Match Review: Liverpool 5 Arsenal 1 - Premier League 08.02.14

If you’re looking for positivity, you will not find much here. Arsenal were put to the sword at Anfield in painful and ruthless style. 20 first half minutes were all Liverpool required to decimate an Arsenal side that had no fight, no passion and left Anfield with their tails between their legs. Szczesny, perhaps the one player who didn’t do much wrong, apologised on Facebook after the game, calling it ‘f….ing embarrassing’ and he was not wrong. The Gunners were humiliated and now the questions about whether we can last the distance have resurfaced.

Things went wrong from the first minute. Suarez won a dubious free kick down the left hand side and Steven Gerrard whipped the free kick in. Martin Skrtel got beyond the Arsenal defence and stuck out a leg to direct the ball past Szczesny. Replays showed that there was a Liverpool player offside when the ball came in. It shouldn’t have been a huge cause for concern, we’ve been behind in 5 of our last 6 games at Anfield and hadn’t lost one. But things took a very different turn this time; the goal rocked us and soon things got worse.

Liverpool won a corner from the right, Steven Gerrard took again and it was Skrtel who finished again. The defender got in front of both Sagna and Koscielny and looped an excellent header over Chamberlain’s head and into the far corner. Yet again, we were undone by a set piece and this time because no one attacked the ball or made a meaningful challenge on Skrtel. 2-0 meant huge trouble for us, but I’m not sure anyone would have predicted how much trouble was actually to come.

Özil was brushed off the ball with laughable ease and Liverpool broke with four on three, Arsenal players caught way up the pitch and unable to get back quick enough and Suarez was able to play a ball across the six-yard box for Sterling to tap in and leave the Arsenal defence in tatters. We were all over the place, the midfield gave no protection to the back four and under pressure the back four couldn’t cope. The third goal should have killed the game, but Liverpool were clearly not in the mood to take chances.

A rather aimless Arsenal move broke down with another misplaced pass and again Liverpool broke and it was Coutinho who played a killer through ball from his own half to set Sturridge through and he stroked the ball past the keeper with ease. I don’t think I’ve ever seen us so completely outplayed in 20 minutes. 4-0 down away from home with most of the first half still to go is uncharted territory and made even more baffling by the fact our away form and defence has been sterling, pardon the pun, this season. I was lost for words, I could not believe I was watching the same team that has fought their way to the top of the league and have designs on winning it. No one took responsibility, even Mertesacker looked lost. After the second goal, someone needed to grab the team and put them in a huddle, do something to arrest the slide and regain composure. But no-one stood up, no one wanted it, all were content to just look around miserably and continue to get slaughtered. There was no pride or fight for the shirt, there was no desire to chase, they just jogged about and let Liverpool bully them. It was shameful, spineless football, not befitting of potential champions.

With the game lost already, we were just glad to finally keep the ball for a bit. 4-0 was not a flattery, Liverpool could have had more as Suarez had also hit the post and Kolo Toure missed the rebound with the goal gaping. Arsenal, meanwhile, had all the threat of a wet paper towel, Liverpool swarmed the players on the ball and our passing was abject. Our midfield was practically non existent and while we started seeing the ball much more as the half went on, we didn’t look like doing anything with it. Liverpool just relaxed and let us have it with no real need to press for more. There was no fight back before half time, one that might have given us some hope of salvaging a draw, so 4-0 it stayed.

After half time, the performance improved marginally, not that it could have got any worse really. We had a free kick deflected over and a couple of corners, but again we fell asleep and Liverpool were only too happy to capitalise. It was a mind bogglingly simple goal too, just a simple ball over the top that allowed Sterling to use his pace to blow away Koscielny and fire at Szczesny. The keeper made a good save, but cruelly the ball fell straight back to the feet of the winger, who slotted home for 5-0. 5-0 and not even an hour gone.

We did get a goal courtesy of a penalty from Arteta, but it was of course a mere consolation. We weren’t able to reduce the deficit any further and the scoreline remained 5-1 until the end. A horrific way to start a horrible run of fixtures and yet another failure in a big away game. We’ve simply not performed well enough in the big games this year and this was the worst yet. How can you maintain belief and momentum if you get hammered by a side eight points below you? With away games still to come at Sp*rs, Everton and Chelsea and, to an extent, Stoke, we surely have to start to perform in these games if we want to challenge. Lose those four games and we’re in a race for fourth, not first. Lose the games at home to United and City and we’re in even deeper trouble.

I know we will likely not lose all of the aforementioned, but it’s a huge worry for me. The lack of passion and drive was criminal today and I don’t understand how the players can’t seemed to rouse themselves for these fixtures. Of our last 13 games, five are extremely difficult, six if Stoke are in form when we visit them. You can win the league without performing brilliantly against the the other big sides, but it’s very difficult to see us doing it if we don’t pick up a couple of wins and draws from those five/six. We drop to second after Chelsea won, but City drew at Norwich, which gives us hope. It’s not the end of our challenge by a long way, but the game against United is now surely a must win.

Teams

Liverpool (4-2-3-1)
Mignolet, Flannagan, Skrtel, Toure, Cissokho, Gerrard (Ibe 76’), Henderson (Y), Sterling, Coutinho, Sturridge (Allen 66’), Suarez (Aspas 80’)
Subs
Jones, Agger, Alberto, Aspas, Ibe, Allen, Kelly

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal (Gibbs 60’), Arteta, Wilshere (Y), Cazorla, Özil (Rosicky 60’), Chamberlain, Giroud (Y) (Podolski 60’)
Subs
Fabianski, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Gnabry, Podolski, Rosicky, Bendtner

Player Ratings

Szczesny - 5/10 - Not really anything he could have done, let down by his defence
Sagna - 2/10 - 200th game, but one to forget for him
Mertesacker - 2/10 - Torn apart by the pace of Liverpool
Koscielny - 2/10 - Ditto
Monreal - 2/10 - Completes a full house of rubbish from the back four
Arteta - 3/10 - Failed to marshal the midfield or control the play
Wilshere - 3/10 - Similarly unable to cope
Cazorla - 4/10 - Actually one of the better attackers, but still nowhere near good enough
Özil - 2/10 - He was appalling today, at fault for two goals and couldn’t pick a pass
Chamberlain - 4/10 - Probably the best of the outfield bunch and won the penalty
Giroud - 3/10 - Admitted on twitter he wasn’t good enough today, but had no service
Subs
Podolski - 3/10 - Barely touched the ball
Rosicky - 4/10 - Added a little bit of buzz, but wasn’t particularly effective
Gibbs - 4/10 - Surely has to start against United, much better than Monreal today

@sambangsdrumsTell us what you think! If you agree, or have a different view, please leave a comment in the comments section or why not write a response or your own article on YouWrite?

Think you know Arsenal? Test your Arsenal knowledge on our trivia page and see if you can beat the top score.

Don't forget to like us on Facebook, add us to your G+ circle and follow us on Twitter.