Alright folks, let’s chat about how I tackled figuring out these Arsenal vs Liverpool starting lineups over time. Seriously, it wasn’t smooth sailing like a nice cruise.
Where It All Started
So basically, the missus was yakking about last weekend’s match, how Arsenal barely hung on, right? Suddenly it hit me – how’s it looked before? Like, different years? Simple question, turned into a whole rabbit hole.
Digging In (And Getting Annoyed)
First thing I did? Google it, obviously. Searched something like “Arsenal Liverpool starting players last seasons”. Found a few headlines, got excited, clicked… bam! Paywall. Or some dumb forum where people just argued about who’s hair looked worse that day. Useless.
Wasted maybe half an hour bouncing around useless sites. Gave up on Google, went straight to the places I kinda remembered. Found this site I used ages ago, clicked on “Fixtures” or “Archive” or whatever. Brain hurt trying to remember the exact dates, had to keep typing “Arsenal vs Liverpool” plus the year. 2023… 2022… 2021… you get the picture. Slowly, slowly.
Making My Own Mess
Saw the lineup lists. Small problem – they looked messy. Like someone just threw names on a page. Needed to compare. Grabbed my laptop, opened up a spreadsheet. Yeah, boring, but needed to see it side-by-side. Made two columns: Arsenal Liverpool.
- Started copying names over. Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V… sounded easy. Wasn’t.
- Got names wrong – “Saka” copied as “Sakha”. Had to go back.
- Player positions? Sometimes listed, sometimes not. Big sigh.
- Totally forgot half that 2020 Liverpool team were different players! Had to scramble.
Kept switching between browser tabs and my sheet, feeling like I was going cross-eyed. Names started blurring together. Took forever just to get 5 seasons down.
The Bigger Picture (Kinda)
After banging my head against the keyboard enough times, finally saw some patterns.
- Arsenal: Seriously, they chopped and changed a lot more over the years. Felt like one year it was all new faces, the next slightly familiar but shuffled. Made my table look like a patchwork quilt.
- Liverpool: Those guys stuck together more. Like, seeing Salah’s name pop up over and over? Yeah. Him, Van Dijk, Alisson… they were the backbone, season after season for what felt like ages.
- What Stuck Out? Arsenal kept trying different guys in attack. Liverpool? Once they got their core defense and midfield humming, changed way slower.
Also realized managers mattered big time. Different coach? Boom, whole new lineup style.
Wrapping It Up (Thank Goodness)
Looked back at my sheet after all that grunt work. Names in boxes, years as headers. Felt kinda good actually seeing it all laid out, simple and clear. Was it rocket science? Nah. But it showed that change at Arsenal versus that Liverpool consistency super clearly.
Why go through all that fuss? Honestly? Bit of stubbornness, bit of “how hard can it be?”. Found out it was harder than it looked! But yeah, seeing those names shift over seasons? Shows what the managers believed in, how squads evolved. Worth the effort? For a footy nerd like me? Yeah, definitely. Time for tea now though.
