Season › 2011-12 › News

Fulham vs Everton

Match Preview

Everton are back in West London just a week after their limp showing at Stamford Bridge for a game against Fulham that is sandwiched between two games against Chelsea. With the Cottagers involved in the Europa League on Thursday, this is the Blues' first Sunday fixture of the season but it's probably fair to say that the traveling fans will approach it with a fair degree of trepidation.

Not so much because Fulham pose an especially significant threat — Martin Jol's side have won only once in eight games, that a 6-0 win in their last home game — but because morale and self-belief seems to be ebbing further away with each game. Granted, much of that is due to the combination of the calibre of recent opposition and refereeing injustice in the Merseyside derby, but David Moyes's conservative approach is visibly stunting his team's attacking threat and there is every chance that the manager will persist with the same formation and personnel as against Chelsea last weekend.

That would mean Royston Drenthe and Apostolos Vellios watching on from the bench again when the game kicks off when both have done more than enough to warrant more playing time. Certainly Drenthe could be handed his first Premier League start against comparatively weaker opposition to inject some pace and unpredictability but it would take a bold man to put any money on him starting, particularly in an away match.

And therein lies the problem; Moyes just seems to have lost his courage and any sense of adventure that he had. His unwillingness to rotate out some of his trusted regulars beyond the recent demotion to the bench of Phil Neville means that the likes of Tim Cahill and Leon Osman are automatic starters despite being two of the more likely players to make way for a fresher line-up and formation.

Victor Anichebe remains the only injury absentee, new free-agent acquisition James McFadden is not included in the squad due to a lack of fitness — Moyes admitted in his pre-match press conference that the returning midfielder is some way short of being ready as he feels his way back from a serious knee injury — and Ross Barkley faces the prospect of another week omitted from the squad if his manager's comments in the press are any indication.

Despite only winning once at Craven Cottage so far in the Premier League, the Blues have done fairly well on this ground at times in recent seasons but have struggled to put a consistent performance together for 90 minutes. A strong first 45 minutes followed by a disappointing second seems to have become the norm, with the exception, of course, of that 2-0 win at the end of the 2007-08 season.

How the manager and players respond to three straight defeats will provide an indication of where the team is heading in the short term. The first order of business will be to shore up the defence where Phil Jagielka's patch of poor form seems to be worsening while John Heitinga watches on from the bench.

The second will, of course, be creating chances at the other end, something Everton have struggled to do consistently so far this campaign. So, plenty to prove...

» Read more

• Live Matchday Forum

---

---

Reader Comments (20)

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

About these ads