Report by John Gallagher at Highbury

Well, thank God that's all over. The curtain has finally drawn on what was a totally miserable season away from home for the Reds, and I for one am not sorry to see the back of it.

True to form we went out with a defeat, one which has given us the worst away record in a league season since the dark days of Souness in 1992-93.

The miserable form can be summed up by the fact that we didn't beat any of the top half teams on our travels all season. Victories over Fulham, West Brom, Norwich, Charlton and Portsmouth are all we have to show for an entire season.

I really can't fathom why a team which has looked so good playing at
Anfield can look like a bunch of strangers when we play on the road.

It has really baffled me all season and I am sure Rafa must be exactly the same, although I hope not as it's him that needs to solve the problem.

I can honestly say hand on heart that this season I have witnessed some of the worst performances from a Liverpool side ever since I started following the side.

Birmingham away is the main one which sticks in my mind, but having said that I have also seen some of the best performances in years as well.

Arsenal at home with a really under-strength team was fantastic, whilst Juventus and Chelsea in the CL proved we aren't that far away. Consistency is what we have to improve on next season.

Due to our abysmal away form we have been playing catch up with Everton all season and have never got a consistent run of form going at any stage. We have had chances to close the gap on them (particularly since January) and after the derby in March it was there for the taking, but we then contrived to start dropping silly points at home as well as away.

This has been the most inconsistent season I can ever remember.

It was a surreal atmosphere at Highbury. Considering we barely put up a fight in the first half the fans were excellent all the way through, singing Istanbul songs all the way through and taunting Arsenal fans on their lack of European Cups which is always fun to do when you go to Highbury.

They were trying to give as good as they got with 'Everton, Champions League' chants. Our singing 'Chelsea Rent Boy' to Ashley Cole brought the same response from them to a certain number 8 of ours.

The banter between the fans was really good throughout the game and our fans gave as good as they got, which sadly is more than can be said for the team, particularly in the first half.

It seemed to me from my vantage point (which was pitch level) that our players were not going into challenges whole heartedly. This was possibly due to having the final on their minds, but it didn't stop Arsenal's players having a go and they have their own final to contend with before we have ours.

Okay the F.A.Cup isn't as big as the European Cup but they are
playing their most hated rivals (maybe Spurs apart) and it is both clubs last chance of salvaging some silverware for the season.

Players from both sides are obviously playing for final places, but you wouldn't have known it after watching us in the first half.

Riise, Traore and Baros had what can only be described as shockers in the first half, and Arsenal were too good for us with their quick one touch passing.

They had had a couple of great chances before they eventually took the lead through a Pires free-kick in which Dudek's positioning was at
fault. He was too far over to one side for my liking.

They made it 2-0 not long after when Reyes finished calmly after good work on the left hand side, but our defence parted far too easily.

When Arsenal are on their game they are still the best team to watch in my opinion, despite what the media say about the mob from west London.

Rafa inevitably made changes in the second half bringing Cisse on for the ineffective Baros and Kewell on for Riise.

We looked a much better team in the second half as Gerrard slowly began to dictate things and get on the ball a bit more. I am not Harry Kewells biggest fan (massive understatement), but to be fair
he did okay when he came on.

Cisse looked dangerous also and got in some good positions but seems to want to shoot on sight all the time and he needs to think about things a bit more when he has the ball. He has done
remarkably well to come back from that sickening injury and his work-rate (which wasn't great before his injury) is beyond reproach at the moment.

We had a flurry of chances in the second half with Garcia - who was in and out all afternoon - and Sami both going very close.

Alonso didn't really get in to the game at all and his passing was
unusually a bit wayward at times, and the game seemed a bit too quick for Didi. Still, Didi will be absolutely massive for us in the final.

Gerrard got us back into the game with a free-kick which took a wicked deflection to take it past the dive of the dodgy Lehmann.
We were looking the better side at that point in the second half and had we made it 2-2 in that spell I would have been confident of us going on to win the game.

Graham Poll was typically infuriating through the game, especially in two cases when Arsenal were forced in to back passes which Lehmann picked up but he didn't give anything both times.

Arsenal made sure of the points late on when the excellent Fabregas (who was class throughout) made it 3-1 after some quick interplay in our box.

I was gutted after the game as it finally became reality that Everton had
finished above us. Still, as Steve Horton texted me after the game he wouldn't swap the final for 4th place.

They are lording it over us at this moment and you would think they had won the quadruple by the way they were acting on County Road after they beat Newcastle, but I am very confident that next season they won't see us for dust.

Hopefully the cockroaches will go back into the holes where they came from when we are doing a tour around the city with the big number five in three weeks time and nomal service will be resumed next season.

Come on Reds, this is the biggest game of your lives and most of our lives. Go and win it for us.

Team: Dudek; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore; Garcia, Hamann (Smicer), Gerrard, Biscan, Riise (Kewell); Baros (Cisse):

Agree or disagree? Email me at johng@liverpoolway.co.uk

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I'd just like to say a big thank you to John for all his work this season, both selling the fanzine and doing reports. It's been a wretched year away from home, and John has been there through it all.

From the coach windscreen getting smashed in at Millwall to breaking down after Sunday's defeat at Highbury, John's had some pretty depressing away days, but hopefully he'll be repaid in a few weeks by Gerrard lifting number five in Istanbul. - Dave