View from the Blue
Columnist: Lyndon Lloyd

Attack as the best form of defence
7 April 2005

Leon Osman: his versatility going forward makes him the ideal candidate to join Bent up front in a 4-4-2 formation image © evertonfc.com

Since the turn of the year, Everton have scored just 12 goals in 11 games and just one in the last three fixtures. Of course, goals haven't exactly been our forte this season but that didn't really matter until now; we'd been able to grind out results by soaking up opposition pressure and grabbing the odd goal to secure all three points. Now as the goals dry up, so do the points and our Champions League aspirations are in danger of going the same way.

Marcus Bent has carried the can for our lack of cutting edge up front, but it's both simplistic and grossly unfair — at least to these eyes — to make him the scapegoat. After all, it's not as though he is missing sitters in front of goal; the nature of Everton's attacking strategy these is such that most of his opportunities come from around the edge of the box and, as he showed against Southampton at St Mary's, he has the talent to score from that kind of range... but he can't be expected to work miracles every week. Yes, his finishing in one-on-one situations could use some major improvement but we have to remember we're talking about a £450,000 player here. Tomasz Radzinski cost us £4.5m and he was equally woeful with just the 'keeper to beat.

For pure effort alone, Bent is one of the Blues' most important players, tasked as he is with leading the line as the loan striker, often with poor service and erratic support from midfield. He was, at one stage, the clear favourite to finish as top scorer this season, but as the team relies increasingly on the angled long ball or dinking passes down the channels for him to run onto and attempt to score from distance, his goals tally has fallen away, leaving Tim Cahill as the main threat making late runs from deep.

The result of our recent form has been the fans' growing impatience with the 4-5-1 system. It worked before the New Year and briefly at Aston Villa where David O'Leary's side simply caved in to the Blues' irresistable attacking flow, but now the clamour is for David Moyes to rediscover the adventurous spirit that characterised the early part of his Goodison reign and play 4-4-2 in this weekend's must-win game against Crystal Palace.

That has also led to calls for 16 year-old James Vaughan to be thrown into the Premiership cauldron but while it is natural in the context of a desire to see the Blues go hell-for-leather between now and the end of the season, I have my doubts about the wisdom of such a decision. Past experience may have shown that blooding our strikers early can reap benefits, but those benefits are so often short-term. Danny Cadamarteri and Francis Jeffers are prime examples of players who burst onto the scene at an early age, only to see their promising careers fizzle out, dampened by a mixture of complacency and the burden of massive expectation.

Vaughan is young compared to those two, while Wayne Rooney was clearly in a physical class of his own at 16 and therefore a unique case. So, while it's tempting to criticise Moyes for not turning more to his youth players, I would agree with his reluctance in the case of young Vaughan, particularly given first-hand accounts of his abilities from fans who have attended recent reserve games to run their eye over the striking prospect. At 20, midfielder Guillaume Plessis is another matter.

If I were picking the team against Palace on Sunday, I would draft Steve Watson into right midfield and move Leon Osman up front alongside Bent. Osman has shown he can score goals and cause problems for opposition defences with some nimble footwork, while Watson has plenty to prove after a long lay-off through injury and his contract due to expire in the summer.

It is crucial that we get at Ian Dowie's side early and not opt for the patient waiting game that has been our undoing of late. Somehow, we need to rediscover the magic with which we blew away Villa because this weekend's game is a do-or-die fixture. Win, and we stay ahead of Liverpool. Lose or draw and even qualification for the Uefa Cup will start to look doubtful. It's time to start thinking, playing and attacking like a team that deserves to be in the top four. As Moyes said last week: "Talk is cheap. You have to deliver."

Lyndon Lloyd

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