The Beginning of the End?

Today, my team, Arsenal, didn't not just lose their important fixture against Liverpool, they were humiliated by them. It was a 5-1 thrashing with four of the goals coming in the first half, the first 20 minutes. This was a scoreline expected by none, I can assure you. I was even anticipating a memorable win that would send waves to our rivals but if it was anything, it was quite the opposite. Though we are still second, thanks to a Man City slip-up, this latest defeat raises questions and brings up some bad memories. Is this the beginning of a spiral that may lose us the EPL?

Arsenal's defense in woes as they were ripped apart by Liverpool's attack

The match started with great expectations. We were one of the best away teams in the league and had one of the best defense, second best to be precise. But two quick fire goals from two set pieces took us aback. With some sloppy play in midfield we lost the ball twice and were counter-attacked, resulting in two more goals. The fifth followed later in the second half though Arsenal were able eventually scored their consolidation goal. However, it was all over in the first 20 minutes as Liverpool were able to just sit back and relax in search of some extra goals. It was a performance as poor as can get. The defense were not concentrating, the midfield weren't shielding the defenders and the attacking midfielders had nothing up their sleeves, other than losing the ball in midfield. Giroud was, as usual, the only man leading the front line and with a player of his immobility, it was not a fruitful situation. This loss has lost us our top spot and with the tough fixtures coming, it may be even worse.

But this match hits a nerve with AFC fans as the memories of the 07/08 season are still fresh in our memories. It was nearing the end of the season and Arsenal were league leaders but due to very unfortunate circumstances, they drew the match they were playing and started a bad run which saw them lose their lead and end up in third spot come end of the season. Could this be the same for Arsenal now? Could this bad result at Anfield derail what has been a great season.

I don't believe so. Firstly, the circumstances are totally different. In 08, the cause of that spiral was the horrendous injury that was set upon our then striker, Eduardo. This incident had a psychological affect on the team. This time, however, it was only their bad performance which brought that awful result. Even though we have a bad issue with injuries, it is not the same kind of injury that occurred back then. The Arsenal team of now is a lot more resilient and mentally strong as well. I have no doubt in my mind that this set back will not have the same psychological effect as the previous season-ending incident. Arsenal have been on top of the league for a major part of the season and they have shown some real character during that time. They were able to bounce back from that 6-3 thrashing at the Etihad and fought back to their winning ways after that hiccup. The season is still far from over and with many important games still left to play, the prize is still up for grabs for Arsenal. The only thing that can stop them is their performance. If they continue like this, it will be another season of Champions League spot, nothing more, but this is definitely not the beginning of the end.