Where to begin? Well, let's start with a list of... what's the opposite of a 'superlative'? - a 'diminutive', I suppose? So I'll start with Pathetic. And continue with Pitiful; Shameful; Embarrassing; Dire; Heartless. I could of course go on, but I think you get the picture. And I tell you something; if there had been a crowd in, the atmosphere would have been as poisonous as it ever was in the final days of Unai Emery; I, for one, would have been going ballistic! They should be utterly ashamed of themselves.
For all the hope that we were perhaps catching Liverpool on the continuation of a poor run that had seen them lose game after game after game; well, you have to turn up with the right plan and the right attitude - and Arsenal did neither of those things. Blame all you like key absences - and there were a few - but you just have to look at what our opposition have had to put up with this season to know what a real injury crisis is!
Just a quick run through of what went on, before I cogitate on the implications: Saka, Smith Rowe and Luiz injured. Xhaka ill. Combined, not good news - but no excuse. And so Rob Holding was drafted back in for the first time after being dropped following allowing himself to be outjumped and outwitted by the giant Raheem Sterling, Ceballos replaced Xhaka and Gabriel replaced Pablo Mari, and the absences up top allowed Arteta to select Aubameyang and Pepe either side of Lacazette, with Odegaard in behind them.
Quite a forward-thinking, attacking line-up on paper; but that would be precluded by the need to actually gain decent possession of the ball at any point. And to an extent I could understand the thinking, which was to apply pressure to the rookie centre-half pairing that Liverpool are still obliged to put out. And due to the injuries, Nketiah and Nelson found themselves sitting hopefully on the bench for the first time for many weeks.
The key piece of team news, however, was the return of Fabinho to the Liverpool midfield. Now there's a player I envy; like Partey, he's a Rolls Royce of a midfielder. However, he had a world-class footballer alongside him, and not a selection of second-raters that he feels that he has to carry. Fabinho bossed it; like the central spoke on a wheel, he controlled the tempo and the direction of the game for the full 90 minutes. And he had a willing partner in the uber-talented Thiago, who was afforded all the time he wanted to weave his magic.
And the famed Liverpool press - back after what seemed a long time away - did for Arsenal. Unable to find any out ball, Leno and his defenders were regularly forced to go long, whereupon the ball was lost and the pressure back on.
For Liverpool, the loss of their entire central defence, and then Henderson too, had led to them playing with their feet metaphorically tied together. Just this one piece of their jigsaw back in the right place, and we can see how unrepresentative their current league position really is. That of Arsenal, if anything, flatters them on this performance.
I'm not going to go into too much detail on the game. Suffice to say that it was almost all one-way, that Arsenal were fortunate to get to half-time on level terms, and they were punished badly in the second half with the introduction of the dynamic Jota. In truth, it could and should have been worse, and Arsenal have to take responsibility for the flow of the game throughout, and for all three goals. Liverpool had not surprisingly been suffering from a lack of confidence following their horrendous run - and this was reflected by their poor finishing early on - but Arsenal played them well and truly back into form.
For the first goal, Alexander-Arnold put in an absolutely brilliant cross. No doubting that. Jota rose above Holding - who made a similar mistake to the one against Manchester City as he was caught under the ball - and in front of Chambers, who was too slow to recognise the danger and cover. Leno's wrists were too weak to keep the bullet header out.
For the second, Fabinho's through ball should have been cut out by Gabriel, whose challenge on the speedy Salah was simply too weak. Take him out! From that point, you can't touch a player like Salah - he's going to go down at the slightest touch, so Gabriel didn't put in a second challenge. And the Egyptian waited... and then poked the ball between Leno's legs. Lovely from Salah, but Gabriel should have prevented it.
And for the third we had another of those 'playing out from the back' errors. This time it was Gabriel who gave the ball away, and three seconds later the ball was in the net for Jota's second.
I think I'll take this opportunity to rate the players' performances, for a change. Just to indicate where and how it went wrong:
Leno - doesn't always inspire me with confidence. Could have done better with the first goal. Nonetheless made one or two other big saves. 5/10
Chambers - kept his place at right back after a fine performance at West Ham. Probably should have gone to centre-half - I'm not quite sure why Bellerin's not getting a kick at the moment - 4/10
Holding - another basic error for the first goal. We're at the point where, with Saliba surely back for next season, despite the new contract we can raise some much-needed funds and let him go now - 3/10
Gabriel - generally can be relied on to defend well, but can look clumsy in possession. On this day, he failed all round - 3/10
Tierney - lost late in the first half due to a knee injury. I cannot express how serious this may be - 5/10
Partey - we had glimpses of what sort of player he could be with the right support around him, but he was overrun - 5/10
Ceballos - looked slow and lacking in confidence. He's not good enough to play for Arsenal, and in that case he's definitely not good enough to play for Real Madrid - 2/10 and lucky to get that
Odegaard - didn't see enough of the ball to be any sort of influence. Difficult to judge him on this - 5/10
Pepe - at least tried to track back occasionally, but poor in possession and rarely seems capable of keeping hold of the ball - 4/10
Aubameyang - not cut out for the role of tracking back with the opposition full back, and totally unable to influence play further up the field. Extra point lost for stupid haircut - 2/10
Lacazette - failed to lead the press or put any pressure on the Liverpool centre-backs. Almost invisible, in fact - 3/10
Subs:
Cedric - on for Tierney just before half time and did OK in the circumstances. Had Arsenal's only shot in anger in the entire match - 5/10
Elneny - on for the totally ineffective Ceballos on the hour. Did what he does, but will never influence a game at this level - 5/10
Martinelli - on late for Auba. He may as well start Premier League games now; he runs about, and shows intent, at least - 5/10
Manager:
Arteta - poor team selection. Failed to react at any point. Unable to energise the team at half -time. Back to the bad old days of November and December - 0/10
If his after-match interview was anything to go by, Arteta was spitting blood. Here are a few excerpts from him:
'We completely deserved to lose the game. They were better in every department. They deserved to win the game by the margin they did; or more. They won every duel, every second ball, every challenge. It is my fault - I set the team to play in a different way. The standard has to be much higher for this club. We could not put three passes together. At the moment I am in shock'
As regards that last sentence - you and me both, mate! Arteta has to take some responsibility here; he cannot pass the buck that easily to his players. Yes, they looked outgunned and lacking fire and motivation; but that's partly down to him.
We can go all the way back to the Chelsea game to see the seeds of this embarrassment. With injuries and absences, Arteta was forced to play Smith Rowe alongside Saka, and stumbled on the answer to many of the problems of the previous weeks. With those two absent, so much was taken away.
And much as I hate to admit it, the loss of Luiz and Xhaka was just as badly felt. Luiz is at least vocal, and can play a pass that no other Arsenal defender can play. And, for all his faults, Xhaka was badly missed. Not like Gilberto Silva used to be, obviously, but he's comfortably our second best midfield player - and that's a sad indictment of the state of the squad. He would have added a bit of order to the midfield.
And so to Slavia Prague on Thursday. Injuries left, right and centre, and we can only pray for the return of some of the absentees. They'll be no pushovers, for sure, and their home record - for those unaware - is frightening, so we need to take a decent lead there.
As for some of these players, as Gary Neville said, they are 'like fed lions'. They lack hunger and motivation. Time to get shot, and play the kids now. All of them!
Meanwhile, I'll leave you with an image that sums up why class is permanent. On the 20th anniversary of his passing, this was the cover of the match programme. RIP Rocky; we will never forget you.
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