ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Tactical Naivety In Europe

First of all I would like to point out that I am a Moyes fan and believe he has done a fantastic job in turning Everton from a bottom 6 side to a top 6 side and people should be more appreciative of this. Maybe we should look at what has happened at Bolton since Sam Allardyce left. Sometimes you don't appreciate what you have got until it has gone.

I do think though that Moyes does show tactical naivety when we play in Europe. Why change from the usual solid 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3? I believe that most games in Europe are won by the odd goal and that keeping a clean sheet is the most important thing and yet whenever we (briefly) appear in Europe we go out all gung-ho ? playing as if we are in the last few minutes of an FA Cup final. I think that we should chill out a bit. Keep things tight and play patient football in the belief that a goal or two will come.

Instead we throw men forward desperate to win the home game by two or 3 goals... and then end up leaving gaping holes at the back and conceding silly goals. A 1-0 win would have been good enough yesterday but we ended up letting in the crucial away goal that may see us knocked out.

It was exactly the same last time in Europe... don't get me wrong it is exciting to watch... but it isn't necessary. Everton's strength under Moyes has always been a tight defence yet he seems to completely change this for European games. I just don't think he knows how to play 2 legged games.

I think 1-0 would have been good enough.. .we should have been more than good enough to go over there (wherever it is!!!) and keep a clean sheet. But now we have put pressure on ourselves and we have to win. In the away leg I hope that we can be more composed... there are 90 minutes to get a goal and we don't have to go all out attack from the first kick and leave ourselves open at the back again.

I think when you watch Everton in Europe they look like a team that don't have much European experience... let's hope that they can gain more this time than they did last time!!!
Matthew Hayhurst, Urmston Posted 21/09/2007 at 11:42:01

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Allan Hobbs
1 Posted 21/09/2007 at 14:06:56

It’s a very different game in Europe, and lets not forget its only halfway through the tie. We’ll beat them in the Ukraine.

Blackburn lost 2 nil away to Larissa last night....who are they you might say, exactly!

And the scorer of the first goal? None other than Mr Ibrahim Bakayoko!

Robin Cannon
2 Posted 21/09/2007 at 14:10:22

I’m confused as to what game you watched last night. When exactly were we gung-ho?

I agree that there was a change - but it was a change in tempo/energy. And it fell into one of the traps that so many English teams fall into - the belief that Europe is somehow some massively more complicated and different game and you have to change your entire style. I don’t believe that’s the case, so was more than irritated when we spent a minute or so stringing balls back and forth along the back four before either giving it away in midfield or punting it forward.

We are at our best with a high energy pressing game. And given that’s our best approach, god knows why we didn’t try to adopt it last night.

Allan Hobbs
3 Posted 21/09/2007 at 14:20:05

We were gung-ho from the off!!!

Robin, go watch a few Man Utd, Milan or dare I say it, the RS games in the Champions League - knocking the ball across the back 4 and being patient is an art that they’re all extremely adept at. If that sort of thing bugs you, you might be better off not watching European football.

What we failed to do was play with any control. We were ’up & at em’ for 90 minutes which was the wrong thing to do; it’s the right thing to do for the first 20 minutes but then you have to calm down and play a far more controlled game than we did.

We scored on 24 minutes, which was when we became even more agitated as a team and it made it easier for Kharkiv. It was at that point that we should’ve been controlling the game by moving the ball around at pace but precisely to feet. What we did was bang it to the front players, striaght down the middle in the hope that we’d get another goal.

Its a tough lesson to learn but we have to learn it, and fast.

We should still make it through though. They’re gonna be without their 2 centre-halves for the return and we’ll have better shape, guile and control in midfield in 2 weeks time.

Relax kids, its only half-time.

steve
4 Posted 21/09/2007 at 14:55:15

we miss james vaughan alot once he gets back the btter i cant understand why johnson took the second one tho i would have let someone else takeit players we had out last night arteta cahill vaughan gravesen stubbs pienarr howard if we had a full side we would have stuffed them second leg side i play all being well howard baines yobo lescott neville arteta gravesen pienarr jags yakubu johnson subs stubbs anichabe hibbert wesells morrison osman mcfadden carsley i picked adifferent midfeild all together

Allan Hobbs
5 Posted 21/09/2007 at 15:11:13

Steve - punctuation man!!

Robin Cannon
6 Posted 21/09/2007 at 15:30:02

Allan - the point being that Utd, the RS, Milan are *adept* at it. We’re not - and it’s pointless adopting a style to which we’re not suited rather than playing to our strengths. Our approach in Europe shouldn’t abandon the things that actually got us there in the first place, which last night seemed to do.

steve
7 Posted 21/09/2007 at 15:32:19

morrison is the man moyes should play