After all the dust settled on Saturday evening, Chelsea sat proudly atop the Premier League table, while The Gunners fell to second and Manchester City to third. Like a man with a nonexistent sperm count, Manchester City only managed to shoot blanks. Meanwhile, in London, against a hapless Newcastle outfit, Chelsea were firing on all cylinders, thanks to a terrific hat-trick courtesy of Eden Hazard.
However, it’s events at Anfield that I wish to focus on. It doesn’t matter who you are: Uri Geller, Stephen Hawkins or Yoda, individually or collectively, could not have predicted the final score-line; Liverpool 5, Arsenal 1.
On Saturday, February 8th, Liverpool produced their finest performance of the season. Never mind the SAS (Sturridge and Suarez) show, this was the SSSS show, as Skrtel, Sterling, Suarez & Sturridge all put in 5 star performances. Hammering the EPL leaders, Liverpool could have easily bagged another hatful of goals. Alarmingly for Wenger’s men, it is no exaggeration to say that Arsenal were outplayed and outwitted for the entire 90 minutes, which begs an obvious question; what the hell are they going to do when Bayern Munich come knocking? A brace from Martin Skrtel and Raheem Sterling and another goal for the classy Daniel Sturridge capped a marvelous afternoon for Brendan Rodger’s rejuvenated side.
Initially, I was a little skeptical about Liverpool’s starting line up, was it a little too gung-ho, would Joe Allen’s defensive capabilities be missed? A resounding “no” is the answer to both questions; this was a lesson in the art of attacking, a performance that mirrored the great Liverpool sides of the past, line-ups which included the likes of Kenny Dalglish and John Barnes. As brilliant as Suarez and Sterling were, the real star of the show was Coutinho. The diminutive maestro was simply superb. Not only did he attack with the style and flair of a gifted Brazilian, he managed to display something that we do not really associate with his nation – Coutinho tracked back and defended doggedly.
On the other side of the coin, the forever praised duo of Ozil and Wilshere failed to merit the hype that seems to radiate them on a regular basis. Coutinho, Gerrard & Henderson simply outclassed Arsenal’s midfield. In particular, Coutinho worked and created chances at a frightful pace, and it’s this very fact that led to Arsenal’s golden boy, Jack Wilshere, picking up a yellow card. The Englishman was clearly wound-up, and it was only a matter of time before this agitation resulted in a card. It is so refreshing to see a player make the ‘dirty’ work look so elegant. Like Marie Antoinette cleaning up dog excrement, Coutinho managed to make the ugly side of the game look effortless and beautiful. In addition, it is the ex-Inter Milan man’s transformation that embodies the work ethic that Rodgers has established at Anfield. A man who works tirelessly himself, Chelsea’s former youth manager has brought an ethos to Merseyside that has now turned Pool into genuine title contenders.
Many would argue that The Reds need a phenomenal run of results to win their first piece of silverware since the League Cup in 2012, but stranger things have happened – like Wenger assuming that Kim Kallstrom, the crocked Swedish midfielder, would be an appropriate January signing. The man may have 100 international caps, but his best days are behind him. Landing Kallstrom as opposed to Draxler is like losing out on a Ferrari and opting to purchase an Alfa Romeo instead. Yes, it may perform satisfactorily from time to time, but it will spend more time in the repair shop than it will on the road.
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