Liverpool came tearing out of the blocks but that's no excuse for what happened their pace pulled our defence all over the place. The entire back line was dreadful, I've never seen them come apart like that. There was no organisation whatsoever between them and it showed.
The issues didn't stop there however. The midfield were miles off the pace, Liverpool pressed them hard and the cracks were there early on. Arteta as truly awful, he dispatched his penalty but that's really it. Ozil went missing yet again and I'll come onto that a bit later. Our best player was Wilshere and that was purely because he tried and nothing more. Ox did OK at best as did Cazorla. Aside from not receiving much Giroud was pretty hopeless upfront too. It may seem harsh condemning the team that have played so well this season but it was a truly gutless performance.
There are a number of possible reasons for this: fatigue, complacency, an off day. All possibilities. Some can be put right: complacency, off days. Some can't: fatigue. We have to hope that this team have what it takes to stand up, brush themselves off and get back on the right track.
Coming back to a point I made earlier, I've read a lot on Mesut Ozil over the last few days and whilst there is no doubt he's been well off form, there's also no doubt he's a top drawer player. If you ask any other manager or fan would they want him in their team, I'm pretty sure 100% would say yes. But at the moment he is struggling and that, much like the team problems, could be due to a number of reasons. Fatigue is certainly highly possible, he's played 35 games this season and we're in February. We also have to remember this is his first season in the Premier League and there is nearly always an adjustment period regardless of how good you are.
However you look at it, he has the ability to change a game by himself. If he turns up and puts in a performance like we all know he can then that could easily be the difference. Regardless of how he's playing no team will want to see his name on the team sheet against them. Let's hope tomorrow night is his night.
The game tomorrow against an out of sorts United team really for me is must win for us to stay in touch with the top of the table. Another slip up and we could be scrapping for 4th let alone top. But more on that tomorrow. Till then have a good Tuesday, if there is such a thing.
