IT WAS an afternoon which graphically illustrated the folly of Liverpool’s transfer deadline day inactivity.

As the club’s only two senior strikers, Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini, fluffed their lines, there was no-one for Brendan Rodgers to turn to.

Arsenal took full advantage of the hosts’ alarming lack of firepower to inflict a painful defeat which magnified those feelings of disbelief and anger among Kopites at the club’s failure to replace Andy Carroll.

What a difference a week makes. After the optimism generated by the performance against Manchester City, Liverpool go into the international break with fans suddenly fearful about what lies ahead.

Where will the goals come from between now and January? Who will lead the line if Suarez pulls up lame or gets suspended? Suddenly, targeting those Champions League spots seems like a pipe dream.

All the positivity generated by the dawn of a new era under Rodgers has been jeopardised by Liverpool’s failure to sign an attacker on deadline day with a small squad left looking threadbare.

Rodgers bit his lip and was diplomatic yesterday when asked about missing out on the signature of Clint Dempsey, who ended up joining Tottenham for £6million.

“It’s gone now,” he said. “We all know we needed reinforcements and the players needed help, but the window is shut, we can’t do anything about it now.”

The manager was bitterly disappointed by the owners’ refusal to sanction the deal with Fulham.

Rodgers believed 29-year-old Dempsey, who scored 17 league goals last season, would have been an ideal acquisition at a reasonable fee but those sentiments weren’t shared by John W Henry and Tom Werner.

As Fulham bumped up the price, the Americans’ concern at Dempsey’s age and lack of sell-on value grew. The transfer collapsed and Spurs pounced.

Internet message boards and social media sites have gone into meltdown with accusing fingers being pointed in the direction of Henry and Werner for not backing the manager.

After all in the 24 hours prior to the deadline, Rodgers had got Carroll off the wage bill, banked a further £4million from Stoke City for Charlie Adam and packed off Jay Spearing on loan to Bolton.

But Fenway Sports Group vehemently deny that Rodgers has paid the price for any cost-cutting measures.

They insist money was available for an attacker and plenty of it but they simply weren’t prepared to pay what Fulham wanted for Dempsey. They weren’t convinced he was worth it.

FSG were willing to bankroll a £15million swoop for Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge who at 23 was a much more attractive proposition for the owners. However, the manager opted against pushing that deal through as he was only interested in taking Sturridge on loan. The striker didn’t want a temporary move so he remained at Stamford Bridge.

What is crystal clear is that Liverpool took a huge gamble letting Carroll go before securing a replacement and collectively they’ve been left with egg on their face.

The bench yesterday told you everything you need to know about the creative options at Rodgers’ disposal. Of the six outfield players, three were defenders, one was a £20million winger turned left-back and the others were Jordan Henderson and Jonjo Shelvey.

Moroccan winger Oussama Assaidi should finally take his bow after the international break and young German striker Samed Yesil could be fast-tracked to provide competition along with Academy graduate Adam Morgan.

But the fact that Liverpool haven’t ruled out making an approach to free agent Michael Owen, who is 32, injury prone and hasn’t played competitively since last November, is a damning indictment of the failure to get their business done last week.

Rodgers could recall Carroll from West Ham if necessary in January but until then he must attempt to get more out of what he’s got.

On the day Anfield paid tribute to Bill Shankly on what would have been his 99th birthday, Rodgers shared an unwanted piece of history with the legendary figure.

Liverpool have taken just one point from their opening three league games for the first time since Shankly’s newly-promoted side struggled to get out of the blocks in 1962/63.

It had all started so promisingly with the Reds outplaying the Gunners during the opening half hour. The impressive Joe Allen pulled the strings once again but for all their decent approach play, in the final third the home side were toothless.

It’s still early days for Borini but he has yet to show why the club invested £11million in him.

The Italian wasted two decent early openings, gave the ball away cheaply and was a passenger for long periods. It was no surprise when Borini was hauled off early in the second half.

Suarez got no change out of referee Howard Webb but he was uncharacteristically sloppy in possession and once again some gilt-edged chances went begging.

As well as a failure to score goals, Rodgers will be alarmed by how easily opponents are profiting at the other end.

Arsenal had barely threatened before they counter-attacked to break the deadlock in the 31st minute. After Steven Gerrard’s stray pass was pounced upon, Liverpool were exposed as Lukas Podolski exchanged passes with the outstanding Santi Cazorla. Glen Johnson was caught napping and Podolski punished him.

Olivier Giroud should have added a second before the interval but blazed wide with just Pepe Reina to beat.

Early in the second half Stewart Downing replaced Borini and Suarez had appeals for a penalty waved away after he appeared to be hauled back by Per Mertesacker.

Reds debutant Nuri Sahin wasn’t able to show Arsenal what they’re missing as the on-loan Real Madrid midfielder clearly needs games and having been off the pace he made way for Shelvey.

Hopes of a comeback were dashed in the 68th minute as Cazorla benefited from yet another Pepe Reina blunder.

Just three days after being embarrassed against Hearts, Reina somehow allowed his fellow Spaniard’s shot to creep under him. Worryingly, rather than put last season’s poor form behind him Reina has simply started where he left off.

At 2-0, heads dropped and belief ebbed away. Teenage winger Raheem Sterling, who had struck the post in the first half, was the only shining light as he refused to throw in the towel and once again proved he belongs at this level.

Suarez and Shelvey went close to reducing the deficit late on but by then defeat was inevitable.

The thousands of empty seats inside Anfield before the final whistle spoke volumes. The fans expected better – both yesterday and on deadline day.