Fans Comment
Mick Stanley

Goals, Goals, give me Goals
9 February 2006

Over the last few weeks, I have read several letters from Everton fans regarding the current situation with regard, in particular, to the lack of movement in the recent transfer window.  While this article may be a case of flogging an already dead horse, I feel compelled to add my comments and opinions into the mix.

Let me first take you back to May 2005.  Everton finished 4th in the Premier League, qualified for the Champions League and, while maybe not a fortune by today’s standards, there was money to spend.  I, along with a great many other Everton supporters, were filled with optimism and enthusiasm for the coming campaign.  Through sheer hard work and determination, the players and management had given the club the best platform, in recent times, to move forward.  Now, some 9 months later, how many of you can honestly say, hand on heart, that the Club has moved forward?  Not many, if any, I suspect.  It is probably fair to say that the Club has, at best, stood still and more realistically, it has moved backwards.

Why is this?  We have added some decent players to the squad (the likes of Neville, Davies, Ferrari, Nuno Valente, Van der Meyde, Arteta etc), but to no apparent avail.  Last year, we achieved our lofty league position by grinding out results, usually 1-0 and, at the time, we were all happy.  With the signings that we made in the summer, I would have expected something better than that this season, but it hasn’t happened.  I accept that we are currently on a good run, but we are back to grinding out 1-0 wins again.  The problem is surely obvious to anyone who watches Everton regularly…. we need a GOALSCORER!!!  This may seem an easy (and obvious) statement to make, so let me provide you with some factual and visible evidence.

I will start by defining a few facts.  As I write, Everton have played 25 games in the Premiership, they have scored 18 goals (not good) and there have been no 0-0 draws (in other words, there has been at least one goal in every game).  It may surprise some readers to learn that, despite our low goals total, Everton have scored first in 14 matches and, conversely, have conceded first in the other 11.  If you break the season down into these two categories, the figures are really quite alarming:

Scored First: P W D L F A PTS GD
                   14 10 3 1 17 6 33  +11

This record is excellent and would stand up to anyone else in the Premiership.  Look at the defensive record – only 6 goals conceded in 14 matches.  That is about as good as it gets.  Now... for the nervous, I suggest you avert your eyes….

Conceded First: P W D L F A PTS GD
                        11 0 0 11 1 26 0  -25

This record is appalling!  Only one goal scored in 11 matches and 26 conceded.  How can this be, when you look at the defensive record above?

The prime difference between the statistics shown above is obvious, at least to me.  When we score first, there is confidence that, defensively, we can hold on to that lead (8 out of 10 wins in the Premiership have been 1-0.  Conversely, when we concede first, confidence is shattered because there does not appear to be any genuine belief that we are capable pulling a deficit back.

The record surely bears out this assumption: only one goal scored on the 11 occasions where we have conceded first.  Often we have gone on to concede a second goal and, on 3 occasions we have capitulated and conceded four.  Capitulated may seem a harsh term, but I defy anyone to convince me that WBA, Aston Villa or even Bolton are 4 goals better than us. 

Defensively, despite conceding a total of 32 in 25 games, I think we are fine.  I am convinced that, if we had greater belief in our ability to score, particularly after conceding first, we would not have conceded anything like as many goals – look at the record when we have scored first.  So, what do we need to rectify the current malaise?  Simple: a goalscorer.  Not a jack-of-all-trades forward who can score 6 or 7 goals a season but works like a Trojan — we have enough players who can do that; we need a genuine goalscoring partner for Beattie.

Incidentally, Beattie has certainly won me over with his work rate in the last quarter of the season, but I feel that often we are asking him to do too much on his own.  Not only would a genuine goalscorer be good for the team in general, I also believe that it would lead to a much better goal return from Beattie and it would give Cahill back some of his ‘surprise factor’, instead of him being regarded by most opponents as one of our primary, and sometimes only, goal threats.

Is this ‘rocket science’?  I don’t think so.  Throughout last summer and the recent January transfer window, the Club has failed to satisfy, or maybe even recognise, the primary requirement of the team.  For those of you, either in the Club management or fans writing in to tell ‘us’ to stop complaining about the lack of transfer activity, I suggest you look long and hard at the figures above.  Then maybe you will understand why it is that we are complaining and that we are justified in doing so.

I am not in the business apportioning specific blame for the situation, but I read with interest the letter from Paul Houghton (3 Feb) and I agree with his conclusions.  Davis Moyes should be responsible for listing the players that he wants, but he should not be responsible in my view for the financial aspects of any proposed dealings.  This responsibility should, I believe, lie with the Board of Directors, who should be far more visible in their ‘support’ of the manager.  I for one am getting tired of hearing their ‘weasel’ words and seeing no supporting action.  But then, perhaps it suits them to see the accusing fingers and written sniping aimed at the Manager rather than themselves.

Responding to Mick Stanley's article — it's plainer than that to see!!.  You are spot on, but it's much easier to see.  Take a look at the table — only Portsmouth and Sunderland have scored less than us, and it's only one.  They have both scored 17 and they have collected roughly half and a quarter of our points total respectively.

As you say it's down to the lack of investment in striking power.  We were told that we went after every striker that was available, but failed.  That means the manager has not done his job properly.  He says he won't squander money on the wrong type of player.  Hell-ooo ... Per Krøldrup!!!  We lost £2M on him and no-one has criticised the manager one iota.  That would have been an extra £2M to spend on a striker on top of the money for Marcus Bent — who goes and scores against Chelski in his first game. 

Must we accept that we are now peers of clubs like Aston Villa, Charlton, West Brom, Sunderland — all of whom cannot afford to pay big money for big players?  Even Portsmouth, Birmingham, Fulham and Blackburn have now positioned themselves as clubs to attract decent players.  Why couldn't we get Routledge on loan, Bellamy, Savage, Emre, Sissoko, Parker, Forsell?  Why wouldn't they sign for a club in the Champions League qualifier rather than others not even involved in Europe? 

I'll tell you why.  They see a club with no ambition — with a manager who was a defender and today sends out a team to try and not conceded a goal and rely on a break to score one.  Moyes was a defender and he has no aspirations top score goals — just defensive strategies.  We have managed to score more than once on just two occasions this term — and it took us 14 games to do it on December 3rd.  Does that tell you something?

Answer me this. You have Big Dunc on the bench and bring him on as second-half sub. Why?  Well to hammer their box with crosses for the big fella to do his damage.  So why would you sub him for Arteta?  The best crosser of the ball in the team?  He did this in the game against Wigan.  Why would you bring on Naysmith who hasn't played a game all season, instead of Anichebe, a young kid with pace, strength and erm, an ability to score goals? This in a home game, sudden-death FA cup match against Chelsea, to preserve a 1-1 draw with the prospect of the replay at the Bridge where we have conceded about 143 goals in the last 4 years!

Equally in the replay we were 3-0 down at half time.  He takes off Beattie (not a goalscorer, sorry) so why not bring on Anichebe in a game that was irretrievable, but a great opportunity to blood the boy and let him loose, rather than the headless chicken that is McFadden?  Why Moyes perseveres with him is a mystery — maybe 'cos he's Scottish!! 

I have played the game at a half-decent level but not managed.  However, there are some things that are too obvious.  Let's face it we will never, in my lifetime, get not one but two chances to play in Europe like we did this season, so someone's head should roll for the lack of commitment in buying a couple of decent forwards.  And by the way, I don't buy this bullshit about "we don't want to become another Leeds".  We only needed to invest small beer compared to what they wasted.

Brian Mills

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