Arsene Wenger pulled no
punches after slamming Arsenal's defensive display in their 4-1
loss at Liverpool.
The Gunners were not at the races at Anfield with Peter Crouch
inspiring The Reds to success on Merseyside.
Wenger did not feel Jens Lehmann was protected enough and that
Crouch was too good on the day for his troops.
"Defensively our performance was horrendous," he said. "The
difference was Crouch, we just did not handle him at all.
"He was the big difference. We could not cope with him in the air
and his three goals all came from crosses from wide areas.
"He made fine runs and we never got close enough to him, and with
Steven Gerrard also finding gaps between our defenders, Liverpool
more than deserved to win."
The result lifted Liverpool over Arsenal and Wenger is keen for his
side to avoid slipping any further down the table.
"If we want to finish third now we will have to produce better
performances than that. We are not certain of being in the top
four," he added.
"There is not a big enough gap, even if maybe my players felt they
had done enough. We will have to give our best in every game
now."