Wednesday 2nd April, 8:00pm
Liverpool @ 5/13
Everton @ 15/2
Draw @ 15/4
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Originally released as a B-side in 1989, Mersey Paradise became a fan favourite and live staple for The Stone Roses over the course of their lauded but frustratingly sporadic career.
Musically, the song captures the near-mythical swagger that characterises their early work, finessed by a few reverential Beatles-esque flourishes. Lyrically, though, it is unusual and enigmatic – could the title be ironic? – in the second verse, for example, singer Ian Brown visualises himself turning into a fish and swimming among the bricks and rusty tin that fill the famous River Mersey.
As the world of Premier League football sees its focus flow towards Liverpool this week, ahead of the final Merseyside Derby of the 2024/25 season on Wednesday night, feelings of ambivalence and uncertainty are set to overshadow this meeting too; with perhaps more than one player, despite having great affection for the city, visualising himself as something of a big fish in a small, murky tract of water.
Swirling currents of speculation specifically surround local talent Trent Alexander-Arnold, who appears to be heading off to Madrid on a free transfer at the end of the season.
How will he now be treated by the home fans? As a departing hero who has served his battalion well for almost 20 years? Or as an ungrateful traitor to be serenaded by bitter song – Hey Judas, perhaps? – from the terraces?
“Talk of multiple trophies has quickly been replaced with talk of multiple player exits and necessary squad renovations. ”
But when the fabled white shirts of Real Madrid propose an offer is there anything else you can do but hoist a white flag in return and surrender to their advances? Would it be loyalty or stupidity to spurn the chance to play alongside Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Júnior – to be held aloft as a Galáctico?
Only a few ever successfully transcend to this pantheon, however. Another once-acclaimed defender who made the switch, Jonathan Woodgate, can regale a less than epic tale of his time at the Bernabéu.
As the examination of free will, worship, and idolatry continues in the coming weeks – and Alexander-Arnold resists the comforting, tidal pull of the Mersey – one wonders if he, too, will one day come to mourn the personal poetry of a paradise lost?
And in this post-PSG defeat, post-Carabao Cup collapse landscape, it won’t just be one player that feels an odd sense of unease. Despite a surely insurmountable lead at the summit of the Premier League table, Liverpool’s collective momentum has wilted. Talk of multiple trophies has quickly been replaced with talk of multiple player exits and necessary squad renovations.
Can Everton harness this incoming wave of uncertainty at Anfield? The form guide suggests they have sufficient reasons to be hopeful – David Moyes’ side are unbeaten in 9 and have extracted 17 points from their last 10 Premier League games. The distance between Everton and the relegation zone, for this stage of the season, is unusually comfortable.
Losing key striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin to injury, conversely, has led to a swelling xG; and a rejuvenated Beto, buttressed by Jack Harrison, has aroused Everton’s attacking potency.
Though 14 places separate the two sides in the Premier League table, the sense of optimism seems greater with the outfit occupying the much lower strata. The second coming of David Moyes has led to the desired resurrection of both form and mood.
So, as Everton prepare to take down all their old Dixie Dean posters, and fill a few hundred large cardboard boxes with unsold copies of Leon Osman’s autobiography, ahead of their big move at the end of the season; one wonders if they can go on to make Bramley Moore Dock a temple for this a new-found feeling of hope – make it their very own Mersey Paradise?
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