Match Preview

Before we visited Elland Road, Robbie had an �11M price tag on his head and was looking far from his best.  90 minutes later with 2 goals under his belt he was celebrating having done what he does best � Batter his (previously) Beloved Blues.

On paper, and on form, Leeds are a top class team.  Urgency and drive from Bowyer; tenacity and determination from Batty and Dacourt; Wonderful skill and vision from Kewell; Predatory talents and finishing from Fowler; and Viduka's wonderful balance and distribution.

At the back they have in Ferdinand arguably the most talented English defender since Bobby Moore (according to my Dad) and England's current No 1 in Martyn.

Not bad then!

Fortunately, Sunday's game will not be played on paper (just a shocking pitch) and Leeds are not on form.  Furthermore, they suffered a massive and demoralising last-minute loss in game on Thursday night that may well still be in a few players legs.

Dacourt must be considered doubtful for Sunday; Seth Johnson, Jonathon Woodgate and Michael Duberry are all injured; Danny Mills and Lee Bowyer suspended.  I think Alan Smith is back from suspension.

A few more being out and that squad will certainly be stretched � Poor O'Leary: a squad so thin that he was forced to spend �18M on a centreback!  Do me a favour!!

Our Kev (Super?) must be considered a doubt for us but if so then a partially fit Dunc is likely to come back in � even though the Echo is saying he won't � do we have any choice?  Given Campbell's movement at the moment, I don't honestly think there will be much difference.

Naysmith and Alexandersson are also doubtful but Pistone could replace Naysmith and I don't think Nick would start anyway with Blomqvist close to a recall and Carsley available again.  (Is that a squad with depth? Well it is if we ignore centre-back and centre-forward!)

If we are to win then we will definitely need Rads to keep up his promising form since his return but the result will be decided in the middle of the park.

Gravesen will surely start and it's possible that we could see him and Carsley from the off which I think could turn out to be an excellent centre-midfield.  Gravesen was hugely influential in the 2nd half against Crewe and, were Dacourt to miss out, then I reckon we could win that battle which should give us the platform that we need.

Final score � well we've only lost one in the last four and that was to a v lucky Arsenal goal and Leeds haven't won at Goodison since 1990... so I'm going to ride on the back of this, and the return of Rads, and go for a 2-1 Goodison Glory Day.

Fowler's bound to score but Gravesen and Rad will do enough.

'Appy 'Ammers next up

BlueForEver

Comments on the Match

I thought we were pretty shite. Leeds were there for the taking, especially with them being down to 10 men.  As well as Bakke played at centre half, as far as I know he has never played there before.  We missed a great chance to really attack him.  Also Leeds stuck with 3 strikers (Smith, Viduka and Fowler), as well as Kewell � leaving Batty as their only defensive midfielder, but we still didn't manage to create anything.  Did Martyn even have a save to make yesterday?

First and foremost I blame Smith for his total negitivity.  Crap long ball football doesn't get you anywhere these days, and its truely dreadful to watch.  Also Smith should have introduced the subs sooner � 10 minutes is nowhere near enough time for Ginola and Gravesen to make a difference.

I also thought a few of our players were bollocks yesterday. Gemmil badly needs a rest � he is not the same player he was last season. All he seems capable of now is coming to collect the ball off the defence, and playing it sideways.  Try running forward Scott! Wasn't impressed with Carsley yesterday either � he should have got in and rattled Smith and Batty, but the game largely passed him by.  I also thought Unsworth was shit, but then I always do.

Positives?  I thought we defended pretty well, as we have for most of the season. I also though Linderoth played OK.  Campbell had his best game for a while, but that's not really saying much, is it?  Radzinski did alright, but he should stop going down like a bitch.

West Ham is a huge game now.  Three points can be ours if we just attack a bit more, and battle a bit harder.

Thoughts about the game

Overall, we lost the game in midfield.  Passing was atrocious throughout, and we never took advantage of set pieces or the man advantage.  I was surprised at how poor Leeds were given that they switched from 4-4-2 to 4-2-4 when attacking in the first half - so credit to our defence to keeping them down. 

Thought Bakke looked like a great player for them; as for us:- 

• Simo - other than a couple of flaps in the first half on corners, didn't have much to do 
• Unsie - did nothing to improve his reputation as a waste of space. Passing was awful, as were set pieces 
• Weir - had his usual excellent game 
• Stubbs - as for Weir other than some fairly wayward distribution
• Pistone - looks lazy, but always seems effective. Played well I thought. 
• Blomqvist - my man of the match. he was everywhere on the left, tackling back and covering for Unsie when he drifted out of position. Best performance in an Everton shirt, don't understand why he was subbed. 
• Carsley - got in some decent challenges, but distribution was wasteful and lacking in any intelligence. Failed to control the game against a weakened side. 
• Gemmill - may as well not ahve bothered at all. Rest him, or get rid. He's been here long enough without really making the grade. 
• Linderoth - I thought he did OK, looked better wide than he has in the middle, but still off the pace. Needed to be subbed sooner.
• Campbell - more mobile than of late, seemed more committed, playing deeper and helping out a struggling midfield. But I don't think he won a header the whole match. Dived for a late penalty claim. 
• Radzinski - was very carefully man-marked by Leeds defence, hardly got any space, but 100% for effort. Dived for all penalty claims in my opinion, but hell we look SO much better with him playing.
• Subs hardly had enough time to show what they couid do, but its a good example of our lack of awareness as a team that Ginola, late in the game with the ball on the left wing, had THREE Leeds players around him (leaving only 6 outfield players) and STILL an Everton player could not find himself space to run into.  I honestly don't think we've the intelligence in the rest of the team to get the best out of Ginola.

And somehow I just think we look better organsied with Gravesen in the team.

Leeds fans were good value though - nice to see some strife in the away section for once.

Can any Everton fan tell me why you were calling Duberry "grass"?  Seems to me he did what any decent person would have done in the circs, i.e. shop the villains.  Nothing to do with him being black, I'm sure...