COLUMNIST JOHN HOLMES

A blip or chickens coming home to roost

12:00pm Saturday the 15th of September and Everton prepare to take on Man Utd in the knowledge that a win will send them to the top of the Premiership with 13 points from a possible 18 and a eminently winnable European tie to come in midweek. The following weekends game at Villa should give us the chance to assert our position as one of the big boys again. All looks rosy after a bright start to the season.

Just 9 days later and it feels like the world's caved in. Two limp league defeats and a farcical performance by a bunch of school boys in Europe leave us 9th in the table with European hopes hinging on an away win in inhospitable conditions.

Yet we'll go into the Middlesbrough game next Saturday knowing a good performance will send us back into a healthy league position, perhaps the top four, and a solid display in Europe should be enough to send us through with a winnable game against Newcastle to follow. So the question is are Everton in crisis or was it just a bad week brought on by a rash of unfortunate injuries and poor form?

I'd argue it's a bit of both. I don't think Moyes's achievements are crumbling around him. Being stripped of players of the quality of Arteta, Cahill and Gravesen would hit any team's midfield and with games and niggling injuries coming thick and fast the constant line-up changes breed uncertainty in a team built around teamwork and reliability. Even setting this aside, defeats to United and at Villa Park are hardly humiliations and could have happened to the best of managers and teams, Chelsea have just done it (although that argument falls flat against Kharkiv).

The manner of the defeats suggests Moyes cannot simply write it off as a bad week at the office, however. Defensive frailty persists where solidity was once in abundance. Individual errors seem to be the main culprits with Yobo and Hibbert both guilty on several occasions this season. Moyes must find a way to eradicate these and quickly. Whatever you think of his gameplan there's no denying a key part of it is being able to frustrate the opposition by giving them no sight of goal; without this, a defensive outlook is a waste of time.

The strikers are, in my view, being unfairly lambasted, Johnson especially. The Villa game was a prime example of what he brings to the team and what the team isn't bringing to him. He was effective drifting out wide but could rarely do anything once there because of a lack of support in the box. His own opportunities were limited to a scrambled half-chance from 20 yards and a well-struck free-kick. Those criticising Johnson would do well to consider what exactly the other strikers are offering Everton at this time. Yakubu and Anichebe (when he starts, the sub Anichebe is a different animal) lumber round waiting for it to land on a plate for them whilst McFadden plays a similar role to Johnson to far more frustrating effect.

The real problem as most know lies in the midfield. I can accept that the personnel are limited. Osman is a good link up player but has no creativity and his once reliable finishing is becoming more erratic. Pineaar seems to only play for 20 minutes a game but seems to be improving. The remainder are defensive midfielders, criticising them for not being able to split open defences is somewhat unfair. For me the failure lies in their inability to get the other aspects right.

Why do they not break for the penalty area when a cross is likely to come in? It's always too easy for the defence. Although I actually thought we played a calmer less long-ball oriented game on Sunday, why do they so consistently fail to look around and note the runs of the full-backs, who were doing stirling work down Villa's flanks, inevitably instead going for the difficult pass infield?

These are just two examples of the basic things that could be addressed by Moyes but he is failing to do so. A simple request to 'look for the full-backs and remember you're playing as an attacking midfielder so attack the box' seems so simple.

To talk of sacking Moyes now is premature. If we win in the Ukraine and the return of Cahill and Gravesen leads to some more competent attacking play, this Everton team has real potential to take advantage of the top four's patchy form and make a bid for the Champion's League places and the Uefa Cup itself. But, and it's a large but, Moyes cannot allow the team to drift like it has lately.

I number myself amongst those who ardently support Moyes and believe he has the potential to take Everton further but the frustrations he is currently inflicting upon us and the recurring ones ? the pointless long-ball game, the bizarre European approach ? will only be tolerated for so much longer. Progress is a slow process and reaching a plateau of no advance is not instantly apparent, however, the present situation will begin to look like one if Moyes cannot find some answers in our next big week starting against Middlesbrough on Saturday.

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