impact of the half-time regroup.
Liverpool recorded 1.92xG in the first half to the Gunners’ 0.58, as per Sofascore data, with the tables turning tremendously after the interval.
Arsenal ended the second half with 1.99xG to Liverpool’s 0.47, showing a significant change in tide.
Mikel Arteta was unhappy with Arsenal’s first-half performance at Anfield
Though the visitors ensured they fought back from a terrible first-half showing, Arteta was far from satisfied with his team’s performance.
After Arsenal gave Liverpool a guard of honour, the Gunners were handed more humiliation as the champions schooled Arteta’s XI.
The Spaniard gave a surprisingly angry reaction to the contest after the draw, going against the usually optimistic feedback about his squad that he shares with the media.
“I’m very disappointed, because we can talk about our reaction and the second half, what we’ve done, but I don’t like that at all,” Arteta admitted.
“I like action, not reaction. And what I saw from the team in the first 25 minutes is nowhere near the standards that we require, especially in things that we can control and we have to do.”
The boss had no time for praising Arsenal’s reaction to going two goals behind, calling for his side to be proactive rather than needing the break to regroup.
Having not recorded a Premier League win in their previous three games, the Gunners now face a must-win clash with Newcastle, where standards must be set from the first whistle.
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