Everton vs Arsenal - Goodison Park, Liverpool - Saturday 21st January 2006

Always a pleasure to visit Liverpool, with its bright purple wheelie bins outside all the houses. An early kickoff for Sky TV meant an early start for this one. After getting up whilst it was still dark, we arrived in Liverpool in good time, and parked up near Anfield, on the other side of Stanley Park from Goodison. To kill time until the pub opened, a quick wander around Anfield was an effective move, and allowed us to see some of the local urban regeneration that's been happening - Liverpool is truly on the up!!
To the game, and it was an unfortunately now customary Arsenal away performance. Especially in the (grim up) north, where there are lots of teams with commitment, prepared to run about, tackle, battle, and generally not allow Arsenal to play, we don't seem to be able to cope. This was a physical game, Everton fans howled for every 50-50 decision, and a weak referee generally gave it to them. But, Arsenal again had no answer to the physical approach, and were knocked out of their stride all too easily.

It does puzzle me that this is much the same team that has gone unbeaten away from home all season in the League, not once but twice in the last 4 years - 2 of the only 3 times that its ever been done!! 3 years ago, the same team scored in over 50 consecutive league matches, another all-time record - this season we have already failed to score 9 times in 22 games. True, we have lost match winners like Vieira, and seen other key players like Pires and Ljungberg fade to a shadow of their former selves. But it is still very hard to understand how a team that so regularly swept all before them away from home, now struggles so much. Something very important for Arsene Wenger to do some thinking about.

As is now the norm after an away defeat, only 2 players came across to the away fans, to applaud and thank us for our 500-mile round trip to support them. So, hats off to Freddie Ljungberg and Sol Campbell, no thanks at all to the rest of the ungrateful bastards. Maybe they all wanted to hurry down the tunnel to start discussing how we can put our away form right - that discussion certainly needs to take place, because it isn't good enough at the moment. With Bolton away next week in the FA Cup, and in-form Birmingham away the following week, I fear this may get worse before it gets better.