Nobody Blows It Quite Like Everton

Individual errors will happen and obviously played a huge factor.

Everton 2 - 3 Crystal Palace

For I think the first time in 12+ years of going to the match with Gary he didn't make the pub pre-match... too hungover. It was entertaining in the pub, mainly because of the quite insane match between Leicester City and Manchester United which somehow finished 5-3 to the hosts. We were in the pub well in time for the match so had one or two beers more than usual in what was a fun pre-match pub atmosphere. Oh and some smackhead tried to sell me a razor before minesweeping half a pint on his way out of the pub.

We'd seen the team news in the pub and were all baffled. I expected a couple of changes but did not expect to see Atsu start the match, let alone Eto'o AND Lukaku. Stones switching to right back wasn't exactly ideal either given how well he's performed at centre-half these last couple of games... Safe to say we weren't best pleased with the line-up.

Still it all began well enough when after only nine minutes Lukaku finished well having been played through by Leon Osman to nudge Everton ahead after a bright start, thereby silencing the Crystal Palace supporters. They seem a zany bunch them lot. I remember seeing them jumping up and down for most of the match away at Selhurst Park last season despite a goalless draw which was beyond drab in a cold November... and this time they 'taunted' us with "Can you hear the Scousers sing". What a riot!

Everton didn't let up from the goal and almost made it two when Osman drove at goal from inside the penalty area though shot too close to Julian Speroni. It was all going well however. Jagielka was emptying everything defensively and it was quite comfortable until Tim Howard rushed out in a moment of madness and felled James McArthur giving Michael Oliver little choice but to point to the penalty spot...which was duly dispatched by the Australian-skipper Mile Jedinak. 1-1 and Howard's mistake changed EVERYTHING...

Nothing went right after that. Actually it wasn't long at all before Crystal Palace went within a whisker of taking the lead when the excellent Bolasie drove from distance... the ball deflecting wickedly and coming back off the crossbar. Fraizer Campbell might even have tapped in the follow up if he wasn't so busy sticking his hands in the air celebrating the non-goal when the ball came back to him. Fortunately Leighton Baines was able to clear. We went into half time pretty frustrated we had let Crystal Palace back in, yet still confident of the three points. My gripe at the break was that we had nothing down the left side to support Baines. Atsu was making a few in-roads down the right but the whole shape of the team was a bit of a mess...this was to get a lot worse however in the second half...

We didn't really come out of the blocks after the interval. You have to give Crystal Palace credit. They stifled us in midfield brilliantly and would have been delighted with a point, make no mistake about that, but they really stopped us playing and we struggled to break them down...doubly so once they were ahead...and what about how they went ahead? That was some clanger of epic proportions by Howard. From hero to villain in less than three days. The American horribly mis-judged a cross into the box and allowed Fraizer Campbell to head into the vacant net despite Jagielka's best desperate efforts to clear.

So from looking ever so comfortable to playing turgid and trailing due to a couple of Howard howlers. It was hard to believe what you were seeing and it didn't get any better. Something needed changing and the sight of Kevin Mirallas and Steven Naismith readying themselves for action lifted everyone...however the choice of substitutions baffled. Atsu (presumably because he realized he was being substituted) really began to impose himself on the game down the right flank though was then taken off. Elsewhere Stones was sacrificed. Neither made a great deal of sense to me.

Leon Osman was having a struggle and seemed a more obvious candidate. The shape of the team was a real mess and from the Gwladys Street it was rather difficult to assess who was playing where. Does anyone know who played on the left? At various times I saw Eto'o, Lukaku, Osman, Barry and Mirallas all feature there but Baines had a mountain to climb out there on his own... whereas we had a left-footed player on the right wing for most of the match. It was little wonder Crystal Palace shut us out. They even managed to rub salt into our wounds by adding a third. Leon Osman taking the flak this time for losing possession outside our own penalty area though it's harsh to blame it all on him.

A fair bit happened between then and the goal and it was a good finish by Bolasie and deserved also as he was the best player on the pitch. Three goals from three shots on target. Incredible really. Nobody pulls the rug from under you quite like Everton.

Still there were 20 minutes left on the clock and credit to the players - they did keep going. McCarthy, who by now was playing right back, had enough of what was (or what wasn't) going on ahead of him and stormed upfield with the ball. He somehow found himself on our left, collected a pass and ran into the box only to be upended by Scott Dann. Somehow Ste and I both felt Baines would miss from the spot though he slotted home cool as ever and with seven minutes left plus injury time there was still time on the clock. Que another baffling substitution, this time Gibson on to replace Distin...the mind boggles. Needless to say we couldn't force the equalizer even with six minutes of stoppage time. What disappointment.

So how did it happen? I believe the game truly hinged on Tim Howard giving away the penalty. At that stage of the game we were comfortable. Even at 1-1 who knows how it would have gone if not for Tim Howard's second howler. Individual errors will happen and obviously played a huge factor.

However Roberto Martinez' selection has to be taken into account. We've been conceding goals for fun this season and with Distin injured Stones and Jagielka had just seemed to forge a partnership and seemed to be making some headway. Why rip them apart then? Stones seems half the player at right back. What of Tony Hibbert? Is he injured or does Martinez just not rate him whatsoever? He is a specialist right back after all and has only played 319 times for the club. Does this not count for anything? He wouldn't have offered anything less than Stones going forward that's for sure.

Why 'rest' Naismith? He's tireless. He could have gotten through the game no problem and has been our best player this season with an excellent goal return. Just rest him at Swansea and there's a whole week off before the derby next week. Ditto Mirallas. He's shown excellent form these last couple of games. Why take him out of this one? Rest him at Swansea. It seems generally accepted that nobody cares for the League Cup this season. Lukaku and Eto'o could then have managed the game between them (i.e. give Lukaku an hour and then replace with Eto'o or vice versa) if he really had to rest somebody. If we'd have had our best team out there the individual mistakes may still have happened, but we would have had more on the pitch to account for them. Even then the substitutions were so bazaar it failed to rectify the problems.

Just one win in five league games and with our next two fixtures at Anfield and Old Trafford things could get a lot worse before they get better. It doesn't seem to matter how bad Liverpool are they always turn up against us at Anfield and I don't see it being any different next weekend...

It would be a delight to be wrong of course.

Player Ratings:
Howard: He let in 100% of shots at him and messed up spectacularly twice. It doesn't really get any worse than that. Rather he does it this weekend than next I suppose. 2
Baines: A gallant effort as always but he had nobody to work with and precious little support. Nice spot kick. 6
Distin: Didn't do a lot wrong I suppose but nothing spectacular. 6
Jagielka: My man of the match as the pick of a bad bunch. Had a good first half and can't be blamed for the goals. At least showed a bit more character than most. 6
Stones: Got caught out a few times in the first half. Certainly not his natural position. I still can't understand why he couldn't stay at centre-back. 5
Barry: Didn't effect the game...not in a positive way anyway. 5
McCarthy: Showed a bit more character than most and slotted in well at right back. Good work to win our penalty. 6
Osman: I still can't understand what his role was supposed to be or what position he played. He put in a great ball for Lukaku's goal but chalked that off with his contribution for Crystal Palace's third goal. Otherwise he was rather lost. To his credit he did at least keep going. 5
Atsu: He gave the ball away a lot but was at least causing them a few problems...not least just before he was substituted. I can see him making a reasonable impact this season. 6
Eto'o: I also found it difficult to understand what his role was supposed to be. Was he up front? Right wing? Second striker? I struggled to tell and he didn't electrify Goodison Park as he did in his two previous substitute outings. 5
Lukaku: £28m? You must be joking. Took his goal well. Did some things well and other things badly but for £28m you want much, much more than that. Needs to up his game big time. 6

Substitutes:
Naismith (for Atsu): Couldn't impact on the game unfortunately. Should have been on from the start. 5
Mirallas (for Stones): Had a bit more of an impact than Naismith but couldn't quite force anything over the line. Should have been on from the start. 6
Gibson (for Distin): Couldn't impact on the game unfortunately. 5

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