A Sad Day for Goodison's FA Cup Farewell

1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995… Read that last year closely. Next year will be 30 years since we last won a trophy. I don't need to tell this audience or the most hardened Evertonian that. We are fast approaching 40 years since our last league title triumph.

I shouldn't mention Europe, but I just have. Our one and only continental triumph now also approaching 40 years, although circumstances dictated that one of the best teams in our club's history was denied the opportunity to capitalise and build on that success. 

Let's face it, since the heady days of the '80s, apart from that brief spike under Joe Royle, the running of our once proud club has been in steady, decline. To the cynics, it was almost planned. Failure to invest. Failed stadium projects to either redevelop or move from our still current home that should have been planned and delivered starting 30 years ago. 

It hurts. It hurts a lot. But we keep going and selling out every fixture, home and away, weeks in advance, often within hours of tickets going on sale. We have over 30,000 on the season ticket waiting list. Anyway, back to yesterday. 

A pit stop at the Harlech Castle and quick chat with Bill and Mark, who had left his 5* cuisine (!!!!) to meet up before being joined by Neil. My son and brother were outside sorting their tickets out on the Apple wallet and then we headed to take our places in the growing queues. Once again, I just made the siren. Fortunately, my seat was the first on the row, immediately to the right of an entrance / exit, so I didn't disrupt anyone. 

A lot has been said about the match and the players, with most being in broad agreement of what they witnessed. At half-time, a feeling of "a bad day at the office". The team hadn't shown up or competed. Gone was the intensity. The pressing witnessed for the majority of the past few weeks went AWOL. Once again, the ball was like a hot potato. Despite seeing Beto score a brace last week by playing him though, we reverted to using him as a target man, with his back to goal most of the time. He doesn't hold it up and isn't a target man. 

We seemed to settle okay for about the first 15 minutes, but with little end product. Ndiaye went close, but rather than go for goal, I did think that he could perhaps have pulled it back for Beto and another runner at the back post. Gradually, it descended into a scrappy Everton performance, littered with basic mistakes. Bournemouth simply contained us and absorbed what little we did throw at them, and started to take over the game, hitting us with two sucker punches. Our defence was increasingly struggling with the pace of Bournemouth's 21 & 24. 

From where I was sat, Tarkowski was too high up the pitch for their first goal, and the subsequent sequence of events unfolded right in front of me. As the first ball went to their winger, the forward drifted into the space vacated by our Captain. Jebbison was in and, in his desperation to make amends, the experienced skipper made what can only be described as a stupid tackle. Penalty. There was a shout for offside and I think VAR would have looked at it, although it would have been marginal. No complaints about the penalty decision though. The scorer (24) thundered towards the ball and put it away. Pickford chose correctly and was there, but there was simply too much pace and power on the strike. 

The second came from a ridiculous attempt of a cross-field switch pass from, yes, the man of the moment:0 Tarkowski. Instead of the intended target, the ball kindly fell to a grateful Bournemouth player. Next thing we know, the ball is in our 6-yard box and what ensued can only be described as a sketch straight from the Benny Hill school of football defending. The ball fell to Jebbison after a deflected shot, which he put towards goal. I may not get universal agreement, but I thought the keeper was unfortunate. He saved from point-blank range, only for the ball to go straight back to the striker, who "kneed" it into the net with, I think, 3 Everton defenders around him, who could do nothing.  

As the half came to an end and the players made their way down the tunnel, you could hear the restlessness and displeasure of the natives, some booing. 

The teams came back out and thoughts turned to how would we react in the second half after the debacle of the first? As the saying goes, it was a game of two halves. Everton took the game to Bournemouth and although the visitors still posed a threat, the Blues were now increasingly testing their resolve to hold onto their lead. We came very close, hitting the post three times. But not close enough and as the clock ran down, but a much-improved performance and effort in the second half, which was given some appreciation from the Goodison support at the end.

Some teams can make a comeback from 2–0 down. We can't right now. This current team needs to get its noses in front as we simply lack the attacking options or goal threat to recover, particularly against better teams. And forget the name, history or size of club, Bournemouth are a better team than Everton. The table and recent results do not lie. 

The Players 

Pickford: Despite the penalty and second goal, it didn't feel like he had a lot to do. A decent diving punched save in the 2nd half. There was a moment when he seemed to flap at a stray ball that was bearing down on the crossbar. Could he have left it? Caught it? It was down the other end, so I'm not sure. He pushed it over for a corner. Maybe flashbacks from that infamous Anfield moment? 

O'Brien: Not his best game, but in his defence, he isn't a right back, was dealing with their best player who had pace to burn and his captain inside him didn't offer much support or protection, frequently playing him into trouble. 

Tarkowski: Now, he wasn't playing well earlier in the season, but that is the worst I've seen him play. He couldn't do anything right. The message I received about him at half-time simply read "He's stinking the place out". 

Branthwaite: Probably our best defender, although there wasn't much competition and most of their threat was coming down our right. How he didn't score had me lost for words. Instead, it came off the woodwork and fell to a grateful keeper. 

Young: Didn't do a lot wrong. Steady if somewhat unspectacular. 

Gueye: Not at his best, but neither was the team. Not at his worst. I thought some of the comments I read were harsh and miss the important, unglamorous work he does. 

Garner: He did okay, but showed us what he can do when he came on at Brighton and last week against Leicester. He wasn't there yesterday, but neither was the team. 

Doucoure: No 10-second goal this week. Just Doucoure. 

Ndiaye: Tricky, persistent. One of the few who stood out once we showed up. 

Lindstrom: Back to earlier in the season Lindstrom. Void of confidence and ideas, but he still has a part to play in the remainder of this season. 

Beto: I'm going to defend him here. He'll never be prolific and probably won't be here next season. But having shown what he can be capable of if the ball is played through to him. Maybe Bournemouth's resolute organisation prevented that, but we reverted to using him as a target man with his back to goal, rendering him ineffective. 

Alcaraz: (sub) I sense we're going to like him. That free kick, that he won and took, was sublime. The keeper was rooted like an oak tree as it rattled the post. Another that I was convinced was going to make the net bulge. Apparently he can be a hothead, which isn't a bad thing. My brother has declared him a dead cert for a red card in the derby!! 

Harrison: (sub) Best I've seen him play in a long time. I'm still screaming for him to be played on the left, but he done well when he came on and hit the post with, what was a good cross that bypassed everyone, keeper included. I was ready to celebrate that one too!! 

Keane: (sub) Even though in another part of the ground, I could hear my son groan as he came on and the crowd chanted his name! Took up the Mick Lyons / Steve Watson role as improvised striker. Not on long enough to make too much of an impact. 

One of my less eventful trips, but there were still moments. 

Even by my standards, that was an early start. Up at 5am to get the dog out in the rain and dark. We departed for London to navigate the engineering works between Stafford and Crewe, which added an extra hour there and back.

We were there an hour earlier than planned at 12:30, so went to catch some of the Leyton Orient v Manchester City match whilst waiting for my brother, who said he would be at the station by 1pm. By 1:40 pm no sign despite repeated attempts to find him. We eventually found him and jumped a taxi to County Road. 

After the match, we'd agreed to meet at the Oak. The atmosphere walking down Goodison Road and Spellow Lane and in the Oak, was interesting. No despair, quite relaxed and even slightly good-humoured in places. 

We decided to try and flag a black cab down. It usually comes in at less than £10, which I always leave the driver with. We managed to stop one who said he would take us to Lime Street. I'm not even sure if he was a taxi, and as we went to get in, he stopped and asked how many of us there were. When we said three, he informed us it would be £30. The cheeky (expletive) was trying to charge us £10 each. The other two walked off to find another one. I remained at the driver's window, exchanging a few expletive laden opinions of his business model before being instructed by the two youngsters to leave it and got called over like a bad dog!! 

One last random thought that I forgot to mention last week and noticed again on the highlights late last night when we got back. With that hat, Peter Reid looks like a character from the Untouchables. Not a bad comparison considering that great side he was an integral part of. 

So, no FA Cup for Goodison in her last season. We'll have to wait for it to be paraded around the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, when we finally add a 6th to our tally. I'm actually looking forward to the new stadium. We need to move on.

Respect our past, but look to the future. The new stadium is central to that. The new owners, who I assume are keeping their powder dry until our top flight status is confirmed, may come out with their vision for the club and the city, backing this up with funding in the summer to put the playing squad into a much better position to compete and develop.  

For now, our focus is simple; stay in the top flight of English football. This current team has one job, one objective. No excuses, it starts Wednesday. If some are not feeling up for it, let me know. Then onto Palace next weekend to meet with John. Mark will be there too. I've promised that I will find Selhurst Park this time as last time out, I walked in circles before finally giving in and asking the police where the ground was. I was only a mile out heading in the wrong direction!! Anyone else going, let us know.

I for one, did not get carried away with recent results. They were important wins and gave us breathing space, but the job isn't done yet. That was a wakeup call and we must avoid complacency.  

It's difficult to pick a man-of-the match from that, so I'll go for best of the rest of the second half. A promising cameo from Charly, but I think, once again, I'll go for Ndiaye. I think a 3 of Ndiaye, Garner and Charly is as good as we can muster for now, with the options we have. 

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