From my seat: Spurs (H)

Eyewitness report from Goodison Park.

Ken Buckley 03/11/2013 37comments  |  Jump to last
Arriving at our Walton ale house soaking wet due to torrential showers, we were a bit deflated to start the day and, as things turned out, us and many more Blues would be a bit deflated at the conclusion of the day.

The room of nonsense soon filled up and most were of the opinion that, if we started as we left off at Villa, then second spot would be ours and just the Palace to come before another unwelcome International Break. Surely there is a better way of organising them? I suggested caution as Spurs had spent big and indeed, like us, a win for them sees them go second and threaten the Sky order. The day had a good start as one of our number won £20 on the card and, by the time came for the walk up, the sun was out and blue skies... an omen?

As we topped Spellow Lane, you could just tell this was a near sell-out. Queues at every outlet and none bigger than the queue to collect tickets. The Martinez effect is working to date. Our group dispersed to all sides of the ground and in our seats in plenty of time for a chat re all things Blue before Z-Cars rang out, after the ritual nonsensical handshake all gathered in the centre circle for the tastefully arranged ceremony which allowed us all to honour our armed services and the moment's silence was observed impeccably by both home and away fans.

The ref, Mr Friend (since his elevation to the Prem, he is anything but a Friend to us or many others — I wonder if this is why he doesn’t do Champions League games?) got us underway.

The Spurs fans were vocal and right away informed us and the authorities they will sing what they like and gave us a strong rendition of ‘Yid Army’. Their team started fast and soon had us pressed back and more than a touch nervy. The 10-minute mark arrived and sadly the ‘Chant for James’ didn’t materialise in any noticeable way. Shame that.

In that first 10 minutes, Sandro had a shot gathered by Howard. It was becoming clear early that Spurs had the upper hand and were pressing high and fast and forcing us into hurried actions which saw some gifted players making poor decisions and hasty passes that were just not finding another Blue shirt.

A look down on proceedings and it was clear that our line up translated into a 4-3-3 to try to counteract a big pacey Spurs outfit. It was starting to look grim for us as Spurs dominated proceedings but I was able to sense a ray of light as Barry started to calm our jitters with some good vocal work and some excellent work off the ball in closing down avenues available for the crucial pass that for those of you watching on TV may have missed.

Secondly, for all of Spurs' possession, they rarely looked like breaking our back-line down and getting anything meaningful on our goal. Where we were deficient in many areas, fast last-ditch closing down and throwing bodies in the way wasn’t one of them...

Vertonghen went down in the box from a Coleman challenge but, as you have to commit murder in the box to get a pen these days, our fears were allayed as our Friend (!) waved play-on. The next shot was again from a Spurs attack and the Evertonian Holtby caused Howard to safely gather in.

The half hour mark arrived and at last we had a meaningful effort when Osman found space and fired narrowly over. Next, the misfiring Mirallas took a free kick that favoured a right footer but it hit the wall and we got a corner that came to nought. As the last knockings of the first half were upon us there was a feeling that we were at last starting to get a bit of a hold due mainly to the astute play and vocal work of Barry. Nothing eye-catching but the sort of stuff that is invaluable when half the team are out of their usual form. It seemed some found it difficult to pass accurately over 5yds.

Half-time arrived and, whilst it had been virtually all Spurs, we were still 0-0 and all to play for. During the half-time break, we had the official announcement and applause for James. I admit to a tear as I pondered on a life so cruelly taken and, at the same time, my heart went out to a bus driver.

Second half and from the off we looked more up for it. A ball over the top had Lukaku using strength and pace to feed Mirallas who set off toward goal only to be thwarted by the excellent Spurs No 6. Having noted him in the first half, and he was continuing in the same vein this half, I referred to my proey to find he is a Romanian by the name of Chiriches. "Pity we didn’t find him," I mused... then back to the game.

More of the same was going on and as I had just used my proey I got to thinking that the club had announced that if I bought a proey I could buy the ‘programme Book’ for just a tenner. Guess what – they didn’t have any! Back to the play in time to see Pienaar have a strong shot from the edge of the box, hit a Spurs defender and floor him.

The game was becoming more open now; after that turgid first-half display, we were now looking more likely to nick it. It was Spurs now using the counter-attack method but Jags was having one of his better days and "Thou shall not pass" was his byword. A goal was looking less likely for either side as the minutes ticked so the Manager swopped Osman for Barkley and right away the move provided more impetus to our game.

He settled quickly and fired one just too high and just too wide but it was positive and galvanising. Coleman raided down the right and burst into the box and was hauled down by I think Vertonghen... "Penalty!!!" yelled the faithful, nailed on pen I thought but as he had left his man alive then Vertonghen got away with it.

Barkley’s benching seemed to have wound him up as he became more and more a force with surging runs and passes to players in the same colour shirt as himself but still a goal looked far away for both sides. McCarthy was now coming to the boil and he got in a whipped cross that Lukaku got too little on and glanced the ball across goal and wide Meaningful play was in bursts at best so Spurs made a sub and the sub at last gave Howard something to do when he punched away a cross.

Lukaku was put through on goal, the keeper ran out at speed, they both reached the ball simultaneously and collided in 50/50 fashion, both stayed down, our Friend booked Lukaku whilst he was on the ground getting treatment... why and what for? The keeper lay prone as medics and stretcher bearers appeared, sub goalie was readied but suddenly the keeper got up and waved away the stretcher and was being led off. Three times he stopped to argue with all and sundry and then trotted back to his goal to take the free kick — bizarre!

The mood of the faithful was now incandescent — especially as Lukaku was booked and the clown no action. "You’re not fit to referee" came rolling down the terraces as Lukaku was subbed due to a knock on the knee in the farcical episode. Deulofeu was on and Jelavic replaced Lukaku. The crowd again roared disapproval as the supposedly injured keeper punched away a shot from the Barca loanee with aplomb and distain.

Time ticked down as the game was now end to end but end-product from either side seemed as far away as ever. Sort of half chances and moves that broke down before a roar could leave a throat occurred up until the 90-minute mark and then the board went up with nine mins added — nothing of note happened until our Friend blew his whistle. Many stayed just to boo him off. Not the best of EPL refs but he wasn’t to blame for lack of serious goal threat from either team.

My MotM – Barry >

Overall, a match that will have many opinions proffered but I enjoyed it. We may not have been at our best but, even after disjointed stuff and poor passes, we still stuck together and made it hard for Spurs. We stayed positive and by the end I thought Spurs would have been more pleased with a point than us. I also got the feeling though that, even after a very good start to the season by both teams, winning or qualifying for anything may be too far for both of us unless more of a goal threat is found in games against other top teams that are tight.

It would be great to see off Palace and then find the necessary goal scoring touch to see off those from over the park...
Hopeful as ever.
UP THE BLUES

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Reader Comments (37)

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Mike Doyle
1 Posted 03/11/2013 at 22:19:44
Agree with you Ken. Spurs are no mugs and, despite several below par performances (mentioned on the main match thread) I thought a decent game. Despite Spurs pressure in the first 30 mins, I didn't think we looked in danger of conceding - in fact Villa posed more of a goal threat last week. Conversely we didn't pose much of a threat to them either - a timely reminder that Lukaku needs a bit of support. Today's was a game crying out for a Tim Cahill. If only.
Steve Barr
2 Posted 03/11/2013 at 22:25:53
Ken,

I share your thoughts and summary in the penultimate paragraph.

I suppose my elated feeling at the final whistle was more down to the expectation of a thrashing based on the first half performance...or lack thereof!

However, I note there have been qute a few comments on this site regarding the GBP200million plus Tottenham has spent on bolstering their team this season versus the miserly spend that our illustrious board/shareholders has mustered in support of our challenge.

It would be nice if they could proportionately spend what we do as fans, but there you go.

Anyway, it is apparent that big spending doesn't necessarily equate to success, nor does it reflect the actual ability of the players who actually cost bucket-loads of money.

I concede that Man City has spent a fortune but seem to have acquired genuine top class players. Not so sure about Tottenham having seen them play a few times this season.

Haven't got a major point to make here other than outside the top 3 or 4 teams, good management, the right blend of players/skill sets, good coaching and a positive approach and great team spirit will put you right up there.

What I see so far from Everton puts us right up there, in spite of the misers controlling the purse strings!

COYBs

Julian Wait
3 Posted 03/11/2013 at 22:54:03
Thanks Ken.
We've seen a few of these "game of two halves" against Spurs in recent years. I also thought it was an absorbing game, albeit somewhat masochistic first half.

It was indeed hard to see what Barry was doing from TV, not that he did much wrong or went missing, but he was it seems stemming the flow. Not surprised to see him MOTM though as by most accounts almost everyone else had multiple moments of dodginess.

I would have taken a point before the game, begged you for one at half time, and yet remained disappointed with the point we got after the second half revival. All in all a microcosm of life as a blue :-).

Julian Wait
4 Posted 03/11/2013 at 23:14:22
And a question for those of us not privileged to be there; how much of a factor was the wind? Was it blowing to the Street End, and hence the relative dominance of each team each half (going with the wind...)?
James Stewart
5 Posted 04/11/2013 at 01:36:04
Awful first half but we should have won the game. Starting line up was wrong and RM has to take account for that even though his subs were good.

Jelavic still useless though.

Ajay Gopal
6 Posted 04/11/2013 at 04:08:11
From the comfort of my living room, I saw the game pretty much the same way as you, Ken, except I missed Barry's contribution. Mirallas, Osman, Pienaar, Coleman. Lukaku all had a shocking 1st half, Baines and McCarthy were quite average. Things did pick up dramatically in the 2nd half but I don't think their goalkeeper had a single save to make the whole game, and that is shocking for a home game and 2nd in the league to play for. I seriously wonder if there was something wrong with the team - some dressing room bust-up or a flu or a drinking binge late the previous night.

I would replace Osman, Pienaar and Mirallas for Ross, Deulofeu and Naismith. Deulofeu was impressive when he came on and showed a willingness to track back which even Moyes would have been proud of!

Ken, I too noticed their left centre back - Chiriches - he was really, really impressive. He shackled Lukaku, Mirallas and Coleman effectively. He would have been a good replacement for Distin….

Martin Mason
7 Posted 04/11/2013 at 05:28:27
Dup
Martin Mason
8 Posted 04/11/2013 at 05:28:27
We did well in the end against a very good Spurs team who overwhelmed us in midfield in the first half. Easy to moan but we are doing exceptionally well to be matching Spurs who've spent big compared to us. We're more than capable of getting a result against them at WHL but I think doing that against the big 4 is probably beyond us, not only now but as far into the future as I can see.

All in all it was a very good, hard game between two good sides.

Paul Olsen
9 Posted 04/11/2013 at 06:22:02
For me Barry was the only midfielder able to break up a few of their attacks in the first half. He also was the only of our midfielders trying to kick the ball to a blue shirt. I think he was the best midfielder of a ragged lot. McCarthy was run ragged, it looked like one of his lungs was about to burst midway through the first half.

Second half Pienaar did well to hold onto the ball with some nice twists and turns, some of the passing however was wayward.

Mirallas for me was our weakest link yesterday, he really never got into it.

Paul Olsen
10 Posted 04/11/2013 at 06:28:02
Oh, and Jags was MotM for me.
Sam Hoare
11 Posted 04/11/2013 at 07:40:18
Chiriches was good though not exactly a steal at £7m which is more than we have ever spent on a defender.

All in all a decent if uninspiring point. 7th after 10 games with the first three results being the most damaging maybe.

I am enjoying Martinez and his style and philosophy though it does seem that far from being the expected attacking revolution we are actually creating less chances and scoring less goals than this time last year despite having a proper striker. Perhaps with time we will be able to translate our improved possession into more goal opportunities though at the moment we seem most incisive when adopting a more direct approach.

Steve Pugh
12 Posted 04/11/2013 at 07:53:10
I think that we are going to see a lot more of this type of game when the big teams come to Goodison. Everyone knows that we want to pass it out from back and so they will press and disrupt our passing game, so in the first half we will look poor, especially against a good midfield. In the second half they will tire and press less, so we will be able to play our way and look better.


The only thing that really worried me yesterday was the lack of movement off the ball, thus restricting the number of passes available and forcing some really poor decisions. One passage of play really stood out for me to sum it up. Osman received the ball and passed it to Barry, who played it straight back. Three Spurs players started to converge on Ossie so he played it to the only open player ahead of him McCarthy, who played it straight back. The three Spurs players where now closer to Ossie and another was closing on McCarthy so Ossie turned and played it back to Jags, and what did he do? He played it straight back. The Spurs players where now on top of of Ossie and he inevitably lost the ball. The worrying thing was, on each occassion Ossie was the only Everton player who showed himself for the pass.

Iain Love
13 Posted 04/11/2013 at 08:24:39
The better teams concede fewer goals. Spurs are one of the better sides and are probably only a striker away from the top 4.

We rode the tide in the 1st half and came into the game as they tired. I remember thinking that our substitutions where spot on again, no dilly dallying.

2nd place this morning would have been great but a draw was what we deserved.

Iain Love
14 Posted 04/11/2013 at 08:53:45
Steve 982 spot on, a similar thing happened to McCarthy — no-one showed for the pass and he was disspossed. After their midweek game, you would think we should have had more energy.
Tim Jones
15 Posted 04/11/2013 at 09:08:30
Our former Manager TGT would have settled for a DRAW and not brought on any offensive substitutes at all. Martinez is a breath of fresh air even though he got the original starting line up wrong, Osman should never start a game again and Pienaar is seriously going in the same direction. Let's hope Martinez can see what we all can see.

On the two penalty decisions, without a partisan bias, theirs was crap and ours was nailed on... LOL

Jim Bennings
16 Posted 04/11/2013 at 09:15:36
I think many have overlooked the fact that a 0-0 draw with this Spurs side (home or away) is a fairly decent result, especially given that we picked up three points at Villa.

They are a very strong football team with arguably some of the finest athletes in the Premier League, for they are a better team than Liverpool. If AVB played the lethal Defoe ahead of 'elbows' Soldado then they probably would score more goals.

In the first half, we showed them too much respect and never pressed them high enough up the pitch, too willing to sit and let them dicate, maybe understandable given that we knew the searing pace they possessed on both blanks with Lennon, Townsend and Walker at full back.

The big let down for me this season has to be Kev Mirallas. I just don't know what has happened to the lad's form, I have been saying this for weeks now but he is doing nothing to make me change my tune. Yesterday again the match passed him by, he looks half-hearted at times and we knew last season that consistency was a issue with him, but at least last season he was having a big impact going forward; so far this season he just doesn't seem to want to run at defenders. I thought his best form was the second half of last season when he was our best attacking player, I had high hopes of him carrying it on to this season.

Well at least it keeps up the unbeaten home record; we really need to take three points of a woeful Crystal Palace team next week. I believe Palace are already planning on next year in the Championship and their main aim was just getting the money prize from promotion. We must beat them next week, then the Derby obviously takes care of itself.

Mohammed Horoub
17 Posted 04/11/2013 at 10:58:32
A really frustrating game yesterday. I think 50% of that was the team's first half performance and the other 50% was the ref. The irony of him being called 'Friend'!

I agree that RM needs to send a message to Mirallas and sit him on the bench. His work rate was terrible and his attitude towards the game was very disappointing. For all of Ossie's and Pienaar's negatives yesterday, at least they didn't try to hide. Hate to say it but Osman needs to move into the super sub role the rest of the way.

Barkley is a must start next week and I wouldn't mind seeing Deulofeu and Naismith come in for Pienaar and Mirallas.

We need to get Kone fit again as Jelavic's cameo yesterday was scary... I'm sure his mask was the number selling mask in Croatia this Halloween...

Thanks for another great report Ken. I'm sure Barry's performance could have only been appreciated by those in attendance as the TV coverage didn't do him a lot of justice.


Anto Byrne
18 Posted 04/11/2013 at 11:27:07
I saw a lot of positives in the game. We absorbed a lot of Spurs pressure and they didn't tear us apart. We inturn took the game to them in the second half and they simply mopped up and made it a game of few chances.

For Everton to play a defensive game when needed shows we can adapt and change to the situation; this bodes well for big games. I wanted to see KM go in the middle and use his pace against the central defenders. He has the ability; I'm sure he will come good.

Nigel Gregson
19 Posted 04/11/2013 at 12:21:11
Steve Pugh, what a great comment!! The whole "keep the ball and pass" business needs not just with players who are good on the ball, but also players good off the ball, making themselves available in spaces to receives passes. This team right now is behind the Wigan team that won the FA Cup in terms of its ball and player movement. But onwards and upwards...
Bill Gall
20 Posted 04/11/2013 at 13:15:26
Another exellent review for people like myself who only get to watch the game on TV.

One of the things that is noticable that, despite what many supporters worried about, and that was how many goals Wigan conceded under Mr Martinez, Everton's defence still remains strong with just nervy moments when tippy-tapping.

As we all know, in the modern game money talks so hopefully in the January sales BK backs the team for the purchase of a quality midfielder to provide more opportunities for our forewards.

Kevin Rowlands
21 Posted 04/11/2013 at 15:59:59
Nice report Ken, a lot more reasonable and measured than some of the crazy ramblings on the match report thread. For all the criticism that Kone has had he is a far better option than Jelavic who offers us absolutely nothing, hopefully the injury isn't to serious. If we strengthen in January I think it will be a very good season.
Vinny Garstrokes
22 Posted 04/11/2013 at 16:09:22
I know its my age, but so many things baffle and annoy me these days (I'm 53 by the way). How do you get booked for accidentally clattering into the goalie? Absolutely no malice or intent at all - an accident pure and simple. To get things in perspective, a couple of weeks ago I used my Sky catch up facility to watch The big match revisited which was on ITV4. I think it was Leicester City v West Brom in the 74/75 season. The tackling was barbaric and largely unpunished - quite amazing to see how things have changed across a couple of generations.
Jamie Barlow
23 Posted 04/11/2013 at 16:35:17
Im sure he only booked him after seeing and hearing the reaction to it being shown on the big screen.
Paul McGinty
24 Posted 04/11/2013 at 23:56:56
I agree with the concensus opinion about Osman and Mirallas. No arguments from me in reinstating Ross and Deulofeu a start next week Granted it wasn't working for Pienaar but the guy never hides and for me is worth his place at the minute.

What pissed me off about the ref was his inconsistency in booking Howard and Mirallas for dissent and allowing Townsend and Vertonghen to give it the arm waving and verbals without sanction.

And watching the game on TV with David Pleat giving his analysis almost totally from the Tottenham perspective was a double whammy. Mr Pleat unsurprisingly thought Lukaku deserved the yellow...which sort of said a lot about where he was coming from. Fair report Mr B. Thanks.

Ciaran Duff
25 Posted 05/11/2013 at 00:24:41
Fair result, I thought. The only thing I saw slightly differently were the penalty shouts.

Judging for a couple of penalty calls against us in recent weeks, you certainly don't have to commit murder to get a penalty for some refs. In fairness, though, Spurs seemed to have as good a shout for a penalty as we did (from what I could see on TV). So, I don't think we can argue too much about that call.

I have to say also that, although I love Seamus, he really needs to be a bit more "savy" on the penalty calls. He gave away those two soft penalties recently and could well have given another one away on Sunday. In all 3 cases, apart from poor positioning (wrong side of the attacker), he compounded the issue by lunging in and giving the ref an opportunity to give a penalty.

Also, the attacker will make a meal of it. For his own penalty claim, he probably should have gone down straight away rather than trying to minimise the contact.

Harold Matthews
26 Posted 05/11/2013 at 05:55:34
The Spurs penalty claim should have been a free kick to us. Vertonghen was the one who changed direction, forcing himself under the body of Coleman and using a stiff left arm to twist him round. This guy can intimidate opponents and con the officials better than most. Ask Torres and other strikers who have been on the receiving end of his straight faced underhand tactics. When Torres scratched Vertonghen's cheek he actually wanted to batter him, so bad were the decisions which led to that incident. Little wonder, after viewing the match, the FA decided not to take things any further.
Trevor Lynes
27 Posted 05/11/2013 at 08:51:55
Soldado is a striker who feeds off crosses from wide and he scored lots of goals that way. Luckily for us, Spurs did not give him any support and both wingers tended to cut in and try to shoot themselves which suited Jags and Distin who blocked them all.

Likewise Lukaku needs the right ball and close support as it's no good him winning aerial duels if no-one picks up the loose ball. I would definitely give Barkley a start against Palace but leave Del Boy on the bench and have him come on in the 2nd half. Pienaar must stay on in front of Baines to work on the combination they had before Pienaar's injury.

In retrospect, a draw was a fair result and both defences nullified each other's attack. We cannot start so slowly against good teams though and must be up for the derby match from the beginning.

Trevor Lynes
28 Posted 05/11/2013 at 09:13:59
Incidently, I just noticed that Riether is being retroactively disciplined for his stamp on the young Man Utd player. What about Soldado's elbow on Jagielka which was shown and commented on by Graham Poll who said it was a sending-off offence if spotted. Surely the club should mention the incident if nothing is done about it.
Ken Farrington
29 Posted 05/11/2013 at 10:55:46
My over riding sentiment from this game is how well we did to get a point when we played so badly and were so much on the back foot especially in the first half.

On the situation with the referee, Mr Friend, I honestly believe that at half time he would have been told by his assistants or fourth official that Spurs should have had a penalty and that, ironicaly, when the same two players clashed, there was no way he was going to give it, unless it was completely clear cut. What I suppose we should be heartened by, difficult though it maybe, is Coleman's honesty in playing on when he was so obviosly fouled.

What is heartening for me, and augurs well for the future, is that our manager responded well to our poor first half performance by demanding, and getting, a far better display after the interval and also, with timely substitutions especially the boy Barkley who seemed rejuvanated after a (hopefully) temporary loss of form.

Nice of you to mention Ken, that your thoughts are also with a certain Bus Driver in the tragic event that resulted in the unbelievably sad loss of 10 year old James. As a Bus Driver of 44 years who has counselled colleagues in similar tragic circumstances your comments are certainly timely and appropriate.

Harold Matthews
30 Posted 05/11/2013 at 17:08:51
Yup. That's it, I give up. Who'd want to be a referee.
Si Cooper
31 Posted 05/11/2013 at 17:22:19
Did anyone see the post-match interview with Vertonghen?

He really surprised me by saying it would have been very harsh to have had a penalty given when he tumbled with Seamus in close attendance (to say that Seamus lunged in is unfair, and the player was only beyond him due to a slip and good interplay by the Spurs players), rather than claiming it as a stonewall penalty.

Just kind of sheepishly shrugged off the challenge he made on Seamus in the second half as well.

Empathy for a fellow defender perhaps?

Ray Roche
32 Posted 05/11/2013 at 17:55:46
Surely, if Friend thought Lukaku deserved a card, he should have produced a red card for violent conduct? If he booked him he must have deemed it deliberate and consequently worthy of a red.

The truth is it wasn't a card of any description, just as Howard's and McCarthy's were never bookings either. He was undoubtedly the poorest and most biased ref we have seen since Clattenberg.

Trevor Lynes
33 Posted 05/11/2013 at 20:50:43
Just watched the Aguero show in the first half tonight... absolutely brilliant.

Incidently, Lescott is actually a better defender than either of the two Man City centre backs who were really lackadaisical. They are really missing Kompany at the back to marshal that defence as it is letting their attack down and may well cost them a trophy this season if not corrected. Our side does not have the pass and move class of city nor does it have individual ball control like they do. We still get results by effort rather than brilliance. If Martinez could get our players to move into space and be available for a pass we would not struggle so much and I am certain we would make more chances.

Harold Matthews
34 Posted 06/11/2013 at 00:49:48
Yes Trevor. Your last sentence is right on the button. Our lack of intelligent movement is not providing enough options. Ironic you should be discussing City because Barry does exactly what you want from the rest of the team. He quickly moves into an available position when he anticipates one of his team-mates receiving the ball. Two steps ahead every time. Surely others will learn from him.
Ciaran Duff
35 Posted 06/11/2013 at 02:15:14
I think I've discovered why the real reason why the ref. didn't give us that peno:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N7WWpg5s3TM
Trevor Lynes
36 Posted 06/11/2013 at 14:57:40
Cheers Harold, glad you agree with my observations although it was apparent throughout the first half when no-one really showed for the ball. When pass and move is done properly, it's so easy and makes even average players comfortable. We are passing to players with their backs to the opposition so all they can do is pass straight back.

Watching Toure, Silva and Nasri, it's obvious that they are really good on the ball, but they make simple passes and move instantly into space to receive the ball and move forward. There is a real objective in their play and should be what every top flight player is aiming for. The Man City defence on the other hand is not as good as ours at defending.

I wish we had someone like Nasri or Silva to do the prompting for Lukaku and bring the best out of Baines, Coleman and Mirallas. Aguero at the moment is better than Van Persie, he works harder and dribbles far better than any striker I have seen in the Premier League. His 2nd goal was pure invention and we have not had a ball player like him since Young, Collins and Vernon. I played football to a decent level but would gladly pay to watch that Man City attack anytime. It's a pity that all their best players are foreign.

Harold Matthews
37 Posted 07/11/2013 at 15:34:26
Think we should give you a coaching job Trevor.

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