There really is no other team like Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. At their best they can climb to such highs, playing the most gorgeous and free-flowing football imaginable yet at their worst it’s like ‘formation’ is a dirty word and ‘defence’ a myth. As soon as the ever-tortured Arsenal faithful get their hopes up, it’s usually time for a trademarked stumble away to Stoke or whoever. But after demolishing Liverpool 4-1 at the Emirates for their seventh consecutive Premier League win, you start to wonder: what the hell is exactly going on?

Tell ya one thing, when the Gunners play like this it’s undeniable. Same goes for Liverpool, but on the complete opposite axis. A couple weeks ago LFC was the critic’s choice form team in the EPL, charging towards a Champions League spot. Then they lost to Manchester United. Then they got pumped by Arsenal. Now they’re almost certainly gonna have to settle for fifth or sixth and Europa League.

Arsenal picked a side typically stacked with central midfielders, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil being squeezed out to the flanks with Olly Giroud holding fort up top. Liverpool were stacked with mids too, Sterling starting as striker with Sturridge not 100%, Coutinho in behind him. The other major change being Kolo Toure in for the suspended Martin Skrtel, whose skinhead appearance and ability to boss were always gonna be missed. Toure started under pressure, and it showed.

The home side came sprinting out of the blocks. Pushing Liverpool back and duly pressing hard and high. Lots of men rushing forward, basically everyone not a central defender, goalkeeper or Franny Coquelin. And in turn, Liverpool responded by handing out free samples of possession like a temp at a supermarket stall. Kolo Toure, for example…

Gets the ball from the keeper in a little bit of space, but without a clear option. In the same situation, Arsenal would hit the midfielder (Lucas in this case) in stride as he travels towards the middle of the field, and he’d hit an open fullback or dropping wide midfielder. But Kolo hesitates and holds the ball too long as three Arsenal players converge upon him. Giroud gets a foot in, Ramsey runs away with it.

Then Ramsey cocks up the move by neither committing to the run through or committing the defender and passing it to Giroud in space. Mignolet saves, Toure hammers it clear for a corner. Warning signals screeching loud and clear.

And so it went for the first 15 minutes. Coquelin has done wonders for the likes of Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil, providing the cover to allow them to be slow in getting back, or to try a few passes that may or may not come off. Thus Cazorla’s been brilliant for a few months and Ozil… here comes a controversial statement… he’s been great. And to double-down on that sentiment, he was absolutely brilliant against Liverpool. There was one moment early on where he took his eye of a switched ball and it crept under him for a throw. Other than that he was getting plenty of touches, his control was sublime and he continually moved the ball into threatening positions.

Just as against Manchester United, Liverpool’s wing backs kept getting caught out. Luckily for them, Arsenal’s wide players tend to look back infield when they get it, still the overlapping runs of Hector Bellerin especially looked potent (not as much from Our Friend Nacho, but a little). Not to mention the continual surrender of possession from Toure and friends. It was truly horrendous.

But then Liverpool went on the offensive.

Lucas with his best moment of a poor game, he hits the dropping Coutinho with a nice pass. The Brazilian turns on it, with Raheem Sterling making a clever run across the back of the defence which draws Koscielny into Mertesacker’s zone and leaving a huge hole for Lazar Markovic to run into. Coutinho lays it right in his path…

... Markovic in behind the defence now, he could shoot, but he chooses to lay it off...

… except his pass to Sterling was too full, and poor Bubba couldn’t stretch those tiny legs out far enough to reach it. There’s nothing wrong with the idea to lay it across, this should have been a sitter. A wonderfully executed play that might have changed the course of the game. Botched it. It took 18 minutes for Liverpool to threaten, and once they did they couldn’t take advantage. Yet they kept up the pressure for the next dozen or so mins. You could split the first half into three clean 15 minute blocks, the first won by Arsenal, the second won by Liverpool… and the third a devastating knockout by the Gunners.

Boom, the first blow, a ruthless left hook after the Pool defence let their guard down. Bellerin ghosting into the box, Moreno tries to be a smartass and shows him inside thinking he won’t wander that far from home. Clearly forgetting that this is an Arsenal defender in question. Hector does just that, holds it as Lucas goes leaping past him, and curls it nicely inside the far post. Arsenal one up and they’d only just begun.

It was Ozil’s chance next. A direct free kick and he curls it nicely inside the far post. Sound familiar? This was the one goal where Simon Mignolet was to blame. He just took too long to react, standing flat footed as that ball arced towards his goal. Good reward for Ozil too, don’t overlook his sweeping ball to Ramsey on the wing in the lead up to the first goal either. This after 180 minutes for Germany over the last week. 3:11 between goals, Liverpool stunned but it wasn’t over.

Right at the end of the 45 minutes, injury time pending, Alexis Sanchez did what he so often does. A rapid turn, sending Kolo Toure tumbling past him like a bull to a matador. The ball sat up perfectly for him to drive through it and the finish was all it could be. Tellingly, it came swiftly from a Liverpool giveaway on halfway. A careless pass from Lucas, of course. An interception by Coquelin, of course.

Another week and another crucial Liverpool game almost buried at half time. Arsenal had dominated all possession and chances, with 5 shots on target to 0 from Pool. On came Sturridge for Markovic, because who else did they have? Not Mario Balotelli, that’s for sure, left off the bench, presumably never to play again for Mr Rodgers. It was a necessary roll of the dice to send in a half-fit Dan Sturridge (is there any other kind?), which also came with a formation change. No more three at the back, now a 4-1-4-1 set-up. The three defenders thing is such a delicate arrangement because it leaves spaces between the trio in areas not usually unguarded, and Arsenal just happen to be a team that thrives on playing in the spaces between. The disastrous first half shouldn’t be blamed on the formation (though the player selections within it deserve a look, Hendo at right wing back again!?), however it’s really beginning to seem like the three defender sets don’t work in the Premier League. In internationals that’s a different beast because teams are more conservative, often playing only one striker. That doesn’t happen in the old fashioned 4-4-2 nation of England.

The changes didn’t exactly spark a furious comeback (which by the laws of Arsenal Football Club was surely still a possibility) though they settled things down. Liverpool had a nice spell on the ball without being able to create all that much before Arsene Wenger pulled the plug and brought on Mathieu Flamini. Liverpool got a bit desperate, trying a couple pointless trick corner routines, before finding the slightest lifeline with 15 minutes left. The otherwise impressive Bellerin getting tested by Sterling and throwing himself in recklessly. A blatant penalty, Henderson (barely) converted. Bellerin did great with Sterling all game, getting tight and aggressive and really hassling him. The penalty was poor but unrepresentative. The game was sealed when Emre Can was sent off for a second yellow (which might have been a straight red had the ref been harsher), Giroud’s typically gorgeous injury time goal merely icing on the cake for the EPL Player of the Month for March (Arsene getting the Manager’s gong).

This game was won in an eight minute stretch at the end of the first half, but Arsenal were more than deserving. A scintillating performance that justifies all the goodwill that they’ve been earning back since the Monaco Debacle. Arsene Wenger refused to play up to any title ambitions like Louis Van Gaal cheerily did earlier in the week, but even with Champions League all but sorted, this is still a team with plenty to play for. Chelsea did their bit by clawing to a 2-1 win over Stoke so maybe Arsene’s on point with his usual dampening of expectations. Either way, this was a brutal lesson to their biggest remaining rivals in Arsenal’s quest for back to back FA Cups. Liverpool play Blackburn midweek for a place in the semis with no Emre Can, Martin Skrtel or Steven Gerrard, all suspended.

As for Raheem Sterling, kid’s gotta learn some damn respect! No, he’s got every right to every dollar he has the leverage to ask for, and every right to be sceptical about Liverpool’s status as a “footballing superpower”. Brilliant control, incredible on the dribble, decent passer and terrible finisher. I expect he stays in Merseyside. No English team that he’d want to go to needs/wants him. Sterling on Chelsea? Not likely, Mourinho has a small allotment for creative players and there aren’t any vacancies. Sterling for Man Utd? Even before the question of whether LVG wants him (he wouldn’t) that one is voided by history. Arsenal are the only fit but is he getting trophies there? Is he even getting on the pitch? City might be keen but you probably wanna heed the career paths of Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair. Spurs is a sideways move, anything else a step down. Does he have the gut to move overseas? If not, there isn’t that much leverage.

All that’s left is to wonder how Brendan Rodgers manages to find a positive spin on this public pantsing. The fact is, Liverpool are the fifth best team in England and the gap between fourth and fifth is pretty large.

Other Ponderings

Damn, man, how many great goals were there this week!? Arsenal’s four were all great, and then you have Rooney’s volley against Villa, Jermaine Defoe’s effort in the Tyneside Derby and, the piece de resistance, Charlie Adam’s 60 metre hoopla against Chelsea. SIXTY METRES! He’s not only in his own half, he’s like ten metres inside it!

If this is Louis Van Gaal’s ‘Philosophy’ coming through now, then it’s been worth the wait. Manchester United have gone from sideways passers and unimaginative battlers to a silky, creative, clinical and versatile team. In the past few games it has been Michael Carrick, Mary Fellaini and Juan Mata getting the plaudits. Against Aston Villa it was Ander Herrera’s turn.

Who does Woy ‘Odgson think he is, playing Phil Jones in midfield for England!? The lad’s a centre-back and nothing else. No more Mr Multipurpose, there’s a reason he’s played himself into a starting spot for his country in the first place, and that’s that he’s finally playing consistently in one position (good on ya, Louie). The Hodgson gives him half a game in midfield and the English media’s reminded of the clumsy, reckless player he occasionally used to be. Shout out for giving Carrick a good run though.

There’s something about Eden Hazard’s penalties that always send the keeper fumbling the wrong way. Then he simply dinks it to the other side. You’d think a goalie someday is diving the right way and making him look like a chump but it never happens.

How about those Burnley battlers? Fighting their way towards survival with a tough 0-0 draw against Spurs. Except where that shoulda been huge, it ended up being a terrible week for them. Both teams below them had wins, as did the team above them as well. QPR shockingly beating Pulis’ West Brom 4-1 away, Leicester topping a lazy West Ham 2-1 and Sunderland recording yet another win over their local rivals Newcastle. If you want a decent result, hope to play Newcastle or West Ham, two teams pretty happy with a mid-table finish and thusly easing their way into the finish line.

With Sunderland’s win, Aston Villa and Hull are getting sucked deep into the relegation scrap. It still looks like the promoted trio are all going down, but Aston Villa vs QPR midweek is gonna be huge.

Next week it’s the Manchester Derby. Cannot wait.