Mikel Arteta must have felt like he had been transported back to February 2014 as he witnessed his current Arsenal side go through ‘la pajara’, the debilitating sensation he suffered at Anfield as a player eleven years ago.
The Spanish phrase is most often used in cycling to capture the sudden sense of paralysis and exhaustion that can strike out of nowhere. Arteta only felt it once in his playing career in the 5-1 defeat on Merseyside, but it has lived with him ever since.
When Liverpool scored twice in 87 seconds on Sunday, Arteta had his head in his hands on the touchline. He said that teams can concede five goals here without realising and, for a 15-minute period around the two goals, it looked like his team may be succumbing the same way as they offered little resistance to Liverpool’s breakneck attacks.
“I could only see red shirts flying around, the game is passing all over me and I cannot react emotionally, physically…” was how Arteta described the 2014 game in the club’s Amazon documentary.
“You know what I did? I hid and I gave up on the pitch and we lost 5-1. I never forget for the rest of my career what I did here. I never did.”
It would have been easy, with Liverpool’s fans rubbing the title in their face and with Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain still raw, for his players to crumble in the same way.
Arsenal posted an xG conceded total of 1.95 in the first half, the most they have faced since August 2021 against Chelsea. It felt like the brittle Arsenal in Arsene Wenger’s latter years had re-appeared after two seasons of appearing so solid that an embarrassment was not possible.
They were being flagellated from all angles. After forming a guard of honour before kick-off, there was a banner reading ‘Always the bridesmaid, never the bride’ and a kid holding a cardboard cutout mocking Martin Odegaard when he took over photography duty after Arsenal’s victory over Liverpool last season at the Emirates.
When it went 2-0, the Kop rammed Arteta’s midweek claim down his throat by chanting: “Best team in Europe, you’re having a laugh.”
Against that momentum, Arteta’s side did not hide. They showed a defiant spirit and produced a second half comeback through Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino before hanging on for a point after the latter was sent off.
To regain control before half-time and then dominate for as long as they did in the second half is something few teams, if any, can do. It showed guts and pride from a team without two of their leaders in Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber, in addition to long-term absentees Gabriel and Kai Havertz.
Arteta was not satisfied, however, saying the belated display made the “unacceptable” defensive errors and lack of focus in the first half worse.
“We had a reaction but I hate reaction, I like action,” said Arteta. “Especially if we want to be there winning trophies, there is going to be a moment where you win it or you don’t. If you don’t, you have to play another one when you have been working for nine months. That is here, today. If you cannot win it, you have to be the best of the rest. I was really, really upset.”
The 13-year wait for a win at Anfield goes on but that is now three successive draws here for Arsenal. They led in the previous two meetings before Anfield rallied but perhaps going through a period in which they must have felt genuinely second best for the first time in years, and battling back, can serve as the start of next season’s bid to take the crown from Liverpool.
“It’s about the consistency,” Arteta said. “At the highest level, we can compete against any team and we have shown that now for the last two or three seasons. Against the top six, I think we haven’t lost any single game — so that tells you as a team we are very, very consistent and can compete with anybody.
“But actually to win it, and win, win, win, we are going to need something else, apart from our ability as well, certain demands and make sure we don’t talk about reaction — because I hate that word.”
It was a game that encapsulated the strengths and flaws of both teams.
If you speak to those in coaching circles, by most modern assessments, Arsenal probably function better as a football team than Liverpool in terms of their build-up and how they press. But once they get into the final third, when coaching can only go so far, they are blunt in comparison to Liverpool, who are more spontaneous.
They tend have more control, dominate for longer spells and maintain a better baseline than Liverpool, which they showed for large spells either side of their collective ‘pajara’.
But process can only take you so far. It does not trump individuals like Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold who can turn it on from nowhere and kill a game in short bursts.
Liverpool can drastically drop off and look disjointed but then find a second wind and finish with a flurry. Arsenal cannot go through the gears like that. They prefer death by a thousand cuts but they lack the sharper instruments at the top end of the pitch.
Liverpool did their best to hand Arsenal a goal early on. A kamikaze attempt to play offside from an Arsenal free kick was outsmarted but Bukayo Saka scuffed his shot wide. Curtis Jones was then robbed in the penalty area but Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey left the ball to each other and failed to get a shot away.
Liverpool went up the other end and were decisive. They countered on Arsenal time after time, soaking up Arsenal’s intricate passing before bursting into the opposite box within a few passes.
The point leaves Arsenal two clear of third-placed Newcastle United, their next opponents. Like at Anfield, there is more than just Champions League places riding on the game.
Silverware may be out of the question but, psychologically, Arsenal have to show they are still alive and determined to use the pain of watching Liverpool and Newcastle lifting trophies as ammunition.
It was reactive rather than proactive but the alternative of suffering a humiliating defeat was a real one. In defying such ignominy, Arsenal showed that, while they may be bruised, they are not willing to accept that they are second best to anyone in England. They must now find the firepower to blow away teams like Liverpool threaten to do.
(Top photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
