Tuesday 20 December 2011

Match Report: Everton 1-1 Norwich

Same old, same old.

Everton's latest home encounter, Saturday's visit of Norwich City, was depressingly predictable. Dominate for 20 minutes, fail to score, concede a twat of a goal from a set-piece, end up chasing the game. Thank goodness for Royston Drenthe, whose introduction from the bench was the key factor in Everton grabbing a point from this one.

David Moyes' Team Selection Tombola saw Magaye Gueye and Leon Osman come in for the injured Seamus Coleman and dropped Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. Drenthe returned to the bench, where Conor McAleny was preferred to Apostolos Vellios. Tim Cahill and Louis Saha continued in 'attack'.

It's becoming a broken record but we are utterly impotent up front. On Saturday, Saha at least looked half-likely to score - forcing a couple of saves out of the excellent John Ruddy and going inches wide with a first half turn and shot - but Cahill might as well have not been there. The Australian is in an absolutely horrible run of form. He's adding nothing to the team and is snatching at everything he does - be it a half chance like the one laid onto him by Phil Neville in the first 10 minutes, or simply controlling the ball to hold play up. It's looking increasingly like he would benefit from a run as an impact substitute - he was certainly more effective in that role in the wins against Fulham and Blackburn earlier in the season. At the moment, his selection simply isn't working.

So to the game - and as mentioned above, the first 20 minutes was completely one sided. Gueye looked lively, linking well with Baines a few times, but the full-back's delivery was slightly erratic in spells. Fellaini had the first half chance - his shot well smothered by Ruddy - and Osman saw his effort cleared off the line by Russell Martin. Everton were well on top, Tim Howard again with nothing to do -  and then, as ever, the opposition score with their first attack. Heitinga gave away a daft free kick, needlessly pulling back Wes Hoolahan, which was lofted into the box. Jagielka made a hash of the header away, and as the ball was prodded back into the box it was controlled by Grant Holt. Heitinga made a powder puff challenge, Tony Hibbert also hesitated slightly, and Holt spun and knocked the ball in off the far post. Bollocks.

The remainder of the first half was slightly laboured and Norwich grew into the game more. Saha had a couple of snapshots - one agonisingly close - but the goal clearly knocked the home side's confidence (again). That's another issue we have at the moment - previous Moyes sides would have just pulled their socks up and gone and got two goals, especially against limited opposition. If this Everton doesn't score early - and we rarely do - they look nervous all game.
No changes at half time, and the second half reverted to type - almost constant Everton pressure, with Norwich breaking when they could as the blues committed men forward. Osman saw a couple of shots well saved by Ruddy and Saha should have done better with a near post header, but the game changed when Moyes introduced his substitutes - first, Denis Stracqualursi replaced Cahill on 60 minutes, then Drenthe for Gueye on 70. Stracqualursi was involved straight away, winning a good header to set Saha through - again Ruddy saved well. The big Argentine has been a bit of a figure of fun this season, but his performance was vastly improved on Saturday. He is still suspect on the floor, but in the air he was strong, aggressive and dominant, against a centre half pairing who had barely been challenged by Cahill. He deserves the praise given to him after the game by Phil Neville, and hopefully can continue to improve.

Drenthe was the real spark, however, and as soon as he came on Everton looked more 'at it'. His speed and skill make him our most potent attacking player and, even if there has been a spat with Moyes, he has to play against Swansea. We just look 100% more likely to score when he's on, and the equaliser duly came, with the Dutchman playing a big part. A decent passing move fed Drenthe on the right. He skinned his full-back, cutting in on his left foot, and shot at goal. The shot was somewhat scuffed, but Leon Osman reacted quickly to redirect it past Ruddy. Nine minutes left, game on.

As an aside, an unnoticed part of the goal was the role of Tony Hibbert, who made a great overlapping run to give Drenthe the space to go at his man. Hibbert's attitude was an example to everyone on Saturday - more than once he took responsibility and carried the ball deep into Norwich's half, trying to keep the ball on the ground too. He even had a half chance after Osman and Baines worked well down the flank, but mis-hit his left-foot shot.

There was only one team looking for the winner after that - Drenthe stung Ruddy's palms with one rising drive, then bamboozled the keeper with a howitzer of a shot which Ruddy somehow blocked up over the bar. A great tackle by Tierney denied Stracqualursi as he bundled through, and McAleny - on as a late sub for Saha - snatched at two late chances. In the end, though, Everton just ran out of time.

When you look at the stats for the game - Everton had 26 shots, for example - it's clear that the Toffees were the dominant side. A home draw against Norwich just isn't good enough, though. Let's be honest, they were rubbish - a limited side with a good attitude and two big forwards who fought for everything - and you have to put those teams away. QPR, Stoke, Norwich at home - 1 point. Crap.

The Swansea game on Wednesday is now absolutely massive. Everton simply have to win, or face the prospect of being right in the dogfight to avoid relegation. Drenthe will surely start and be key to this, and Moyes has a big decision to make in attack, as to whether he perseveres with Cahill. He is well paid to make such decisions, and at the moment - despite the arguments and counter-arguments on the club's finances - both he and his playing staff are under-achieving. This needs to stop, quickly, or there could be some really tricky times ahead.

calcioEFC


Everton - Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Jagielka, Heitinga, OsmanNeville, Fellaini, Gueye, Cahill, Saha
.
Subs - Mucha, Distin, Bilyaletdinov, Stracqualursi, DrentheRodwell, McAleny


MOTM - Hibbert, just, from Osman and Drenthe.

Monday 12 December 2011

Match Report: Arsenal 1-0 Everton

In reality, Everton's defeat at the Emirates told us very little we didn't know, on the playing side.
 
Defensively, we're not too bad. We have a lot of decent, experienced cover and our goalkeeper, back four and defensive midfield are more than good enough to be at the top end of the league. Unfortunately, we are woefully short when it comes to creative and attacking options - and we're certainly lacking the sort of player who can produce the bit of magic that settled this game.
 
Saturday's game, taken in isolation, isn't too much of a reason to worry. It was pretty dull for the most part, Everton looking comfortable and organised, and looked to be petering out to a 0-0 until Robin Van Persie struck an absolute blinder past Tim Howard on 70 minutes. Of far more concern are some of the tactical decisions being made, however, and we also got a prime example of one of them on Saturday.
 
Now, I am no Premier League manager and there is no way I could have performed the great job David Moyes has done with Everton since 2002. At the moment, however, some of his decisions are baffling, and the one to switch Saha for Distin on Saturday was a real head-scratcher. You can understand part of it - Moyes clearly wanted Fellaini further forward to try to hold the ball better and Saha was, to put it politely, 'quiet' - but why not, for example, put Vellios or McAleny on and just switch Fellaini and Cahill? As it was, we broke up the centre halves, ended up with Heitinga (Everton's best player on the day, along with Tony Hibbert) and Neville in midfield, and no real attacking options if, as happened, Arsenal pinched one.
 
It all just seemed a bit unnecessary and ultra-defensive, coming so early in the half. It also seemed partly just to be a way to shoe-horn Distin back into the fold, and there was just no need. The big Frenchman knows he's got to win his place back, but Jagielka and Heitinga have looked good as a partnership recently. Moyes is clearly in one of those periods, which seem to happen every season, where he doesn't know his best team and tries to keep things tight until he figures out what it is. All very frustrating.
 
The game itself was, in the main, pretty awful, but that suited Everton. Arsenal made a couple of incisive breaks first half - Tony Hibbert did brilliantly, twice, to deny Gervinho, Howard saved well from the same player and Aaron Ramsay shot over when well placed. Everton offered little going forward in the first half - a couple of Saha pot-shots the sum of their efforts - but improved second. First, Vermaelen just got in front of Cahill after Baines whipped in a beautiful cross, then Phil Neville shot onto the roof of the net after Coleman broke forward. In between, Howard again saved well from the lively Theo Walcott.
 
Everton were having more of the ball at this stage, but the substitution meant that the midfield was sitting far too deep when we were defending. When Alex Song, therefore, picked the ball up just inside the Everton half, we sat off too much and allowed him to chip a ball over the top. Van Persie, who had a yard on Jagielka for the first time really, smashed an absolutely beautiful volley past Howard and in off the post. The American didn't even have time to move - it was a world class goal.
 
After that, Moyes did ring the changes with Gueye and McAleny coming on, and both looked bright and had half chances to score. McAleny, in particular, is different to anything we have up front at the moment and went very close with a last minute half volley. These are the sort of players that are going to have to be involved more, given the paucity of striking options we have. Again you can understand Moyes's desire to protect them, but it would be nice to see half hour, rather than ten minute, appearances, and a chance for players to get into the game.
 
Everton now face two massive games before Christmas, at home to Norwich and Swansea. We have to pick up points from both, otherwise the new year could be a long, hard slog. This may force the manager into some difficult decisions - how long can Tim Cahill be allowed to be a non-scoring striker for example? He has to be bold enough to make them.
 
calcioEFC
 
 
Everton - Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Jagielka, Heitinga, Coleman, Neville, Fellaini, Bilyaletdinov, Cahill, Saha.
Subs - Mucha, Distin, Barkley, Stracqualursi, Gueye, Vellios, McAleny
 
MOTM - Heitinga.

Monday 5 December 2011

Match Report: Everton 0-1 Stoke City


 
Let's get the good points from Sunday out of the way first - the pre-match tribute to Gary Speed was, as always with Everton in these situations - superbly done. I'm sure few will forget the images of the teams walking out to the Welsh national anthem, in almost total silence, and the sight of Speed's father on the pitch, looking utterly destroyed by it all but full of appreciation for what Everton were doing. Well done to all involved at the club.
 
Unfortunately, whilst that tribute was a fitting one, the subsequent 90 minutes were anything but.
 
Everton were awful. Truly, truly dire. It's not like we were beaten by a better team, or one who dominated possession. We weren't outdone by a tactical masterstroke from Stoke's coaching team. We can't blame bad luck or a dodgy refereeing decision - though the continued presence of the hopeless Lee Mason refereeing top flight matches is baffling, to say the least. Everton were just so mind-numbingly predictable when trying to create chances that Stoke never looked under any danger of conceding. Dreadful stuff.
 
David Moyes wasn't helped by Louis Saha - again - picking up a 'not serious' injury which ruled him out. His options were further limited by the continued absence of Royston Drenthe. Now, whatever you think of either player - and Saha's mystery injuries are, putting it nicely, beginning to wear a bit thin - both have that little extra spark of something which is needed to influence games like this. Without them, the game was going to be a grind, and that's exactly what it was. 
 
Apostolos Vellios replaced Saha and it is easy to see why Moyes has been reluctant to start the young striker. His effort was fine, he looked to come and lay the ball off to get moves going, but against a fit, disciplined defence like Stoke's he was too often simply out of the game. This is understandable given his inexperience - hopefully he will benefit from it and learn from the game - but Vellios's strength at the moment seems to be exploiting tired defences as a substitute. Despite the frustration that comes with him, we need Saha fit and quickly.
 
It's unfair to single out Vellios as there were much more experienced players than him who just didn't turn up on Sunday. The likes of Cahill, Osman and Bilyaletdinov have to take more responsibility in games like this. Cahill in particular is in a bad run of form - he's snatching at chances, trying to over-compensate all the time and desperately needs a goal to try to kick start him. At the moment, however, it doesn't look like happening.
 
Of course, Cahill's job is made harder by our constant struggle to create anything from midfield. In fact, it's hard trying to think of any Everton chances worth mentioning. Gone were the low, whipped crosses we saw in the second half against Bolton, and in came a load of hopeful, high, aimless loops into the box, which Stoke's team of grocks happily smacked to safety. Bilyaletdinov miscued an early half volley which he should have done better with, Fellaini flicked a header wide on half time and substitute Jack Rodwell should have probably scored in a second half goalmouth scramble. That was about it. Whilst some players - Jagielka, Heitinga, Baines and Fellaini - kept at least trying to drive us forward (the centre halves deserve credit for trying to step in and play the ball to feet as much as possible), others hid a little bit. We cannot afford for even a single player to do that.
 
Stoke, for their part, came for 0-0 and hoped for a break. They got it on 15 minutes. Leighton Baines - who was willing as ever going forward but had a bad game defensively by his high standards - made a complete hash of a clearance which led to a Stoke corner. The kick was half headed away but no-one had picked up Dean Whitehead on he edge of the box. He fired the ball back in, and Robert Huth diverted it past an unsighted Howard. From there, it was all-out defence and spoiling tactics from Tony Pulis' men - not that you can blame them - and Everton simply didn't have the guile to break them down. It is the sort of game where we desperately miss someone like Steven Pienaar, who can just slip a pass round the corner to create a chance. I'm sure Moyes knows this, but a playmaker and a striker are essential if the supposed January signings are going to materialise.
 
Moyes now has a big job in getting the players ready for a trip to an in-form Arsenal side. You get the feeling already that there will be changes - I'd be very surprised if Phil Neville didn't come back into the side - but any repeat of this performance and we will get absolutely battered.
 
Utter rubbish.
 
 
calcioEFC
 
 
Everton - Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Jagielka, Heitinga, Coleman, Osman, Fellaini, Bilyaletdinov, Cahill, Vellios.
Subs - Mucha, Distin, Neville, Rodwell, Barkley, Stracqualursi, Gueye
 
MOTM - Jagielka.

Friday 2 December 2011

Stoke Preview


 
You imagine that the majority of the build up to Sunday's game will be dominated by mention of Gary Speed - there is talk of a presentation by former players and the like, and the club normally do this sort of thing superbly - but make no mistake, the visit of Stoke City remains an important game for David Moyes' Everton.
 
Despite the money they've spent, Stoke remain absolutely horrible. They come to this game on the back of an important win against the useless Blackburn Rovers, but parts of that game were the worst kind of Sunday League shite. It's simple - they will come to Goodison and look to smack long balls at some carthorse like Peter Crouch or Kenwyne Jones, play for set pieces and try to exploit the long throw of Rory Delap. You know what's coming, Everton - deal with it.
 
That said, the Toffees aren't doing too badly at the moment either. Two wins on the spin and confidence should be high heading into this one. It would be a surprise if Moyes went with anything other than the team which started at Bolton - the one possibility could be Sylvain Distin returning in defence to add that extra bit of height. If we stand up to Stoke, and keep an eye on the good players they do have, such as Etherington and Walters, we should get the result. As a simplistic example, Fellaini and Osman should not fear a midfield of Delap and Glen Whelan. A lot will also depend on players who have, in the past, been questionable in the more 'rough and ready' games - like Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and, most importantly, Louis Saha - he's got to be willing to battle Stoke's mutant back four and hold the ball up for our midfield runners.
 
This game's all about attitude - if we're tough, a third consecutive win is there for the taking. If we're not, we risk a repeat of the horror show on New Year's Day at the Britannia.
 
Over to you, Everton.
 
Last 5 at home to Stoke:
 
Oct 2010Everton 1-0 Stoke (FAPL) - Fresh from a comfortable derby win, Everton survive Stoke's alehouse attack and secure the points thanks to a beauty from Yakubu - it was to be the big smiley hunk's last for the club.
 
Oct 2009Everton 1-1 Stoke (FAPL) - Everton's stuttering start to the season continues, as despite having the better of the game they fall behind to a Robert Huth goal. Leon Osman quickly equalises, bending an absolutely sublime shot into the top corner, but the Toffees fail to find a winner.
 
Mar 2009Everton 3-1 Stoke (FAPL) - With a Wembley appearance on the horizon, Everton comfortably see off the Potters thanks to goals from Jo, Joleon Lescott and the newly dreadlocked Marouane Fellaini.
 
Nov 1984Everton 4-0 Stoke (Div 1) - Howard Kendall's title chasers are in a blistering run of form, and dispatch of the soon-to-be-relegated Stoke with goals from Adrian Heath (2), Trevor Steven and a rare Peter Reid effort.
 
Aug 1983Everton 1-0 Stoke (Div 1) - With barely a hint of what was to come over the next two years, Kendall's emerging team start the season with a battling 1-0 victory courtesy of young striker Graeme Sharp.
 
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