After a heavy Friday night the prospect of a midday kick off at Elland Road didn’t really make me quiver with excitement. The traffic can be a real pain in the arse as you get close to Leeds’ ground so an early dart is always the best policy, but three hours earlier than normal is a killer. It’s amazing though, when the alarm clock rings and your getting out of bed to watch the reds, how much easier it is to rise from the pit than it is when you’ve got to go to work. Quick shower, something to eat and on the road for nine.
There was mixed feelings in the car on the way. I felt that this was a toughie but fancied the draw. Some thought we’d piss it and some thought we couldn’t maintain the excellent away form we’ve had so far. There was a lot of debate as to who would play, whether Heskey would make the team or if he wasn’t fit, plus the general bad feeling towards international weeks that the loss of Gerrard had forced upon us. We all agreed that losing Stevie was a major loss coming at such a crucial fixture.
No problems getting to the ground and getting parked up. Headed for the ‘Old Peacock’ which was shut (that’s the problem with these early kick-offs) and had to wait outside until the doors opened. We realised then how fucking cold it was and we were glad to get inside for a couple of beers. ‘The Old Peacock’- like stepping back in time I’ll tell you. Don’t know whether that place was more like the Star Wars bar or like the local boozer at Royston Vasey but I’m not gonna elaborate. Let’s just say the scruffiest Reds could have gone in there and looked like aristocracy – and I’m not joking.
Left the pub (wiped me feet on the way out) and got into the ground. Seats right at the front which does your head in. Alright for watching goal mouth action but crap for actually taking in the movement of the whole game. Anyway, we were certainly at the best end.
Well, what can I say. I thought we controlled the ball throughout the game without actually making any real chances. Some of the passing was excellent but we failed to achieve any cut and thrust in the final third. I thought Diouf and Baros were very good (got a real good view of these two in the first half with being so near the touchline), Diouf was a great outlet down the right and some of his ball control, watching from close up, was breathtaking. Baros was getting shoved and pulled by Lukic and Woodgate but still made some great runs and he was immensely strong on the ball. Murphy had a good chance to put us ahead and played well in the first half. Leeds, it must be said, had the better chances without ever looking like they were dominating play. I thought it was a kind of reversal of the Chelsea game – the team that looked less in control of the game made the better chances for themselves. I must say though, I do find it harder to read the game when you’re so close to the pitch.
The Leeds crowd were positively dead. We were magnificent. There was a lot of hungover lads but the singing was superb (‘Anfield road’ and ‘Scouser tommy’ the order of the day). Half time came and some local school kids sang a song about racism (it was ‘Kick racism out’ day). The kids that sang to the red fans were given a great reception (as usual) and were clapped and cheered off.
Second half saw some great incidents. The main one that sticks out in my head was the stick Bowyer got. He was getting the odd boo and smart comments thrown at him but nothing really to write home about until he went in with that ridiculous tackle on Cheyrou. There was no need for it. Then the weasel faced little rat decided to try and have a bit of afters! This, of course, ignited the whole situation and he made himself more of a target. He was baited with chants of ‘You’re not fit to be in Red’ and (brilliant on ‘Kick racism out day’) ‘There’s only one racist bastard’ and I’ll tell you – ‘cos I was close enough to see his face – the little bastard couldn’t handle it. It turned his already poor performance into an even worse one. I was looking at the Leeds fans faces to my left and, to be honest (and to their credit), they looked a little embarrassed by Bowyer. There was only sporadic support for his actions and it seemed to me that they didn’t really know how to interact with him. You could tell they felt a level of hypocrisy in giving the racist contract rebel any support. Thank God we didn’t buy him because his current form is diabolical.
The second major incident was Kewell’s miss. I couldn’t believe it. He did everything right when he received the ball, made the space for himself and well…missed. Worse than Rosenthal’s I reckon. Must have been hard looking at all those laughing faces behind the goal giving him the circle sign. Heh heh.
Then the goal. Diao had been excellent and seems to have got to grips with the English game pretty quickly. He likes to tackle and covered a lot of ground throughout the game. Short, snappy passer and reads the game well. He tired a little in the last quarter but the lad hasn’t got many full games under his belt in recent months so that will come. I was made up for Diouf because it was great cross and the assist will do him no harm whatsoever. The ball hit the back of the net and we went delirious. I just couldn’t see Leeds scoring after that, apart from the Kewell miss they really didn’t create much at all.
Hamann was absolutely brilliant and, for me, was man of the match. I thought Carra and Sami had great games and Dudek was stunning as ever. Traore and Cheyrou weren’t great and I thought Houllier might have given Smicer a run because Cheyrou looked exhausted for the last half hour.
The final whistle went and another job done. The Leeds fans had been filtering out for the last ten minutes and looked positively gutted. I must admit, I didn’t hear any ‘O’leary’ songs – but I hardly heard a peep out of the Leeds fans all day. They were very quiet and seem totally pissed off at the whole situation. The loudest cheer was the introduction of Dacourt and the loudest noise was the booing at the final whistle.
Then to cap the day off – a full afternoon and evening of great football results and great beer. Rooney did us a favour against Arsenal (still hard to cheer them winning though) and United dropped more points (their illusion of greatness is subsiding more game by game). The blue boys came in the pub later in the evening absolutely delirious and you’d swear they’d won the league. If we carry on the way we’ve started – we’re the ones who’ll be dancing in the streets in May.