Everton manager was left stunned at record defeat after team 'went on the drink' in celebration
The last time Everton suffered a heavier defeat than the 6-0 drubbing to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, their shell-shocked manager’s press conference was restricted to a paltry 44 words.
Having secured Champions League qualification for the only time in the club’s history to date, clinching a fourth-place finish above neighbours and eventual competition winners Liverpool, the Blues seemed to play like their players had perhaps partied a bit too hard when they went to Highbury to face Arsenal in their penultimate fixture of the season. Just a year earlier, Arsene Wenger’s side had become the first English champions to complete a top flight season unbeaten since Preston North End in the inaugural 1888/89 campaign while David Moyes men finished a lowly 17th with just 39 points – the club’s lowest ever equivalent total at the time but when they met on Wednesday May 11, 2005, just two places separated the sides.
The action did not end up like a typical second-versus-fourth contest though as the outgoing champions, who would finish a dozen points shy of Jose Mourinho’s title-winning Chelsea, took full advantage of Everton taking their foot off the pedal. The Gunners blasted in seven goals with half a dozen different scorers as Robert Pires bagged a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Robin Van Persie, Patrick Vieira, Edu (penalty), Dennis Bergkamp and Matthieu Flamini.
Moyes dutifully turned up for the post-match press conference but perhaps unsurprisingly the Scot was not in a particularly chatty mood. Speaking in what was described as a “trembling voice”, he said: “I am embarrassed by tonight’s performance. It has been a great week for Everton Football Club and I have no criticism of the players.
“But tonight as a
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