After some early season criticism Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger allowed himself a wry smile after his side’s fine victory at Liverpool.
The Gunners boss sold striker Robin van Persie to go to Manchester United in the summer, to leave fans, now seven years without silverware, in despair over the selling of another star player.
However, new signings Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla both found the back of the net as the Wenger boys had little trouble in firing down their humbled hosts.
Germany international Podolski opened the scoring with an emphatic finish in the first-half before the ever-impressive Cazorla sealed the points after the hour mark to put yet more pressure on Reds boss Brendan Rodgers.
However, having started the season with some criticism after two goalless draws, Rodger’s opposite number Wenger looked a pleased man after the final whistle.
“The sharpness gets better from game to game but overall we looked solid and scored two goals,” Wenger said. “We missed opportunities on the counter-attack at the start of the game but we had a convincing team performance.”
The result will only add to the worry of the Liverpool faithful, who, try as they might, cannot quite understand why Kenny Dalglish was sacked this summer to make way for Rodgers.
The Reds are without a win in their first three league games and some are anxious the new boss may not be the right man to bring back the good times to Anfield. That is obviously a barmy suggestion to make in the first week of September, however, stats such as the one that has Rodgers equalling the worst start for a Liverpool manager (Roy Evans also got one point) over three league games since George Patterson in 1927, make for agonising reading.
For Arsenal things are looking up. They are yet to concede a goal and the attacking verve the new signings showed yesterday promises much for the coming months.
For Rodgers the only way is up and the former Swansea coach is trying to stay positive.
“I am disappointed with the scoreline and the goals we conceded,” he said. “I can’t fault the players, they have given everything but we have things to work on, needing to keep the ball better. There is a long way to go,” Rodgers added.
