Maybe the Propellerheads and Shirley Bassey knew their ball, as the kids may or may not say now, in respect to Arsenal's 2022/23 season. "The word is about, there's something evolving. But to me it seems quite clear, that it's all just a little bit of history repeating."
You may be wondering if the introduction above is one of those legendary unfathomable clues on 321, yet it really is just my ham-fisted way of drawing comparisons with Arsenal's forthcoming match at Goodison Park and their Division One fixture at the same ground in January 1989. Because, in certain regards, what is evolving at Arsenal in 2023 does have elements of history repeating itself.
Despite being top of the table, there were still doubts regarding George Graham's young team as 1989 commenced. Falling away in their previous two league campaigns, an exit to West Ham in the FA Cup third round added a few more question marks as the visit to Everton neared. Squad depth was one stick used to beat the team with.
Without Tony Adams and Steve Bould - replaced by David O'Leary and Gus Caesar - there were also big concerns over the fitness of David Rocastle, the drop in form of Michael Thomas, and the lack of match time for Paul Davis in midfield. The latter would make his comeback after 17 matches out - the Glenn Cockerill incident not helping his cause - but a paucity of midfield options seemed a concern.
"Arsenal have no midfielder with first team experience currently playing in the reserves and would be in deep trouble if Paul Davis, Kevin Richardson or Michael Thomas were injured," Pat Sheehan wrote in the Express, with echoes of the current anxiety felt by Arsenal fans towards Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka.
In 1989 Arsenal arrived in Merseyside at the halfway point of their league season, with a significant lead over the reigning champions and perceived biggest threat, having just been knocked out of the FA Cup, with many pondering if the squad had enough experience and depth to end an 18-year wait for the title. Want more? Their manager in 1989 was a former player who had won a trophy in his first season in charge at the club.
Of course, it is not possible to get the perfect historical match. In 1989, Everton were sitting in sixth-place under Colin Harvey's management, and had suffered just two defeats in their last 17 matches in all competitions. Ten points behind leaders Arsenal, the trip to Goodison was seen as a genuine test of Arsenal's ability to go the distance.
One Everton player seemed sure that he had made the right move in choosing Everton over Arsenal in the summer of 1988. Striker Tony Cottee was extremely frank in an interview that appeared in the Mirror prior to the clash, firmly stating his reasons behind his choice of club.
"I chose Everton because I preferred to play alongside Graeme Sharp," Cottee noted. "I rate him a better player than Alan Smith - and that was a big factor in making my decision. I certainly don't regret that decision and I know it was the right one." With Smith on his way to the Golden Boot and Arsenal currently top of the pile, Cottee's words seemed brave/misguided/foolhardy (delete as appropriate).
Although he would miss the match at Everton, skipper Tony Adams was talking up his team's chances. "This season we believe we are more mature and better equipped. The favourite tag is one we will ignore with half the season to go. We are learning to take the mental pressure that goes with being top."
With Adams and Bould absent, there was a certain vulnerability to Arsenal. Caesar was rightly or wrongly still trying to play down his role in the 1988 Littlewoods Cup final, and the defeat to West Ham suggested that there was hope for the chasing pack. But on Saturday January 14, Arsenal would put in a display that convinced many that Graham's young guns were the real deal.
The first half was a cagey affair, with Arsenal understandably cautious. "You have to do the donkey work first to build the platform on which to exhibit your skills," Graham later stated. The only real chance fell to Cottee, who crucially failed to beat Lukic after 19 minutes, much to the amusement of the 4,000 travelling Arsenal contingent.
In fairness, Everton were missing Sharp from their starting XI, yet Arsenal were not without their own concerns at the back. But gradually Richardson and the recalled Davis - in for the out of form Thomas - gained supremacy in midfield against Peter Reid and Paul Bracewell, and Graham's plan to build a platform from which to launch attacks from came to fruition.
It would be in the second half that Arsenal simply blew Everton away, confirming that Harvey's team were nowhere near challenging for the title. In the 47th minute goalkeeper John Lukic threw the ball to right back Lee Dixon - in a similar fashion to that moment across Stanley Park four months later - and a few seconds later the ball was in Neville Southall's net.
Dixon found David Rocastle who fed Paul Merson on the edge of Everton's area. Southall hesitated, before Merson half-volleyed Arsenal into the lead, the 20-year-old jumping on the perimeter fence to celebrate in front of the delirious away fans. "We all agree, Merson is better than Cottee," Arsenal fans sang, a reminder to the fact that Cottee's decision had handed Merson an opportunity to shine. This was his 9th goal in his last 12 matches.
Six minutes later, Rocastle's right wing cross saw Smith double Arsenal's lead with a fine header, and although Lukic saved well from Pat Nevin and Kevin Sheedy, the away team were comfortable. Even more so when former Everton player Richardson finished well from Smith's flick in the 73rd minute. It was Arsenal's 29th goal in 12 league matches away from home.
For Richardson, Arsenal's display brought back happy memories of his time at Everton. "It is a tremendous feeling playing in this team. It's like history repeating itself. The team, the pattern, the balance and the tactics are so similar to the way Everton played in 1984, 85 and 86." Everton may have claimed a scrambled consolation through Neil McDonald, but it did little to dampen Arsenal enthusiasm.
"We're gonna win the league," echoed from the away end, with enough conviction to make anyone associated with Arsenal actually believe it. "We won with such style the Everton fans clapped us off and they know their stuff," Richardson revealed. "It was a tremendous gesture."
Graham tried to play down the win - "all we got for beating Everton was three points" - but with Norwich and Millwall losing (maybe the past is a foreign country after all), and Liverpool drawing at Sheffield Wednesday, Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the table. Come Monday, the press were declaring Arsenal as champions elect.
"Arsenal's embrace on the title now appears so tight that only powerful machinery looks likely to unglue it," Stephen Bierley wrote in the Guardian. The Times' Peter Ball stated that "The display had the hallmarks of champions stamped on it." Colin Gibson in the Telegraph: "Half of Merseyside conceded the League Championship race at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon."
Subsequent Graham teams were accused of being boring, but the 88/89 vintage were often thrilling to watch, especially away from home. The Everton display was one such example. "It was a hard, clean, destructive performance that, barring total misadventure, announced the title is coming to Highbury," James Lawton justifiably declared in the Express.
Calling a title race too early is ever wise, though. "There are two fundamental rules in life," Bierley wrote in his match report. "Never have yourself tattooed with any woman's or man's name, not even the initials. And never tip any team for the Championship in January."
Football fans are generally wary of getting ahead of themselves. As soon as you start to believe then realism often drowns out the hope. Arsenal suffered a winter wobble, as their end of season video labelled it. Liverpool began to pull Graham's men back, and in a season enveloped in tragedy, it would take a dramatic two-goal win on Merseyside to win Arsenal's first title in a generation.
But it is wins like Arsenal's at Everton in 1989 that enable teams to believe that they can claim the title. Everton away in 2023 may not be as big a test as 1989, but if Arsenal can resist any new manager bounce then a win at Goodison Park on Saturday could be belief affirming moment in what could be another season to remember.
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