Match Preview
Well they went and did it. An excellent point against Arsenal followed
by a disappointing loss to Fulham. A win would have put us nicely in the
top half, the defeat, meaning we have only taken 4 points from our last
four
games, leaves us still glancing ever so slightly nervously over our
shoulders. However, what should be taken from the game is the fact that
for the majority of the match we were better than the team currently
sitting in 6th place.
On Saturday we continue this deadly run by playing host to 4th place
Charlton. Ironically, after playing Fulham as they went through their Saha
saga, we now play Charlton as they go through a Parker pickle.
Scott Parker has been a revelation for them for the last 18 months and
his reaction to the bid from Chelsea, which has led to him being excluded
from the squad travelling up to Goodison, will be a severe blow to Alan Curbishley's men and a boost to ourselves.
We should, though, be very careful as a team does not get to 4th in the
Premiership this late in the season based on one player — they do have a
degree of quality throughout the team with Euell, Di Canio and Carlton
Cole all top-class players. Add to that a solid, if unspectacular,
backline including an under-rated Chris Perry and cracking keeper in Jaaskelinen: you have a difficult side to beat
— just ask Liverpool and
Chelsea.
Lose to these guys and I think Europe will slip too far away as they,
Fulham and Liverpool will be quickly disappearing over the horizon.
Which 11 will then stop the rot?
At the back Yobo has gone on his holidays but it will be interesting
which two of Stubbs, Weir and Unsworth get the nod as it likes like Stubbs
is fit again. Unsworth has played very well but he is definitely the
weaker player of the 3. Pistone's return to fitness will put pressure on
Naysmith and Hibbert. Personally I am going off Naysmith who's tendency to
go to ground cost us again at Loftus Road — Malbranque "did" him for both
goals and we can't really afford that.
Midfield is likely to be same again as Gravesen is still struggling but
upfront will be giving Moyes' his biggest headache as Jeffers is starting
to show some form but the goals aren't coming, whereas Radz has been
reasonably consistent. Ferguson is showing his best form for years -
possibly the best since he returned and the boy Rooney can never be
totally ignored. Campbell surely can't start again?
The biggest thing in our favour is Parker and the effect his
"disillusionment" is likely to have on the rest of the team. We are having
a cracking run at Goodison and with Liverpool and United next up in the
Premiership 3 points really are vital but again are achievable. If we take
our chances better than we did against Fulham we could romp to victory - I
genuinely see us battering someone soon, lets hope its Charlton (and then
Liverpool)
3-0
BlueForEver
Lee Doyle

Matchday Stats
This will be the 47th meeting between Everton and Charlton
Athletic in all competitions, and the 24th at Goodison Park.
This will also be the tenth meeting between the sides in the Premier
League.
Everton's full record against Charlton Athletic is:
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Premier League |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
15 |
11 |
'Old' Division One |
30 |
11 |
7 |
12 |
43 |
49 |
'Old' Division Two |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
1 |
FA Cup |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
4 |
League Cup |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Full Members Cup |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
TOTALS: |
46 |
21 |
10 |
15 |
83 |
67 |
Our record at Goodison Park is fairly comprehensive:
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Premier League |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
'Old' Division One |
15 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
26 |
19 |
'Old' Division Two |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
1 |
FA Cup |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
League Cup |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Full Members Cup |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
TOTALS: |
23 |
12 |
7 |
4 |
48 |
27 |
The last match between the two sides was the League Cup third round tie
this season, when Tobias Linderoth scored his first Everton goal to
register a 1-0 victory. The last meeting in the Premiership was a 1-0
victory in November 2002 with a Tomasz Radzinski getting the winner.
Everton's biggest victory at Goodison was 7-1 in Division Two on 4
October 1930, which was also the first ever meeting between the sides.
Our biggest defeat at home was a 4-1 reversal on 17 December 1938, whilst
Everton were on their way to the title!
The most common margin of victory at Goodison is shared between 1-0,
2-1, 3-2, 3-0 and 4-1, having happened twice. The most common draw is
shared between 1-1 and 2-2 with Charlton's most common victory being 1-0.
Everton's record for 17 January is:
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
'Old' Division One |
12 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
16 |
15 |
'Old' Division Two |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
FA Cup |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
TOTALS: |
18 |
8 |
4 |
6 |
25 |
23 |
This will be the first meeting between the two sides, and Everton's
first Premiership match on this date.
Milestone's that can be reached in this game:
-
If Kevin Campbell
plays any part of the match, it will be his 150th appearance
for Everton in all competitions.
-
If Lee Carsley
plays any part of the match, it will be his 50th appearance
for Everton in all competitions.
Steve Flanagan
Match Report
Well, I'll start by saying what I imagine a lot of people will
say about that match, we were tepid, certainly didn't deserve to win
but we didn't deserve to lose it either. /It was funny in a way to
watch the game and see Charlton as this season's Everton in terms of
their methods of play and current position - having said that though
they did look a good team on the ball when given time and space they
rarely threatened and scored with their only real chance of the game
(how many times did we say of Everton last year at times?!). Our
tactics, well I can only assume that the players started pressing
the panic button in the second half as a post half time cavalry
charge failed to come to fruition the ball was then hit long to Dunc
more and more and more as the half went on and though we did have a
lot of possession it was almost always in front on the defence and
never in behind and getting them turned and panicked at all. Passes
were misplaced, people didn't close down or track back as they
should have done and we seemed bereft of movement and/or late runs
into the area for any crosses that came over.
Felt sorry for Jeffers when he came off myself - he didn't look
quite there to me today and is clearly lacking in confidence as a
Jeffers who was more on his game would've taken a shot on on one or
two occasions when the half chance was there, and he didn't gamble
on mistakes or mistakes you would expect. Radzinski came on to a
very large ovation which probably didn't help Franny feel any better
- but Radz can't stay on the bench anymore it's that simple, we need
him starting upfront for every game left in the season when fit, you
only need look at the tail end of last season to see what a
difference his absence makes to the team. Ferguson had another good
game though I thought, though he seemed to tire a bit towards the
end (for those who like to keep a record of these things he was
second off the pitch today) he competed well, and in one moment for
the ages went full tilt from the centre to chase down and keep in a
lost cause wayward pass on the left wing and fire in a cross on the
half volley - just hope he can stay fit and continue this sort of
effort and commitment on the pitch and it's something we do badly
need right now even if his presence does lead to too many long balls
at the moment. Campbell did come on for a few minutes but didn't do
much of note though I did think it was nice that the programme did a
feature over several pages to mark his 500th career game complete
with pics of him scoring the winner in the Anfield derby a few years
back and headlining the feature with a photo of him with his player
of the month award for April 1999 - nice reminder to his more
vociferous detractors of what he has done and maybe, it's a long
shot I know, but just maybe it might make one or two think twice
about hurling abuse at him, presuming of course they bought the
programme and were actually capable of reading the feature.
Elsewhere Naysmith and Pistone looked generally ok in the full
back positions, Stubbs wasn't particularly all there mentally
either, several times he made bad choices and let the ball bounce
which could've resulted in disaster, Unsy had a solid game, though
he resorted to the hoof too much for many people's taste with the
way the central midfield was playing he can't be blamed for that.
Which leads us nicely onto our central pairing today - the Gravesen
twins were again present with the "evil" one of the two having far
more control today - I still find it shocking that a supposed great
midfield player still fails to display the basic ability week in and
week out to play a simple one touch pass, each time it's stop the
ball, look up look down and hope someone hasn't spotted the now
telegraphed pass across the pitch. Apologies to those who are big
fans of his but today he didn't do anything near enough whether it
was getting tackles in or tracking back or creatively going forward,
and the problem I think is that there isn't a clear enough
competition for his place for the more creative midfield berth.
Mentioning Carsley briefly I can't see how he'll play against Fulham
next week after another fairly anonymous performance that like
Gravesen included way too many poor and easily intercepted passes,
one of which led to the goal though blaming him for the goal, as
some did, is a bit harsh.
Kilbane gave his usual amount of hard work and effort but didn't
quite get the breaks today, Rooney linked well with Pistone when he
could but I think it's an obvious understatement to say we'd all
much like to see Wayne upfront instead of out on the wing, but at
the moment we don't really have any other option but to play him
there with both Watson and now McFadden out injured. In a way it's
difficult to write thoughts on a match like today's because if you
write down the teams clear faults and how you think they would be
best solved you are basically repeating the same thing from every
other match report you and others have done not just in average/poor
games this season but last season too to a degree. Something clearly
has to be done with our central midfield and all the restrictions
aside it does frankly pain and annoy me as I'm sure it does everyone
else that we haven't been able to do anything to try and rectify
that situation during the transfer window, due to our well known
financial restrictions, especially when this is an area that has
stood out for so long as being a weakness of the team to everyone
watching.
Ah well - in three weeks time, when we've dumped Fulham out of
the Cup, beaten the shite at their place and taken a point off
United we'll be feeling better!
Simon Saeyez
Match Report
I had my usual trip to the game today. Up early and the 09:27
direct to Liverpool Lime Street, then the Wirral Line to Hamilton
Square, before a lift home where a cooked breakfast awaited me
(supposed to be dieting), and then in the mood for the match. Felt
like an early start as its been a busy week so left early, wanting
to catch the Wolves vs Man Utd game, so left before midday. Some
drunken RS was on the train which was some funny. A middle aged
fella who was flat out asleep, overheard someone talking about
Liverpool and immediately sprung to life and started shouting about
how 5 games into the season Houllier was happy with 4th place and
should be sacked before returning back to eiderdown. He was a
sorry state, I just hoped Everton were not to be the same.
Got to the pub and some fella had nicked my usual seat, hence me
missing the Wolves vs Man Utd game due to a lck of viw and a sea of
heads turned up. Well it wasn't long before the troops arrived, and
by then he beer had gone down nicely. Before you knew it, it was he
short but nice (allbeit cold) walk to the match.
Honestly didn't know what to expect from the formation, and Moyes
didn't dissapoint. I was hoping to divert back to the 4-4-2, giving
McFadden a game on the right, with Li Tie and Linderoth (assuming
Gravesen wasn't fit) in the middle, Pistone in for Naysmith on the
left, with Unsworth and Weir at the back, and then Dunc and Radz up
front. Well I was close!!! Didn't see the need to rush Stubbs back
who in periods of the game was doing groin stretches, and I don't
know if Hibbert was injured or not but if he wasn't, then I'd rather
play Pistone at left back and drop naysmith. While why Radzinski
didn't start was simply beyond me, and I don't think this 4-3-3 will
ever really work. Yes, it worked against the Gooners, but I think
that's the only time it has. Full marks for Moyes for being positive
though I guess
Everton started well and put the pressure on in the first 20
minutes. Charlton, impressively, didn't panic though, and kept at it
well. Ferguson was getting free kick after free kick given against
him by the imbecile who calls himself a referee (the same imbecille
who gave Van Nistleroy that peno last season) and that was the tone
for the game. Everton had a lot of possession but to no avail. The
final ball was always lacking and there wasn't much creativity,
while Eull and Cole maintained a big threat up front. Both big
strong and powerful.
Well it was neither of those who prooved to be Everton's
downfall, and it was always going to be ironic. Diamonds.
Good work by Di Canio. Making a fool of Naysmith and a decent
ball in which could have been defended better, and I think Martyn
could have done something with. Neverthelss, it fell to Diamonds who
had an easy goal after getting up well from midfield (why do our
players not do that?). It was a similar goal to that of the
2001-2002 season when Simo and Xavier made a mockery of a long ball.
That happened in the 39th minute, and the damage was done.
Similar to last week, Charlton grew in strength from that goal, and
I was desperate for the final whistle, when in injury time Jason
Eull missed an even easier chance which could have buried us,
although Ste seems to think offside would have been given.
The second half didn't yield any changes, and Everton kept at it
I guess, but Robinson really didn't have much to do. An excellent
Carlsey header from 16 yards produced a full strength save was about
it, as Everton applied the pressure with determined but ultimately
uninspiring football. Ferguson came close with an effort hacked off
the line when with my blue tinted specs it looked over, but overwise,
nothing to shout about, and Charlton defended very well, with some
decent counter attacking football away from home and deserved the 3
points. They reminded me of us last season. All this without their
best player.
Defensively Everton weren't bad. The midfield kept pummeling
away, but if anyone's to blame for this result, it's the strikers.
Ferguson was statuesque. Very little movement, hence the big
boot was usually the option, and Jeffers reading the flicks a good 5
seconds after the ball had been cleared. He didn't look very sharp,
and although Radzinski and Campbell never really had time or a
chance to get into the game, neither really made the expected
impact, particularly Radzinski.
The only player that did move was Kilbane, hence he was the only
one he ever got the ball. He'd get the ball and look up, but no
movement. hence a ball into the box which was easily cleared.
The nest 3 games really could prove to be catastrophic. A home
defeat to Fulham knocking us out of what is probably the only thing
going for us this season, an unbearable derby defeat to RS and a
home defeat to Man Utd and we'd be looking at the bottom 3. It's
make or break time.
- Martyn: Nothing to do to be fair, although I think he
might have done better with the goal. 6
- Naysmith: Better today than in recent games, but not
exactly inspiring. 6
- Stubbs: OK. 6
- Unsworth: A bit better than Stubbs, but poor
distribution. 6
- Pistone: Positionally superb. Was happy to have him
back. My MOTM. 8
- Kilbane: Always beat his man and the only one looking
for a pass. Playing well. 7
- Gravesen: Tried and played pretty well, made things
tick. A shame others didn't, but then the misplaced pass, or he
crap free kick. 7
- Carsley: Looking more like a division one player each
game. Tries hard, and he's a decent honest player, but is he good
enough and is he what we need? We all know the answer to that.
Came closest to scoring though. 6
- Rooney: Played pretty well, but again no movement for
him, and Charlton were very good defensively, giving him no time
on the ball. 7
- Ferguson: No movement hence no success. You can
guarantee much more from him against Liverpool. 6
- Jeffers: Didn't look sharp. I think he wants his
nightmare move to end, but then where does that leave him. 5
- Radzinski: Didn't play like he can, but the service
wasn't there to be fair. 6
- Campbell: No time to make an impact, but what he did do
was not very good. 6
Overall: Uninspiring, but Charlton showed they deserved to
be where they are. A good professional away performance. It must get
better. 6
Paul Traill 
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