Match Preview
And so another Season has almost gone by and we have stayed in
the top flight ... just.
Walter has gone; Moyes has arrived; Duncan has lost his
God-head; Campbell his respect; Chadwick has shown promise;
Rooney has instilled blind faith.
Will it be the season that we look back on as the nadir of
a dreadful decade of ineptitude and underachievement?
I pray that it is. I pray I will look back on an
awful, morale- and pride-destroying performance at West Ham
and laugh at how things have changed and how those days will
never return. (I fortunately was out of the country for
the 'Boro game and have still not managed to force myself to
watch the goals).
Blackburn arrive four places below us but with a foot in
Europe already. I'm actually not sure how a team with
the attacking threat of Dunn, Duff, Jansen, Cole and lately
Yordi have managed to struggle but I guess you just look at
Taylor and Short at the back and the reasons become
clear. Tugay has taken time to settle but he could well
come through next year.
It would be great to think that we will celebrate the last
home game at Goodison with the pressure off and a flowing
win. Sky TV camera's will be there � obviously sick as
they undoubtedly booked this game expecting a North/NorthWest
relegation clash; as they did for last week's game at
Southampton, and as they booked the games against Crewe
looking for a cup upset. You can't blame them but it is
a bluntly clear sign of where others see us.
I'm sorry to spoil the party atmosphere but I am actually
not too optimistic about this game. If Moyes can get the
boys up for it and bring home 3 more points then he will go up
another notch in my estimation.
Gravesen and Gemmill will have to stop Tugay and prevent
their strikeforce getting on the ball. Duff is flying
and Watson will have to work hard � I wouldn't be surprised
to see Carsley placed wide right again to stop him as he did
against Bridge at Southampton.
Rads and Campbell should be able to get at their backline
but Rads' confidence must be pretty low and Campbell is a
shadow of himself. Rooney is on Under-17's international
duty and Chadwick obviously injured. With Dunc
suspended, we are back to where we have been all season �
bare bones! Has anyone thought of playing Watson
upfront? I mean, what a finish? Surely he must be
worth a try?!?
Some width will be needed so the return of one of Blomqvist
or Alexandersson (maybe Ginola? Nope don't be silly!)
would be very helpful.
One thing I do expect is goals � even a 3-2 could result.
A win and the InterToto awaits, anything less and Fulham
are highly likely to beat us to it (how on earth did they beat
Leeds?) To some, that would be a blessing in disguise;
to me, it would be a disappointment � any route to Europe
should be embraced.
I'm going for a 2-2 draw and at least a rousing finish.
BlueForEver
InterToto?
Just say No!
by Steve Bickerton
The day was prefaced by a vision of what might be achieved by good
organisation and a determination to win.
As Reuben Barajas's shot hit the back of the net, the home fans knew that the
10 men wearing the shirt had given them their all. They'd fought back from
one down to snatch a memorable win, that, thanks to the over confidence of their
nearest challengers, who slumped to a 3-0 loss against relegation contenders,
left them one victory away from the championship, in the manager's first season.
Such is the tale at Valencia this year where an expensively assembled squad,
moulded into an effective, at times inspiring side yet at times dour, side are
on the brink of their first championship for over 30 years. Their young
manager, in the mould of David Moyes, brought Tenerife up from division two last
year and stepped into the hot seat at a club where style and flair means as much
as winning. In recent times managers have left because of their lack of
style and despite success in both national and international competition.
The fans demand nothing less than the best.
At Everton, we might be on the road to similar glory, though in fairness
there are some substantial differences. Valencia has almost limitless
access to South Americans with the right passports; Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
who also play for their native countries, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, yet can
play for the Spanish side as European citizens. They have a club
bank-rolled by fanatical support which is able to wield authority at bi-annual
ballots, which define the direction of the club and which pays annual
subscriptions to be part of the club. It also has a 53,000 seater stadium,
purpose built by the local government for which it has sole usage rights, and
which it fills with fans at prices ranging from �3 a game upwards. In
short they are built from the foundations upwards for success.
So what of the similarities with Everton? True, we don't have the
access to South American talent (but we could) and true we're not directed by
the will of fans (but we could be). We certainly don't have the funds
available to match the Valencian purse, but we could have a manager, who like
Rafael Benitez, can galvanize his squad, ranging in age from 20 (Victor) to 37 (Carboni)
to dig deep and give their all for the cause. But he has to have the
players around him who believe in his vision, who believe in his style and who,
above all, can play for the fans. Valencia have that. Do Everton?
Blackburn had recently reached safety and what might have been a do-or-die
battle to stave off relegation, when originally scheduled as the Sunday PPV game
by Sky, became a fairly meaningless battle for "mid-table supremacy"
as I'd read somewhere. Who would show that they had the do-or-die
attitude? Who would play for the shirt and the fans if for nothing else?
Suffice to say that my preamble will be longer than the match report.
We've decided that we want to be on holiday now and that this InterToto route
into Europe was just a bad joke. With Blackburn attacking the Park End
first half, Gerrard decided that any Blackburn forward worth his salt, despite
being unmarked, wouldn't be audacious enough to go for a corner
unchallenged. So he rose to collect the ball as it came in from his left,
only for Jansen to step two yards ahead of him and head into the open net.
Now, he was really sorry about his mistake, that's true and it was only the one,
so we shouldn't be too harsh... but he has to go... at whatever price, to
whomever will take him today.
We had a couple of chances in the first half to level it when an
Alexandersson cross driven from the right found Unsworth unmarked in the box,
but for Rhino to blast the ball across the goal and wide, with a lunging
Chadwick unable to make anything of the unexpected opportunity. Weir had a
chance from a corner as the ball broke to him, but his half-volley bounced wide
of the upright and Blackburn escaped with a goal kick.
But the defining moment of the half was a break down the left, when Gemmill,
in oceans of space, declined the offer of a cross with his left foot and played
the ball back onto his right and into trouble. He works hard, he tries
hard, but he doesn't have the guile or the skill to make up for being
one-footed. He too must go in the summer clear-out, despite being an ever
present under David Moyes.
At half-time, we were 0-1 down and in a moment of almost glorious comedy, we
were presented with Everton's 2001-02 championship side. Now, I'm not
demeaning their achievement and I have nothing but admiration for them but, in
fairness, our first-half performance almost looked as if they'd been out there
playing. This was Everton's Visually Impaired side, which had won their
league by 21 points and with a goal difference of +84. Our own men in blue
have a thing or two to learn from them I feel...
The second half started brighter, with an early goal from Chadwick, a cheeky
back heel from a scramble in the goal mouth. Almost immediately, Campbell
could have made it two, but his effort went wide and effectively our charge was
over. Blackburn hit back with a second goal as Gerrard, having made a
superb save, picked the ball out of the net as two Blackburn players pounced to
pick off the rebound. Our defence stood and waved for what might have been
a valid off-side appeal, but it wasn't given and once again we paid the price.
Overall it was lethargic, it was uninspiring and it was mainly gutless.
We now lie behind both Aston Villa and Fulham in the chase for an InterToto Cup
place and, with a final day out at Highbury, who will no doubt be in party but
not benevolent mood, our season is run.
Let's hope the wheeling and dealing from our bright young manager makes
season 100 in the top flight the precursor to great times and not a
regurgitation of the dross that has been displayed over the "last number of
years" (as our erstwhile Scottish manager, rather than our present
incumbent might have said).
Result: Everton 1 Blackburn Rovers 2 � mid-table supremacy goes to the boys
from Lancashire, Everton are certainly no Valencia.
Man of the Match: Tommy Gravesen � at least he had the vision if nobody
else was playing the same game.
Referee: Jeff Winter � I refuse to go down the well trodden path, but
please don't visit Goodison again!
See you next year.
Pay attention at the
back!
by Richard Marland
So, we reach the end of another season of the Goodison roller coaster.
With our safety already assured, and Blackburn having assured their safety
yesterday, this had an end of term feeling to it.
Gerrard kept his place despite murmurings of some sort of groin injury.
Alexandersson returned at the expense of Carsley to give us a slightly more
attacking outlook. Chadwick made his first Goodison start after making a
quick recovery from his ankle injury.
The first 45 minutes were a nothing affair. We weren't as abject as we
had been against Leicester but we were still pretty poor. Our passing
game, yet again, never got off the ground, and we looked thoroughly listless and
second best.
That's not too say that Blackburn were much better, but they did show
marginally more interest and intent and got the reward of a one goal interval
lead. The goal itself left a lot to be desired from an Everton
perspective. Undone by a short corner routine, which was unprofessional in
it's own right, downright criminal neglect when you consider they'd pulled the
same routine just minutes earlier, we then left Matt Jansen unmarked on the six
yard line as Paul Gerrard stayed rooted to his line. Poor defending and
poor goalkeeping, I still can't understand how no-one put in a challenge on
Jansen.
Our attacking efforts of the first half didn't amount to much. Our best
chance fell to Unsworth as he found himself all alone just beyond the far
post. Unfortunately he had time to think as he controlled the ball before
producing a nothing ball - too wild to be deemed a shot, hit with too much pace
for any Blue shirt to get a touch.
For the second home game in succession the players were, quite rightly, booed
off the park. Also for the second home match in succession Moyes resisted
the temptation to ring the changes. The second half was an improvement,
but it was still a long way from acceptable. We managed to build up enough
momentum to gain an equaliser, Chadwick converting with a back heel following a
bit of a goal mouth scramble.
For a brief while I even thought we might throw off our torpor enough to go
and win it. It was a short lived hope. Blackburn soon reestablished
their lead and it again left serious question marks over our defense.
Another corner produced an attempt on goal, Gerrard did very well to save it
down at his left hand post. However he managed to push the ball back into
the danger area where Andy Cole had a simple conversion. None of our
players even had the notion of following up the initial shot.
Despite there being plenty of time left on the clock we never looked remotely
like rescuing matters. Substitutions were made. Radzinski came on
after a four minute wait on the touchline - we wouldn't substitute whilst we
were on the attack, and we wouldn't substitute whilst we were defending.
We had to wait for a Blackburn throw deep inside their own half before it was
deemed acceptable conditions for making a substitution. Blomqvist came on
with about 10 minutes left.
Despite having so many attacking players on the pitch we never attacked with
any sense of purpose or conviction. Even into the dying minutes and
despite being only one goal behind there was no sense of urgency. Summed
up the overall performance really.
Despite being implored to stay by our overly verbose stadium announcer, I
really didn't feel like staying and applauding our underperforming team. A
performance like today's just kicks the hope and optimism out of you. Two
home games ago we were all hopeful and buoyant. The Leicester and
Blackburn games have nipped that particular bud of optimism. In a sense
maybe that's as well, this has been a dreadful season, and now that the boost of
a new manager has been dissipated, we shouldn't forget that we are left with a
mediocre squad that has been struggling for a long time. We are probably
finishing the season on the right note.
Ratings
- Gerrard 5 His days must now be numbered. At fault for the first
goal and an edgy performance all round. It's clear that no-one has any
confidence in him, certainly not Weir and Stubbs and certainly not the crowd
who took to giving him ironic cheers whenever he caught the ball
successfully. Not very helpful and somewhat harsh, but he's cost us too
much.
- Watson 6 He's back to being willing but limited. Maybe needs a
break to get his fitness fully sorted.
- Pistone 7 Probably the most accomplished today, did OK.
- Weir 7 Did OK but not at his best these days.
- Stubbs 6 He definitely needs the season to end as his performances
have tailed off badly. His passing was abysmal today.
- Alexandersson 6 Had a few good moments and I feel he could make a
good contribution if other parts of the team were functioning better.
- Gravesen 6 As usual opinions seem to be split on Thomas. I thought
he was poor - a couple of good passes but mostly the game seemed to be
passing him by.
- Gemmill 6 His usual tidy bits and pieces, but he really needs to be
improved upon.
- Unsworth 6 His usual effort and endeavour and didn't do much wrong.
However, I felt that their right back looked very vulnerable and "there
for the taking", alas Unsworth isn't the man for that kind of job.
- Campbell 6 Did a couple of decent things but still lacking fitness
and sharpness.
- Chadwick 6 Doing OK but still seems somewhat limited. Still, can
partly compensate for that with his general willingness and knack of scoring
goals. If he continues like this will be an asset next season even if it's
only from the bench.
- Radzinski 6 Mostly operating in wide positions and never really did
anything particularly eye-catching.
- Blomqvist 5 Not on long and didn't see much of the ball.
Team 5 Lacklustre and uninspiring. Got what we deserved.
Man of the match Pistone rose above the mediocrity.
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