Beaten away to Chelsea and outplayed by Manchester United at Old Trafford, Liverpool saved their wretched worst for the second half yesterday. There is no shame in losing on the road to the Champions League heavyweights — or to Everton or Bolton Wanderers, for that matter — but the manner of some of those defeats has put Benítez himself in the dock.
Misuse of Steven Gerrard is the principal charge against the Spaniard — one that he absolutely refuses to acknowledge — but there are other significant errors. Sami Hyypia, a great servant for Liverpool, but now a creaking veteran, must be replaced and when will Mark González look like a good buy?
There was more evidence, too, that the manager's cold approach to his players is sapping at confidence. Sympathy does not come easily when Craig Bellamy is involved, but the striker surely deserves a proper run, particularly with his team in desperate need of pace on the counter-attack.
After a quick start by Arsenal, Liverpool had at least achieved parity for most of the first half but, when things started turning against them, they even turned on each other. The nadir was reached with Arsenal's third goal, when Gerrard and John Arne Riise argued over the failure to pick up William Gallas. It was, in fact, Gerrard's mistake, but the episode told of a wider malaise.
And yet it was Arsenal who came into this match feeling fragile after their traumatic defeat away to West Ham United. Their desperation was evident in the second minute, when Robin van Persie cheated outrageously. Punching a bouncing ball past José Manuel Reina and then stroking it into the net, the Dutchman even had the gall to look surprised when Mark Clattenburg booked him for deliberate handball.
Van Persie should have been cautioned twice, once for the act and then for the attempt to get away with it, if the game is serious about driving out dishonesty. Sadly, Wenger joked about the incident afterwards and it is probably too much to hope that even one of the Premiership's most decent managers took the player aside for a stern word.
It was a bitty half thereafter, but it did feature the game's turning point in the 41st minute, when all of Arsenal's intricate passing finally led somewhere other than a blind alley. For once, Arsenal had midfield players racing into the penalty area and, after good work by Alexandr Hleb and Francesc Fàbregas, Mathieu Flamini marked his first Premiership start of the season by turning the ball in from six yards.
Liverpool played in the second half as if Benítez had spent the interval reminding them of their desperate away form, which would fit in with the rumours from Anfield about this successful, but strangely aloof, manager who rations his praise to one kind word a month.
His methods have brought him trophies, but his determination to do things his way appears increasingly perverse. Take his decision to start with Boudewijn Zenden in the centre in place of the injured Mohamed Sissoko. The fans were itching for their captain to be let loose and Gerrard was raring for the chance. So, of course, Benítez kept him out on the right flank, where he looked peeved throughout.
He was stuck out there when, in the 56th minute, Kolo Touré — a centre half, note — raced through the gaping hole between Hyypia and Jamie Carragher and stroked his shot through Reina's legs. Total football for Arsenal, total dejection for the travelling fans.
Their despair was compounded when Gallas met Van Persie's corner for the softest of headed goals and Emmanuel Adebayor should have made it four when he ran through only to shoot at Reina's legs. So Arsenal, who had Jens Lehmann missing with a sore throat, climbed to third place. And if it was a troubled manager you were after, Wenger was not your man.