COLUMNIST JOHN HOLMES

From a different seat

By John Holmes :  01/10/2007 :  Comments (13) :

In no way an attempt to usurp Ken Buckley's excellent column, but as an Everton fan of 24 years, I had not visited Goodison before Sunday. Living on the Yorkshire coast, and born into a family with more interest in tennis and fishing, the odd away game was the limit of my match-going experience and even that was denied after the Yorkshire footballing contingent contrived to evacuate the Premiership en masse around the turn of the millennium. So, having left student ?poverty? for the relatively lucrative world of postgraduate subsistence, I had promised myself a few trips across the Pennines this season to visit the home of the blues.

However, the football was what we went to see. The game was a strange one to sum up. From one perspective Everton played some pretty good stuff, created a number of chances and, having secured the winning margin, shut up shop to prepare for Thursday. Nice, professional job done. On the other hand, the defence remained shaky, we relied (too?) heavily on Arteta, were lucky to be 2-0 up and spent the last half-hour aimlessly hoofing the ball forward without ever approaching something which could be described as football. Both perspectives have merit and, having actually paid my money and made a relatively long journey, I can understand why those who attend matches week in, week out get so frustrated by our tactics. The experience of watching such futility live is far more soul-destroyingly frustrating than the experience of watching it on the TV. Perhaps because you can see the full-backs are unmarked as Howard lumps another goal-kick forwards to little effect, or perhaps because you can see Lescott is under little pressure as he punts it up to no one in particular. Somehow it felt so much more irritating and unnecessary when able to fully see the alternatives.

Overall however, I think those who wish to criticise Moyes, whilst provided with ammunition by this match, would do well to pick their battles. From the team selection through to the tactics, this match reeked of get the job done and then make sure things are ok for Thursday; a not unreasonable approach given the significance for the club, and the manager, of the Ukrainian holiday. Surely having one eye on Thursday can be the only explanation for leaving Hibbert at right-back after Neville?s outstanding and managerially praised contribution in mid-week. With Carsley the only viable option to take Neville?s place in midfield, the assumption must be he is not up to 3 matches in a week and is being preserved for the European test ahead. Van Der Meyde coming in on the wing with one of Arteta or Pineaar moving into the middle was a possibility but, frankly, we have absolutely no idea where his fitness or performance levels are at and, hard a time as he?s had, those disappointing performances and prior professional lapses must still count against him when Moyes comes to pick his team.

As for Moyes? tactics. I actually thought the first half was anything but typical Moyes. The lack of creativity in the central midfield may have been typical but there were few long-balls and those played were justifiable and often effective. The full-backs were advanced (to our defensive cost at times), with Hibbert pinging in a couple of decent crosses from the bi-line, and Arteta was certainly not constrained to any rigid formation. Indeed he didn?t seem to be playing any position other than whatever he fancied at the time. Nominally starting on the right, he spent most of his time between the left-wing and the inside right position. Credit to Hibbert therefore for his sterling defensive work in keeping the Boro left-flank quiet. The much-maligned right-back probably had his best game of the season with Downing reduced to laying it back to his full-back time and again as Hibbert refused to take his eye off the ball or dive into the challenge.

The paucity of our tactics was only exposed after the match was effectively won by the second goal. Everton?s Achilles heel, counter-attacking, will haunt us ad finitum until we find some midfield pace and can therefore do something other than pump balls to a target-man when we want to, as we justifiably should, sit back on a two goal lead. Moyes needs to find some way round this as the interminable boredom of watching Howard and Lescott (prime suspects despite good performances) pumping pointless long-balls to isolated strikers will come back to haunt us against better teams; just as it did last season. The job of getting us in front was mostly well-executed but the tactics once in front need a lot of refining if we?re to challenge the upper echelons. There are ways to play safe, controlled football with the ball as well as just safety-first clearances. It is possible to frustrate the opposition without frustrating the fans, for the briefest minute there were ?Ole? calls ringing from the Paddock as Everton stroked it around in the second half; then the rot set in. More work and more ideas needed Mr. Moyes.

So overall Moyes performance was an improvement with a more work to do comment. His substitutions, derided by some as bizarre were actually fairly reasonable. Anichebe for Yakubu (who was ridiculed as a waste of money by his ex-supporters, without riposte by his new fans I might add) was a much-deserved replacement. Yakubu may be effective in the penalty area and he may not be a man for tracking back, but it is not unreasonable to ask an £11m player to break into a run occasionally. There were 50-50s I could have beaten the Boro defenders too from my seat in the Paddock which Yakubu aimlessly trotted towards only to be second to the ball. Yobo for McFadden was probably another move with Thursday in mind. The Scot had a good first half. I?ve been a big critic of his over-elaborate approach to the game but he reigned that in on Sunday and his improved decisions about when to try and beat the man rendered a far higher success rate for his turns and flicks. Several have suggested the substitution left us with a 5-4-1 formation but it was clear to me that Moyes had moved Baines to the left-wing and Lescott to left-back ? an experiment several had called for over the last week. Whether this was a genuine experiment or just a way to fit the team together was unclear. However, Baines is clearly not a left-winger and Lescott is a poor left-back in terms of distribution ? definitely not an experiment to be repeated. Was Arteta replaced just to give him a much-deserved ovation? Could Van Der Meyde have had a run-out? More importantly, does it really matter when it?s a substitution made with the match long-since won and injury time already underway?

The remaining players were a mixed bunch. Baines was off his game but ill-deserving of criticism given his performance this season. Lescott, Anichebe, Yobo and Stubbs were as expected and one can only hope the former gains the international recognition his continuing high-form deserves. Jagielka was abysmal, definitely a game to forget for him with passes, tackles and influence all going missing. Neville was nowhere near as bad as some have painted him. Although ineffective in terms of creativity he was a useful foil for Arteta and Pineaar and filled a role he still looks unsuited to with a decent effort. He did waste a couple of good shooting opportunities however by, bizarrely, trying to work it onto his left-foot.

Pineaar is becoming a more familiar character. He certainly lacks strength and needs the ball played accurately to his feet or space to be able to get involved but once he?s got the ball he?s a real talent with an eye for the right pass and an ability to time his runs into the box. When Cahill returns we could see a lot of goals going in from the midfield. One to be given more games and sent to the gym to build his body up. If Moyes can do to him what he did to a certain little Spaniard we could have flanks to be feared. That Spaniard was the star, however. In all the moaning about the performance, few have mentioned just how good a return to the team, and to form, Arteta had. Every time he touched the ball things happened. His ability to make space for himself set him apart from any other player and with a little more shooting practice he could have grabbed himself more than one goal. It?s a joy to have him back. Turning him into an effective Premiership wide man stands as Moyes? greatest achievement and one in the eye to those who say Moyes can?t nurture or kills flair players.

In summary, a mixed bag, but one which sets us up well for the biggest match of the season so far.

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