Liverpool, Arsenal stuck in a spiral of mediocrity

It was somehow fitting that Liverpool and Arsenal spent the winter solstice slugging it out for a point which, in the end, did little to banish the sense of two teams and two managers fumbling around in the dark.

Sunday may have been the shortest day, but the recurring nightmares go on for Brendan Rodgers and Arsene Wenger. Rodgers continues to struggle to inspire a victory of any consequence, while Wenger saw his team once more surrender victory with a late defensive lapse.

Both managers cited positives, with Rodgers lauding Liverpool’s “outstanding performance” and Wenger oddly satisfied because “objectively, 2-2 is a fair result”.

The reality is that two of English football’s most historic and successful clubs appear locked in a spiral of mediocrity — one which now appears more significant to the hopes of West Ham United and Southampton than traditional rivals at Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford and the Etihad Stadium.

Only 12 months ago, these two clubs occupied the top two positions in the Premier League on Christmas Day.

One year on, Arsenal will spend Christmas in sixth place, at least 12 points adrift of the top spot. Liverpool, meanwhile, will go into the final week of their annus horribilis in 10th position — 11th, if Stoke City defeated Chelsea last night — looking a million miles from the team which topped the table last Christmas.

This time of year offers pause for reflection and, in Liverpool’s case, the clocks have stood still since April 27, when Chelsea’s 2-0 victory at Anfield ended an 11-game winning run in the league and set in motion the collapse which gifted the championship to Manchester City.

Since that fateful day, Luis Suarez has been sold to Barcelona for £75 million (S$154.5 million) and a subsequent £120 million rebuilding programme has proven as convincing and reassuring as those walls in Jericho.

Liverpool had little option with Suarez. The Uruguayan wanted out of Anfield even before he bit Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, but the failure to reinvest his transfer fee wisely has left Rodgers and his team lacking the pace, tenacity and fear factor which propelled them towards their title near-miss last season.

All of those qualities combined to annihilate Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield last February, but the only one which resurfaced in this fixture was the tenacity which restricted Wenger’s team to 35 per cent of possession.

Before their new-year slump last season, which has become a worrying repeat occurrence for Wenger, Arsenal were the team inflicting territorial dominance on opponents. But with the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott missing through injury or lack of fitness, not only in this game but in recent weeks, the ambition and verve which had many backing Arsenal for the title last season have been conspicuous by their absence.

The Arsenal supporters began the game chanting the name of Thierry Henry, who announced his playing retirement this week, but it was more a requiem for glory days gone by than a reflection of the current team, which is a pale imitation of the Invincibles which the French forward illuminated more than a decade ago.

Like Rodgers, Wenger has spent heavily since the end of last season, with more than £80 million invested in the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck, Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy. But aside from Sanchez, the new signings have blown hot and cold and offered little evidence to suggest they can provide the links missing for the best part of 10 years.

Wenger is likely to spend again next month, with a quality defender expected to be the priority target.

With an organiser at the back, the late goals conceded against City, Swansea and now Liverpool may have been prevented, enabling Arsenal to end the year on the coat-tails of City and Chelsea rather than in the slipstream of West Ham and Southampton.

Liverpool, in contrast, would give anything to be where Arsenal are right now, in sixth position. They have become the novelty act that tops the charts at Christmas, only to disappear without trace and prompt bemused looks when people are reminded that, yes, Liverpool actually were the league leaders this time last year.

Liverpool will be glad to see the back of 2014 and it may just need a new year to help focus on the future, rather than wince at events of the recent past. But as they consider where they were only 12 months ago, both Liverpool and Arsenal will not be able to escape the fact that they have fallen hard and fast and that the search for a glimmer of light goes on.

Mark Ogden is The Daily Telegraph’s northern football correspondent.