The good – Robin van Persie’s free kick. The bad – defensive error gifts Everton a goal. The ugly – Everton’s football.
And that about sums it up. We did exactly what we didn’t want to do against a team that has suffered some heavy defeats at our place in recent season and that was to concede the first goal. Not only that we conceded it early. Tim Cahill, of all people, was left unmarked at a corner and when Kolo missed the ball he stabbed it home to put Everton one up after 6 minutes.
After that it became clear what their gameplan would be. Defend, defend some more, time waste, disrupt and get as many men behind the ball as possible at all times. Of course it’s understandable. We’ve taken Everton apart a number of times, they’ve just seen us pass Reading to death so the obvious thing to do is shut up shop and not allow us room around their box to open them up with the intricate passing we do so well. On the other hand though this is a top 6 side, not some lower league outfit that has just fluked a goal in a game they can’t possibly expect to win, and it is horrible to watch.
Everton will point to their point and say it’s entirely justified but to me it’s anti-football. Arsene Wenger understands why they played that way too but he was not impressed and again pointed to the gamesmanship and timewasting.
When it became obvious that we were going to have difficulty breaking them down we did start shooting from outside the box. Rosicky went close a couple of times, I remember Howard making a great save from Fabregas and time was running out. To demonstrate how far apart the two teams were in their outlook we made substition playing with 2 at the back as Everton had so many men back defending. We had Theo Walcott, a 17 year old winger/striker playing in a kind of right back position and had van Persie, Henry and Aliadiere on the pitch as well. Yes, we had to attack but we stayed the same to try and win the game after we had equalised.
When it came it was a cracker. A free kick, pretty much central, just outside the D. Thierry Henry, who was practically anonymous yesterday for whatever reason, had taken one earlier. This time it was van Persie’s turn and he curled it beautifully into the top right hand corner.
Try as we might though we couldn’t get the winner, Moyes was sent to the stand for his constant sniping at the officials and Everton came away with a point that they worked very hard to get. There’s no arguing that but it’s either a measure of how much we’re feared if we’re allowed play or an indication of how limited Everton are that they performed the way they did. Personally I think they’re a much more capable side than the one we saw yesterday but as I said they got their point and they’ll be happy.
You felt during the game that this would have been an ideal game for Baptista or Adebayor to provide that little something different. Baptista in particular as I think Adebayor tries to play too much like we already play when he should be using his height and presence in a different way. The sheer size and strength of Baptista would have been fun to watch though.
So another team plays negatively and we have problems. What can we do though? Arsene Wenger said:
I feel in many respects of the game we did very well, but in the final third we lacked something. A little bit of sharpness, a little bit of vision, a little bit of attacking the ball on crosses.
Which is true. Henry wasn’t at the races and maybe having someone like Adebayor or Baptista scaring the shit out of the defence would have brought dividends yesterday. The main thing though is not to concede like we did. It’s obvious now that very few teams will come back and attack us if they go a goal up. Maybe United would, maybe Liverpool but practically every other team in the league is going to sit back and deny us space in the final third.
However, earlier in the season when Villa played like this people bemoaned our lack of shooting and having a go. That can’t be said of yesterday so we’re doing something to try and combat it. As well as that we did better than when Man City did the same to us so we’re improving and learning as we go. I’m not too disheartened by the result at all. As I said Everton are a decent side and in a game of real football would be a tough test. They beat Sp*rs away with 10 men. It’s just that the way they played leaves a sour taste and obviously raises questions about our ability to cope with that kind of game. I thought we answered some, if not all, all of those questions though. We remain unbeatable at home though.
In a brief look at the other stories the boss talks about resting Cesc and how he sees him developing. With CSKA in midweek a must-win to pretty much qualify for the next round of the CL I can’t see him not playing but should we qualify he might get a rest for the other games (depending on who’s fit).
Congratulations to Anthony Stokes who scored a hat-trick for Falkirk yesterday. Obviously a mention in Friday’s arsecast inspired him to great things.
And that’s about it. Don’t forget to place your orders for Perry Groves’ much better than Ashley Cole’s illiterate piece of crap biography. Get in there before the Christmas rush. Then we can really sing ‘at number 1, it’s Perry Groves…’
Have a good Sunday.
