Arteta said Wenger was "the angriest I have seen him" after Liverpool clash

08 February 2024 , 06:00

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Mikel Arteta was part of the Arsenal team beaten 5-1 by Liverpool in 2014 (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

A heavy defeat can come out of nowhere to derail a tite bid, and Arsenal found this out to their peril in 2014 to leave Arsene Wenger furious.

The Gunners beat table-toppers Liverpool 3-1 in their last league game to breathe new life to a title bid under Mikel Arteta. A decade earlier, though, Arteta was part of the starting XI when the roles were reversed.

Wenger's Arsenal might have been top going into their game against Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool on February 8, but it was a close-run thing. They sat just two points ahead of Chelsea and Manchester City, with Liverpool a further six behind, but Rodgers' men had been building up a head of steam with 11 points from their previous five outings.

Liverpool were an attacking behemoth in front of their own fans, too, with 31 goals in nine games at Anfield after losing at home to Southampton in September. Even so, there was no accounting for the speed with which they would blow Arsenal out of the water.

There were barely 50 seconds on the clock when Liverpool got themselves in front. Arsenal failed to deal with a free-kick from the left, and Martin Skrtel's close-range volley had too much power for Wojciech Szczesny in the visitors' goal.

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Liverpool had chances either side of their second - another Skrtel effort from a set-piece 10 minutes in - with Daniel Sturridge poking wide with just Szczesny to beat and Kolo Toure missing an open goal after Luis Suarez struck the post from 30 yards. This was all with less than 15 minutes on the clock, by the way.

Arsenal still had no way of stemming the tide, though, despite repeated warnings. Raheem Sterling tapped home a third and Sturridge beat the offside trap to make it 4-0 inside 20 minutes, with Wenger's annoyance quickly becoming clear to his players.

How does the 2014 game rank among Liverpool's best and Arsenal's worst performances? Have your say in the comments section

Martin Skrtel scored twice inside the opening 10 minutes against Arsenal (PA)

"The manager was really upset at half-time, that's normal because it wasn't good enough for this football club," Arteta, who captained Arsenal at Anfield, said at the time. "It was the angriest I have seen him."

Liverpool added to their lead within 10 minutes of the restart, Sterling scoring his second of the day after Arsenal fell asleep at the back once more. Arteta did pull one back from the penalty spot, but Liverpool continued to threaten and only some sharp saves from Szczesny kept their tally to five.

The defeat was Arsenal's first since a 6-3 hammering at Manchester City in December, and Arteta compared the two games. "We have had two big crises already," he said.

"I think the Manchester United defeat was a different game to this, but City and this one are really hard to take. We have to react because there is nothing we can do about this now."

Arsene Wenger's Arsenal saw their title bid dissipate after the defeat (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

The result did prompt another long unbeaten run, but not from Arsenal. Rodgers described his team's play as "breathtaking", and it would be the first of 11 straight wins as his team made a late push for the title, only to fall away at the last.

Arsenal, however, won just two of their next eight games. The run, which also included a damaging 6-0 loss at Chelsea, saw the Gunners finish fourth after a season-ending run of five straight wins prevented them falling further.

"We were feeble in every important aspect of playing at the highest level: concentration, strength in the challenge and naivety," Wenger said after the Liverpool reverse. "So from that moment on it's impossible to win a game when you're playing at that level."

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Wenger never again led his team to as many points as the 79 they earned in the 2013-14 season, and it took until Arteta's third full season in charge for anyone to pass 80 again. This time, they'll hope a February victory over Liverpool can spark a long winning run of their own.

Tom Victor