FAN ARTICLES
Crash, Bang, Wallop
Comments (32) : A fully fledged review would require reliving the game; the view from my seat was pain enough. I eventually settled on summarising the game using three words...
Crash ? Arteta chased a ball down the left wing and pulled up abruptly. Hamstrung good and proper; sod?s law he gets crocked after his best game of the season. I knew that with this injury went all hope of a win.
Bang ? Mutch played a one-two with Bowyer around 35 yards out and lifted a ball into the penalty area. Jagielka and Distin were missing in action and given how bad Hibbert is in the air, it was almost a formality. From my view in the corner of the Gwladys Street, it looked as if Howard could have done better; it seemed to go through him slightly? Beausejour was the gleeful benefactor down to some really poor defending.
Wallop ? I?ve been saying for ages to my dad that one day Johnny will score a belter; at long last he delivered. A corner was cleared to the edge of the area and Heitinga whipped it into the top right-hand corner; despite Bowyer?s best attempts on the line.
Ratings:
Howard: 6 Maybe at fault for the goal? Need to see it again though. Made a good save from a Jerome header, which took a nick off someone, Saha i think. Other than that he was pretty much a spectator.
Hibbert: 6 Threw in a few clean, bone crunching slide tackles; refreshing to see that tackling is still allowed in this league. Also got forward well and put in a few decent crosses. Sometimes let down by his ability though, as he often passed back to Jagielka or Coleman when well placed.
Jagielka: 5 Went missing for the goal; apart from that, no complaints, he defended quite well... Distribution is often lacking especially when we are at home.
Distin: 6 Also absent for their goal and then had a very shaky 5 minutes afterwards. Improved after the break and showed a few good touches.
Baines: 7 Never gives up, kept getting forward all game. Although not everything came off, he always keeps showing and that can?t be faulted. Unfortunately was often isolated on the left due to a lack of support.
Arteta: N/A Had one chance when on; should have shot but foolishly opted to play Saha in. Unlucky with the injury, hope for our sake it?s not a bad one.
Coleman: 6 Suitably rested; although seemed shattered after around 70 mins. Got forward well, was a threat; however let himself down with his insistence on cutting inside instead of getting to the by-line. Decision making is poor; although still only young and can improve.
Heitinga: 6 Put a good shift in, took the goal extremely well and had a much better game than last weekend. When it comes down to it though he is still a centre half playing in midfield and it shows.
Rodwell: 5 Has to be praised for showing for the ball in the 1st half. Yet, did nothing with it; seems to have a reluctance to drive forward or pass forward. 2nd half, he disappeared; barely remember him touching the ball.
Osman: 7 looked to be the only one capable of creating anything, played a lovely flicked pass to Baines in the first half. Kept going all game, but his desire to get involved often left Baines isolated. I think Moyes should have moved him into the middle much earlier than the 85th minute.
Beckford: 6 Produced a sharp turn and shot which brought a good save from Foster in the 1st half. Held it up better than normal and was always on the move; starved of any genuine service though. Was unlucky to make way for Victor.
Saha: 3 Awful. Kept dropping deep 1st half, which just led to him getting in the way or conceding possession. Made a meal of the only genuine chance he got; choose to cut back instead of shooting with just Foster to beat. When the going gets tough, Saha gets invisible.
Victor: N/A not on for long; seems unable to jump or head a ball. Really don?t know what Moyes sees in the lad. Surely Baxter deserves a run out at least he?s willing and enthusiastic. Two qualities that I don?t think Victor has heard of.
Bily: N/A Given 4 minutes to make an impact. Slower than a snail but has the ability to produce a goal or an assist. Would have liked to have seen him in the middle against these, they were so deep his lack of pace wouldn?t have hindered him. Surely he deserved at least 20 minutes more.
Moyes: 3 Poor substitutions; made the wrong subs and made them far too late anyway. Would love to know where Gueye is?? And can someone please tell him that Birmingham went forward off both their kickoffs, so surely we can as well. For the little amount of defending we had to do, I would have considered moving Heitinga to CB for his passing and sacrificed Jags for another midfielder.
Fulham up next; we always beat them at Goodison... so we can expect another draw then.
I hope they come to try and win the game. We are only good at home against teams that attack us, (Blackpool, Sunderland, the Top 5) as we get much more space and time. Against the teams who park the chairman?s jumbo jet in front of the goal (Wigan, Wolves, Birmingham, West Ham etc), we struggle as they pinch a goal then revert to 8-0-2 and we have no ideas/pace to break them down with.
Praying we can magic some wingers and a striker from somewhere come August; I can?t take much more of this.
Reader Comments (32)
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2 Posted 10/03/2011 at 16:06:28
We have been seriously short of cover for width for long enough and he must have thought that Pienaar's transfer would at least give him an opportunity to show us what he can do but, no, he's vanished. If he's fallen out with Moyes over something relatively trivial like, "Why can't I have a game, Boss" then Moyes wants to grow up. He (Moyes) isn't bigger than the club and we need players.
3 Posted 10/03/2011 at 16:39:38
"If he's fallen out with Moyes over something relatively trivial like, "Why can't I have a game, Boss" then Moyes wants to grow up. He (Moyes) isn't bigger than the club and we need players."
Is there any indication that this is the case? I'm away from Merseyside now so don't hear the rumours but is this what people have heard? If not, there may be a simple explanation, like Gueye is injured or simply not good enough in training?
4 Posted 10/03/2011 at 17:12:01
5 Posted 10/03/2011 at 17:17:55
Ray #2 ? haven't heard the phrase "seen his arse" for years!! Ever since I left Merseyside, think it must be one of ours! Brilliant thanks!!
6 Posted 10/03/2011 at 17:19:18
The problem with Saha dropping deep was that he was getting caught in possession or holding onto it for too long and missing an opening. When we're not playing well, his work rate disappears completely.
7 Posted 10/03/2011 at 17:37:48
8 Posted 10/03/2011 at 17:37:44
It's not as if we spent millions on him and he was lauded by the experts. He was another shrug of the shoulders signing like Silva, the two Americans and every other no-mark pot-shot moyes likes to take a risk on.
The only one of them to work out was Coleman. 1 in 50 by all accounts.
Low cost, low risk
9 Posted 10/03/2011 at 18:12:41
10 Posted 10/03/2011 at 19:21:23
11 Posted 10/03/2011 at 19:38:07
12 Posted 10/03/2011 at 20:00:27
13 Posted 10/03/2011 at 20:13:35
14 Posted 10/03/2011 at 20:11:24
Heitinga leaves his man who gets a free header. Another reason not to have him CM; it leads to him thinking he doesn't have to defend as he normally would.
I remember in the 3-3 draw with Man Utd, he left a ball and allowed it into the 6-yard box, which Fletcher scored from; that has stuck in my mind all season.
15 Posted 10/03/2011 at 21:43:28
He goes for the simple, short, "over to you mate" pass every time, shithouse tackles, ball-watching defending,
but then finishes off with the tubthumping fist that many fall for.
16 Posted 11/03/2011 at 02:26:39
17 Posted 11/03/2011 at 03:12:16
18 Posted 10/03/2011 at 17:22:43
Beckford was poor, yet everyone agrees he was much better than Saha. Saha was a lot more involved than Beckford and unlike the latter he can actually take on a man using skill. It just wasn´t Saha´s day, but for me he was no worse than Beckford. Both were 5s in my book.
19 Posted 11/03/2011 at 07:33:17
My problem with Saha is that when it's not his day, he puts no effort or graft in and that's not good enough.
When he's having an off day, it's not worth having him on the pitch.
20 Posted 11/03/2011 at 12:11:06
21 Posted 11/03/2011 at 12:48:00
One thing is for sure, the final "good" ball that the goals come from are often from some one unexpected, ie, Baines (unexpected as he's a defender), Osman etc. rather than Fellaini, Arteta or the like.
I still think Beckford will come good next season. However, will that resolve the issues? Probably not. I think we're missing a key player in midfield and that's the ball winner.
Arteta, Fellaini and Rodwell are all good going forward but are not ball winners and need to play further up the pitch which would fill the gap between the strikers and midfield.
22 Posted 11/03/2011 at 14:37:53
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12697092
24/7 my arse. I've done more searching in 5 minutes than he has done in 5 years.......
23 Posted 11/03/2011 at 15:10:03
And the Premier League, no doubt.
24 Posted 11/03/2011 at 17:42:10
25 Posted 11/03/2011 at 18:00:08
Saha has no real competition so is under no pressure to perform. When we aren't playing, he genuinely looks like he doesn't give a shit.
I can't help but wonder what on earth possessed Moyes to keep Victor and allow the Yak and Vaughan to go on loan.
26 Posted 11/03/2011 at 18:39:35
http://www.physioroom.com/injuries/hip_and_thigh/hamstring_strain_full.php
So he might "only" miss the next 4 games.
28 Posted 12/03/2011 at 15:12:07
29 Posted 12/03/2011 at 16:53:01
He isn't happy, and neither are we. Sounded the way he spoke, that he isn't happy at Everton... sure he has scored a few goals, and he runs everywhere and anywhere to make space, but there is little point if at the end of it, he can't even hit a barn door at the best of times.
This isn't about confidence, it's about his ability, and I fully believe despite a few goals, he isn't good enough for the Premier League.
How many times does the lad need to make an appearance and keep on missing chances over and over?
30 Posted 13/03/2011 at 19:49:23
Hibbert did well to get close by leaving his own man.
31 Posted 13/03/2011 at 20:35:46
32 Posted 13/03/2011 at 20:54:46
Still seems as if Howard could have done slightly better, although it should have been cleared easily enough and not got to that point.
Another example of the below-par defending we're being subjected to at the minute.
The back four rarely play well as a unit anymore; it's usually 2/3 out of 4 defenders, which makes us susceptible to these poor goals. The defence often have to cover a team mate or do their work for them.
We haven't really got a CB who is willing to be organised and shout at the rest to keep them on their toes; like Stubbs used to do to stop the rest of the back four nodding off mid-game.
33 Posted 15/03/2011 at 11:53:47
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2011/03/15/magaye-gueye-hits-late-winner-for-everton-fc-reserves-at-aston-villa-100252-28335738/
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1 Posted 10/03/2011 at 15:57:27