FANS COMMENT

Raising questions

There's never a good time to raise questions about what we are seeing and where we are going.  To comment after yesterday's match would be met with 'but look at our position.'  To comment after last week's draw you would hear, 'what a fantastic result, that's the most important thing'.  To comment after the win against Sheff Utd, people would say 'its a great win, look where we are,' — but where are we?  And where are we going?

Well, we're 7th, about to be overtaken, and falling rapidly back into the mid-table pack.  Our form over the last six or seven games is distinctly average.  We could / should have won at least three of the games we drew — why?  Talk of tactics and systems is, I believe, a little misleading.  Against Arsenal we played 1-9-1, against Fulham we played 4-4-1-1, the same system I would argue we played in most of the other games.

For me there are a number of issues, one is personnel:

• Cahill is not a midfield player, he cannot tackle effectively, cannot pass and control anything beyond Championship level, but is an extremely effective player attacking the box; in effect he's a second forward, someone who comes into the box late, which then leaves four in midfield.
• Carsley plays so deep he sits with the centre-halves, he panics almost every time he gets the ball and just hoofs it aimlessly in whatever direction he is facing.
• Osman has tricky feet in a tight space but has no pace and is too lightweight in today's modern midfield full of 6-ft athletes.
• Davies is just anonymous, he doesn't seem to contribute anything of any real importance.
• Arteta is full of thinking and has a degree of pace, but where oh where is the rest of the thinking and pace in midfield? Here for me lies the reason for the first problem — the lack of quality in midfield.

I think the defence has shown an ability to defend properly and is the basis on which many more points should be won.  AJ has been a good buy and provides the pace and outlet we have needed for some time.  But some of the others are good Championship standard and no more.

So then we come to the issues of team selection and tactics.  If David Moyes chooses to play Cahill, effectively as his second forward, then he must pick a midfield that can play as such, the idea that in some way Osman, Davies and Carsley can compete with other midfield's is laughable.  How many of these players would get in another Premiership midfield (apart from the crap at the bottom)?  These players have neither the presence, ability, strength or pace to control games.  The quality of players he is relying on not good.  If Cahill is now seen as a second forward, what are his plans for Beattie, McFadden, Anichebe and Vaughan?

So what are Moyes's tactics?  Well, I think we all know that against the likes of Arsenal it's "don't get beat, defend for your lives, and hope to pinch a goal from a 'set piece'" which we did, so is that clever, DM?  Clearly for some, yes, but my god what a shortsighted vision for the club.  After five years, we are still playing like this!? At what point will that change?  When does he feel he can challenge these teams?  Well, clearly not yet and he's had five years to get his own personnel in place and he doesn't trust them to compete either!!  Hmmm.  How good does he think his players are?

His tactics against all the other teams now seems to be 'play Cahill as the extra forward'.  One-dimensional, over-reliant on one person, and easy to combat by the better sides (restrict the set pieces).  Then we go a goal down, a la Fulham, and we revert to 'bring on a big man and hump the ball forward'.  What happened to 'get behind the back line', 'draw them out', 'pull their markers out of position' etc. etc.  Well we either don't have the personnel to do this or don't have a manager and coaching staff to see what is needed.

So where are we going?  My view is that what I see is stable mid-table mediocrity.  For some, after the Smith years, that is heaven, but for me it's just not good enough for a club of our traditions and stature.  If we are to believe Billy Liar and Keith Wyness, then the club is on a more secure-ish financial footing.  If true, then the only way is to go forward, but how?

Let me stick my neck on the line and offer suggestions and not just criticisms.  Some of them are basic and not rocket science, seen by most of us but not apparently by David Moyes.  Firstly, get some young pace in wide midfield aka Milner, Lennon or perhaps Whaley (if he wants British).  But I actually think he needs to go beyond these shores because they seem more able to align pace with ability than our coaching staff: cf Barlow, Cadamarteri et al.  Therefore, get some quality continental scouts working for the club.

Secondly, centre of midfield to work alongside Arteta, someone who is tall, athletic and can pass the ball.  Finally, and perhaps more radically, change the coaching structure.  Alan Irvine clearly thinks the same as Moyes (which is why he was appointed!!), but what he need is an attacking coach who will challenge his thinking, develop a different mindset, and raise the bar.  For this, he needs to also go beyond these shores; DM needs to have someone who will change his 'Championship thinking' — someone with a better understanding of tactics and techniques but not a manager in waiting.

If our expectations are to just merely 'hold' teams like Arsenal, when will we ever realistically dream again of winning trophies?

Responses:

From Liam Reilly:
I strongly agree with a lot of the points raised in your article, in regard to our lack of quality in midfield. However, to bring additional quality into the midfield, we need to locate quality players willing to play for the club. Whether continental or home grown talents, inevitably we will face fierce competition for their signatures from both home and abroad. Sissoko\Parker\Emre and even Owen, for example: all quality; all applying their trade elsewhere in the league. Whether we like it or not, Everton is not seen in the same light as the 'Big Four' and additionally, the club is looked at unfavourably against the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle.

The only way we are ever likely to re-address this balance is if the club begins to challenge for trophies again. A Catch-22 situation, you might say; however, I believe that this is were a core stability is paramount. Moyes has built a side that is difficult to breakdown and difficult to defeat. He can now have no arguments about the construction of this side. Walter Smith's legacy has long since passed and this is now Moyes's own creation. This side, as we have seen is capable of competing (albeit somewhat negatively) with the big four on their day and in the past couple of seasons we have taken points of all of them. This is progress, albeit slow progress, but the team must be given time to gel.

Both Moyes and Irvine, have in my opinion, realistic expectations of the current crop. They both know we can't compete with the likes of Arsenal by playing free-flowing attacking football, as we don't have the players to do so. Reading tried and were brushed aside and many others will follow. For a team like Everton (a mid-table Premiership team) to challenge the top clubs, we need to play to our strengths. It's not pretty, but it is effective.

The management have stressed the importance of the much maligned Carling Cup, but realistically, if we are to break our trophy drought, both this cup and the FA cup are the two trophies that we should be primarily concerned with. Success in either of these cups can then breathe further success, if the club is prepared to move forward.

We had this opportunity in the mid 1990's, when as the FA Cup holders with 'The Dogs of War side', we had a massive opportunity to capitalise on rising talent and bring in a few new faces, hungry for success with an already successful side. Of course this didn't happen, and, other than being reasonably successful following season (6th place), the momentum was lost and we were back in the same old position. The failed Champions League outing of two years ago still hurts us all. We needed investment and vision, we got neither.

To summarise, this side is never going to challenge for the Premier League, but then at present, neither are 16 other sides. Realistically, we need to aspire to being the best of the rest and consolidate this position. We need to progress each season and move forward, a new ground is paramount in doing so, (but this is another discussion). We need to be in a position that when this club come looking for players, be it home or abroad, the players want to come here and want to play for our club, not because they are overlooked by others. Only success can put us in this position; only success, albeit however minimal, can make the club attractive again.

At present, Nil Satis Nisi Optimum is no longer an argument for our once-great club, but if we are ever to fulfill our motto again, or if we are ever to be truly called the School of Science again, we must continue to progress slowly. The signs are, that under Moyes's stewardship we are moving in the right direction.
Liam Reilly 7/11/06

Jim, your general thrust would meet many sympathetic ears but I think you're a little harsh on Lee Carsley and Tim Cahill in particular.  A couple of seasons ago, I was ready to consign Carsley to the annals of Everton history but I think he has been one of our best players so far this season and much of what he does goes unnoticed.  He doesn't, to these eyes at least, panic on the ball and hoof it anywhere these days; his play is a lot more measured and composed than that.

Cahill, on the other hand, does blow hot and cold as a conventional midfielder, but there is no doubt that he can pass and tackle with the best of them on his day.  You only have to cast your mind back to his debut against Manchester United for evidence of that.
Lyndon Lloyd 6/11/06

There are a few points I would like to respond to regarding this artice. My first point is David Moyes is the best man for this job. He is very honest and self-critical. When interviewed he never tries to deflect blame to anyone else (unless you are Graham Poll!!) He has a trusted assistant in Alan Irvine who as pointed out is very similar in charactar to David. I am sure that when Alan sees something on the sidelines or in training David listens to him to provide support and advice.

What manager would want someone in his ear that constantly is going in the other direction and not on the same page. It is a partnership that I feel works very well. My second point is that 2 years ago Carsley played almost every game protecting the back four. This was also the season we finished fourth in the league. Last year he missed all but the last six games. We finished in a position most evertonians feel was below where we expected to finish and nowhere near qualifying for Europe.

I will say that a lack of goals cost us but Carsley is not a goalscorer and it is his position that is being critisised here. This season we look a lot more stronger at the back and a lot of this is down to Carsleys protection of Yobo/Lescott/Stubbs. Yes he is now 32 and a younger more athletic replacement will have to be found. On a small sidenote could Yobo be used in this positon and another centrehalf found to partner Lescott. Davis from West Brom?

My third point brings me to the subject of Cahill. If this boy does not get players player award this season he will never get it. Yes he is not the best tackler we have seen. Yes he is not the most creative midfielder that has played in the premiership. But what he does best is lose his marker and score vital goals. Sounds like a younger version of Paul Scholes to me. Maybe this is why he is constantly linked with a big money move to one of europes elite clubs.

To sum up we are not blessed with the draw to appoint a manager that has won a Euro cup, a Champions League trophy or his domestic league five times on the bounce (including his time at Porto) or an owner that brings a transfer budget of all the African nations debt put together. We will work with what we have got. Not my favourite player but if Simon Davies happened to be available for transfer and he filled the boxes that David needed ticking who are we to say he should not play for our team.

We are Evertonians and should support any player who pulls on the blue jersey, whether we think they are good enough to should not come into it. This club will continue to have fantastic support long after these current crop of players, management, coaching staff and directors have gone. We must continue the virtues of what make this club the Peoples Club.
Kirk McArdle

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