Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal were “paralysed” during the first half of their remarkable 3-3 Premier League draw with Liverpool on Friday.

Arsenal failed to get a single shot on goal in the opening stages and a storming Liverpool could have had better means of asserting their dominance at half-time than Philippe Coutinho’s first headed goal in the Premier League.

Mohamed Salah increased the visitors’ lead shortly after half-time, suggesting Liverpool could be heading for a repeat of their 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in August, before Wenger’s side – who were booed at half-time – scored three goals in five minutes in a stunning comeback, with Roberto Firmino’s goal then rescuing the visitors from a dramatic point.

Although Wenger admitted that the game was a treat for neutral spectators, the experienced manager received heavy criticism for Arsenal’s performance in the first half.

“I felt we were paralysed and frozen in the first half – we played too deep,” said Wenger Sky Sports“We lost a lot of balls and were only second.”

“It was a psychological factor and it had an impact on the game against Manchester United (a 3-1 home defeat) when we got off to a bad start.

“But at half-time we were only 1-0 down and the game could have been over. In the second half we showed quality and character. We got most of our points from losing positions and you can see why.

“I told the players that the good thing is that we are only 1-0 down. We had a great chance to start a different phase. What we did was not good enough. We had nothing to lose, we wanted to try.”

Arsenal were frequently caught off guard by the speed of Liverpool’s counterattacks, but Wenger denied that his side’s approach was wrong. The positioning of left-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles – a surprise selection ahead of Sead Kolasinac – was questionable throughout.

“We knew about Liverpool’s speed, but that (deep defending) was not the message we were sending to the team,” Wenger added.

“The players had in mind that the players are fast, but sometimes it’s best to play higher up and play offside. If you play too deep, they have space to hold the ball and that can be dangerous too.”

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“I think Ainsley has good pace, he’s good one-on-one and as a full-back it’s important not to commit fouls, to snatch the ball away and he’s got that quality. He lacks experience but at 20 you have to take a chance when you get it and that’s what he did.

“It’s unfortunate that we were naive in defence when they scored their third goal when the score was 3-2, but it was an exciting game. We would have taken a point at half-time. You always regret it when you’re leading 3-2, but overall it was a fair result.”