A weak-end of football as players and teams go “missing”

A top of the table clash on Saturday between Arsenal and Liverpool highlighted the gulf in class between both sides, chiefly in midfield.

Lucas was overrun in midfield and left far too exposed to Mesut Ozil's and Santi Cazorla's darting movements between the full-backs and midfield. Steven Gerrard was ghosting around and seemed to be completely off the pace.

This performance against genuine title contenders did little to answer Alex Ferguson's description of him as not a "top, top player".

Henderson did what he does best, bundles of energy and intent but lacks the ability to unlock defences with a well-timed pass or the like.

For the first goal, Cazorla was allowed acres of space as Lucas was busy minding Ozil; Gerrard too, was a good 10-15 yards off the pace in tracking back.

The second goal was an exquisite half-volley by Aaron Ramsey, the darling of English football at the moment, even though he is Welsh.

Indeed, his performance against Liverpool was reminiscent of what Liverpool fans have gotten accustomed to from Steven Gerrard; an all-energy performance coupled with a sweet right foot for finishing.

There was, as always in a match of this calibre, a moment of controversy as referee Martin Atkinson pulled back play for a foul on Luis Suarez, just as the Uruguayan had taken the freekick, playing it short and quick to Sturridge, who set up Henderson for a simple tap-in.

However, there seemed to be little to suggest that the final result would have been much different, Arsenal completely dominating the midfield and dictating the tempo of the match with ease.

Newcastle United 2 Chelsea 0

Saturday's early kick off did not help anyone gauge the true depth of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea; they quite simply did not show up.

A truly disjointed performance for a side which, despite being poor and lacking ideas on the night, were quite comfortably holding off a disciplined Newcastle side before a lapse in concentration and marking allowed Gouffran to swoop in with the opening goal.

Vernon Anita's cutback after some neat work to go past Ramires found Loic Remy, who was provided with generous amounts of space by John Terry to turn and fire home the second.

Frank Lampard's performance over 70 minutes also left much to be desired, the Chelsea stalwart failing to stamp his mark on this game.

The decision to replace FernandoTorres and Juan Mata with Samuel Eto'o and Willian nearly provided Chelsea with a lifeline, but for that one opportunity the substitutions proved ineffective.

Willian has been mediocre since bursting on to the EPL scene with a sumptuous strike against Norwich, while Eto'o is still struggling to regain the form and fitness which characterised his previous tenure at Inter Milan and Barcelona.

The decision to bring them on shows a surprising lack of consistent options off the bench capable of changing the game.

His decision to bring Schurrle on last was odd as well. Of the options on the bench, Schurrle's blistering form for both Chelsea and Germany made him the individual one would expect to be the first option off the bench.

Alas, it is three points dropped for Mourinho, who surely will demand (and probably get) a rousing performance when they host Schalke 04 in the midweek Champions League fixture.

In other matches….

The Welsh derby was typically the Welsh derby, there was a lot of huff and puff and Cardiff scored off a header to win 1-0.

Thank God for the silky skills of David Silva who quite simply was outstanding for Manchester City against Norwich City in the 7-0 thrashing at the Etihad Stadium.

Malaysia Cup Final – Pahang 1 Kelantan 0

Action from the Malaysia Cup Final between Pahang (yellow) and Kelantan at the Stadium Shah Alam last night. The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, November 4, 2013.The biggest dampener over the weekend though was the Malaysia Cup Final eventually won by Dollah Salleh's Pahang.

This was Malaysian football at its best. However, the failure to control the ball and string two passes together continues to be a major issue year after year.

This whole scenario was made worse by the Kelantan team not turning up. It was not a good day for their central defence who lacked a leader, i.e. a commanding figure.

Credit, however, goes to Pahang who had an outstanding central midfield pair of Hafiz Kamal and Amirulhadi Zainal. The pair worked hard and kept Kelantan in sixes and sevens.

All in all, it was a shocking game of low quality.

A good thing to look forward to is the midweek Champions League as we hope for better things and the variety of the levels of football expected. – November 4, 2013.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.