Postmortem

Liverpool 4, Arsenal 2

"Gutted."
I believe that's the proper English expression.

"Tired" is all I could think through the entire middle of the match.

The turning point was the Flamini injury.
When Mathieu Flamini, our pitbull of the midfield, went down late in the first half with an ankle injury, it was as if our heart stopped beating.
Up until then, it was brilliant football with Liverpool looking absolutely frightened.
Sure, Walcott would throw us a lifeline later in the match with another gravity-defying run that cleared 70 yards of pitch, and another perfect pass to set-up Adebayor for the score, but we were done before that.
We were done before Liverpool came back again to win it in the final six minutes.
Six minutes...I was certain of it.
Sure, I felt like we'd stolen it, but we deserved it after all we've been through.
Six minutes.
It's over.
Just don't do anything stupid.

Where did it all go so wrong?
Who do we blame for this cruel turn of the knife?
Someone needs to stand up and be counted.

Wenger should have known we'd need reinforcements by this stage of the season.

He should have known we'd lose our two brilliant summer signings, Eduardo and Sagna, along with playmaker, Tomas Rosicky, to injury over the last two months of the campaign.

He should have known Robin Van Persie would sit out most of the season with a bum leg.

He should've played a full-strength squad way back in the FA Cup against United to avoid a devastating psychological blow to the entire team.

He should've played a full-strength squad against Liverpool over the weekend - then we'd at least have the Premiership to dream about now that the Champion's League is a shattered fantasy.

I've got it - he should've put Walcott on sooner.

Maybe even put on Bendtner for Adebayor.

He should've bought more players with all of our riches.
A bonafide star is what we're lacking.

We deserved a penalty when Hleb was clearly dragged down in the box at the Emirates.

Liverpool did not deserve a penalty for Toure's tug on Babel in the box at Anfield.

My wife should have stayed in the basement, because the moment she passed through the room they scored.
It's not the first time she's done that either.

The injustice.

So cruel.

They deserve better than this but winning tonight would've only prolonged the inevitable. This team is beaten, broken, and drained. The stronger team goes on. We leave it all on the field and it all just fades...

We get healthy.
We strengthen.
Build a team designed for the distance.
We're almost there.
Just not this year.