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Toothless Tigers
Comments (46) : For all the grit, determination, effort, honesty and fancy football of the newly promoted sides, it?s the lack of goals which ultimately sinks them. The general rule is that the players which could bag 10-20 a season before in the Championship suddenly can?t cut the mustard in the Premier League. Goals win games and we're not scoring any... We're completely fucking impotent.
The fact David Moyes ? an experienced (not to mention highly rated by the majority) manager ? was unable to see the obvious problem staring him in the face amazes me.
The current roll of shame.
Yakubu: He will score goals if A) he's fit and B) he's motivated. Following his ruptured Achilles (a horrible injury) he?s certainly not fit. Plus, for whatever reason, he?s not motivated. During pre-season there was a massive question mark hanging over him; to be honest there always will be.
Louis Saha: Again, he will score goals if fit. But he?s only guaranteed to play 30-40% of matches a season and for half of those he will be nursing or playing his way back from injury.
James Vaughan: A striker once who had so much potential, would he have prospered better with a different manager and better coaching? Probably... But it was the devastating list of injuries which ultimately curtailed his development. Now he?s surplus to requirements and the Championship is his likely destination.
Victor Anichebe: He's a big athlete with a massive frame... but a striker? Does Moyes even know what his position is? Winger? Forward?? fuck knows! A good squad player but hardly the spearhead of your Premier League strikeforce.
Jermaine Beckford: A talented player, playing for a fallen giant in the lower leagues. Worth a punt? Yes. But only a mad man or a desperate man would rely on an untested League 1 player as your only striker up front in a 4-5-1 formation. Plus reading stories saying ?Moyes upset with Beckford misses? fucking enrages me. What does he expect?
I have a lot of time for Beckford ? he?s fucking trying, he?s fucking trying for his team, the fans and the manager... his head never goes down and I would take 11 of him over a team full of Artetas and Heitingas at the moment. The last things this lad needs is a kicking in the press from ?Mr Manager of the Month?, he needs an arm and encouragement.
But, either way, the pressure he is now under is unfair; he?s the victim of a manager who simply couldn?t see the wood for the fucking trees.
The fact that, given all the above, David Moyes insists on playing a defensive 4-5-1 only compounds the problem further. David Moyes is paid £65-75k a week to sort this out.
The reality is he probably would like to splash the cash on a new player but didn?t have the funds to do so. If so, why not sell to buy? Heitinga and Bilyaletdinov = New striker. Ultimately David Moyes has 100% control over the evolution and development of the squad ? the buck stops with him; it is his fault we only have a League 1 striker up front... no-one else's.
Goals ultimately change and win games; our lack of them is worrying ? especially when you see the options at our disposal. The fact that, within the space of few dark months, we have gone from a top 5 finish, down to the bottom 6, whilst playing a League One striker up front on his own sums up our plight.
There are a lot of unhappy players at Everton at the moment, but most are probably too scared to say anything. The first player to do so will be Pienaar when he unfairly leaves for nothing. It will be interesting to see what he has to say.
It's gonna be a long hard season.
Reader Comments (46)
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2 Posted 01/12/2010 at 17:38:37
3 Posted 01/12/2010 at 17:56:05
4 Posted 01/12/2010 at 18:02:57
5 Posted 01/12/2010 at 19:00:13
No funds? Start trading. Doing nothing in the January window is not an option. Like you, I believe that Beckford may yet come good but it's totally unacceptable to rely on it happening.
This is one of the reasons I'm thoroughly pissed off at the moment - another example of unfulfilled potential because Moyes seemingly cannot see the obvious.
6 Posted 01/12/2010 at 19:29:00
DM ain't got a clue how to deal with and play strikers and they all end up the same way. Good points, Johno.
7 Posted 01/12/2010 at 19:40:22
8 Posted 01/12/2010 at 20:06:31
The guy certainly needs to score a couple for his confidence then, I agree, we could see a different player. Having said that some Leeds fans I met said he'll always score plenty of goals but miss loads into the bargain. Well frankly I'd settle for that right now. Downside is he only looks a danger when NOT playing up front on his own. A fit Yak and a confident Beckford could be a force to reckon with, but will the Yak ever be fully up to it again? I'm not sure.
10 Posted 01/12/2010 at 21:31:28
But we have the same strikers from last season so surely it's not quite that simple...
11 Posted 01/12/2010 at 22:25:14
Sam #9, there was ample evidence towards the end of LAST season (yes, even during our "good" run) that the strike force wasn't adequate. Think Wolves and Stoke away, Pompey at home. We struggled to score even then - the difference was that the defence wasn't leaking. It;s been obvious to me for some while now that we haven't got enough goal scoring capability.
Moyes always underrates the importance of the attacking side or plays a part in undermining the capability of any decent striker that we do sign (Yakubu's purple patch excepted).
12 Posted 01/12/2010 at 22:30:41
Our problem is no goals from midfield or defence. If we had had another 5 to 8 goals from this area, we would be in the Euro places now... Cahill has 8 goals so far and if he keeps it up he will break the 20 goals that all the so-called top strikers hit...
So I'll say it again: can we stop going on about needing a top striker when we have one.
13 Posted 01/12/2010 at 22:48:19
If you can't see the need for a prolific striker to finish off some of the chances that we've created on the ground, then we must be watching a different game.
14 Posted 01/12/2010 at 22:44:34
Michael (#11) ? I hope you're right about Cahill bagging 20 goals but the most he has ever got for us is 12, in his first season. It's a big ask for him to continue a goal ratio that is slightly better than 1 every 2 games. If Beckford doesn't come good and the Yak never gets back to his old self, then I think we are going to need a real number nine. I would love Andy Carroll in our team.
15 Posted 01/12/2010 at 22:55:02
We have Cahill doing his job (with his 8 goals) as a striker, what we need is more goals from other areas. I think the rest of the team are hiding behind the so-called striker problem and not taking enough responsibilty for the lack of goals.
16 Posted 01/12/2010 at 22:31:24
Makes you sick, dosen't it... especially when one of them spends half his time on a sick bed, another, although aged 26 still lacks experience, while the third is a lazy arsed diver.
With the exception of Beckford, who I would grant a run out over a couple of weeks, but as for the other two it is mind boggling that Moyes turned down offers for both of them. As things have turned out, I would pay good money to get them of the books.
17 Posted 01/12/2010 at 23:04:48
Shaka Hislop summed it up best when he said that a striker should be judged on one thing and that is goals.
18 Posted 01/12/2010 at 23:05:41
Saha and Yakubu are not getting any younger, more prolific or less injury-prone are they? Cahill's goals should be an added bonus, not something that we have to rely on to keep our heads above water.
21 Posted 02/12/2010 at 00:29:08
22 Posted 02/12/2010 at 01:20:02
Could the formation be because we have no decent / fit strikers and it suits Cahill's inclusion.
Or should we drop Cahill and play 2 of the unproductive strikers up front?
23 Posted 02/12/2010 at 01:41:50
For me it has to be Felli, Rodders and hopefully Donovan ? then watch the goals come. We have attacking MF players that can't score goals and can't defend ? resulting in only 3 wins all season.
24 Posted 02/12/2010 at 09:00:45
25 Posted 02/12/2010 at 11:54:00
26 Posted 02/12/2010 at 11:54:03
Like Marsh says, it's not our strikers that are the problem. Our slow lethargic passing game only moving sideways means the strikers are redundant. There's no space for them and they often have to pull out wide to find the ball.
I think Moyes was most happy when we played 4-6-0.
27 Posted 02/12/2010 at 11:56:41
It's never a good time to go to Stamford bridge, but Chelsea are going thru a spell just like us.
I would like to see Lee's (2) gamble pay off, even though it means Moyes being more adventurous. We can talk all we want, but it's his team selections, and hopefully change of tactics, that will bring some better results, and help bring confidence back to the team.
28 Posted 02/12/2010 at 13:39:12
29 Posted 02/12/2010 at 13:46:32
Part of the problem is no money to spend on strikers ? both Saha and Beckford were free. Also the Yak did have a career threatening injury, before which he was one of the top scorers in the Premier League for a few years, but after which he's never really got back.
Could someone also tell me how the formation is the problem, when it seemed to be working pretty well second half of last season?
30 Posted 02/12/2010 at 13:34:43
I agree that Moyes is a more defensive minded manager. However, you state "Like Marsh says, it's not our strikers that are the problem." Well if Beckford had put his one-on-one chances away against West Brom, Sunderland and Blackpool etc he would have about 5 or 6 goals. If Saha had put his numerous one-on-one chances away at Blackpool etc then he would have a few goals. Same with Yak in a number of games this season, ie, Stoke.
Whilst I don't think the strikers are solely to blame they do have to take a big chunk of the responsibility for our lack of goals.
31 Posted 02/12/2010 at 16:27:08
Of the other players you mention, Dembele has 2 goals for Fulham, no-one had heard of Odemwingie before this season, Wellbeck has only had 3 good games (3 goals same as Arteta), Moyes tried to sign Obinna but could not get a work permit and N'Zogbia is a midfielder. For a top stiker you need top money that we don't have.
Look at Spurs, their strikers have 5 league goals between them, that's Crouch, Pavluchenko, Defoe and Keane... or is someone going to tell me that Van der Vaart is a striker now! Just like our Tim.
32 Posted 02/12/2010 at 18:53:49
The players that I mentioned are not necessarily ones that I would have signed but are examples of recent acquisitions by other teams who recognise that pacey forwards are required in the Premier League.
Let's hope Beckford fits that bill - but it's a big risk to depend on it..
33 Posted 02/12/2010 at 18:55:20
Main issue in my opinion, and I'll say it till the cows come home, that the the manager should play players in their right frigging positions.
Arteta may have been poor recently but wtf is he doing paying defencive midfield.
34 Posted 02/12/2010 at 19:17:08
Teddy Sheringham played the same role for years but was regarded as a striker, same goes for Zola, Beardsley and even Bergkamp. All of them regarded as strikers who played off the main man up front and dropped deep into midfield,
what is so different about Cahills role apart from not having the same skills as the above mentioned?
35 Posted 02/12/2010 at 19:34:12
We really must watch football differently if you think that Sheringham played a similar role to Cahill. And the other three players did indeed play off a main striker up front but who is that at Everton? Yakubu? Saha? Beckford? All misfunctioning at the moment - and for one reason or another (age, injury, attitude, inexperience), all currently not good enough.
36 Posted 02/12/2010 at 19:43:11
37 Posted 02/12/2010 at 19:43:11
38 Posted 02/12/2010 at 19:43:11
39 Posted 02/12/2010 at 20:09:29
40 Posted 02/12/2010 at 22:10:54
41 Posted 03/12/2010 at 02:51:01
Even when the player himself says he's a midfielder?
Tim Cahill: "I don't feel like an out and out striker because I've never played as one really for Everton".
42 Posted 03/12/2010 at 04:15:38
The player himself comes out and says... "I don't feel like an out and out striker because I've never played as one really for Everton" [It's worth repeating]
But, no matter how many times it is repeated, those who are otherwise convinced ain't gonna let this one go easily.
43 Posted 03/12/2010 at 12:00:16
It's the fact he can score goals in an Everton team that can't hit a barn door with banjo that he is more often than not thrust up in the hole behind the striker.
It's Moyes's overuse of him as a secondary striker due to lack of options which confuses people.
To say Cahill is a striker... ha ha ha.... oh my aching sides.
44 Posted 03/12/2010 at 12:19:46
45 Posted 03/12/2010 at 18:59:00
As to him being able to pass a ball, have you ever seen him thread a ball through to players in an advanced position? He is one of the problems of our sideways passing.
Players playing as the second striker need a good eye for a pass to open up defences. I am not on about 40-yard passes, I am on about defence-splitting passes. Cahill (and he does it well) looks to get the ball out wide and then gets into the box so he can get on the end of a cross. That's why he does not give the ball away much because he plays it sideways or to the safe option.
Look! Don't get me wrong, I like Cahill, but he's a limited player. Who's to say if Rodwell or Bily were to be given a run in that position, they won't score 10 to 12 goals a season as well as creating a few?
46 Posted 03/12/2010 at 20:43:59
Well, off the top of my head, I would say the back-heel pass to Pienaar allowing him to score against Sporting Lisbon at home. That pass completely fooled their defence. Or the defence-splitting pass he played for Pienaar to score at the Emirates. Once again, this pass opened up the whole of the Arsenal back four.
47 Posted 03/12/2010 at 22:32:44
48 Posted 03/12/2010 at 22:36:51
Especially when the player himself says he doesn't feel like a striker?
That's Tim Cahill: Midfielder... Not striker. I ain't gonna argue with him!
49 Posted 04/12/2010 at 09:12:04
Is Jack Rodwell a centre half for ever then?
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1 Posted 01/12/2010 at 17:28:44