COLUMNIST JOHN HOLMES

A victory out of sorts

By John Holmes :  05/10/2007 :  Comments (18) :

By hook, by crook and with more than our fair share of luck we scraped through. Having put his first six European games behind him, Moyes has now guaranteed Everton six four more during which time he?ll have to answer some of the pressing questions which were posed by last night?s performance.

It?s hard to know how much of the particularly shambolic first half was Moyes? doing as, whatever plan he?d sent his players out with, they clearly weren?t executing it. Neville making 80 yard passes down the inside right channel surely wasn?t in the game plan, or if it was no one had told the strikers because they weren?t running for them. Jagielka making the anchorman role look the most difficult in football as he repeatedly (poorly) marked the wrong man. That can?t have been a planned tactic. McFadden mis-controlling everything that came his way certainly wasn?t a training ground routine and as for Howard?s goal-kicks, precision accuracy in picking out the opposition goal-keeper is not a well-known practice drill nor was Arteta, Osman and Pineaar overhitting every through-ball. Whatever tactics Moyes came up with in the last week were invalidated by the players? stubborn refusal to adjust to the atmosphere, movement of Metalist and the pressure of the tie. Had we lost, the sight of an impotent Moyes gesturing from the touchline for his defence to push closer to the midfield and being unceremoniously ignored would have been the iconic vision of the night.

That said, the team selection left a lot to be desired with Everton?s stalwart, and star of Moyes? best league campaigns, Carsley, again left on the bench in favour of Jagielka whose early season promise is evaporating by the game. Those who called for Arteta, Pineaar and Osman to start got their wish and were given a lesson in why exactly that won?t work; too light-weight, too positionally ill-disciplined and too similar as players. Finally, playing Stubbs always leads to Everton sitting too deep to cover for his lack of pace. Against a team with so many midfield runners, it was always asking for trouble although the decision to drop Baines in favour of Lescott at left-back reaped dividends on the attack side at least.

The first-half, and it?s pitiful showing, was largely a product of the above factors ? a lightweight, ineffective midfield, a too deep defence and players who seemed unable to adjust to the occasion. Getting in one goal down with a few promising chances to point to was more than Everton deserved. However, whatever errors Moyes made in the build-up, he put right at half-time and with his second half changes.

The team came out looking settled and confident. The first half was last season?s wasteful McFadden, the second half was the player we saw against Middlesbrough; every touch was coming off. The defence still looked shaky, too deep and unprotected by Jagielka, who along with Yobo and Yakubu showed little improvement on the first-half. The rest, however, improved (in relative terms, they were still far from good enough) as the teams shared two early goals before Moyes made his master stroke. Pulling off Jagielka and instead of bolstering the weak midfield, returned to the disastrous 4-3-3 of the first leg with an even weaker midfield as Anichebe strolled on. Somehow it worked.

Metalist looked terrified of him in the first leg and no more comfortable this time round. He was everything Yakubu wasn?t. Aggressive, dominant, pacey and looked a threat every time he was on the ball as opposed to his older compatriot whose resale price is plummeting game by lethargic game. It?s torturous watching £11m move around the pitch at what can only be described as a waddle. Those who claim he needs chances in the penalty area would do well to ask themselves whether his movement inside the penalty area is any better. The only time he found space was when the Metalist players converged too late on McFadden as he arrowed another classy finish into the net and effectively put Everton through. Yakubu gesturing in frustration at the Scot, even as the ball hit the net, sums up how little he fits into Everton?s team ethic.

With a ?lead? to defend, Everton were far more comfortable and had the luxury of drawing the midfield back towards the defence rather than trying to push the defence towards the midfield as Moyes had failed to get them to do all match. Metalist never looked like breaking down the tightly packed ranks and, as their belief ebbed away, Anichebe showed again the kind of poise that would make him a great player if ever learns to do it as a starter rather than just a substitute. As everyone thought he?d fluffed the chance with a heavy touch round the goal-keeper and a refusal to use his left-foot, his calmness in setting himself and accuracy of finish put to shame his more experienced team-mates who had struggled for composure all night. Solskjaer made a career from United?s substitute bench and, at the moment, that?s what any careers advisor would be saying to our young Nigerian. Important questions for the coaches to solve in his case ? how to get 90 minutes of that rather than 20?

I?m going to give Moyes the benefit of the doubt on this one; just. There were questions about the way the team was set out and about why the players weren?t responding to his alterations but it was whatever he did at half-time and the bold substitutions that won it for Everton. None of the other British teams managed an away win and Blackburn, who many point to as having a far better manager, crashed out to Greeks of a similar standard to our opposition. Had we done the job that could easily have been completed at Goodison, the away leg would have been a formality and it?s for that which Moyes should be criticised. Scrambling a victory in the cauldron last night is an achievement of sorts but, with six more games to come, Moyes needs to start showing he can get order, discipline and efficiency out of his team in Europe rather than just on the road to Europe.

As for the rest of the players ? Arteta still needs to show more in away games but we all know he?s our best player. Pineaar still needs the ball passed accurately to him but once he?s on it he looks to be a class act and surely Moyes will be taking up the purchase option in January. Lescott?s rampaging from left-back was our main attacking threat for much of the game and again he scored but questions remain over just what Everton?s best back four is. However, in dropping Baines, Moyes made a bold choice which largely paid-off. Overall, two months into the season it?s still unclear what our best team is and sooner or later Moyes needs to allow the players to settle into a rhythm undisturbed by personnel changes. At the moment that won?t happen as he clearly feels every side he is putting out has weaknesses and surely finding a consistent line-up he believes in must be at the top of his ?to do? list.

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