First shot of any kind was well over from Johnny Heitinga. Coleman was having fun running into space down the right but with no end-product. At the other end, a ball over the top to Odemwingie looked to test Distin but his drive was into the side netting.
That should have been warning enough but a much less tidy WBA move gave them an easy lead inside 10 mins, Brunt's lazy ball over the top was picked up by Odemwingie, who won his battle with Distin despite being driven wide and he was able to clip a defected ball back inside for Malumba to slot nonchlpast Howard. Talk about end-of-season defending!!!
Anichebe looked to make amends with a superb turn to beat a defender and run at Carson down the inside left channel but his shot was criminally straight at the Brom keeper's leg with the goal gapping and he deflected the big man's powerful shot unwittingly just past the post. From the corner, Jagielka headed powerfully just over. Baines was then forced to block Odemwingie to give away a kick on the side of the penalty area that Howard barely fingertipped over, but the ref missed it and awarded a goal-kick.
Odemwingie was giving Distin a torrid time, while Osman's first touch was letting him down badly but he did get half a chance yet could not pull the trigger and Arteta was also closed down. Anichebe then got a chance but his connection was poor and it took a deflection that helped Carson push it wide. But a great flighted return ball in from Coleman should have been headed home at the far post by Heitinga, yet he hit the outside of the post.
More scares for Everton in defence, with Thomas running free, drawing Howard and shooting at the open goal but Tony Hibbert was perfectly positioned behind his keeper to clear off the line. Coleman was lucky to avoid a card for his late chop on Shorey. Odemwinge then should have scored with a free header off a long throw but Howard's reaction save prevented further damage. But Everton were poor... presumably saving themselves for a brilliant second half???
Anichebe won a promising free-kick but Baines curled the ball into Carson's hands. And two corners (Arteta then Baines) were both over-hit. Another Anichebe free-kick was eventually crossed in by Hibbert and it almost beat Carson off the back of Anichebe's head. It was a better spell from the Yellows but nothing to show for it as half-time loomed. Osman tried to repeat his party-piece from last week off a floated cross from Hibbert, who was being given acres of space to lob in his randomly directed crosses, but it was just too high for him.
No changes at the break. Anichebe getting crunched by Scharner but Jagielka wasted the free-kick, then needlessly giving away a simple forward pass and inviting pressure, but for Odimwingie straying offside.. then a yellow for Neville on Mulumbu. But it was better form Arteta and Anichebe, the ball in was short of Coleman. Then, a great chance for Arteta to create something goalward from inside that area but he passed it over the bye-line for Coleman.
An Arteta corner driven long to Osman, backing up, and his shot was poor. Where is Duncan Ferguson when you need him to inspire the team??? There were lots of Everton crosses coming in but rarely anyone on the receiving end. Odemwingie then attacked Jags down the Everton right and crossed just inches ahead of Cox for what was almost their second goal. .
Baines galloped down the left and won a free-kick that Arteta swung in far better, but a defender got the touch and Arteta looped the corner over for a great sequence of pinball with Neville, Osman and Arteta all getting shots or chances that were blocked or spurned one way or another.
Cometh the hour-mark, cometh the man-ager with the oh-so-predictable substitution: Beckford on for Coleman as Thomas fouled Hibbert for a yellow card. Jags and Neville contrived to totally waste the resulting free-kick. Yellow too for ietinga with for a foul from behind. Scharner almost scored with a farpost header, picked out brilliantly by Odemwingie, ghosting in behind Hibbert.
Anichebe's almost total lack of skill and finesse was shown up painfully when he battled hard for a soft ball looped over the top and into wonderful space in the WBA penalty area for him by Neville but he danced around the bouncing ball with all the grace of a buffalo rather than taking command of it, and then played it off his standing leg for a goalkick!
Arteta actually tried a shot from 20 yards but it was too easily blocked as Everton looked increasingly desperate and reliant only on the floated cross, one of which Beckford headed over with 20 increasingly frustrating minutes to go. Moyes was presumably frustrated too, but was Bily for Neville really going to change the game finally in Everton's favour???
Yet another Everton corner, at least into the danger area, but Jagielka and Heitinga probably cancelled each other out and another half-chance was gone. But Beckford was clearly a better target man than Anichebe and the boys were working hard to get the ball infront of him for a clear attempt on goal; that fell to Bilya who could only shoot over with his left when the ball demanded a fierce drive with his right.
With no real danger, Bily then went in on a 30-70 ball with a dreadful lunge on Morrison, a quite ridiculous challenge: straight red card. He'd only been on the field less than 5 mins!!! That put West Brom aback in the game and some desperate defending was required to keep the score down. Moyes then switched out Anichebe for Rodwell with 10 mins left.
A short corner looked better, Osman clipping in but a defender heading it out. Osman then played in Beckford but he had run offside. Everton were weakened in defence, and allowed Odemwingie in again, but Howard produced an excellent one-handed save down low to his left. Everton looked to have shot their load as West Brom surged at them in the last 5 mins, and the Yellows held on for a no doubt highly creditable 0-1 defeat to the mighty Baggies... err... NOT! More like the season in microcosm, with a pathetic inability to score despite plenty of possession, the result determined by a moment of comedy defending.
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer
Despite this we had 22 attempts at goal an absolutely nothing to show for it. When teams like Albion can get the double over Everton then you know the squad is poor. Even if Saha, Cahill and Fellaini return it won't make much difference as they played in starting elevens earlier and results were still poor.
Somehow Everton had good results against the top 5 or 6 teams but poor results against the rest.
Let's not kid ourselves ? there has to be big changes before next season; otherwise it will be more of the same.
I think it's all been said about Moyes's tactics but we must be realistic: any team that loses its best players halfway through the season, as we have, and (probably) ends the season in 7th, has done a bloody good job in getting there.
Things obviously have to change by next season but I feel optimistic that change we will, and mount a real challenge in the Premier League next season.
Once again, another terrible team selection against a team that has allowed 68 goals against them (second only to Blackpool) and we play 4-5-1 ? and our 1 is a guy that can't score.
So frustrated with our Manager!!!
What I have seen in the last two away games is unacceptable ? it was Wigan and WBA for fuck's sake!!
It was exactly the same as the first half against City ? don't we ever learn? What did we have to lose today? We should have just gone for it and played on the front foot instead of letting WBA come onto us.
Moyes should have a strong look at himself in the mirror tonight... there have been too many games like this one throughout the season.
Yet again all I've heard all week is how we've turned the corner, with 2 games to go? Let's finish on a high, Jags the best defender in the world or something, Osman for England. And of course, like all the pre-season talk, then we actually kick off and we are absolute garbage.
Someone mentioned a good little run. What run? The last 4 games have actually included just about 30 minutes of some excitement against City, not great football just some "go", and the rest has been absolute drivel. Sick of it.
Big changes needed from top to bottom. Big decisions. Too many very poor players living on reputations from years ago and others just never likely to deliver. Poor, poor game, typical of the whole season. A dreadfully average team does the double over us by 5-1. They hadn't kept a clean sheet since the first game of the season so of course Mr Wonderful starts with (n)one up front.
Thing is, if our last game of the season was against Marine, we all know what team and tactics this idiot is going to play. I fail to see what he does all week on the training ground. This all brings back memories of Walter Smith to me and his usual after match interviews of being 'disappointed'.
I have been banging on about our predictability all season. I will not for the umpteenth time list each player's basic flaws plus those of Moyes and his useless coaching panel. Those flaws have been clearly evident to anyone with eyes to see and the slightest knowledge of football.
It frustrates the hell out of me to see the same players display the same mistakes in game after woeful game. In trying to fit into Moyes's 'system', we have seen recognised international players lose whatever it was they had and, as in the case of Hietinga and Bily, become second-rate cloggers. In trying to fit into the system, Anichebe, Rodwell and Coleman have got worse instead of better. Already they are coming in for howls of abuse.
Moyes and his panel of coaching clones are unable (or should that read 'incapable') of doing anything about it. As for tactics, motivation and imagination... dear old Roy Hodgson left Moyes for dead.
1) Do we not score enough goals because we don't create enough clear-cut chances, considering we totally control possession against most teams, or do we miss too many good chances? My guess is the former.
2) Are most of our players completely overrated?
? Jags, a great defender, but would struggle to pass the ball more than 5 yards and looks like a Conference player when in possession.
? Mikel, who justifies his £75k a week by never creating anything, playing safe, crossfield balls and diving when touched...
? Or the Captain Fantastic who, while I totally respect his contribution, would struggle to get a game in any other Prem team.
I love anyone in the Everton shirt (apart from Claus Thomsen and Joe Harper) but find it hard watching this team which are so close in some ways, but miles away in others. My mood was not helped when i got home from that Black Country shithole and saw City had lifted the FA Cup...
I'm looking for a new hobby during the summer, but once you have been touched by Everton, nothing else is the same. I love this club and just want us to be great again.
At the time of their signing they were the most feared strikers in England. It took only a matter of months before each of them was reduced to the level of a park player.
Beckford will grab a share of goals but not because of what Moyes teaches. That is simply because our Davy has not got the faintest idea or background to offer advice to a striker. What we see of Anichebe is the sum total of 10 years under the tutelage of Moyes. Victor is Moyes creation.
Everton's players and fans were already thinking of their summer jollies. We had nothing to play for so I'm not too disappointed. But the lack of effort was ridiculous.
Why can't we protest against Kenwright at next week's game? Moyes simply jumps into life too late... that's why we always start shit.
Get rid of Rodwell and Arteta. Two bloody snails... do they ever actually run forward? Get rid of bloody Bily as well. Anichebe obviously has something on Moyes, maybe he's blackmailing him. I see no other reason why a player who only decides to put any effort in for 20 minutes during the whole season should start games.
I think the squad needs freshening and we will have to sell to do that. I think Bily is finished at Everton and in some ways I'm disappointed at that but he should go rather than have another season as a bit-part player. If he, Rodwell and the players out on loan go then surely some money must filter down to Moyes...
Bily has to go and a group of players that we have that'll never be Premier League quality need to go with him like Anichebe (I cringe when I think of him playing for Everton) and Hibbert. Distin is a great defender but his mistakes tend to give away goals and he's easily beaten by players who get at him like Odemwingie did yesterday.
If that was a red card how did Jerome Thomas escape a second yellow for one minutes earlier? Red card my arse. Doesn't disguise a toothless performance, however... Another one.
The quantity of our attacks have never been the problem, it's the quality we need to be concerned about. Moyes will not turn this sow's ear into a silk purse, accept that and you're half way to regaining your sanity. Kenwright out!
As for Baines, someone mentioned he didn't look interested. Well I posted on here a while ago that Sammy Lee was attending a lot of games at Goodison and I have the feeling Leighton will be going across the park this summer.
Yakubu had faded at Middlesbrough and their fans were happy with the £11M they received. He then scored 20 in a season, our first striker in a couple of decades to do so, before snapping his achilles tendon, an incredibly serious injury that he's probably never quite recovered from, although he did still manage to produce an excellent performance this season to batter Liverpool in the home game. Or had you forgotten that too?It happens a fair bit on here, but you've got to be one of the worst examples of talking absolute nonsense in order to fit things into your preconceived agenda. I remember a quote from an old TV programme: "I never let the facts get in the way of a good grudge".
Cheers
In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
» Log in now
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.
About these ads
Get rid of these ads and support ToffeeWeb
Bet on Everton and get a deposit bonus with bet365 at TheFreeBetGuide.com
* Everton deducted 8 pts; †Forest deducted 4 pts for PSR breachView full table
We use cookies to enhance your experience on ToffeeWeb and to enable certain features. By using the website you are consenting to our use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.