On Sunday, Arsenal suffered its second loss in as many matches in embarrassing fashion, losing to Liverpool 4-0 at Anfield. Arsenal fans will look for places where they can heap the blame, and they won’t be short on options. The players were careless, and Arsene Wenger made personnel decisions that could be described as naive, feckless, or just plain dumb, depending on how generous you are. Worse yet for Arsenal, there is no solution in sight. Wenger signed a new contract early in the summer, so he’s not going anywhere. The club’s best player, Alexis Sanchez, could be on his way out, so they aren’t about to get more talented. The team lacks the talent and balance of their counterparts in the Premier League elite, so more matches like this one against other teams near the top of the league are imminent.
Liverpool tore Arsenal to shreds in attack all match long. The first goal came via Robert Firmino in the 17th minute, when the Brazilian squeezed between Arsenal defenders and headed home for the 1-0 lead. The Reds doubled that with five minutes to go in the half thanks to Sadio Mane. Mane made mincemeat of Rob Holding — Arsenal’s worst defender on the day — and curled in a brilliant goal from the left side of the box. It was his third goal in as many matches to open the Premier League season. Nigel Winterburn has apologised to Arsenal supporters for his former side’s ‘totally unacceptable’ display against Liverpool.
Arsene Wenger’s side were beaten 4-0 at Anfield on Sunday, in a display their manager himself labelled ‘shocking’. Winterburn, who made 584 appearances for the Gunners and won three league titles during a 13-year stay in North London, slammed the club’s current crop and said he ‘couldn’t believe what he saw’. ‘Firstly, being associated with the club, I need to apologise to the supporters,’ he told Talk Sport. ‘I was there yesterday and I really did feel for them. People know I work for the club but this morning I am a little bit lost for words. ‘I cannot believe what I saw yesterday. It was totally unacceptable for an Arsenal team.
‘Usually I look and try and be constructive and you try and relate back to situations when you have been put in that position yourself, but every component of the team broke down very, very quickly.’ Roberto Firmino put Liverpool in front after only 17 minutes before a goal from Sadio Mane saw them deservedly head into the break leading 2-0. Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge piled on the misery for Wenger’s side after the break. Arsenal failed to register a single shot on target for the first time in the league since October 2014 and Winterburn said their inability to cope with Liverpool was ‘very, very disappointing’.
