First off, I must apologize for the tardiness of this article, sometimes life just gets in the way of football, even though Bill Shankly would be disappointed in me for letting that happen. Goes without saying, I did not forsee Saturdays result. The average Liverpool fan was shocked by the wonderful football that was put on display, and the average Arsenal fan was probably shell-shocked by the abject display their team put forward that afternoon. Lets break it all down.
Lets start off by looking at it from Liverpool's perspective (my biasness can get in the way easily here). After Liverpool thumped Everton 4-0 at Anfield during the Merseyside derby, the perception was, generally speaking, that 4th place is now more or less Liverpool's to lose. Brendan Rodgers stated when he first got the job at Liverpool that "Anfield will become a fortress real soon". Well, the man has lived up to his word. The first 20 minutes of the game against Arsenal where Liverpool went on to score the first 4 goals just made me realize that this team is the real deal. As a Liverpool fan, and a cynical one in that, I am used to seeing fluky performances or periods of time where the team promises so much, teases you to no end by having so much possession of the ball and shots on goal, yet fail to capitalize. But this season, that has changed dramatically. This team is dynamic when they attack in the sense that there are fast paced wingers and strikers (Sterling and Sturridge), playmakers (Coutinho, Gerrard and Henderson), and the dynamic player in Luis Suarez that can do it all. Skrtel's first goal was arguably offside but after the first ten minutes had gone in this game, you just got the feeling that Liverpool were ridiculously dominant and Arsenal could not cope up with that pressure. 
For Arsenal, this game is quite alarming in the sense that every February for probably the last 3 to 4 years, the team starts faltering for the same reason that so many Arsenal fans have been saying: the sheer lack of depth in the squad to compete for multiple championships. Yes, injuries do take their toll and a Ramsey injury takes place every single year but that is no excuse to not bolster this team, especially when you see the same problem arising year after year. The cycle of Arsenal has become so repetitive, its kind of boring to talk about in all honesty. The season always starts with the debate of "Should Wenger be sacked?". Then the team does well for a period of time. Then they qualify for the last 16 in the Champions league. Things go well. They don't bolster their squad in January. February comes around. By that time, injuries pile up, the team faces some serious competition, falters, and everything crashes and burns. Then Arsenal compete for a 4th place finish and somehow manage to do so. When they do, they go on to make fun of Totthenam and the next season rolls over. Something has to change for this team. And Kallstrom is not the answer. Some Bulletpoints from the game:
- Suarez's 40 yard shot that hit the post was breathtaking. That would've been a sensational goal.
- Ozil simply had a shocking performance. Largely at fault for 3 of the goals that Arsenal conceded. Is this just a blip in the radar or something that Arsenal fans should be worried about?
- Skrtel's second goal was the result of poor man marking by Arsenal. Cazorla and Ozil completely ignored him which led Skrtel to pounce and head the ball in.
- Couthino's pass to Sturridge for the 4th goal was sublime.
- And Suarez's pass through the Arsenal box to Sterling to set up the 3rd goal was impressive.
- Gerrard's role as the defensive Midfielder spraying passes for Henderson and Couthino seems like the perfect position for a man who is at the twilight of his career yet still has so much to offer.
- All 5 goals for Liverpool came in courtesy of Players whose last names started with S. And Suarez was NOT on that list. (Skrtel, Skrtel, Sterling, Sturridge, Sterling)
- Simon Mignolet was last seen tweeting play by play commentary about the game while guarding the net.
- Nicklas Bendtner did not play through the entire match. No wonder Arsenal lost that game.
Are Liverpool title contenders now? No. But I don't have any solid arguments for me to back up that claim other than the fear I have that I will jinx them if I say yes. Chelsea, Manchester City and Totthenam all still have to visit Anfield before the season is over. If Liverpool can play against these sides they way they played against Everton and Arsenal, I'll have a much harder time arguing that Liverpool aren't legitimate title contenders. But I still maintain that they are most certainly in the driving seat now for finishing in the top 4.
As far as Arsenal's title hopes go, they can beat Manchester United on Wednesday and get back to first place. So yes, they are still very much in the thick of the race. And a win against united will erase their memories from Saturday. (And I sure do hope that United lose as much as any Liverpool fan would). And I could be writing an article next Saturday saying how disappointed I am that Liverpool lost to Arsenal in the FA Cup next Saturday. So yes, nothing is lost for this team. But it is going to take a lot of effort to turn things around now to ensure another February collapse is not in the cards for Arsene Wenger and his side.
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