The Reds scored four goals in the first 20 minutes as they hammered the Gunners 5-1 at Anfield and the manager is delighted with his side’s continued improvement

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his side’s performance in Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal as “absolutely out of this world”.

The Reds were in unstoppable form at Anfield, blasting four goals in the first 20 minutes, with doubles for Martin Skrtel and Raheem Sterling as well as a goal for Daniel Sturridge.

“We were brilliant,” Rodgers enthused to the press. “[It was] a wonderful performance in such a prestigious game.

“Not just the result but the performance level was absolutely out of this world.”

The result furthers Liverpool’s hopes of maintaining their position in the top four, though Rodgers is calm on the possibility of going a step further and winning the Premier League.

He continued: I’m very pleased and it’s another marker for us that we’re getting better and improving all the time.

“We’re just trying to finish as high as we possibly can. For us, this year was hopefully going to be another big step for our development.

“The players have been incredible and we just hope to continue that development and see where it takes us. It’s a very young side but [they have] a wonderful appetite for the game and a wonderful ability to learn.

“They want to learn, they want to progress and you can see as time goes on that idea for us to press well and pass well – and that was key for us today. We do a lot of work on our pressing – I always feel that if we press well we can pass well.

“These games are normally very tight games but I feel we could have gone on and scored more. I was really pleased with how we managed the game. At 4-0, the crowd are so excited and were wanting us to go for the throat but it’s important we can manage the game as well and that was a really pleasing aspect.”

Rodgers hailed a number of individuals but paid a particularly warm tribute to Sterling, whom the manager feels, based on form, is the best player in his position across the Premier League.

“Raheem Sterling was incredible. He’s just turned 19 years of age and I don’t think there’s a better winger in England at this moment in time,” the Reds boss declared. “He was absolutely phenomenal.”

A youthful forward line sparkled as Brendan Rodgers’s side blew away the Premier League leaders with astonishing intensity in a performance that bodes well for the future

COMMENT
By George Ankers

The Premier League has been missing a truly strong Liverpool side for a long time. Whether you like them or not, the Reds are a huge part of the prestige and tradition of English football; even if this performance does not spur them to the title, it seals a welcome return to genuine credibility.

Brendan Rodgers’s side have had their moments of ‘same old’ inconsistency this season and it would still be a huge surprise if they actually lifted the trophy come May. But the astonishing viciousness with which they dismantled Arsenal at Anfield – arguably the best performance of any English team in 2013-14 – showed us yet more glimpses of a seriously excellent team.

Right from the start, Liverpool were at 100 per cent, pressing and battling, committing and doubling up. There was nowhere that an Arsenal player could run where two opponents would not follow him.

Would things have been different had Martin Skrtel been called offside at the first-minute free kick from which they opened the scoring? Probably not. In winning the dead ball, Luis Suarez had already displayed the drive which set the tone for the performance and, in giving it away, Per Mertesacker had shown the lack of presence which was then compounded, not caused, by the goal.

And the Reds just kept coming from there. Not one of their front line – Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho – were anything short of superb.

They tore the Mertesacker-Laurent Koscielny axis – previously and deservedly praised – to shreds, while Nacho Monreal fared little better. The Spaniard, picked surprisingly ahead of Kieran Gibbs, was specifically targeted by Suarez and Jordan Henderson, who teamed up time and time again down the Reds’ right to great effect.

Only 11 days previously, Rodgers’s men had walloped Everton at Anfield. This was a step up from even that but, as the manager said in the build-up to Saturday’s game, his side are growing used to domination. They have now obliterated two of the best-organised teams in the Premier League; it looks like they are only now recognising just how good they could be.

Now appearing almost a lock for at least a Champions League place, the future looks very bright in both the short and long term. Their biggest weakness – defence – was made a non-issue at Anfield by the ferocity of their pressure further up the pitch and, of course, provided the first two goals. But that area will surely be the subject of strengthening in the summer.

Meanwhile, in midfield and attack, the average age of those who started on Saturday was just 24.5, a figure dragged upwards by Steven Gerrard, who had one of the better games of his recent twilight as he bossed a Mathieu Flamini-less Arsenal engine room.

There is so much potential for that forward line to stay together and improve. Strength in depth is the main necessity but we know from both the Reds’ failed January move for Yevhen Konoplyanka, as well as Rodgers’s blooding of youngsters like Jordon Ibe, that such things are being actively pursued.

A vast crop of youth, reasonable owners, a likely-looking return to the riches and pulling power of the Champions League plus a redeveloped stadium on its way in two or three years mean that these extraordinary performances may well represent the long-awaited reawakening of a genuine footballing giant.

There is, of course, plenty of work yet to do – with every waking-up comes a groggy fumble to get out of bed and the Reds were under-par as they drew with West Brom in their previous game. Theirs is a thin squad with definite vulnerabilities but, as his complete out-thinking of Arsene Wenger shows, Rodgers is the man to oversee its improvement.

For now, Liverpool fans can simply enjoy watching more and more flashes of some of the best football to have graced Anfield in 10, 20, perhaps even 30 years. With Chelsea and Manchester City still to visit, they will have a huge say in the Premier League title race one way or another.

Follow George Ankers on

Liverpool spectacularly enhanced their Premier League title credentials with a remarkable 5-1 home victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday.

Arsene Wenger’s men came into this fixture having not lost a league game at Anfield since March 2007, but were ruthlessly exposed in a scarcely believable opening 20 minutes.

Martin Skrtel was the unlikely scorer of Liverpool’s first two goals, the centre-back twice converting Steven Gerrard set-pieces, before Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge found the net with Arsenal in total disarray.

There was no way back for the shell-shocked visitors and Sterling added his second early in the second half as Liverpool hit five against Arsenal for the first time in 50 years.

VIEW FROM ANFIELD

By Wayne VeyseyWhat a statement of intent this was from Liverpool. Arsenal were ragged and impotent but the hosts were breathtaking. The majesty of their attacking play, led by pace king Raheem Sterling and the peerless Luis Suarez, was something to behold as they produced the defining performance of the Brendan Rodgers era. Talk of an unexpected title challenge this season is perhaps far fetched, but only Manchester City are as fun to watch in the Premier League as the vibrant team that Rodgers is assembling.

A Mikel Arteta penalty reduced Arsenal’s arrears with 21 minutes remaining, but provided precious little in the way of consolation.

Brendan Rodgers’ men now lie just five points behind the London club, who face a stiff task to bounce back from a first defeat since they were beaten 6-3 at Manchester City on December 14 in a similarly eventful match.

An unchanged Liverpool moved ahead inside the first minute, Skrtel converting a left-wing free-kick with his knee after Gerrard’s inswinging delivery appeared to brush the boot of Arteta.

Skrtel made a crucial clearance at the other end when Simon Mignolet charged from his goal, and then doubled his side’s advantage in the 10th minute.

After Jon Flanagan had been denied at the near post by Wojciech Szczesny, Skrtel met the resulting corner with a looping header that beat Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, stationed on the far post.

With Liverpool rampant, Sturridge sent a lobbed finish wide having been played through by Luis Suarez, who subsequently struck the post with a thunderous 25-yarder on the turn before Kolo Toure prodded the rebound wide with an open goal gaping.

Per Mertesacker headed wide from a corner, but Arsenal, who welcomed Jack Wilshere back from injury, remained second-best and fell further behind after 16 minutes.

Mesut Ozil was dispossessed by Jordan Henderson and a swift break resulted in Suarez laying on a simple finish for Sterling.

A sublime throughball from Philippe Coutinho provided Sturridge with another one-on-one four minutes later, and this time the England international made no mistake, scoring for the seventh game in succession across all competitions.

Although Arsenal belatedly checked Liverpool’s momentum, the hosts retained control and pulled further clear seven minutes after the break.

Sterling was given time to cut in from the left and scored at the second attempt after his initial tame strike had been kept out by Szczesny.

Wilshere was booked for a petulant foul on Sterling that summed up Arsenal’s frustration before Wenger made a triple change in the 61st minute, introducing Kieran Gibbs, Tomas Rosicky and Lukas Podolski.

Arteta pulled one back from the penalty spot after Gerrard had brought down Oxlade-Chamberlain, and also tested Mignolet with a low free-kick, but by then the game was effectively over as a contest.

Sturridge, Gerrard and Suarez were all substituted to sum up Liverpool’s dominance, while Sterling spurned a chance to complete his hat-trick in the closing stages.