It’s been a horrible start to the Premier League campaign by Arsenal. They just squeezed past Leicester City 4-3 on the opening weekend, lost 1-0 at Stoke last weekend and then were ripped apart at Anfield on Saturday as they once again failed to cope with Liverpool’s energetic, counter-attacking style.
Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane punished some woeful midfield play before half-time, while Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge added to the hosts’ tally in the second half, the former turning an Arsenal corner into a Liverpool goal in the space of just 12 seconds.
Arsene Wenger branded Arsenal’s performance in Sunday’s humiliating 4-0 defeat to Liverpool as “disastrous” and highlighted the damaging impact of Mane’s strike five minutes ahead of the break, but could not hide his disappointment with their showing up to the final whistle.
“The result is a consequence of our performance. We were not good enough. We were beaten everywhere physically, in the end I believe we made it easier for them, and the mistakes gave them a cushion,” the Frenchman told Sky Sports .
“It was shocking [the goal before half-time] but our performance was absolutely disastrous. There are some reasons behind it but we have to analyse.
“The players now go on their international break, but we do have to take the consequences of our performance today.
“If you find a manager who is happy with that performance today, I wish you good luck. The emotions are negative, but it’s not the right moment to talk about that.”
Arsenal were jeered by the visiting supporters and Wenger called on his players to return from the international break with a vastly improved display.