Result:
Everton (1) 1 - Middlesbrough
(0) 2
Scorers: Short
8; Barmby 61, Juninho 81.
|
Everton: (4-4-2) Southall; Barrett, Short,
Unsworth(c), Hinchcliffe; Kanchelskis, Ebbrell, Parkinson, Speed; Branch
(56 Stuart), Ferguson. Booked: Speed, Hinchcliffe, Unsworth. Subs Not Used: Rideout, Hottiger, Grant, Gerrard. Unavailable: Watson. |
Middlesbrough: (3-4-2-1) Miller, Cox, Whyte, Vickers, Emerson, Barmby,
Mustoe, Juninho, Ravanelli, Fleming, Whelan.
Subs Not Used: Moore, Hendrie, Stamp, Roberts, Branco. Booked:
Vickers, Mustoe.
 Ref:
P Danson
|
Att:
39,250
|
League
Position: 15th
|
Other Results and League Table |
Previous Match: Wimbledon
v Everton - Next League Match:
Blackburn Rovers v Everton
Next Match: Everton v York
City Coca-Cola Cup, 2nd Rnd, 1st
Leg
SoccerNet: Juninho grew before our eyes at Goodison Park: the little boy lost emerged from the shadows cast by bigger, stronger men to strike the winner.
But the Brazilian lightweight was the first to acknowledge - after Middlesbrough's recovery from an early goal down to a 2-1 victory over Everton - his debt to those around him who perform in the heavier divisions.
In particular, there was the powerful middleweight Emerson, a fellow countryman who promises to prove the bargain buy of the big-spending summer as a £4million steal from Porto.
Everton, constantly linked with new striking partners for Duncan Ferguson - the latest is AC Milan's Marco Simone at £8m - could, as high hopes from their impressive opening to the season fade with a third consecutive defeat, certainly do with an Emerson. The 24-year-old brings qualities of steel, skill, control and vision to midfield and Boro manager Bryan Robson said: 'It's the overall ability that's outstanding from him. He's got a bit of everything.'
Juninho has scored four goals already this season - twice as many as he managed in the mixed months after his arrival last year. There was a depressing Boxing Day visit to Everton when his side were thrashed 4-0.
'This is sweet, especially after what happened here last time,' said Juninho. 'I'm playing better because I have better players around me. I have more options because of the way Nick (Barmby) and Fabio (Ravanelli) play in front of me and Emerson behind me winning the ball. It was very physical but in the second half we passed the ball more. It was when we played with the ball on the floor that we started to beat Everton.'
There seemed little chance of that happening in a disappointing first half. Everton went ahead after eight minutes with Craig Short heading in from an Andy Hinchcliffe cross from the right and for a long time a second home goal looked more likely than an equaliser.
Hinchcliffe threatened that second goal after 60 minutes with a low drive that went just wide of the far post but within a minute Middlesbrough were level. Everton appeared to be dozing off when Barmby stole in behind to be first to a long clearance from Derek Whyte and lob over Neville Southall.
Nine minutes from time Juninho rounded off a fine move by striding on to a backheel from Barmby to steer a low shot wide of Southall.
Guy McEvoy: Where is Dixie? That inflatable mascot thing that used to walk round the pitch with the Toffee-girl last season and all the scally kids in the Park End would run up to and gob? He's not been seen yet this season, he'd better come back soon, we need any mascot inspired luck we can muster.
Luck is something we've been notably lacking, unlike the spawny gits over the Park, who by all accounts have been playing, in a word, shite, yet nevertheless still pick up points. We -- Wimbledon debacle excepted -- have been playing reasonably competently and yet have only so far claimed one win for our efforts.
Still, you have to make a bit of your own luck, and Joe, (who I'm convinced now reads Toffeenet) chose to shake the team up a bit, realising the consensus opinion that Branch should replace Stuart and Ebbrell replace Grant.
And just for a while it had the desired effect. It seemed no time before Hinchcliffe was given way too much space to line up a cross from the right and Craig Short was given even more space to run through and nod it in.
The relief was enormous. Hands in the air, big yell, jump up and down, let the brain catch up that it was Short who'd scored and I always back him for first goal. Shout louder, jump up and down a bit more, suddenly stop in the utter panic that I hadn't filled the betting slip in right... Stop jumping up and down, fumble in pocket, find slip, check it, jump up and down and shout loudly again. My God, how I've missed us scoring.
So, with that bogey laid to rest, the team settled to down to what looked like a fine effort at consolidating the lead. The chances came, Andrei volleying over, a Ferguson flick on from a corner finding Unsworth's head (though ending wide of the goal), and two or three glimpses of the effect of the pace of Branch. I guess for a large chunk of the crowd this was their first glimpse of Michael and pleasingly he acquitted himself well, with off-the -all movement that put Duncan to shame. Unfortunately, this wasn't put to much use as his team-mates (notably Speed and Hinchcliffe) seemed extremely reluctant to pass to him.
Boro never seemed particularly bothered by our goal and played at an extremely patient pace, concentrating their men in their own half, passing around nicely, then suddenly launching the counter. Nevertheless, despite a couple of scares, half time brought with it a definite air of satisfaction. Everton were clearly on top.
The teams came out for the second half (not to Z-cars though, is my memory playing tricks or did we always used to come out to Z-cars at half-time too? If so, when did they stop doing that and can we have another "bring back Z-cars" campaign?). Anyway, when the teams came out, we settled down to more of the same. From the early pressure we again created, the pick of our attacks was by Hinchcliffe. Good work by Stuart (who'd surprisingly replaced Branch) picked him out and Andy ran into the box to powerfully drive the ball at a tight angle only to see it tantalisingly end inches wide.
Annoyingly, despite our dominance, Boro never looked seriously phased and just stuck to their patient game plan (except Ravinelli who certainly did look phased with the attention from Parkinson and did his level best to replace Ginola in the hotly contested "biggest foreign moaner at Goodison of the season" competition). Most impressive, particularly in the second half was Emerson. Aside from proving a worthy play-maker, the attention he gave Kanchelskis consistently stopped the Russian from being able to 'turn it on' despite Andrei looking well up for the game. If Andrei got it, Emerson was on him, spoiling it. Emerson was one import who lived up to the hype.
Boro's patience finally paid off when Everton gave away the weekly soft goal. A harmless route one pass lofted towards the edge of the box threatened nothing. Short ambled back, Southall ambled forward, both thought the other would do something more decisive, and whilst this was happening there was no indecision on the part of Barmby who strode in between to lob the ball over Nev's head. Bugger, bugger, bugger.
Unlike the Villa game, Everton did not completely panic this time. True, our threat was mainly aerial but the approach play was much more considered. Two great chances fell to Duncan: one from a Barrett cross that left his critics with open mouths, where the Scot was able to get a snap shot from a goalie's fumble, only to have it cleared by a line defender; and the second a great cross from Hinchcliffe that he met truly only to be denied by a top drawer reaction save which saw the ball punched over.
Just when I dared to think we were doing enough to snatch it, Boro brought up their one true moment of sheer class in the game. A neat Barmby back heel found Juninho on the edge of the box and he lined up shot that gave Nev no chance. And there it was, another three points down the swanie; another home defeat.
Joe Royle say's he just can't put his finger on the problem. I've wracked my brains this weekend and the only thing I can come up with is leadership on the field. Last week ,when Wimbledon thumped us, the contribution of Vinny Jones was immense. His constant barracking made sure that there was 100% concentration throughout the team for 90 minutes. That meant that there were no momentary lapses at the back (which is all it takes as Everton have seen).
Also, the forwards always felt obliged to chase it to the last (something that we, except Branch are still sometimes guilty of) and to force the killer instinct. Maybe I'm clutching at straws but I don't think Unsworth has been any replacement for Watson in the captain's job, which is a role a lot of people seem to under-estimate. Obviously, all our woes can't be blamed on this alone but I would suggest that it is in part a factor. The other thing that seems apparent is our luck as a team. We have none.
They reckon that after a while your fortune in life begins to reflect that of your team. At half-time yesterday I had won 43 quid (a tenner on a lottery instant and the rest on the Short goal) and we were winning 1- 0, by the evening we had lost 2-1 and I got nicked for speeding and am looking at a 50 quid fine. Lady luck? Sod off.
Richard Marland: What is it about Everton and September? In the previous two seasons, we have had a disastrous September; this season, after strong performances against Newcastle and Man Utd, we had good reason to expect that we wouldn't be reliving our September nightmare.
Alas, September has come and brought with it our almost typical dip in form with three straight defeats. A disappointing defeat at the hands of Villa, an unmitigated disaster against Wimbledon, and now a second home defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough.
I'll come back later to some sort of analysis as to what has gone wrong. First, I'll deal with the nitty gritty of the game itself. Yet another large crowd in excess of 39,000 came together on yet another beautiful, late summer's day. The team was as widely anticipated with Grant and Stuart being dropped for Ebbrell and Branch, -- Branch making his Goodison debut and becoming the youngest ever Goodison Park debutant.
The formation was what you could almost call our Middlesbrough formation, using the three at the back that we employed so successfully against them last season. The back three were Unsworth, Barrett and Short, Hinchcliffe was moved into a wide left midfield role with Speed being pulled into the middle. Ferguson and Branch were playing up front.
Everton were actually relatively impressive in the first half, without ever scaling any real heights, or producing any really sparkling football, we set about Middlesbrough with some conviction.
Within 8 minutes we were ahead. Hinchcliffe swung in a free kick from outside the right-hand edge of the area; the ball was cleared and fell to Parkinson about 5 yards outside the edge of the area, but fairly central. He appeared to be shaping for a shot but instead he intelligently slipped the ball back to Hinchcliffe who crossed the ball back in to give Short a free header on the six yard line.
Without carving out any totally clear-cut chances, we continued to take the game to Middlesbrough. Twice Middlesbrough deprived us with last-ditch headed clearances, one of which came from some very good work by Branch on the touchline (mystifyingly, Match of the Day chose to edit this out). We also forced a large number of corners which Middlesbrough, for the most part, defended well, even if they resorted to some outrageous blocking tactics to keep Dunc from the danger areas.
A second goal wouldn't have flattered us unduly, but this is a situation we have been in too many times before where we haven't cashed in on our periods of pressure. There had also been a few ominous warnings to our defence as Middlesbrough had caused a few problems.
The warnings of the first half weren't heeded as we started to cede possession and territory to Middlesbrough. Whilst never being overrun and whilst still having a few attacking moments of our own, in one of which Hinchcliffe just shaved the post, things started to look a little uncomfortable for us.
The equaliser came as no great surprise and once again we were left asking questions of our defence as Barmby ran onto a clearance and lobbed the ball over a stranded Southall. I personally think that the blame should be shared by Unsworth, Short and Southall. Barmby ran from behind Unsworth so you have to ask why he didn't cover the run, Short was actually nearest to the ball but allowed Barmby to get there first, and Southall maybe should have realised that his defenders were in trouble and come out and dealt with the problem.
As in the Villa game, we still had 30 minutes to get things right and, whilst
we went about it in a slightly more intelligent way, it still left something
to be desired. This time we did actually make a couple of chances, both falling
to Dunc:
With 9 minutes left though our worst fears were realised as we allowed Middlesbrough to carve us up with a neat passing move which ended with Juninho scoring. Our midfield and defence stood off and watched to an almost criminal degree as no one put in a decent challenge throughout a 5 or 6 pass movement.
So yet again, we were left to rue another painful defeat, and a defeat in
a game in which we should have won but failed to do so due to some familiar
failings:
Where do we go from here? After the Wimbledon defeat ,I thought that the introduction of Ebbrell would give us back the solidity of the Newcastle game, and the introduction of Branch at the expense of an out-of-touch Stuart was another move that I concurred with. The changes obviously brought about an improvement but we were still found wanting and I really don't know what to suggest to improve matters.
Joe Royle was interviewed on Match of the Day and he said that he
couldn't put his finger on what was going wrong; I can see what he means:
I would like to believe that none of this is true, but while we continue in our current Jekyll and Hyde manner there is something missing somewhere.
I'm really struggling to find a Man of the Match as everyone managed to blot their copybook in some way. I suppose I would give it to Hinchcliffe for another steady display although the real man of the match was Emerson.
Team - 6 - Yet another sub-standard performance. Lacking conviction at the back, no real control of the game from midfield, lack of bite up front.
Dave Shepherd: It is arguably important to the future of British professional football that fixtures such as this come out on the side of the British footballers, and not on the side of teams who randomly pluck big-name internationals and stick them on a park solely to boost shirt sales. This has about as much to do with football as Fantasy Football management has to do with real management.
For such a matchup, you can't get a better acid test today than Robson's Boro against Royle's Everton, despite the absence of Branco and the presence of a lone Blue foreigner in Kanchelskis.
Joe opted to put Ebbrell back in the middle and started Branch up front. Everyone was a little dubious about facing Ravanelli (we'd enjoyed hearing his name shouted out 3 times by a guy with a radio as he scored against LFC on Opening Day) and even more dubious in case last week's team showed up again. But it took less than five minutes to see that -- big Boro names or not -- Everton were going to dictate the game with greater possession and more hunger for 50-50 balls. Wimbledon was just a glitch -- as usual!
Already feeling comfortable, the 98% capacity crowd felt even better when possession created pressure and pressure created a goal. The goal itself was a great boost, not so much because it was the first for three and a half matches, but more because a rough personal tally of THIRTY decent scoring chances had gone unrewarded in that period. Boro didn't have much idea what to do about it, and Craig Short finished off a multiple pass and possession move with a diving header.
The pattern of play continued. Everton, with Ebbrell sparkling, continued to enjoy almost all the play, winning possession back easily despite the presence of the so-called new Pele in the Boro midfield. The other feature of the half was referee Danson. Innocuous challenges earned early yellow cards for 3 players. Then for an encore he managed to get a string of simple decisions wrong against both teams. Worst to suffer was Ravanelli, who quickly became depressed after being wrongly penalised twice -- once for merely touching a defender returning upfield with the ball on the back. Cue the Italian gestures.
Despite the distractions of a blue-ball game and a comedy ref, Everton should really have scored at least one more and killed the game before half time. Only in the final minutes did Boro manage to mount any threat greater than a breakaway, and Short was eating Ravanelli for breakfast without even having to tackle him. The exceptions had been midfielder Emerson (their only decent player) and the attacking efforts of.... (Juninho? Barmby? Ravanelli? no -- ) Robbie Mustoe!
The early second half didn't see much change, except that Boro seemed to have been painted a couple of signs and upped their game from dismal to dour. They defended in greater numbers, and prompted an early change of Stuart for Branch by JR to give Everton the one extra pass that led to goal.
This worked well and immediately led to two strong attacks, so of course a goal resulted for the team under the cosh. Perhaps Robson had researched Everton's weakness to the alehouse ball, because it was a definitive Wimbledon goal (big upfield hoof, one touch lob) credited to Barmby which equalised.
This restored some of the visitors' confidence and the final half hour was as fine a battle of exciting football from two attacking sides as you could hope for -- even the referee had descended into a more tolerant mode with the cards if not the whistle.
The difference was that whilst Boro's attacks rarely produced a shot, Miller was kept very busy, and will be delighted to have kept out a viscious point blank Ferguson header. Dunc himself was so frustrated that following through he grabbed the bar and made as if to break it with his head. The best chance was a diagonal low Hinchcliffe shot just beat the far post.
As the ex-Yorkshire club survived, their own pressure grew and fate once again had no sympathy. Well marked and heading no-where on the edge of the box, Barmby backheeled and no Everton defenders were near enough get there before Juninho, who scored, thus making his first contribution of note to the game.
Despite only ten minutes remaining, Everton had plenty of determination and potential to win, but it ran out with just the now weekly queue of chances not ending up in the net. A fair result to the game would have been 4-0 to Everton. Instead, it's soon going to be chicken entrails and tea leaves because being best, worst or evenly matched, Everton lose to them all.
But worse still was that the armchair armies of stattos and glossy magazine
readers would draw the conclusion that continental class overcame the a bunch
of British journeymen -- a conclusion which is not only false, it's the exact
opposite of what happened on the field.
TEAM PERFORMANCE: 8 A faultless effort apart from the result. Superior in midfield despite a blinder by Emerson, great superiority in possession and almost a monopoly on a grand parade of scoring chances. The unluckiest result at Goodison Park since Mike Walker.
Ref: Paul Danson Appalling. Mercifully, his incompetence had no effect on the scoreline and affected both sides equally, but this person's performance earned him the biggest boo as he took the field for the 2nd half since George Courtney (despite Everton leading 1-0!).
Now read the myopic media babble of Peter Ball in The Times and Pat Barclay in the Electronic Telegraph, then you will be fully primmed to read the true Evertonian response in Putting the Record Straight
Kevin Connolly, Sunday Times: PERHAPS the scoreline should read: Vigour 1 Technique 2. Everton began at a frenzied pace and looked like they would win at a gallop, overwhelming Boro for 45 minutes. But they did not take their chances, Boro's stars began to play and Everton were unlocked. Juninho summed up Boro's display: anonymous early on, he was at the heart of the revival and scored a thrilling winner.
Boro's manager Bryan Robson was delighted as his team climbed to within a point of the leaders. "I was pleased with the way we played in the second half," he said. "We showed our mettle as well as our skill. Juninho, Nick Barmby and Fabrizio Ravanelli have a great understanding, and in the second half, Emerson showed his all-round ability."
These sides represent tactical opposites. Everton play traditional English 4-4-2. In the centre of midfield, Joe Parkinson and John Ebbrell tackle anything that moves. For creativity, they rely on their flankmen, the Ukrainian winger Andrei Kanchelskis, and the Welsh international, Gary Speed. Up front, Joe Royle introduced 17-year-old Michael Branch alongside Duncan Ferguson.
Boro, by contrast, use a five-man back line with full-backs Neil Cox and Curtis Fleming pushing up. Ravanelli is their lone striker. Juninho and Barmby play off him with Emerson and Robbie Mustoe the second row in midfield.
The early pattern was set in the first minute. Emerson, the Brazilian playmaker, skipped past two tackles only to run into Parkinson. Everton tried to win the ball as far forward as possible then find Ferguson. It is a pressing game few other Premier League teams use, yet it was sheer physical pressure that created a fifth-minute chance that Branch wasted.
Kanchelskis's equally direct running set up the free kick that led to Everton's seventh-minute goal. The ball was half-cleared, Andy Hinchcliffe's left boot swung into action, and Craig Short headed Everton in front.
Their pace was ferocious. Emerson and Juninho looked baffled. Boro's tactics may be sophisticated, but they cannot work without the ball. Ferguson headed back Hinchcliffe's corner and David Unsworth nodded over. Everton threatened at every dead-ball kick. Boro were reeling and with Short dominating Ravanelli in the air they had no escape route.
Speed drifted inside so Hinchcliffe could gallop down the left. He had a header scrambled away then hit another corner that Unsworth flicked over. Aerial attack may not be pretty, but it can be menacing when Everton win so many headers.
It was 26 minutes before Mustoe, Ravanelli and Juninho had fashioned Boro's first attack, but Juninho screwed a shot at Neville Southall.
Kanchelskis, dashing across the edge of the box, lashed over as the second half started. But Boro are always capable of creating something from nothing. Emerson, Mustoe and Juninho somehow close-passed through Everton's defence but Mustoe's final ball to Juninho came too late to beat the offside flag. Juninho danced to the byline and his cross bounced off Barmby five yards out.
Everton needed a second goal to kill the game. The longer they did not score it, the more Boro's belief grew. Suddenly, their harrying grew less insistent and immediately Boro made them pay. Whyte's long clearance bisected the offside trap and Barmby coolly lobbed Southall. "That settled us down," said Robson. "I was pleased for Nick because his performances have warranted a goal."
Yet Everton's high centres still threatened. Alan Miller dropped one under Ferguson's challenge and Cox had to clear the Scot's stab off the line, but fewer crosses rained in as Boro competed in midfield.
The contrast was notable. Everton launched most of their attacks through the air. Now Boro were passing sweetly on the ground. Emerson, once so peripheral, was now influential. Everton's chasers were chasing shadows. The technique of Boro's stars had asserted itself.
Ferguson remained a potent threat, though, and Miller made a brilliant reflex save from his header. Once more Boro went to the other end and scored. Barmby killed Cox's pass, fed Juninho with a cute back-heel and the Brazilian curled a cunning low 20-yarder past Southall. A triumph of technique and Boro's class acts will conjure up wins in places even more unlikely than Goodison.
Report Copyright The Sunday Times
Peter Ball, The Times: IN THE first-week euphoria of the win over Newcastle United and draw at Old Trafford, Joe Royle, the Everton manager, was scathing about the bookmakers' odds of 25-1 against Everton winning the championship. Those odds looked about right as Middlesbrough, with Emerson outstanding, exposed Everton's limitations.
Royle did not quite see it that way, believing his side's domination in an appalling first half and their chances after the interval deserved some reward. He found support from David O'Leary on Match of the Day but that was significant too.
Royle is sensitive to comparisons between Everton and Wimbledon; perhaps he will be better pleased, although he should not be, to be compared to George Graham's Arsenal in O'Leary's days all bark and bite in midfield, hitting the rangy front man early, and relying on the dead ball as the main attacking weapon.
On Saturday, even their goal came from a big centre-half staying up after a free-kick, although otherwise the comparison falls down when it gets to the defence.
Short's goal was a fair return for Everton's pressure. Until the interval, Middlesbrough could not get into the game, only Emerson's competitiveness stopping Ebbrell and Parkinson stomping all over midfield as Juninho and Barmby looked as if they would rather be anywhere but Goodison.
After toying with culture in the form of the lightweight Tony Grant, and after two defeats, Royle had reverted to his competitors in midfield, with Speed tucking in as well. They are awful to play against three terriers hunting in a pack.
One instant summed it up as Parkinson snapped at Juninho's heels for 15 yards, finally conceding a free-kick. It was knocked forward quickly and Parkinson raced the ten yards to bundle over Barmby.
Middlesbrough improved in the second half, but even then Everton could have made the game safe as a good move released Hinchcliffe. His shot went wide, though, and the visitors began to put some serious movements together using width to effect at a time when Everton pushed Hinchcliffe firmly into midfield.
"When we pass we play better no long balls," Juninho said. But it was a long ball that brought them back into the game. Whyte's lob forward caught the back four asleep at their posts and Barmby's diagonal run left him free to lob the advancing Southall.
Still Everton's aerial pressure exposed gaps in the opposing defence. Ferguson met Kanchelskis's cross for a point-blank header only for Miller to make a brilliant reflex save.
It was a costly miss. The scalpel proved more effective than the broadsword as Middlesbrough claimed the winner. There appeared little danger as Barmby collected Cox's pass inside the penalty area, moving towards the touchline. A back-heel changed an innocuous position into one of mortal danger for Everton, Juninho arriving to beat Southall with a shot of surgical precision.
See critical rebuttal from Dave Sheperd in Putting the Record Straight
Pat Barclay, Electronc Telegraph: EVERTON have won only one of their opening six League games and on this evidence few neutrals will feel sorry for them. They overwhelmed Middlesborough physically in the first half, but when it came to craft, Bryan Robson's team came out on top, Nicky Barmby equalising with an elegance he contrived to exceed in setting up Juninho's winner nine minutes from time.
Joe Royle's scrappers might consider themselves unlucky; they had plenty of possession and might have led at the interval by more than the goal from Craig Short that broke a three-match duck. Duncan Ferguson had a close-range shot cleared off the line by Derek Whyte, and a header spectacularly denied by Alan Miller, shortly before Juninho struck.
Most of the uncommitted spectators present, including England coach Glenn Hoddle, will nevertheless have felt that Middlesbrough's more careful style of play, lubricated by Emerson's fine touch in midfield, merited their first away win of the season.
Down by the Riverside their defence, upon which comparatively little of Steve Gibson's millions has been spent, can get away with more than on their travels. Here, too, their attack took some time to get into their stride, and it was a prize for persistence as much as technique that came late on. Barmby, who had improved throughout, received the ball from Neil Cox and used his sharp brain to back-heel it for Juninho to sweep home with Neville Southall helpless. All the optimism of Everton's support, fuelled at the start, had disappeared.
A standing ovation had greeted Michael Branch, who, at 17 years and 11 months, became the youngest player to appear for Everton at Goodison. But it was a more familiar face who provided the early impetus and Andrei Kanchelskis, after volleying his own clever flip just over the crossbar, earned the free-kick that led to his side moving in front.
Though Andy Hinchcliffe's initial delivery was poor, Middlesbrough did not clear decisively and Joe Parkinson spread the ball back out to the right, where Hinchcliffe's left foot made sound contact this time so that Craig Short, still lurking in the goalmouth, was able to head firmly wide of an unprotected Alan Miller.
Middlesbrough remained under pressure, defending in depth and desperately at times against a team determined to show the effort their manager, Joe Royle, had angrily accused them of lacking in a 4-0 defeat at Wimbledon last weekend. Their aerial obsession, however, rendered it dull stuff to watch - and hardly calculated to bring the best out of the nimble Branch.
The visitors response had been scrappy and rather lightweight in the main, a mess of broken lines of communication with Fabrizio Ravanelli a lonely figure at the front. A hint of their home form came at the beginning of the second half, when Juninho, Emerson and Robbie Mustoe linked smoothly only for the smaller of the Brazilians to be judged offside as he shot.
Juninho then worked his way to the by-line and crossed low, the ball spinning wide off Nicky Barmby's shin at the near post, but at least Middlesbrough were making substantial progress now. The silence of the blue majority was broken by another storm of applause for Branch as he walked to the touchline to be patted on the head by Royle and replace by Graham Stuart.
Five minutes later Middlesbrough were level. At first there seemed nothing inspired about Derek Whyte's punt forward, but Barmby, though heavily outnumbered, saw his angle of attack quickly, and cut through Everton's defensive ranks, catching them square before gently, perfectly, lobbing Neville Southall. Picking the ball from the net was just about the first task of the afternoon for the goalkeeper, who will be 38 tomorrow, and he did not enjoy it one bit.
Report Copyright The
Electronic Telegraph
See critical rebuttal from Dave Sheperd in Putting
the Record Straight
Dave Shepard, again: Losing like this does your head in at any time. Evertonians are used to it -- it usually happens on derby day. But seeing the same unjust reward for four of the last five games when we're so mentally geared up to having a good league season is enough to shake even the stoic.
There's much to be said for ignoring short dips, and for getting your slump over with early, but trying to suffer this is enough in itself without having to read opprobrious lies about it in the press. No doubt sulking that their pre-judgement that the team with the most foreigners should automatically stroll through had been exploded by overwhelming possession and 7 shots on target to 3, Barclay and Ball of the Sunday Telegraph and Times laid the cowardly boot of revisionism into Joe and Co, calling them dour, frail, comparable to a Wimbledon caricature and Graham's Arsenal -- all bark and bite in midfield, scrappers, dull to watch, their early domination was an appalling first half, awful to play against , terriers hunting in a pack , and had limitations.
Meanwhile, undaunted by the fact that they had been belied by the Saturday night highlights, the floundering and ineffective ragbag of mercenaries and Robson acolytes masquerading as men of the Tees were hailed as victors over the forces of darkness, despite glossed-over admissions they had an inadequate defence, remained under severe pressure, defending in depth and near desperately at times, scrappy, a mass of broken communications and that Parkinson and company ruled the midfield .
Boro's long-ball goal was oozed over by Barclay: the excellent Barmby equalised with elegance -- intractable proof that the difference between "elegance" and "dull scrappers" is only in the eye of the transparently non-neutral reporter.
As for Ball, he ignores or seems blissfully unaware that Wimbledon FC no longer play long-ball (not exactly the sign of a professional newshound with his finger on the pulse).
Whilst he ponders this dichotomy, he might also go back to primary school and revise his definitions of basic football tactics - a Long Ball is a high, long clearance for fast strikers to chase from around the half way line on the false-statistic-based theory that simple buildups produce most goals. This is completely different from the Target Man tactic, where a tall centre forward(s) is a specific target for a head-high ball, either to be held and laid off to the advancing midfield, or flick-headed to a fellow striker or winger.
The Target Man tactic, together with the short pass midfield buildup, either through the middle or down the wings, has been used by Everton teams since 1969 and probably long before. Graeme Sharp had a truckload of appearances as a Target Man for the School of Science, in the heyday of Long-ball, and never once did anyone confuse the two - why now?? (Note also that all of the great British teams of the 70s played hard tackling in midfield and the result was a dynasty that dominated Europe. Despite the removal of the cynical side of that tactic, any attempt to tackle is now tarred dull scrapping. All hail the revisionists!).
Unless the British leagues are destined to descend into a shadowy imitation of the Serie A ballet, where prima donnas choreograph great football on the back of the vacuous concept that a long strike at goal takes more skill than a teamworked and crafted goal such as threaded fast pass, flick header, crosses form the byeline etc., it's about time the British press started to give credit to British football -- particularly when it overcomes the alternative but suffers an unrepresentative scoreline.
Monday, 16 September 1996
ARSENAL 4-1 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 33,461 Platt(57) Wright(pen 61,78,89) Booth(25)
Sunday, 15 September 1996
CHELSEA 1-1 ASTON VILLA 27,729
Leboeuf(45) Townsend(18)
LEICESTER CITY 0-3 LIVERPOOL 20,987
Berger(58,77) Thomas(61)
Saturday, 14 September 1996
COVENTRY CITY 2-1 LEEDS UNITED 17,297 Salako(57) Whelan(65) Couzens(1)
DERBY COUNTY 1-0 SUNDERLAND 17,692
Asanovic(pen 84)
EVERTON 1-2 MIDDLESBROUGH 39,250
Short(8) Barmby(61) Juninho(81)
MANCHESTER UNITED 4-1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 54,984
Solskjaer(22) Giggs(43) Haaland(4)
Cantona(82, pen 90)
NEWCASTLE UNITED 2-1 BLACKBURN ROVERS 36,424
Shearer(pen 45) Ferdinand(61) Sutton(85)
SOUTHAMPTON 0-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 15,251
Armstrong(pen 66)
WEST HAM UNITED 0-2 WIMBLEDON 21,294
Clarke(59) Ekoku(86)
Table after 16 September 1996
Club P W D L GF GA GD Pts Liverpool 6 4 2 0 11 4 7 14 Manchester United 6 3 3 0 16 6 10 12 Chelsea 6 3 3 0 9 4 5 12 Newcastle United 6 4 0 2 9 6 3 12 Sheffield Wednesday 6 4 0 2 9 9 0 12 Middlesbrough 6 3 2 1 14 7 7 11 Arsenal 6 3 2 1 13 8 5 11 Aston Villa 6 3 2 1 8 5 3 11 Wimbledon 6 3 0 3 7 6 1 9 Derby County 6 2 3 1 8 8 0 9 Tottenham Hotspur 6 2 2 2 5 4 1 8 Leeds United 6 2 1 3 6 11 -5 7 Sunderland 6 1 3 2 5 4 1 6 Nottingham Forest 6 1 3 2 8 11 -3 6 ***EVERTON*** 6 1 2 3 5 9 -4 5 Leicester City 6 1 2 3 3 8 -5 5 West Ham United 6 1 2 3 4 10 -6 5 Coventry City 6 1 1 4 3 12 -9 4 Southampton 6 0 2 4 5 9 -4 2 Blackburn Rovers 6 0 1 5 3 10 -7 1
This League Table Update provided by Lawrence "Leagueman" Breakey