West Brom 0 Everton 2

After the madness of previous games, Everton’s first win of the season was refreshingly comfortable.

If you’d put together a wish-list for Saturday’s game, it probably would have read ‘comfortable win, clean sheet, Lukaku getting off the mark’. All duly arrived and, just in case that was not enough, we were all then treated to Paul Lambert and his Dean Army storming Slytherin House and taking back three points. Magic.

There was just one change to the line-up which started the Chelsea game, with John Stones replacing the injured Sylvain Distin. The big Frenchman apparently has a dead leg, and it’s clear, from the way Roberto Martinez has spoken about injuries such as the ones to him and others, that the manager is taking no risks, even on slight knocks. Given the cover we now have within the squad, it’s a smart move given the heavy upcoming fixture list. On the West Brom side, neither Anichebe or Lescott made the side – all those booing slacks, ironed for nothing.

One who was a doubt for Saturday was Lukaku, but he justified his inclusion straight away. Within two minutes, Barry fed Naismith who worked the ball out to Baines. He played a slightly wayward ball inside, but, fortunately, Metallica roadie Jonas Olsson played it straight back to Lukaku. The big Belgian, 20 yards out and on his wrong foot, took one touch and bent a beautiful swerving shot into the far corner. Get in.

When Lukaku doesn’t have to think like that you get a real glimpse of his potential. There is so much talent in there, and let’s hope this is the start of a good scoring run. He looked fitter and stronger again, and gave Olsson – who got a ton of stick from the home crowd – a torrid time before being replaced by Leon Osman after the second goal.

The rest of the first half was quite bitty – Everton certainly were not at their most fluent and struggled to get players like Aiden McGeady and Steven Naismith in the game. Fortunately, though, West Brom are absolutely crap and you never really felt they would score. All eyes were on the central defence, and there were a couple of nervous moments as the home side tried to press high up the pitch and throw high balls in, but in general things were much improved. Both Jagielka and Howard had much more assured games, and Stones was his usual ultra-calm self. He made the only really important defensive intervention of the first half, blocking well when the ball dropped to Saido Berahino, as other than that Howard did not have a save to make.

Everton ended the half on the front foot again – Mirallas sent a booming shot just over the bar – but overall there was room for improvement in the second period. A bit more control and attacking zip needed.

Thankfully, Martinez clearly got the message across and the Toffees looked much more ‘at-it’ after the break. Baines and Coleman pushed forward more, Naismith and McGeady were far more involved and Kevin Mirallas in particular was excellent. The West Brom defence were terrified of the Belgian’s pace and trickery, with ex-kopite no-mark Andre Wisdom not getting near him all half. With West Brom offering nothing in attack, you felt a second was a matter of when, rather than if.

In fact it should have come earlier than it did. Lukaku again ran at and skinned Olsson before sending a powerful drive on goal. Ben Foster made a good one-handed save, and the ball dropped to Naismith, unmarked, 10 yards out. Unfortunately though, the normally clinical Scot had slightly overrun the ball, and it crashed off his shin and over the bar. Incidentally, the TV replay of it is brilliant – 3,000 travelling Evertonians, perfectly in sync, hands-on-head in disbelief.

West Brom failed to heed the warning though. Shortly after Howard’s first meaningful action – bravely blocking a Wisdom cross at the feet of the truly rubbish Brown Ideye – the second goal arrived. Mirallas and Baines worked down the left, and Mirallas cut in and hit the ball with his right foot. He scuffed it a bit, straight at Foster, who obligingly dived straight over it. 2-0 and, despite Everton’s frailties when ahead this season, game over.

The only real question from there was whether Everton would add another goal or two. After the second Martinez immediately replaced Lukaku, presumably to rest him up. His replacement, Leon Osman, produced an excellent cameo, and his deflected shot forced a good save from Foster. Aiden McGeady – much improved second half – also fizzed a drive just wide, before he was also replaced by Muhamed Besic. He also impressed – possibly as a reaction to his mistake against Chelsea, he seemed determined to get involved, keep things simple and get the ball moving. It was a promising glimpse of what the Bosnian will offer in games to come.

Besic was heavily involved in the best move of the match, almost leading to the third goal Everton deserved. A cracking passing move also involving Mirallas, Osman and Baines led to the full-back breaking down the left. His ball inside was back-heeled by Mirallas to the onrushing Osman, who cracked in a shot first time. Just as Evertonian lips mouthed the word ‘Larissa’, Foster intervened with his best save of the match. Would have been a cracker.

Everton saw out the game very comfortably with few scares – one superb recovering block from Stones and, in the last minute, a wayward McCarthy backpass led to Howard making a brilliant double save – and fully deserved their first win of the season. It’s a most welcome three points and, despite the limitations of the opposition, stands us in good stead going into Thursday’s game against Wolfsburg.

Goodison under lights for a European game after a ‘Singing the Blues’ weekend – you can’t help but be excited for that.

Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Stones, Baines, McCarthy, Barry, Mirallas, Naismith, McGeady, Lukaku.

Subs: Robles, Alcaraz, Besic (McGeady 88), Osman (Lukaku 68), Gibson, Atsu, Garbutt.

Goals – Lukaku (2), Mirallas (66)

MOM – Mirallas

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West Brom (A) Preview

Everton are back – well nearly. The international week at the start of the season always seems to take an age, and it comes at a crap time too – the season’s only just got going after all. Anyway, we’re almost through it, as Roberto Martinez takes his charges to the Hawthorns on Saturday looking for a first win of the season which would be most welcome.

John Stones and Leighton Baines started both games for England in the break, and both did OK – Baines in particular had a very good game in the qualifier in Switzerland. Stones is still never a full-back in a million years, but is a good enough player to gloss over that, and did a solid job at right back. Also, Phil Jagielka got a good 20 minutes or so which will boost his confidence, making several decent blocks and clearances as the Swiss pressed. With no injuries reported, that may have actually been a decent week for our England men.

Back home the injury news is mixed – Lukaku and Pienaar should be OK, but Osman and Eto’o are nursing what Martinez describes as ‘knocks’. It seems likely he will leave them out of Saturday’s game, with fixtures coming thick and fast in the next three weeks.

Key in Martinez’s mind seems to be the Europa League, with the Blues being handed a tough if exciting draw against Wolfsburg, Lille and Krasnodar, who knocked out Real Sociedad with minimal fuss in the qualifiers. Whilst there is an argument that we’d prefer an easy group stage just to get going, games like this are what you want to be involved in, and there’s definitely potential for a couple of cracking trips with big ticket allocations.  

Saturday marks the first of 7 games in 22 days for the Toffees, and it’d be great to start with a win. There have been plenty of positives in the first three games but, bottom line, we only have two points. If we’re serious about being towards the top of the league at the end of the season, winning games at teams like West Brom is a must. It would also contribute to, hopefully, a good,loud crowd when Wolfsburg come to Goodison on Thursday night.

A few Everton old-boys await within the Throstles’ staff (we won’t have any of this ‘Baggies’ nonsense). Alan Irvine was a real surprise appointment as their manager in the summer, but (games against Everton aside) you won’t find many who don’t wish him well. The ex-Everton player, coach and academy chief just seems a thoroughly good egg, and it would be nice to see him prove the numerous media doubters wrong. One of his first signings is another former Blue, Joleon Lescott, and despite the ignominious nature of his departure, he could be a great signing for WBA. Certainly, 

when he was playing regularly at Everton he was one of the best in the league. At the other end of the pitch, dear old Victor Anichebe is in and out of the side. There are good and bad memories of Victor– for every Kharkiv and Nuremberg there was a titty lip fit which incurred the wrath of the Gwladys Street – and you get the impression he knows he could have made more of himself and his time at Everton. A shame, really.

Everton will probably line up with a similar side to what played in the Chelsea game, unless Steven Pienaar returns. Despite the defensive issues, Martinez seems unlikely to drop Jagielka or Distin, and he’s been typically effusive in his praise for them this week. Of course that’s good to see – but you’d hope in private they’ve also had a boot up the arse. Martinez has also gushed about Aiden McGeady, who scored an absolute beauty for Ireland in midweek, so it will be interesting to see if he gets the nod over the less showy but more consistent Pienaar.

No excuses then. A ground-out 1-0 got us going this time last year – another would do fine.

5 more WBA and Everton old boys:

1.       Imre Varadi – Ask anyone who saw him and you’re guaranteed the words ‘dead fast’ and ‘crap touch’. Scored the winner in a derby though, so he gets a thumbs up;

2.       Paul Holmes – Garbage full back, most remembered for hitting his own crossbar in a cup game at Bolton, leading to their goal;

3.       David Burrows – Another crap full back, brought in by Mike Walker as a brainless part-ex for Tony Cottee. Utter shit and with a proper kopite face to boot;

4.        Kevin Kilbane –‘Zinedine’ – an honest, hardworking winger turned ubiquitous TV pundit. Did a great job for Everton;

5.       Kevin Campbell – God bless that man. If ever one player saved a team from oblivion, he did it. Suffered later with typical Smith injury mismanagement, but should be remembered as a genuine Everton legend.

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Everton 3 Chelsea 6

It’s difficult to know where to start after that.

Everton were again the architects of their own downfall, for the third time this season. If last week’s game was mental, this one went stark raving bonkers, particularly in the second half. Again, we saw some great attacking play from the Toffees, but the defending and decision making on show left a lot to be desired.

Chief culprit at the moment is Phil Jagielka, who is having a pretty awful time. As ever with modern Everton sides and players, there’s no lack of effort, and it may well be that the likeable club captain is trying too hard to be clever, and thus making mistakes. Unfortunately, one such mistake came after about 20 seconds, when, instead of running alongside Diego Costa and forcing him wide, Jagielka stepped out a fraction too late and allowed the deadly striker through to slot underneath Tim Howard. Bugger.

To make things worse, as would be the case throughout the game, Everton failed to gain their composure after the goal and made another quick mistake. The midfield sat off too far, Leighton Baines copied Jagielka before him and charged out of the line, leaving Branislav Ivanovic clear for an easy finish. Five minutes in, already needing snookers.

Replays later showed that Ivanovic was slightly offside, but it was one of those offsides which was very marginal, like the Naismith one last week, and the defending was the real culprit. In any event, Everton can hardly complain about the decisions first half as, shortly afterwards, Howard had a brain fart and came and caught the ball about two yards outside the area. Mercifully, the linesman on the Bullens side, hopeless all day, somehow missed it.

After about 20 minutes the game settled down a bit, with Everton – in particular through their two standout performers, Kevin Mirallas and Steven Naismith – scrapping very hard to get back into things. Lady Luck again wasn’t smiling after a crashing Lukaku header hit the crossbar – if your luck’s in, they hit the goalie and go in – and the rebound was correctly disallowed for offside. Naismith also skidded a shot from distance wide as Everton grew into the game. Again – no shortage of heart in the team, and they got their reward on half time.

 It was a beauty as well. Aiden McGeady, the only change in for Steven Pienaar, was very much in-and-out of the game, but had impact when he was – in this case a lovely ball inside the full-back to Coleman. His cross was a cracker, floated into space eight yards out, and Mirallas timed his run brilliantly to plant a header into the far top corner. Game on, and you hoped that the defensive calamities were now out of the system, paving the way for a second half fightback. Wrong!

Everton actually started the second half very well, with almost constant pressure in the Chelsea half, before, on 67 minutes, getting hit with a sucker punch. Eden Hazard went past McCarthy far too easily on the right and his pull back clipped the lunging Coleman and ended up in the net. Coleman had just been involved in a bit of handbags with Diego Costa, and the Chelsea man – who is absolutely brilliant, despite being a snide – followed up the goal with some kopite-level twattery, giving a few verbals until Tim Howard interjected. There was talk afterwards, from bellends like Graham Poll, that Howard could have again been sent off for this – he was booked – but in reality it was one of the few things that referee Jon Moss got right. Get on with the game.

Everton certainly did, as they exploded from the kick off and scored another lovely goal. McGeady furthered his reputation as a conundrum – doing nothing for 20 minutes followed by a bit of brilliance – and skinned a couple of defenders before playing a perfect pass to Naismith. The Scot finished clinically, and it’s a measure of his improvement and form that you honestly never thought he’d miss. Roberto Martinez immediately raised the Goodison crowd even more – McGeady off, Eto’o on.

What happened? Well another bit of crap defending, that’s what. Less than five minutes later, with Everton having failed to just calm down and control things a bit, Chelsea worked the ball sideways along the box to Nemanja Matic, who, with Distin only a couple of yards away, took a couple of touches to set himself. Close him down Sylvain. Close him down. CLOSE HIM DOWN FOR FUU…. Ahh bollocks. In off the post. It wasn’t as eye catching as some of the other goals conceded, but this was perhaps the worst – with Everton back in things, the defensive midfield was totally AWOL and the lack of pressure on Matic was appalling.

Remarkably, Everton again got straight back in things, as Baines’s free kick was headed home by Eto’o, in one of his first few touches. The debutant forward was one of the positives that can be taken from the game. He looks the real deal, with superb movement and intelligent play, and the likes of Lukaku can only learn from him. Lukaku himself has had a bit of stick after the match, but again his effort was good – another perhaps trying too hard – and if that continues, the goals will come. It’d be interesting to see Eto’o through the middle with Lukaku coming in from the right.

Unfortunately that attempt at Martinez-style positivity must stop there though, as some more Keystone Cops defending, only a minute later, finally took the game away from Everton. Baines, Distin and McCarthy were the culprits this time, allowing Ramires to waltz through unchallenged to score past Howard.

Everton tried to hit back again, and a lovely move involving Coleman and Eto’o led to a chance for Mirallas, which Courtois wonderfully saved onto the post. The Toffees were running out of ideas, though, and failed to really threaten any further. There was only time for the candle on the cake of shit defending to be lit.

Martinez introduced Muhamed Besic for a late debut – possibly 20 minutes too late, as both McCarthy and Barry had very poor second halves and looked knackered – and the Bosnian wasted no time in fitting in with his team mates. Receiving a simple pass, he inexplicably decided to just do a blind back-heel, setting Jon Obi Mikel through. Mikel played in Costa, who finished comfortably with Distin and Howard scrambling. Besic is obviously better than that and, of course, there were far more culpable on Saturday – but, fucking hell, it was one of the stupidest decisions you’re ever likely to see. The only consolation was that it was in a dead game, and so hopefully won’t now happen in tighter circumstances. You couldn’t make it up.

6-3 then. Not really rocket science in the final analysis – we’re good going forward, but painful at the back at the moment. The predictable immediate reaction has been that the defence needs ripping up and starting again, but that in all likelihood won’t work. John Stones will certainly be knocking on the door, and being on the lookout for a young, left-sided centre-half to eventually replace Distin is something that certainly should be done. The majority of mistakes are individual ones, though, and so it’s up to the players to cut them out. This is the same defensive unit that was almost impregnable at times last year, and it’s very unlikely that all of Jagielka, Distin, Baines, McCarthy, Barry and Howard will have such a poor game, all at the same time, again.

That said, this is one of the first real tests for Roberto Martinez – we’re looking like the naïve side we were all told he always produces – and it needs sorting out. Whether he decides to have a dip in the transfer market will be interesting, and you would hope that after the international break we will see a much sturdier Everton side.

Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, McCarthy, Barry, Mirallas, Naismith, McGeady, Lukaku.

Subs: Robles, Stones, Alcaraz, Besic (Lukaku 89), Osman, Eto’o (McGeady 70), Gibson.

Goals – Mirallas (45), Naismith (69), Eto’o (76)

MOM – Mirallas, with an honourable mention to Naismith

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Chelsea(H)Preview

For the second consecutive week, Everton welcome one of the apparent title favourites to Goodison for a Saturday evening kick-off.

It’s been another busy week in the world of the beautiful Blues. The biggest news was obviously the signing of Samuel Eto’o which, having been rumoured for weeks, was done with the minimum of fuss on Tuesday. It’s been obvious for some time that another forward was a priority, and you certainly can’t argue with Eto’o’s pedigree. He’s a genuine superstar of this generation, has won the lot and played for some of the biggest clubs in the world. Even if his very best days are behind him, it’s a really exciting signing and one which gives Roberto Martinez’s striking options a big boost.

We won’t mention the leather shorts, though.

In addition to that, the League Cup draw saw Everton given an away tie at Swansea – not the easiest, but the sort of tie you’ll get at some point if you want to win the thing – and Friday sees the Europa League draw. Everton will sit in pot 3, meaning their group will theoretically be a tricky one, but you can’t see any of the teams in pots 1 and 2 – even the likes of Inter Milan and Sevilla – fancying coming to Goodison.

As to Saturday, and it’s another big game. Chelsea have looked pretty formidable in their first two games, with new signings Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa to the fore. The signing of Fabregas is a cracker – a top class midfielder who knows the league inside out. Costa, with two in two games, also looks the part, though is rumoured to be missing at the weekend through injury – a boost if true. Regardless of that, though, Chelsea’s squad is excellent and they will be right in there this season, so the Tricky Blues will have to be at their very best to get a result on Saturday.

Roberto Martinez has said that Steven Pienaar will miss out, but Romelu Lukaku should make it. You’d hope we’ll see a fired up Lukaku with a point to prove, especially after some of the things said about him by ultra-snide Jose Mourinho. We keep saying he’s unstoppable on his day, well now it’s time to prove it. Eto’o may also be keen to get one over his old boss, having also been a victim of  some gobbing off last year, but you’d expect he’ll start from the bench.

Martinez has a decision to make in the midfield – will it be a straight swap of Osman for Pienaar, or something a bit different? Given the number of creative players Chelsea have, he may be tempted to stick in Muhamed Besic to do some destroying, for example. Alternatively, will he try to stop Chelsea by attacking them, and include someone like Aiden McGeady? It’s nice to have the options to even be thinking about this.

Whatever team the manager puts out, Saturday will be a tough one – but the recent home record against Chelsea is excellent. They don’t like coming to Goodison, and hopefully this weekend will be no different. In a strange way, it’s the perfect game to follow the frustration of last week, a high profile opponent and perhaps a little less pressure than a game where the Toffees would be expected to win comfortably.

Three points against Chelsea last season kick-started Everton’s season. A repeat on Saturday could well do the same.

The last 5 – Chelsea at home:

1.      2013/14 – Steven Naismith gets the only goal and every Evertonian realises how good Gareth Barry is;

2.       2012/13 – An early Pienaar goal gives the Blues the lead but a combination of bad luck and Frank Lampard’s opportunism lead to an undeserved defeat;

3.       2011/12 – Feed the Straq, feed the Straq… ;

4.       2011/12 (League Cup) – A classic Everton balls up. Jan Mucha chucks one in his own net, Baines misses a pen after Chelsea’s goalie gets sent off and, after Drenthe gets a red for acting the twat, Chelsea get an extra time winner;

5.       2010/11 – Last game of the season, decided by an absolute cracker from Jermaine Beckford.

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Everton 2 Arsenal 2

Saturday saw Everton at their very best and very worst, all in a mental 90 minutes.

The best – the Blues ripping into a more fancied opponent with some inventive attacking play and scoring some great goals. The worst – a monumental balls-up, the likes of which only Everton seem to be capable of.

Let’s start with the positives, and for 75 minutes or so Everton were fantastic. Martinez started as much as he could with the team that battered Arsenal last year – Coleman and Mirallas came into the side as expected, with Lukaku again deployed from the right. Amazingly, Arsene Wenger and his team seemed to have learnt nothing from that game. The first half was almost a carbon copy of last year, with Arsenal playing ineffective, sideways football and Everton simply picking them off.

The only downside to the first half was an early injury to Steven Pienaar, who was clattered in a tough (but fair) aerial challenge by Callum Chambers. He was replaced by Leon Osman, but it didn’t seem to disrupt Everton’s momentum too much. They survived an early scare when Seamus Coleman’s poor clearance was put wide by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and then completely took over.

 The first goal came on 19 minutes. A clever free kick move saw the ball worked to Gareth Barry, and his pinpoint cross was met by Coleman, rushing in, to head into the roof of the net. Arsenal barely responded, with the likes of Özil, Sanchez and particularly Jack Wilshere barely having any impact at all. Everton kept flooding forward on the break and some better finishing or decision making – particularly from Kevin Mirallas, who was lively but frustrating all day – could have seen the second come earlier than it did.

As it was, it arrived just before half time. An awful pass from Özil was intercepted by Jagielka, who pushed the ball out towards Lukaku. He outmuscled Mertesacker and rampaged down the right wing, leaving Chambers in his wake. A pinpoint pass found Naismith, who finished comfortably. Replays showed the Scot was slightly offside, but there were no complaints from the Goodison crowd, as the Blues went into half time two goals to the good.

To give Wenger his due, he changed things quickly at half time with Giroud on for the ineffective Sanchez. Arsenal as a result had a brief flurry just after the break, and were certainly better set up, but after that the game settled down into a scruffy scrap with very few chances. From Everton’s point of view, again the final pass let us down – a couple of Baines forays down the left led to pull backs just beyond onrushing attackers. Arsenal’s midfield had no answer to the energy and organisation of McCarthy and Barry, and they barely made any chances – Tim Howard made one good save from Giroud, but it seemed for all the world that Everton were seeing the game out. Arsenal were getting frustrated – Wilshere, who was utterly hopeless throughout, could have gone for a terrible tackle on Barry – but as the clock ticked into the last fifteen minutes, the game turned right on its head.

Wenger again made some clever changes, with slack-jawed Jack and Oxlade-Chamberlain getting the hook and Cazorla and Campbell coming on. Unfortunately, Everton are short of the same like-for-like quality in certain positions. Lukaku, who had a good game and kept possession well, was goosed after 70 minutes, and Roberto Martinez later revealed he had been struggling with a toe injury all week. We don’t have another striker in his mould, and without the threat in behind, Arsenal pushed on, and Everton cracked.

First, on 83 minutes, Carzorla got the ball out wide, the Everton right side backed off too far, and Osman failed to track Aaron Ramsay’s run. Then, in the last minute, an overhit pass luckily found Monreal, Coleman didn’t shut him down, and the full-back whipped in a cross. Jagielka got under the ball, Distin got horribly the wrong side and Giroud nodded in. Again, replays showed that he had a handful of Distin’s shirt, but you deserve all you get from rank bad marking like that. Fucking hell, Everton.

The real worry from the last 15 minutes was how fitness levels dropped off – Everton looked out on their feet and failed to do simple things well, like holding onto the ball, getting it wide and keeping Arsenal in their own half. It’s obviously been a tricky job for Martinez balancing giving the players rest with getting them ready for the season, but the difference was alarming. We’ve got Europe to come though, and there is no point blowing out early and being knackered as the season wears on. The manager knows what he’s doing, and hopefully the likes of Lukaku and Mirallas will repay his faith when they have a few more miles in the legs.

What was abundantly clear again, however, was the need for another striker. There is no replacement for Lukaku at the moment – as much faith as there may be in Arouna Kone, he’s had a year out of the game and won’t be match fit for some time. Another big, quick forward to keep Arsenal going backwards in those last 15 minutes would have made all the difference – the replacements we did have, Aiden McGeady (who will want to forget his cameo very quickly indeed) and Christian Atsu, are completely different players to what was needed. You’ve got to believe Martinez knows this, though.

Let’s not get carried away  – we were playing one of the apparent title favourites, and, for 75 minutes, they didn’t lay a glove on Everton. Get up to speed, cut out the stupid mistakes and we won’t be too far away at all.

Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, McCarthy, Barry, Mirallas, Naismith, Pienaar, Lukaku.

Subs: Robles, Stones, Alcaraz, Besic, Osman (Pienaar 10), Atsu (Mirallas 85), McGeady (Lukaku 76).

Goals – Coleman 19, Naismith 45

MOM – Naismith, just from McCarthy.

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Arsenal Preview

Arsenal (H) Preview

Commence Operation Goodison Exercise.

For the first home game of the new season, Everton host one of the favourites for the title – if you listen to the media at least. In reality, it’s difficult to know what to make of Arsenal. On paper and reputation, they look an excellent side – but they have developed that habit of flattering to deceive. They certainly don’t summon up the same fear that their late 90s/early 2000s sides did – there certainly isn’t a player of the calibre of Vieira, Henry or Bergkamp to be seen. Despite that, they always do enough to get onto the Champions League gravy train and, last year, won the FA Cup. An opponent to be respected, therefore, but one which is certainly beatable.

Roberto Martinez certainly proved that last year, when the Gunners came to Goodison and, with the Champions League spot still up for grabs, got absolutely battered. Everton were as good as they’ve been for a good long time that day – a repeat would surely see a first win of the season – but Arsene Wenger, for all his faults, isn’t soft and will want to see much more from his charges.

It will be interesting to see how Martinez sends out the team on Saturday. Last season, he sprung a real surprise by putting Romelu Lukaku on the right, and he, together with Seamus Coleman, terrorised the Arsenal left side. You can imagine Wenger will be ready for a repeat, but with Keiron Gibbs injured and Thomas Vermaelen  sold, it seems that his options to counteract such a ploy are limited. Lukaku cutting in, with Naismith buzzing around the centre halves, is certainly an option.

Other than that, you’d imagine Coleman comes back in for one of the centre halves – most likely John Stones – and we will see if Kevin MIrallas, another who was excellent in the fixture last year, also earns a recall. The Belgian is our one attacking player with real pace, and apparently looked very good in a behind closed doors friendly in the week.

Arsenal themselves have a few injury problems – most notably Mikel Arteta will not be playing, so there won’t be any of the slightly awkward booing from last year. It’s a weird one with Arteta - snidey as he can be, he was also like that when wearing Royal Blue (remember him buying free-kicks or poking Carragher in the eye?), so on the one hand it’s a bit daft – on the other, though, it really put him off his stride last year, and he has acted the twat in previous games. Arsenal are certainly one of those sides that you have to get in the face of, and hopefully James McCarthy and Gareth Barry won’t give the likes of Özil, Giroud and this year’s fanny merchant, Alexis Sanchez, an inch.

Ideally then – a well-oiled Goodison crowd, a fast start and a performance similar to last year. Come on you Blues.

All that and no mention of ‘big falsies’ or Shelbyville signing another lunatic. ‘Fool me once okay, shame on… shame on you, okay. Fool me, okay… you don’t get fooled again, okay.

5 great goals against Arsenal:

1.       Wayne Clarke’s lob over Lukic in 1987;

2.       Dave Watson’s left footed rocket at Highbury;

3.       Rooney, back when watching him had you on the edge of your seat;

4.       An absolute beauty of a back post header from Cahill at home in 2009;

5.       Lukaku cutting in and blamming one last season.

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Leicester City 2 Everton 2

Déjà vu, all over again.

Just like last year, Everton started the season with a winnable away game, were the better side for most of the game but ultimately threw two points away through a combination of bad luck and poor defending.

The weekend started badly, with news that Ross Barkley had torn his medial ligament in training. Reports initially had him out for 6-8 weeks, but Roberto Martinez has suggested it could be anything up to five months. It’s clearly horrible news, and we can only hope that Barkley doesn’t end up falling into the same alternate dimension that Arouna Kone has ended up in. We need him in and around the team as soon as possible.

With his options restricted, Martinez threw Lukaku straight into the team, with Naismith just behind him. McGeady and Pienaar played wide, with John Stones starting at right back. Coleman and Mirallas were both not considered fit enough, with both starting on the bench.

If there is a silver lining to the Barkley cloud, it may be that Steven Naismith will get a run in the side in the role just off Lukaku. It’s his best position and, whilst the admirable Scot isn’t the quickest or most eye-catching player, he’s clever, always showing for the ball and a goal threat. He was certainly one of Everton’s better players here, and his partnership with Lukaku may have the makings of something good.

Despite the frustration of the result, there were some positives for Martinez to take from the game, particularly first half. Everton were very good in the opening period, dominating possession, restricting Leicester to barely any chances and scoring two excellent goals. The first, from Aiden McGeady, was an absolute pearler. It’s a big season for McGeady – he’s had six months to bed in now, and has to make a starting position his own in the face of serious competition. He did himself no harm here, being very lively first half and getting on the end of a few half chances – he could have had two or three. The one he did get was worth the wait – after Leighton Baines and Sylvain Distin had shots blocked, McGeady picked the ball up and from a tight angle bent a cracker into the top corner, past about six defenders on or around the line. It was the sort of goal you never get tired of watching.

The second goal wasn’t bad either, scored by Naismith but created by some classic Baines/Pienaar wing play. The Everton left side was another great positive for Martinez, with Pienaar especially looking fit, motivated and incisive. He’ll be really important while Barkley recovers and the likes of Atsu and Mirallas find their fitness – the best we’ve got at turning defenders and bringing Baines into play. Shortly before half time, Baines surged down the left, Pienaar’s back heel found him, Baines played the return and Pienaar slid the ball to Naismith. The finish was another beauty, left-footed, in off the bar.

That made it 2-1 going into the break, with the only real negative being one of the dozy bastard defensive errors that cost us last season. It happened just after McGeady’s goal – Leicester sent in a pretty regulation corner, no-one from the Everton defence took responsibility to put a head on it, and the ball dropped in the six yard box. Sylvain DIstin tried to clear it, off balance, but only succeeded in smashing it into the stomach of Leicester’s big grock number 9, Ulloa. Howard had no chance with the half-volley. It was a weak clearance from Distin, but generally Everton need to be far more dominant on crosses and set pieces. It’s an area we’ve lost goals from a lot over recent seasons.

At half time Martinez would have been satisfied, and he probably would have been with most of the second, which was quite a drab, scrappy affair. Leicester definitely improved and had more of the play. They put another player out on the left which blunted Pienaar and Baines  and, without Seamus Coleman providing an equal threat, Everton’s attacks suffered. Indeed, they barely managed a credible effort on target after the break.

Getting the Irishman back will be very important to us hitting our straps, but ironically it was his introduction which seemed to unbalance Everton in the closing stages. Martinez’s substitutions were unusually conservative – Pienaar and McGeady off for Mirallas and Coleman, with a move to 3-5-2. It seems to be the formation that’s in fashion in the moment, but every time Everton play it we look like an accident waiting to happen.

Beforehand, Leicester hadn’t created much, aside from Stones letting the wonderfully named Jeff Schlupp run clear to put a shot into orbit. Stones is a great young centre-back, but while his attitude is spot on, he’s a crap right back. He got dragged inside a few times too often – to be expected for a central player playing out there – and this contributed to Leicester’s equaliser.

Make no mistake, though, he was not the only one culpable. Mirallas and a knackered Lukaku (who was in and out of the game and probably should have gone off rather than Pienaar) lost possession too easily. Baines and Barry – who was hesitant after a couple of clumsy fouls left him close to a red card – allowed the Leicester winger, Mahrez, past them without a proper challenge, and both Jagielka and Stones, because of this, were both dragged too far in. Jagielka in the end got to his man and made a challenge, but this took Stones out of the game and the player he was supposed to be marking, Chris Wood (no, me neither) slotted past Howard. Bollocks.

Two points lost, definitely, although you should never be too sniffy at an away point.  How this is viewed will probably depend on whether we beat Arsenal - four points form two game would be a decent start. Hopefully, a more balanced Everton side will deliver.

Everton: Howard, Stones, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, McCarthy, Barry, McGeady, Naismith, Pienaar, Lukaku. Subs: Robles, Coleman (McGeady 85), Alcaraz, Besic, Osman, Atsu, Mirallas (Pienaar 81)

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Goals – McGeady 20, Naismith 45

MOM – Pienaar.

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Chris Wood(above) reflecting on his first, and possibly last goal in the Premier League

18th August 2014

Leicester Preview

LEICESTER CITY(A) PREVIEW

So here we go again. After the generally pretty-bloody-good year that was 2013/14, what does the new season hold for the Tricky Blues and their dashing Catalan leader?

Overall, football wise, it’s been an excellent summer. We’ve had a World Cup which completely lived up to the hype, key players tied down to contracts and some exciting, top-class players signing in. What more could we want? Well, not playing shite in a couple of pre-season games would have been nice, but, cliché though it may be, those games mean absolutely nothing. Remember Alex Nyarko contemptuously strutting around in the August sunshine, leading Walter Smith’s side to win after win? Yep.

The signings then, and the headline has to be the permanent move for Romelu Lukaku. Let’s be honest, at full time in Hull in May, no-one genuinely believed it was a goer. Lukaku isn’t perfect by any means, but his potential is limitless and he is without doubt the most exciting Everton signing in decades. He needs to toughen up a bit, he needs to work on the consistency of his first touch – but, bottom line, the lad scores goals and when he’s on he’s unstoppable. It’s great to see him back.

Equally important were midfield reinforcements, which were much needed. Gareth Barry was vital for us last year and is well worth the three year deal he’s been given, not least to help the development of young players such as Barkley, McCarthy and other new signing Muhamed Besic. The Bosnian certainly looks the part, and impressed in a lively cameo at Leon Osman’s testimonial. More than one observer has likened him to Olivier Dacourt, which cuts both ways of course – Dacourt had all the talent in the world, but seemed to be always on the brink of a red card and suspension. Let’s hope Besic has all the skills with a bit more discipline.

Finally, just this week, Christian Atsu and his horrendous Back to the Future trabs signed in on loan from Chelsea. From the World Cup he looked quick and direct, and we need that to replace the departed Deulofeu. Roberto Martinez also has his sights set on another striker – no arguments here on that one – but we may have to wait a couple of weeks to find out who.

All that and we haven’t even got to the long term contracts for Barkley, Coleman and Stones, to add to that for Leighton Baines last year, and the suggested one for James McCarthy. It’s a great time to be an Evertonian.

Of course, they’ll probably balls it all up at Leicester on Saturday now, but twas ever thus. Realistically, if Everton get out of third gear they should win comfortably. There is a concern  about the fitness of some players – Coleman has been injured and Lukaku, Mirallas and Jagielka have barely figured in pre-season – but you would hope we will still have enough. With Arsenal and Chelsea coming up, hitting the ground running is essential.

Leicester themselves are a slightly unknown quantity – a mix of a load of players I’ve never heard of plus journeymen like Matthew Upson, ex-kopite dog Paul Konchesky and David Nugent, someone who you’d love to be good enough to play for Everton but who just isn’t. Having just looked up their squad – Jesus H we should win this.

Anyway, over to you, Everton. No excuses.

5 Leicester (a) memories:

1.   Andy Gray scoring two and telling the bench how much he loves them;

2.  Limpar scoring a belter from somewhere near Derby;

3. Gary Speed netting a late, late penalty in a vital win;

4. Gascoigne looking brilliant there, shortly after he signed, in a 1-1;

5. Duncan throttling that horrible snide Freund

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