Before I launch into a full blooded attack of the performance of a certain Graeme Poll, I want to state that even when we had eleven players on the field we were distinctly second best to the Gunners. However, I dispute the argument that they deserved the three points, as to me the fact that they were on top for the first half hour means absolutely nothing. So what if we were playing badly up until McAllister's red card? How many times have we seen a team play badly in the first half only to then step up a gear after the break and get back into the game? There's nothing to suggest that that couldn't have happened here, but we were denied that opportunity by the gross incompetence of a man who is supposedly the country's top referee.
My views may be seen by some as sour grapes, but frankly I don't care. Whilst the game was 11 v 11 we had a chance. When McAllister went, that chance pretty much disappeared. Only the mancs would have been capable of going down to ten men and coming back against Arsenal, and even they would have had difficulty. My argument is that no matter how badly a team is playing, they will always have a little spell of pressure during the game, and in my own mind I firmly believe that had Poll not intervened, we would have gotten back into this game. Obviously there's no way of knowing, but it's what I believe.
We could have brought Owen on to partner Heskey and really had a go at them, but that option was taken away from us due to Poll wanting to make a name for himself. Quite frankly, this man makes me sick. He is the most arrogant, self-absorbed match official I think I have ever seen, and such is his sense of his own self-importance that he regularly signs autographs before matches. Anyone would think that people attend matches to him, well he obviously does anyway.
As a result of Poll taking centre stage, it is almost impossible to judge the performance of the team. In the midst of all of the criticism of both the performance and of Houllier's team selection, it appears that some important facts have been overlooked. Firstly, Arsenal are better than us, and just because we have such a good record against them does not mean we are superior to them. After all, Everton are not in the same class as us, yet they have a great derby record of late don't they?
Our task was also made all the more difficult by the Gunners losing their opening match at Sunderland, as you knew they'd come out all ÐgunsŽ blazing as it were. The other thing that worked against us was our impressive record against them. It had to come to an end sometime after all.
The over-reaction from some fellow reds was quite astonishing. I can understand when we are beaten by a team like Bradford or Derby, but this was ARSENAL. There's no disgrace in losing at Highbury, the only disgrace was the performance of the ref. Houllier's decision to leave out Owen also came in for heavy criticism, and I can't say that I'm a big fan of playing one up front, but no-one would have been complaining had we won the game. Then we would have all been lauding our manager's tactical genius. It worked last season at Highbury, Elland Road and to a degree at Old Trafford, and we weren't complaining then. The difference between those games and tonight though, was that there was no Titi Camara. He's the man who makes that system effective, and without him it just isn't the same.
The team just didn't perform for one reason or another, but it's easy being wise after the event and blaming the formation. Barmby and Smicer are tailor made for this system, yet both were anonymous, particularly Smicer. Our best performers were Heskey and Henchoz, with the Swiss defender an absolute giant at the back. Babbel and Traore had a tough time, and will no doubt need a few more games to settle into our defensive set-up, but they'll settle down in a few weeks.
The midfield concerned me at times though, as Hamann and Carragher were dreadful in the opening half. Hamann improved dramatically after the break, and was beginning to dominate the centre of the park before his ludicrous dismissal. Carragher on the other hand looked out of his depth in midfield. And did anyone else notice the way he totally gave up the chase for their second goal? Had he continued to track back he would have been in position to clear the ball before Henry latched onto the rebound. I hope he learns his lesson from that.
TEAM: Sander Westerveld; Markus Babbel, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, Djimi Traore; Nick Barmby, Dietmar Hamann, Gary McAllister, Jamie Carragher, Vladimir Smicer; Emile Heskey: Subs: Michael Owen, Danny Murphy, Erik Meijer
