Liverpool were magnificent on Sunday afternoon, thoroughly deserving of their 4-0 victory.
Equally, it should be said that Arsenal got exactly what their own performance merited. As much as the home side were dominant from start to finish at Anfield, the toothless showing of the majority of Arsene Wenger’s side throughout the afternoon undeniably made Liverpool’s task a great deal easier.
Wenger conceded that the performance was well below standard but also suggested his side, trailing 2-0 at the time, had “started to dominate” the game after the half-time interval. Despite this, goals fro Mo Salah and Daniel Sturridge later completed a miserable afternoon for the north London club.
For Arsenal’s supporters, the words which followed Wenger’s post-match interview from Thierry Henry perhaps best summed up how far the club has fallen.
Analysing the game for Sky Sports, Henry, Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer, was asked if the blame for the defeat lay with his former manager.
“Listen, I don’t know what he’s [Wenger] is talking about when he says we dominated the game from the beginning of the game,” he explained.
“Liverpool allowed you to be on the ball to counter you, as we saw in the second half,” he continued, referring to Salah’s breakaway goal.
“It is a mix of things for me. People always point at the manager but it is a top to bottom thing. You look to the manager for guidance, you look to the players to execute the [manager’s] plan.”
Adding that Wenger would have to make many changes ahead of the close of the transfer window, Henry then returned to Arsenal’s performance.
“It’s how you lost it,” he said. “The boss is always going to try and be politically correct… but today it was unwatchable.”
With Graeme Souness describing how Henry had turned his chair around to avoid watching his old club during the second half, Henry continued:
“At one point I wanted to leave. I didn’t want to watch the game any more. It’s too much to take.”
Pointing towards the away fans, he added:
“I don’t want to imagine when those guys have to pay and go all the way up [to Liverpool] and watch this.
“I wanted to leave because I couldn’t relate to the team.”
