He said: “As a player we understand the supporters came with the ambition to win the first game of the season”.
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“At 4-1 we maybe got a bit complacent, a bit over the top”, the England worldwide told Liverpool’s official website. “Or you give them a needed rest and you start the season without many of your players”. Or do they play in this kind of game and get injured, like Ramsey today?
“It was too easy to play between our rows and in the spaces we gave them, the formation we had chosen was to close those spaces and what we did was open spaces”.
“When they have not enough preparation they get injured”.
“We have to be ready next week because we go to Leicester”.
“We were far away today from showing our whole quality”, he added.
“I’m convinced that there’s a lot to come from this team and from this group and we have to recover from that blow and prepare for our next game”, he said.
“You have to consider, as well, that we have been unlucky with losing Mertesacker and Gabriel, and having Koscielny not fit”. “You have to sometimes accept that you can not control absolutely everything, even if you try to be as intelligent as possible”.
Wenger was forced into two substitutions as Iwobi pulled up with a thigh injury and Ramsey was also back in the tunnel after a hamstring problem.
Theo Walcott put Arsenal ahead in the 31st, less than two minutes after missing a penalty, only for Philippe Coutinho to equalize for Liverpool in first-half stoppage time with a spectacular free kick.
The first was a wonderful free-kick on the stroke of half time to bring the Reds back on level terms while the second was something you’d associate more with a predatory striker – as Coutinho showed great goalscoring instinct to get across his man at the front post in order to guide the ball home in what proved to be a decisive and devastating opening 15 minutes to the second half for Liverpool.
Arsenal responded and hit back through substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and defender Calum Chambers but Liverpool held on to take three points – with Lallana aware that it was not a ideal afternoon in north London for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
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Visiting manager Jurgen Klopp blamed himself for his team’s lapses in concentration, saying that his exuberant reaction to Mane’s goal in the 63rd minute had made his players feel the game was already won.
