Season 2012-13 
Everton News
Everton show benefits of Barcelona system
Kevin Garside salutes Moyes renaissance
Credit where it is due. In high summer, with football in recess but a number of key managerial posts available, I questioned in my Independent column why David Moyes was not in the running for any of them. Andre Villas Boas appeared destined for Tottenham, Paul Lambert for Aston Villa and the Liverpool job came down to a toss-up between Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martinez.The majority of the citizens of Goodison Park took offence at the idea that Moyes could ever have crossed Stanley Park and ridiculed the idea that Villa were a ‘bigger' club than Everton, and therefore he would not want to go. Who has the prettiest wife at home did not to me seem the point. What interested me was the lack of feet beating a path to Moyes' door.
I argued that the problem for Moyes was the lack of an identity associated with the way his team played. He was applauded for his brilliant husbandry on limited resources and his ability to spot a player, but not for an identifiable style of play. Predecessor Joe Royle left him with the ‘dogs of war' tag, which he seemed happy to embrace.
Moyes is an engaging character but not effusive. Some might describe his public persona as worthy at best, dour at worst. I referenced a couple of showpiece occasions that I covered, which I thought were instructive. The 2009 FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United and final against Chelsea. Everton laboured against an unfamiliar United line-up, playing to a route one template that was negative. It was the same story against Chelsea even after scoring in the first minute through Louis Saha.
Most among the Everton priesthood were outraged at what they perceived to be a cheap shot at Moyes. They said I obviously hadn't been watching in the past 18 months. Well I am paying attention now. In my defence Moyes said himself that he wouldn't have paid to see many of his team's matches last season. He would now, though. He is enjoying the spectacle. And so am I.
Moyes has ditched the long-ball strategy absolutely. It was always a negative ploy borne of the idea that his players were not equipped to play productively in a more technical style. I always felt this a flawed argument. Any player who makes it into the Premier League has acquired all the technique he will ever need. The rest is about tactics, attitude, industry and belief.
I have yet to see Xavi dribble down the wing, cut inside and smash one in from 30 yards. Not all great players have to play like Leo Messi. Moyes has Everton organised in a completely different way that puts a premium on possession and invites the players to take responsibility for the ball and when not in possession to work like Trojans to retrieve it. This is essentially the Barcelona model in which Xavi et al thrive.
Marouane Fellaini looks a world beater in this system, when he is asked to play the ball on the deck not bring it out of the sky. At the back Phil Jagielka looks twice as good in blue as he does in an England shirt. Across the park Everton are playing intelligent expansive football and reaping the rewards. The players haven't necessarily improved. The system has. Next time a plum job becomes available, Moyes might have to lock himself in to keep the suitor at bay.
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Who knew?
Cheers :)
However, it makes me think, actually, for the first time I really am not looking at the game and thinking its one we CAN win, but same old same old, we probably won't.
It's a great feeling to genuinely feel positive about us!
I mean for the first time in a long time I genuinely am expecting great things
I've got to admit though our first-choice eleven is a match for anyone on the day; the back-up players are not that good though — just look at the Leeds game: it proves that Coleman, Junior, Gueye (just to name a few) are not good enough.
That arsing round with team selection against Leeds resulting in the usual lower league cup dismissal was straight out the "Moyes of old" playbook.
Nice game against the divisions whipping boys, Southampton, required to prove it was a temporary fall off the wagon.
The usual lethargy of the past in these circumstances can fuck right off.
"Predecessor Joe Royle left him with the ‘dogs of war' tag, which he seemed happy to embrace."
Big Joe wasn't manager before Moyes came.
'The players haven't improved.'
Course they have. Instead of Saha, Cahill, Rodwell. We now have Jelavic, Mirallas and Gibson. Plus Pienaar is back'
Moysey appears to have let the players off the leash and there are partnerships developing all over the pitch
Now, Davey, a word on corners: about this sticking a forward on the half-way.....
I was worried after WBA but was pleasantly surprised going forwards.Hopefully we'll all be relieved when we get back to business with our starters.
As a general rule however, I HATE being compared to Barcelona (even in the slightest)...It cannot help the team - especially one that hasn't won a damn thing in what feels like forever.
Keep it simple. Keep it on the deck! (A few years ago we tried this and it worked, why we changed to hoof I'll never know)
This guy doesn't watch us play week in week out and doesn't know anything about our club.
Are we playing better football than this time last year? Yes, a blind man could see that. We pass it around nicely when we want and have played very nicely since January, give or take. However Fellaini is still pulling balls out of orbit. The only difference on that front is that he now uses his chest and holds it up, rather than nodding it on to nobody.
We're not a route one team, but to say Fellaini 'looks a world beater' now that we're not hitting balls to his head is nonsense. He's good on the deck, but if he ever looks a 'world beater' it's when the ball is airborne.
Also, 'the players haven't changed'??? Haven't they?! Gibson and Jelavić have changed us massively. Gibson in particular I feel.
So, yeah, keep your praise mate. We don't need it from the uneducated.
As others have pointed out, we've all been down this road of "has he finally got them playing the way we (some of us anyway) want?" before. The answer is always the next game or two away.
KITAP1, I mean COYB
Phil B nails it - he has been hurt by his critics, has not been offered anything better, and has decided to finally let the players express themselves.
We had Arteta in midfield FFS, twice the player Gibson is. Yak was as good as Jelavic and Saha just used to watch balls fired in at 80 M.P.H. six foot off the deck !
It may be Moyes's last season and he has got one eye on the Man U job if you ask me.
To me it seems sensible to bring one young player in and let him find his feet beside experienced quality players. With hindsight too many changes were made against Leeds. We are out of the competition , and the confidence of some players will have been dented.
Whatever way the team is set out players will have bad games and sometimes just won't be up for it. Unfortunate but true.
Further, we don't play the ball on the deck to Fellaini either. How the hell does he use his chest on the deck.
We have turned it around by getting rid of the deadwood and bringing in some new stock, end of.
As already mentioned, there is a massive difference in the 1st team today compared to 12 months ago. Swap Cahill, Saha, Rodwell for Jalavic, Mirralas and Gibson and we would be shit again, not to mention super sub Billy. About 1/3 of our first team has completely changed ffs!
We've also only played 5 league games and this guy obviously didn't watch the Leeds debacle. Truly lazy journalism - am made up with our start to the league but this guy should seriously consider a career change if he's going to compare us to Barcelona! Twat.
Gobshite.
Having said that, Leeds definitly rode their luck with some blatant penalty decisions not given our way in the closing stages. Fair play to them though, they deserved to win I thought.
Still, Mickey Mouse competition and a distraction anyway... a solid performance at home on Saturday and I'll be more than happy. We're playing some good football at the moment so let's enjoy. Just please let's not mention Barcelona, they're a different level and we should all know that. We will stuff Saints though... and it's about time we beat the RS for a change.
Sure, there was a totally focussed approach to the Utd game and a very fine team display with Fellaini particularly outstanding. But you could not ask for two teams who you would wish more to play against when you are trying to develop and play attractive football than Villa and Swansea who are having major problems adjusting to completely changed scenarios in terms of managers and playing personnel and who are by no means settled teams etc and if memory serves me correctly they each played for significant periods of the game with a man less?
A completely changed second string Liverpool team, able to introduce a 16-year-old, went and beat WBA this week; brilliantly though the Blues played in the first half against Newcastle, they were not able to put the game "to bed" during that scintillating first half — of course had decisions gone Everton's way they would have won the match but the first half display demanded/deserved a more significant, unassailable lead.
"Every player who makes it to the Premier League has acquired all the technique he will ever need" ???? Is this man for real??? e.g I admire Phil Neville and Tony Hibbert immensely for their "character" but these guys have been in the top division all their careers without mastering some of the basics together with many others we would be all night naming!
His "world-beater" Fellaini seems almost incapable of mastering the art of tackling effectively, cleanly, or consistently and, for all Pienaar's tight technical skills, he seems no nearer to mastering the art of consistently hitting "the barn door" than he ever has. Why on earth does this guy see Everton's harrying of opponents as taking them into the realms of Barcelona? Stoke do that!!!
No it is lazy, opportunistic journalism. Everton have done very well so far and like many others I am pleased with that but I am also pleased that we did not have the start, for instance, that Liverpool have had.
I think most people will keep their feet on the ground, enjoy the newly-found creative approach that we have seen so far and hope that debacles such as the Leeds fiasco does not derail the progress at this early stage. How journalists such as this get away with it is beyond me.
Rubbish.
Credit where it is due,the manager has definitely got them playing more attacking progressive football.
Quick passing,plenty of movement off the ball to give the man in possession several options.We are also getting more men in the box in open play.
Barcelona we are not, but bloody good to watch these days, we most certainly are, and long may it continue- starting this weekend. Let's put the Leeds debacle well and truly behind us. COYB!
I'm amazed you managed to get Liverpool into your post twice, on two different points when the OP is nothing to do with them.
Do you want to have 2 points from 5 games and be in the League Cup?
Let the Leeds bullshit go, and let the RS go. We're better than them. Compare us to Arsenal, United, even Spurs or the Skunks.. But not the scum please.
Perhaps Anthony (581) is angling for a transfer?
Trouble is a few injuries and those are the players we'll be forced to use. Hopefully it was just a collective bad day at the office, but it was enough to plant my feet firmly back on the ground. Hopefully they'll be lifted off again by spanking the Saints tomorrow!
Barcelona have won the Champions League in 2006, 2009 and 2011, and been in the semi-finals every other year
They have won the Spanish League every year recently apart from last season
The Spain squad is virtually Barcelona without Messi
Spain won the Euros in 2008 and 2012 and The World Cup in 2010.
Would any of our side get in the Barcelona team, maybe Baines at a push instead of Jordi Alba at left back
Nice compliment to be compared to Barcelona, but think we have a long long way to go yet
The reason I mention Liverpool is that just as we have to be realistic about Everton's progress (great though it is to see) we must take into account the quality of the opposition etc. Thus I mention Liverpool because it would be just as ludicrous to say that they are "relegation fodder" (wishful thinking!) simply on the evidence of their first group of matches because it has been a particularly challenging initial fixture list – much more so than our own, indeed perhaps more challenging than any of the teams you mention?
The Leeds "bullshit" to which you refer was simply a reference to the fact that in my opinion it was a disgracefully poor performance; however, you address it and the fact that for all our progress we are not in any position yet it seems to play "half a full team" and get a result.
I simply mentioned Liverpool in this instance because it seems they can, and did, much as it grieves me to say so! Phil (618), after supporting Everton for some 58 years (1st game v Oldham in the 1953 promotion clincher) I think I will abide by the terms of the original contract – I signed on for life!!
Anyway thanks for the responses boys.
However, it fun to see the MOB have their 'foam at the mouth' moment because of how over the top this article is, I would wager that if he was criticising Moyes, a fair few of them would have congratulated Kevin on a fair and reasonable article.
I like Danny's example. If we play the way Mureen sets his teams out, I would be a happy chappy.
I'll still be amazed if Moyes ever goes to Man U. Regardless of whether he now has his team playing it on the deck more, unlike us, their fans won't accept a manager who lacks a killer instinct especially in the big games.
We need more journalists and pundits to agree with this guy, as that equals more TV time and more cash.
This paragraph (below) I couldn't agree with more.
"..It was always a negative ploy borne of the idea that his players were not equipped to play productively in a more technical style. I always felt this a flawed argument. Any player who makes it into the Premier League has acquired all the technique he will ever need. The rest is about tactics, attitude, industry and belief".
You caught me out, nailed me to the wall, what can I say, I've been rumbled.
If you take them all out the team (Leeds) then you end up back at hoofball because no-one can get any time on the ball. If you pack your team from 1-11 with them then you end up like Spain who can play pretty much however they want.
Since Arteta left, Moyes hasn't had any good midfield playmakers (with Osman cruelly sacrificed outwide), therefore the football was dour for 18 months. Now that he's borught them back into the team, suddenly Hibbert looks like an attacking rightback and even Neville is able to play in midfield. It wasn't just Moyes saying to Baines, 'Here our Leighton — just bash it down the line whenever you get it," to suddenly one day saying "Why don't you perform like the league's best left back and play one-twos with Stephen?"
If Baines looks up and sees Bily or Gueye motionless, standing behind their marker, not offering anything, then he's going to just go down the line or back to the centreback. If he sees Pienaar making runs inside and out, wanting the ball, then he's going to play it on the deck.
Similarly, Osman shows for the ball to both the centrebacks and the flanks, he always offers an option. Fellaini and Junior didn't show for anything the other night, that's why the ball kept going long. Better players equals better football, Moyes hasn't suddenly just flicked a switch in his brain to get us playing well, he just bought some good players in.
What a coincidence!
Oldham Athletic v Everton was my first match too.
It was a Wednesday night (I think - certainly mid-week), we won 4 - 0; and if we'd won 6 - 0 I think we'd have been Champions.
Another coincidence...
My match was in 1954.
Are you sure that you were there, or do your reading glasses not match your Football Annual?
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500 Posted 27/09/2012 at 16:05:24
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