Match Preview

Well, after the dire performance at Ewood Park, the Wolves are really at the door this Saturday.

Since Moyes arrived with a win over Fulham, Everton have avoided the "must-win" games.  This perhaps explains the lack of focus and preparation that appeared evident against Blackburn.  Such a poor start simply cannot be contemplated against Dave Jones's boys who — unfortunately for us — are running into a bit of form and have now only tasted defeat once in their last eight games.

Forget "can't afford to lose"...  this is the ultimate in early season "must wins"!

The mess over Ferguson is the last thing that we needed this week and has managed to overshadow some very promising International performances from the best up-and-coming talents in British football: Rooney and McFadden.  Even if Ferguson apologises to Moyes, it is hard to see him making the starting line up on Saturday.  Jeffers's goal for the reserves (2-2 against Villa) may see him get the nod but, with Campbell also struggling, it is hard to see past a Rooney/Radzinski frontline with Jeffers on the bench.

We also have the chance to possibly see two wingers at Everton in McFadden and Kilbane.  Gravesen showed how useless he is on the right and must come central again (where of course he was outstanding against England).  With Watson still struggling, McFadden must take the right flank, and Moyes must choose between Naysmith and Kilbane for the left flank.

At the back, Stubbs should thankfully return and provide some experience; Moyes must decide whether Unsworth's spirited second-half showing at Blackburn gets him a start — one hopes not!

For Wolves, their resurgence has simply been sparked by hard work and commitment — shown clearly when they came back from 3-0 down against Leicester to secure a stunning 4-3 victory.  However, the key player in that fight-back with 2 goals from midfield, Colin Cameron, missed both Scotland's games this week and is a big doubt.

Upfront is where Wolves should struggle and we must return to last season's defensive base — am I repeating myself again?  The defending against Blackburn was simply shocking and cannot be repeated — hopefully Stubbs will exert the control and leadership that is needed.

Wolves are a poor side and, not long ago, were being tipped as the worst ever Premiership side (what, worse than Leeds?).  We should batter them and I fully expect us to do so.

3-0 to the Boys in Blue!

Blue4Ever

Lee Doyle

Report

A very satisfying match. The first half was superb, and we passed the ball on the ground for most of it.  Even Unsworth fell in line.  Everton gave a good professional performance that won the game in the first half.  You can't get too carried away about beating a poor side like Wolves but this was a massive game for us psychologically and we got the 3 points. 

Gravesen was immense — Man of the Match by a mile.  The England-Denmark game has obviously boosted his confidence.  He consistently got his foot on the ball and played some superb passes that cut through their midfield time and time again.  In short, he ran the show in the first half.  If he can get performing at this level on a consistent basis then I think he might silence a few of his critics; however, he needs to show he can do it against quality opposition.

Good game from Kilbane too — he may not set the world on fire in terms of skill but he's an intelligent player who uses the ball well.  He was obviously chuffed to bits to get his first goal for us; the £1M we paid for him doesn't look like such a bad bit of business.

Rooney and McFadden did a good job in drawing defenders out, creating space for us to work with.  Not their greatest ever displays individually but they worked hard for the team which was good to see.

We were solid in defence — Blake caused a few more problems than Iversen had in the first half but Stubbs rarely looked troubled.  Yobo looked a class act as usual but one minor gripe is that he tends to dilly-dally on the ball sometimes when a hoof upfield is the safer option.  It looks great when he dances round an opposing forward and then lays it off to a team-mate but I've just got a feeling it's going to go horribly wrong one of these days.

J The second half was forgettable, and much like the first half v Blackburn, but we had won, and the only criticism that I would make would be when we are up, we need to add more. Clean sheet great.

Just to note, we need to work on those free kicks. No one in the side can really bend it like Beckham. Give it up lads, even he rarely scores from them. Also, a few more shots from outside the area would not go amiss either.

• Martyn: Surely on the path to England Footie. Marsahlled his defence well. 7
• Hibbert: A few wayward passes, caught out of position a few times but solid. 6
• Yobo: Solid as ever 8
• Stubbs: Same 8
• Unsworth: Best game this season, contained himself 7
• Linderoth: Tidy came. Came forward a few times. 6
• McFadden: Still worried about his first touch, but he can dribble and shimmy past the best of them 7
• Gravesen: Best match he has had. Only two passes going amiss all game. Drove us forward. Finally the leader we have wanted? 9
• Kilbane: Proving his critics wrong by the week. Very skillful, and great goal. 8
• Rooney: Tucked in nicely, caused plenty of problems, but I suspect that it will be a few more weeks before the Rooney of old is really back with us. 6
• Radzinski: A most annoying player you can't find (apart from Gravesen). Scores from 30 years, misses from 10. 6 Subs not on long enough to mark, but good to see Osman at last. And he made a corner.

Second half was pretty dull and the atmosphere was a bit subdued.  We are going to face tougher tests than this though — we were good yesterday but they made it easy for us. The next few weeks are going to shape our season...

From Deep Blue and Black Toffee on The People's Forum