Ginola, Gascoigne .... Gravesen

The search for quality and creativity goes full circle

The surprise loan signing of Tommy Gravesen at the end of the transfer window heralded the 'temporary' end of a protracted search for a quality ball player in the middle of Everton's midfield. The abject and unforgivable failure of the Board to land the young, already test-driven and highly gifted Manuel Fernandes clearly resulted in a panicky Plan B (for once a Plan B existed) with the return of Mad Dog, undoubtedly an accomplished footballer ? albeit a somewhat erratic one.

I believe that many supporters feel that the signing of Fernandes would have put a completely different complexion on the Everton midfield; a midfield that, with current injuries magnifying its many weaknesses, sorely lacks a creative and visionary influence... Fernandes would have provided Everton with the 'missing ingredient' for at least the next five years, teamed alongside the tenacious, strong-running, Tim Cahill and the mercurial Mikel Arteta, Everton would have had a midfield that ouzed class and although they may not have ever reached the heights of the 'holy trinity' a midfield boasting such talent would certainly have given most opposing managers sleepless nights... but alas, that is not to be...

Instead we have Plan B: Tommy Gravesen... decent midfielders are hard to come by and those available are usually in a expensive price bracket so a loan deal for a player we know and to a large degree appreciate is perhaps fortuitous. Tommy endeared himself to many fans in his previous spell at the club with his dynamic performances, particularly in his final season. Whether Tommy could ever be considered a truly creative force is a subject of conjecture, but he can clearly play a bit and is comfortable with the ball at his feet, unlike many of his contemporaries in the present midfield who treat the ball like a hot potato... he finds and creates space for himself and others reasonably well and can certainly pass with an acceptable level of accuracy for a premiership player... I temper this by suggesting that his abilities must surely have waned over the last couple of years; as they have done with one of his former team-mates at Real Madrid, David Beckham. With Tommy, strength and athleticism were important elements to his game (especially in that last impressive season, when Moyes and Irvine got him properly into shape).

Whether Tommy can recapture his fitness and rediscover the form that got him a move to Madrid is a grey area, but it is evident that Gordon Strachan thought his time was up in the less demanding SPL and this does not bode well for Everton. Everton are crying out for Tommy circa 2004, the midfield is an area of great concern and to rely on an unfit Thomas Gravesen (2007 model) as our creative outlet would be unfair on the team, the supporters and a player ostensibly brought in to fulfil a 'bit-part role' with the occasional match winning cameo (á la Bolton).

Is this is what it has come to, when we hope and pray that an aging player can make the difference to our team, based only on the evidence of their former glories? This is Walter Smith all over again only this time it is not entirely of the manager's own making! We needed Fernandes or someone in that mould desperately; in retrospect we needed Tommy as well to cover for injuries and to appear 'from the bench' in what SHOULD be a demanding season with lots of games. t was so apparent against Metallist that we needed someone who could dictate the tempo of the game and bring our expensively assembled stikeforce into play... the side at the moment is analogous to a Ferrari with a bloody SmartCar engine. The flashy strikers rendered next to useless without the crucial missing component - service.

We can blame Moyes and his one-dimensional tactics all we like but don't forget that at the tail end of last season we were actually playing some decent match-winning stuff (well, after the Spurs debacle), thrashing the likes of Portsmouth and looking like we belonged on the same pitch as both Man Utd (bar stupid errors) and Chelsea. Fernandes was an important part of this marked improvement to the side and evidently this did not escape the eye of Mr Moyes given the subsequent approach.

As a result of our failure to sign Fernandes as soon as the transfer window opened I am going to lay the blame for our current malaise firmly at the feet of the Board: short-sighted, penny-pinching and counter-productive are the phrases I would use to describe their approach to this crucial signing; canny business acumen it certainly isn't (especially if we end up dumped out of the Uefa Cup before the more lucrative group stages). All this whilst Tevez and Mascherano were being quickly snapped up by the real 'big boys' in similarly complex deals; perhaps Benitez was right with his 'small club' jibe after all? Certainly the behaviour of those behind the scenes does nothing to dispel his assertion.

Keep your fingers crossed that we get Tommy up to his 2004 level and hope that we get Mikel and Tim fit soon because if we are expected to continue with the current midfield for any prolonged time then we are seriously fooked for the entire season? you can?t make a purse out of a sow's ear and therefore you can?t expect the likes of Carsley, Neville or even Jagielka to suddenly acquire the ability to thread delicate through-balls and angled passes to our strikers!

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