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Blues Lack Drive in Stalemate With West Brom

Marouane Fellaini and Seamus Coleman both hit the woodwork late on but it was too little, too late for an Everton side long on possession but short on urgency in Roberto Martinez's first home game in charge.

Everton 0 - 0 West Bromwich Albion

Optimism and the celebratory atmosphere of Roberto Martinez's first competitive home game in charge gave way to frustration at Goodison Park as Everton were held to a goalless draw by West Bromwich Albion that denied the Blues a first victory of the season.

The game was preceded by the Martinez March to welcome the new boss and a tribute to Blues legend, Dave Hickson, led by Billy Ingham, the season ticket holder of 69 years from the new Barclays ad, and there was plenty of expectation for a game against a WBA side who had lost their own home opener last weekend.

The team was unchanged from the one that almost grabbed a win at Norwich last weekend and the same patient, possession-based build-up was on show but a curious lack of urgency as the second-half wore on fostered increasing restlessness among the home faithful, tempered only by a late charge in the final minutes that almost produced a precious winner.

The Blues would be thwarted twice by the woodwork, though, as the mercurial Marouane Fellaini watched an effort with the outside of his boot rebound off the inside of the post and Seamus Coleman's cross-cum-shot bounced off the crossbar with substitute goalkeeper Luke Daniel beaten.

Those were moments of rare thrill in the final third as Martinez's men, largely untroubled in their own defence by a limited Albion side, rolled through the first 80-odd minutes in their newly-adopted keep-ball mode looking for an opening.

They would be stymied for the most part by resilient defending – often illegal and unpunished – by the likes of Jonas Olsson, whose constant man-handling of Fellaini and blatant check on Nikica Jelavic prompted no action from the officials, inconsistent refereeing by Premier League newcomer Roger East, and, often, a simple lack of blue shirts in the opposition penalty area.

The Blues started on top and would remain so for the rest of the game but chances were at a premium in the first half. Steven Pienaar had the first two sights of goal, a diving header following excellent work by Ross Barkley that Ben Foster clutched at full stretch and a low shot that the 'keeper comfortably gathered to his right but there was less of the high-tempo, incisive probing that Evertonians had come to expect during home games towards the end of the David Moyes era.

Another typical jinking run by Barkley ended with the youngster dragging a shot across goal after 20 minutes before Youssouf Mulumbu and James Morrisson had what would be the visitors' only real attempts on goal before half time, the first a wayward attempt to bend one past Tim Howard, the second a dipping half-volley off a Shane Long flick-on that flew over the bar.

Martinez's men resumed control of matters, though, and the game became increasingly fractious and testy as Mulumbu was booked for deliberate handball on the edge of his own box (the disappointing Kevin Mirallas would fire the resulting free kick into the defensive wall) and Long somehow escaped a yellow card when he cynically poleaxed Leighton Baines near the touchline.

The Blues had some genuinely pleasing moments in the first 45 minutes, though, not least when a lovely passing move ended with Coleman laying the ball off to Mirallas at the edge of the area and the Belgian took one touch before smashing a shot destined to creep under the crossbar until Foster tipped it over.

An equally great move six minutes before the break saw Coleman collect Pienaar's neat pass into the box but the Irishman's shot was foiled at the near post.

The pattern continued into the second half, with Everton pressing a little more noticeably in the early going and Coleman forcing a corner after drilling a really inviting ball across the six-yard box with no takers in a blue jersey able to capitalise. From the corner that followed, though, Leon Osman hammered a volley off McAuley that ricocheted 15 yards wide and yet somehow the officials awarded a goal kick to West Brom.

Though the will was there from the crowd for the team to increase the pressure as the game ticked on, Everton appeared to go off the boil a little and started to ride their luck a little at the back. An awful giveaway by Jelavic gifted the Baggies a chance to counter but Long couldn't bring Mulumbu's through-pass under control at the vital moment and the Blues escaped.

And Howard was called into his only meaningful action of the afternoon after 64 minutes when he had to turn Morrisson's drive away for a corner with an impressive one-handed save.

That was after Mirallas had tested Foster again at his near post after cutting in neatly from the byline on the left side of the area and though the Belgian would win another corner with 20 minutes left, there were just three blue shirts in the area when Baines swung the set-piece in. It was the last real contribution from Mirallas before he was substituted along with Jelavic in the 72nd minute, the pair making way for Arouna Kone and Steven Naismith.

Though the Scot's introduction wasn't much of an improvement on a subdued Mirallas, it has to be said that the Blues did look more threatening with the Ivorian leading the line as he was more wont to pick the ball up from deep and run at the West Brom defence. Combined with an increasingly offensive role played by Fellaini and the Martinez's side went into the closing stages looking more threatening again, though the urgency was still lacking.

For all their neat passing exchanges in midfield, it was a clipped, angled ball from Phil Jagielka from the right side of midfield that carved out what looked to have been the decisive chance. Fellaini chested the flighted pass down in trademark fashion but couldn't find the inside of the post with his shot and rebounded agonisingly off the base of the upright. And Coleman, too, looked like he might have pinched it in injury time when he swung the ball in from the right only for the ball to bounce away off the woodwork to the far side.

Overall, it was a fairly flat start to Martinez's tenure on home turf, with a performance illustrative of the argument that you can have all the possession and passes you like, but you still have to carve out enough chances to win the game. It also highlighted the lack of a genuinely incisive playmaker in the centre who can make things happen on a consistent basis. Barkley provided plenty of moments of spark and he was, by and large, the most purposeful of the Blues' midfielders but while he is still learning his craft, someone else needs to be taking the initiative.

None of Osman, Fellaini, Pienaar or Gibson have demonstrated that they can be that player and that yearning for quality in that position is what makes Everton's financial situation and the strengthening that the likes of Tottenham have been able to make in that regard so dismaying.

Given the shenanigans with Manchester United and the looming transfer deadline, though, thoughts turned most often to the great enigma that is Fellaini. The Belgian beast is cited by most Evertonians as the more dispensable of the two players being courted by Moyes at Old Trafford and when you look at his casual demeanour at a first-half West Brom corner where his failure to attack the ball saw it drop dangerously near Howard's left-hand post or see him lay a lackadaisical pass off to an opposing player like he's barely interested, it's hard to argue.

Yet, his sheer size and ability to break up play in midfield can be taken for granted and they will be hard assets to replace. And once he had moved forward in the final quarter of an hour of this stalemate, Fellaini looked the more likely outlet to produce a goal thanks to his aerial ability.

Therein lies the conundrum: can we afford to keep such a saleable asset and play him in a position that, while he may favour it, is not where he is most useful to Everton as long as we lack a reliable match-winner further forward? Will his replacement, should he be sold, arrive in time and compensate sufficiently for the immense talents that the Belgian international brings to our team?

Finally, for Martinez, this will clearly not have been the dream home start he would have envisaged. In the incredibly competitive landscape of the top six to eight teams in the Premier League, four dropped points from two eminently winnable games already feel like lost ground. Importantly, for a manager with such a reputation for attacking football, there just wasn't enough of it on show this afternoon, and there was certainly a general lack of drive about his team.

That should change against Stevenage in the League Cup in midweek and his players will hopefully have more opportunity to express themselves against lower-division opposition, but it's in the week-in, week-out grind of the Premier League where his reputation at Everton will be forged.

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