No AJ — yet another training injury! Hibbert also not playing; Cahill suspended. Everton lining up 4-4-2.
Spurs began as if they meant business, playing some impressive possession football as if they were determined to turn the early season defeat around with some urgency. Everton, meanwhile, started the game looking every inch as if they had just returned from a nice holiday in sunny Spain.
There was no cohesion, no continuity, no joined-up football to speak of from Everton. Anichebe found himself booked early on for his first tackle, which was perhaps a fraction late, and his touches were generally poor; he seemed to be always making the wrong decision... but he was not alone. So many of Beattie's touches left you screaming in agony or just collapsing in laughter.
First Anichebe, then Fernandes and finally Carsley all endeavoured to demonstrate why Everton don't shoot from outside the area. But Osman got in one great shot that forced a fantastic full-length save from Robinson.
One of the most frustrating things, though, was watching Fernandes whose initially causal approach on the ball continually put Everton in danger. And he was just standing in the middle of the field, rather than doing something to intercept a wide ball that set Lennon off to the races, getting past Lescott for once. Keane drew three Everton defenders to the near post, leaving no-one anywhere near Berbatov on the far side of the area and it was a simple task for the Bulgarian to complete the job with consummate ease. An atrocious goal to give away, sacrificed through the most criminal midfield play (or lack of it) that should have Moyes seething.
But Everton got a lucky break when Anichebe was held back by Dawson, with the linesman initially waving his flag the other way. From the free-kick, a simply superb execution by Mikel Arteta, curling the ball brilliantly beyond Robinson and in off the foot of the post.
Naysmith on for Anichebe at half-time, who had frankly been very poor.. but a full-back??? When we had just scored??? What was Moyes thinking??? Enough of that 4-4-2 nonsense.... back to 4-5-1... but with Beattie on his own upfront. And yes, Everton did look somewhat better, denying Spurs the possession they had thrived on, but to what effect? Not a single real effort on goal to speak of... Okay, Osman came close with a glancing header, but we really didn't look like scoring again.
Moyes's solution? Take off Fernandes, the £12M wonder star and attacking midfielder from Benfica, and bring on Tony Hibbert, defensive non-scoring full-back instead!!! The boos echoed loud and long around Goodison Park as those ignorant drunken knobhead Evertonians on all sides of the ground left David Moyes in no doubt what they thought about his unbelievable negativity. Spurs were there for the taking, but the warnings kept coming, with openings for Berbatov and Keane, then finally Jenas, who hammered the ball home with a superb shot on 90 minutes.
What an unbelievable debacle, overseen personally and with total culpability by David Moyes. What does he do next? NOW — in jury time — he brings on James Vaughan... You'd have to laugh if you weren't already bawling your eyes out in despair at the stupidity of it.
The game ended as an utterly shocking indictment of all that s wrong with David Moyes's management. Calamitous isn't in it. What an absolute disaster.
Michael Kenrick
In the run-up to this match, the game in hand that was supposed provide the launchpad for an assault on the top six between now and May, David Moyes called on his players to win their home games. Unfortunately, he then proceeded to decisively undermine the team's efforts with more tactical madness and handed the initiative to Martin Jol who didn't need asking twice.
Tottenham canceled out Everton's stunning victory at White Hart Lane at the beginning of the season and resumed normal service between these two clubs by stealing the points with a late strike by Jermaine Jenas. For the Goodison faithful, already voicing their ire at Moyes for more mystifyingly negative tactics, it was a cruel kick in the guts and they let the manager have it at the final whistle with a chorus of boos.
With Andy Johnson ruled out with the twisted knee sustained in injury — the latest in a line of training ground incidents that have cost the likes of Mikel Arteta and Andy van der Meyde playing time — Moyes took the predictable move of partnering James Beattie with Victor Anichebe. With Tim Cahill suspended, Leon Osman returned to the midfield on the opposite flank to Mikel Arteta, with Lee Carsley and Manuel Fernandes in the middle.
The imperious form of Alan Stubbs and Joleon Lescott meant the latter retained the left-back spot keeping Gary Naysmith on the bench, while Phil Neville played at right full-back and Tony Hibbert took his place on the substitute's bench.
In stark contrast to the flowing football with which they dismantled Spurs with only 10 men in the reverse fxture back in August, Everton started the game in familiar hoof-ball mode, with Tim Howard, Stubbs, Joseph Yobo and Neville the chief culprits. The visitors, meanwhile, were content to keep the ball on the deck and, as a result, enjoyed the bulk of the possession and carried the greater threat in the first half without really looking all that dangerous in the final third.
With Beattie and Anichebe forced to feed on scraps, chances were at a premium. Back to back corners for the Blues in the eighth minute came to nothing as Arteta found White shirts with both set pieces before Anichebe was harshly booked for a late tackle on Anthony Gardner. Neville followed him into the book a couple of minutes later for scything down Berbatov on the touchline as Everton struggled to find their rhythm.
Anichebe did have the first meaningful effort on goal, though, after 18 minutes, a volley that bounced well wide, and after Robbie Keane was almost put in by Berbatov's intelligent knock-down, Osman brought the best out of Paul Robinson with a volley that was brilliantly turned behind by the England 'keeper.
When Tottenham did get it together in attack 10 minutes before the break, it produced the game's first goal. Aaron Lennon burst clear down the right and got behind Lescott for the first time in the game and when he cut it back to the other side of the area, Berbatov took advantage of the acre of space created by Neville's failure to track back to rifle a first-time shot past Howard.
That Everton pulled level before the break owed more to fortune and a terrific free kick by Arteta. Anichebe was adjudged by the linesman to have fouled Matthew Dawson before the defender pulled him back by the shirt but the referee ruled, probably correctly based on the TV replays, in favour of Everton. Spurs were still fuming when Arteta curled the ball across Robinson and in off the far post to make it 1-1.
Having gained the upper hand, the Blues were well placed to kick on in the second half and win the game. Instead, Moyes withdrew Anichebe, threw on Naysmith, of all players, and went to 4-5-1. On the face of it, it was perhaps an OK decision. Anichebe's penchant for back-chat has earned him yellow cards in the past and it's possible Moyes didn't want to risk him collecting a second in one game. Furthermore, Arteta had been a curiously peripheral figure in the first half, Fernandes was impressive in a five-man midfield against Blackburn and it would give Naysmith a chance to show that he could provide some width down the left.
The beginning of the second half seemed to vindicate the manager's decision. Osman had three chances to put the home side ahead, first when he scewed a shot a yard or so wide, then when Robinson foiled him again as he tried to poke the ball past him, and finally when he glanced an Arteta free kick just past the far post.
Spurs, on the other hand, appeared to lose their way and resorted to bickering amongst themselves as the game progressively slipped from their grasp. With Beattie ploughing a lone furrow up front, though, and Everton failing regularly to either break quickly enough or get sufficient numbers forward in support of their forays forward, there didn't seem much hope of victoy for either side.
The situation was crying out for the introduction of a player with pace, energy and enthusiasm of James Vaughan. Not for the first time this season, the crowd knew it — the players probably knew it too — but while Jol took the positive step of introducing Steed Malbranque for the now ineffective Lennon with 10 minutes, Moyes met the fans increasing disquiet with another infuriatingly late and perplexing decision.
As Spurs regained the initiative and might easily have scored through Berbatov (fired well over) or Keane (ended a superb run by slicing wide from the angle), Moyes replaced the tiring Fernandes with Hibbert. Not Vaughan. Goodison erupted into howls of derision that only intensified when, four minutes later, the game was lost.
Jenas received a pass in plenty of space between Carsley and Neville outside the box and he had all the time he needed to place a perfect shot wide of Howard's desperate dive to ratchet the anger in the stands a few more notches.
As the game ticked into stoppage time, Moyes, in what was probably an inadvertant yet unfortunate admission of failure, removed half-time sub Naysmith and finally pitched Vaughan into the action. And the 18 year-old very nearly made a fool of his gaffer with the last kick of the game but could only slice a half-chance into Robinson's arms.
Five years into Moyes's tenure at Goodison, Everton still look like a team that sets out to avoid defeat rather than take a game by the scruff of the neck and win it hands down. Irrespective of their cup expoits, Tottenham have shown to be an appalling team on the road this season — they'd only recorded one victory away from home before today and had lost at struggling Sheffield United only 10 days earlier — and their descent into in-fighting in the second half only seemed to cement the impression that they were there for the taking if only the Blues could find some edge in the final third.
Arteta and Fernandes showed nice touches but all too often ended up running down blind alleys due to lack of options ahead of them. Arteta in particular found it hard to dictate proceedings in the way we've become accustomed at Goodison, all too often getting boxed in on the right flank with Neville. And with virtually no service in the box, Beattie was forced to exhibit his best moments outside the area providing crosses for one of the smallest players on the pitch in the form of Leon Osman.
Whether it's his fault or not, Beattie has singularly failed to demonstrate that he is ever going to be a success at Everton so deploying him as the only striker still seems like madness or desperation for him to succeed. The Moyes that injected Walter Smith's sorry lot with an infectious attitude and emphasis on youth probably wouldn't have blinked at pitching Vaughan and Anichebe into the starting line-up together; five years and a flirtation with a Champions League dream later and the "Moyessiah" has lost his edge and, seemingly, his adventurous side.
And they wonder why attendances are down...
Lyndon Lloyd
Now that home games seem to be more and more sporadic, you’ve got to try and make the most of them. As always, it was good to see the lads in the pub before; as Gary pointed out, our first home evening game of the season.
We headed to the ground just in time and were in our seats in time for Z-Cars. The team was pretty much as I expected given the injuries we have. Anichebe and Beattie started up front with the midfield practically picking itself with Arteta, Carsley, Fernandes and Osman all playing. It was as you were at the back and in goal. The bench didn’t really look too bright with two full backs (Hibbert and Naysmith), Vaughan, the untested Da Silva and Richard Wright.
Spurs plumed for Berbatov and Keane up front with Lennon on the right wing and Dawson and Gardner at the heart of defence. The referee was none other than Uriah Rennie. We won the toss and thus attacked the Park End in the first half.
Not a great deal happened in the opening half hour really. If anything, Spurs edged it although neither team did an awful lot. It was only really after 30 minutes that the game came to life. Osman tried his luck with a difficult half-volley that was well tipped round the post by Robinson, whilst Anichebe volleyed a decent effort well wide. At the other end, Lennon had an effort that was straight at Howard and Chimbonda headed wide from a free kick.
In the midst of all this Everton had possession. Osman was tackled on half way and he ball broke to Lennon. He ran the ball quite a long way before looking up and playing a neat ball back to Berbatov. He hit it clinically first time and into the corner. 0-1, just when we looked as though we were sorting a few things out.
We battled well with what remained in the half however and a few minutes later we were level, but not without controversy. Anichebe battled for a loose ball with Dawson and they both went down. From the other end of the pitch (where I sat) it looked as though we should have had a free kick. The linesman flagged the other way but strangely Rennie gave it to us. To be fair he was right on the spot and probably had a better view than the linesman. Nevertheless, Spurs were clearly incensed and barracked the linesman whilst Everton prepared for the free kick. Arteta caught Robinson off-guard by going for the far post and it looped low into the net. We were thankfully level. Spurs were, as you’d expect, furious. A few minutes later the whistle blew and it was half-time.
At half-time, some lad hit the bar once with the half time “hit the bar” competition, and we heard Liverpool were drawing 1-1 at the Nou Camp.
We noticed Everton were making a change after half-time and were all a bit astonished to see him put Naysmith on in place of Anichebe. Now Victor had a booking already and was walking something of a tightrope; however, surely a like-for-like swap with Vaughan would have made more sense than to put a left-back in left midfield, particularly as this left Beattie as the loan striker. However, it got worse; more later…
Despite all this, Everton dominated the first half-hour of the second half and really should have sown this game up. Arteta was at the heart of most things really, and Beattie ran his nuts off.
The best chances probably fell to Osman who was always getting up in support. He headed one just wide and scuffed two other efforts too close to Robinson. Spurs also survived a strong penalty appeal when Chimbonda looked to have handled inside the box, and even later Lescott burst into the box but instead of just smacking it one tried to lay it back for Osman and it was cleared. Arteta also scooped a couple of free kicks over and wide.
Beattie was playing well but clearly needed some help. This was clear with 20 minutes to go and I felt Vaughan should have been bought on to support him. Spurs began a late onslaught on our goal and missed a few sitters. Berbatov missed two sitters and Keane one with neither hitting the target.
The locals were getting restless and were demanding a change. So just imagine the amount of boos when he took off Fernandes (one of the best players) and replaced him with Hibbert. This just made no sense and Spurs seized the initiative. From another attack, the ball broke to Jenas who picked his spot and Spurs won the game with a minute to go.
Queue baffling substitution No 3 when Vaughan was finally put on to replace… Naysmith!!! For the love of God... Needless to say, we didn’t grab the vital equaliser.
I was shocked. Still am. I’ve always been quite a staunch defender of Moyes and will still defend him, but there’s not much you can say about those bizarre substitutions. I think this was a real shame as we really did have Spurs there for the taking for quite a long period of this game. It’s certainly a game we shouldn’t have lost.
However, I’ll stop short of the utterly disgraceful language and racist actions of some of the plonkers who sit near me. Every week they come. Every week they scream. I don’t know why they bother coming at all. Their language was particularly bad today, particularly as there was quite a few young kids around as well. Now I’m not adverse to a bit of swearing at the game myself, but this was really offensive stuff and I don’t know how much this goes on elsewhere in the ground, but its got to be unpleasant for a lot of people and needs stopping.
Player Ratings:
Paul Traill
Confidence can sometimes be everything and David Moyes's Everton seem particularly susceptible to the peaks and valleys of self-belief during a season. So, it's comforting to see the players in fairly bullish mood on the back of a decent run of results.
The Blues have lost just once in the League this year and are placed nicely to launch a bid for Uefa Cup qualification if they can put together a run of really good results between now and the end of the season... starting with this week's game in hand against Tottenham.
Unfortunately, one of the chief architects of Everton's stunning win at White Hart Lane back in August, Andy Johnson, could be out of contention with a knee injury sustained in training. The 26-year-old is now a doubt but will undergo a fitness test on Wednesday before the starting line-up is finalised.
Definitely out are Tim Cahill, who serves a one-match ban after reaching five bookings on the season, Andy van der Meyde, sidelined again with yet another muscle strain, while Nuno Valente (calf strain) and Alessandro Pistone (hamstring) are unlikely to be fit. Leon Osman returns, though, after serving a suspension of his own.
If AJ is ruled out, it would come as a huge blow but it would likely hand James Beattie a chance to prove that he has what it takes to make it at Everton. It would also almost certainly mean a 4-4-2 formation instead of 4-5-1, with Victor Anichebe his probable partner.
Spurs have struggled to scale the heights they attained last season and have suffered a horribly erratic campaign in the Premiership but their 4-0 drubbing of Fulham at Craven Cottage in the FA Cup this past weekend should serve as a warning sign that the Blues will need to be on top of their game if they are to register their first double over Tottenham in living memory.
The 152nd first-class meeting between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, sees the club hoping to extend their current 4 game unbeaten run and keep up Everton’s hopes of qualifying for Europe. This is also Everton’s 77th match against Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park.
Everton's record against Tottenham is:
P
W
D
L
F
A
Premier League
29
3
10
16
48
Division One
108
40
33
35
155
167
Division Two
2
1
0
4
FA Cup
5
15
14
Screen Sport Super Cup
TOTALS:
151
50
45
56
206
233
the last match between the sides saw Everton win 2:0 at Tottenham earlier this season thanks to a Callum Davenport own goal, with Andy Johnson getting the second. The last meeting at Goodison Park, saw a 0:1 defeat on 15 April last season.
Despite Tottenham leading in the overall series, Everton’s record against Tottenham at Goodison Park sees the club well ahead of their London opponents, although Tottenham have a favourable record in the Premier League contests:
6
11
54
27
17
88
60
76
34
24
18
112
83
Everton’s record for 21 February is slightly unfavourable:
7
22
21
The last match on this day was in 2004, when Everton drew 3:3 at Southampton. In fact, only 4 of the 11 League matches on this day have been at Goodison Park, which have seen Everton win 2 and draw 2. Everton have scored 5 goals in these 4 League matches and have yet to concede a League goal at home on this day. Can they keep up this record against Tottenham?
Milestones that can be reached this game:
· If he plays, Gary Naysmith will be making his 150th appearance for Everton in all competitions.
Steve Flanagan
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