COLUMNIST JIM HOURIGAN
A Sad Indictment
Comments (32) : Then I watched Albion and City on the box yesterday ? 2 teams in the bottom 3 and a realisation of how bad both teams were dawned. City, particularly at the back are hopeless, Dunne showing all the signs of why he left and Richards looking anything but an international.
However that?s not my point, realising how bad they were made me recognise how utterly negatively we approached the City game. Please don?t give me all that shit about injuries, even under the darkest days of Walter, when we seemed to play with 7 centre half?s, at least 2 were always deployed as forwards. Now we hear comments from Moyes and Round about our 4-6-0 formation and holding it up as some kind of badge of honour ? we played a game with no forwards and won !!!!
Step back and re-read that ? Everton FC, this great and proud club went into a match against a team at the bottom end of the table, having won 1 in 8, with no forwards on the pitch and then celebrated the fact. Is that what football means to Moyes? Is that what the School of Science means? Nil Satis Nisi Optimum?
And before you bang on about no other choices there are always other choices. The young lad Jutkiewicz , who has played in the first team both with us and at Swindon was an option, Agard was an option, even playing VDM, who has played as an out and out forward in his career was an option. Whilst none of the above are exactly palatable they are surely better options than going into a match with no forwards. People remember when Arsenal and Chelsea first fielded teams with no Englishmen, this team of Moyes? will go down as the first Everton team (in my knowledge) to set out for a competitive match without a forward.
Tonight we play Chelsea and at this stage I have no idea if Vic or Saha are fit, what I do know however, is that if both are unfit and we approach this match with a 4-6-0 formation we will see a very different outcome ? their back 4 will not sit back and defend, they will raid down the flanks and Terry will become a bully as he has no one to make him defend.
What the formation also does is mask the inefficiencies of the midfield. Yes Cahill worked his socks off and eventually got his first goal of the season, Osman was able to look neat in his passing, but neither are worth their salt in a 4 man midfield. Felliani, Arteta and Piennar need a defensive minded player but Moyes either has no faith in Castillo or can?t see it ? strange that most of the crowd can !!!! The midfield is unbalanced and playing 5 or now 6 masks that problem ? which is Moyes? making and no one else?s.
Injuries are a part of sport and Everton are not immune to them like every other club. What is different from club to club is how you respond and the response from Moyes and Round has for me truly shown how negative, dour and totally uninspiring they are as a coaching pair. We might have won a game but what have we done to the spirit and history of Everton Football Club? Kirkby is being cited as an anathema to our traditions and history, surely what Moyes is doing is equally as unacceptable ? the end does not always justify the means in my book, but then perhaps I have been brought up in the Everton tradition and not the Moyes tradition!
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I know he is personally dour, but he is also honest, transparent, fair and principled and has taken the club the right way in the eyes of most fans and most people.
I like the Hull attitude of attack being best form of defence but I reckon they will do well to stay in top ten and will struggle next year.
If Lukas, Baxter, Agard were really ready for the next level, they?d be playing.
I am slightly torn on this. Having previously scorned Moyes myself for overlooking the abilities of Jutkiewicz and Agard in pursuit of safety first, I am now trying to think of a single Premier League manager who has dared to include a young & unproven striker.
All I can come up with is Freddy Sears (or something) at West Ham under Curbishley, when they were depleted. And then I come back to us and think of Jeffers, Rooney, Vaughan, Anichebe & Baxter, all of whom have been given a chance here.
On balance, I do feel it does Moyes no credit not to dare. He won?t get sacked will he? On the back of my recent article about Hoffenheim, I?d like to see us daring to succeed by playing positively and attractively up the pitch, rather than crowding our own half.
But it all comes down to attitude, confidence and philosophy. Having said all of the above, was it not at least partially refreshing to see our attitude tonight against the possible champions. Given the loss of all first choice strikers it has to go down as a really good performance & result (no one else has held them on the road).
Would Agard or Jutkiewicz have made any difference? It?s asking a lot to stick them into an important league game against a top side. If they get crowded out then it could knock their confidence & development. But given how much running, jumping, holding and tackling Cahill did again tonight, I think a more positive coach may have taken him off after 70-75 mins and bring on a fast & unknown young striker.
My main pisser now is that, having played utter shite for the first 12 or 15 games (and sneaked some undeserved wins), we seem to have regained some spunk at a time when it begins to matter. Pity that we?ve taken just 4 points from the last 3 games, rather than the 9 that it could be argued we deserved and which would leave us toying for 4th place.
Moyes has failings. You?re left with the feeling that if he just went for it a little more then we could be flying. If I could have one striker in January it would be Bellamy. Jumped up little git that he is, he has two things that would be a great bonus to us: control and pace. I would also play Shandy, Agard, Jutkiewicz and Kissock against Macclesfield. Where else will they get such an opportunity?
I am with you on this.
I too have mixed feelings.
Should we have brought one of the youngsters on?
Would they have made a difference?
I think the big problem these days is the jump to the Premier League from Reserve, Youth team or Championship level is massive and unless the players themselves are exceptional (e.g Rooney) they can only make the breakthrough by being nursed through games. Unless that?s forced on us, I can't see it happening.
Apart from which, you couldn't fault our attacking endeavour tonight; with a bit of luck, we could have won.
Yes, tonight was ? good ?... it mostly is under the Goodison lights with the crowd up for it. For a 0-0 it was quite exciting and we?ve all seen some shocking 0-0s
And there is the gist of Jim?s point; 0-0 or 0-0 it?s a result, but as the song goes ?It ain?t what you do it?s the way that you do it.? Nobody may do it half as good as Harry but most times, more often than not we do it shite.
Yes, we had a poor start, yes we have a good attitude now, nearly back to the Spirit of 04 (with a nod to the dogs of war).
But the spirit of 04 was supposed to be just a step on the way, all top teams take that spirit as a basic given, as evidenced by the odd cup upset when the minnows take advantage of a team going through the motions, of which Macclesfield is one in waiting.
We seem to have not stepped up, but stepped full circle, for 04 read 08, basically 4 wasted years.
By the way, Chelsea are nowhere near being PL Champions. Villa looked a better outfit and we should never have lost to them. If we have players that DM has signed who are not good enough to play in the first team then why are they at Goodison? David Moyes is a great politician but not a great Everton Manager. Bill Kenwright, you should be ashamed of yourself as this team has the guts and the heart but it lacks the artistry and guile that Everton Football Club and its fans crave!
Moyes is Moyes. He is safety first and cautious. But perhaps that’s why he has been the most successful manager in the Premiership outside the top four for the past five years?
Villa are currently giving us a run for our money as ’the best of the rest’. But - guess what? They are another basically defensive team who play on the break (and would not have got any points at either Goodison or Upton Park if they didn’t play safety first football).
It’s really not that bleak at the moment!
I really think that it is moaning for the sake of moaning.
We created far more chances against City and Chelsea than we have done against many teams when we have played 2 up top.
Who cares how they line up as long as they play well?!
It is so easy to say he should have put the youngsters on when you don’t have the resposibility of doing so.
If there was half a chance that any of the kids were any good they’d be on the pitch. From what I’ve seen in pre-season none of them are anywhere near good enough at present.
And Villa didn’t look better than Chelsea. We outplayed Villa but made bad mistakes. We performed well against Chelsea but the majority of that was against 10 men.
This is simply moaning for moanings sake. Shut up.
Even in the darkest days of Walter Smith...
I remember just how dark those days were.
Be careful what you wish for.
Moyes may not be the most attacking manager, but he gets results.
??I watched Albion and City on the box yesterday ? 2 teams in the bottom 3 and a realisation of how bad both teams were dawned.??? However that?s not my point, realising how bad they were made me recognise how utterly negatively we approached the City game?
Wow is this the same City team, that was touted as the new favourite at the beginning of the season, the same that splashed more than 100m GPB over the last two seasons, breaking the English transfer record?!?!?
Anyone with half-football brain will have realised that we were playing 4-5-1 with Cahill as lone striker, you bring then ??Jutkiewicz , who has played in the first team both with us and at Swindon was an option, Agard was an option, even playing VDM?
Jutkiewicz has only two goals for the reserves since October, for example Vaughan has 5 games and scored 5 goals, as for Agard ? guess what he hasn?t scored for the reserves this season?!?!? Moreover the difference between reserve team level and EPL is like between Carling Cup and CL. There is reason why Jutkiewicz cant get a game ? he is slow, with poor first touch and questionable game decisions.
While on the same note ? if you think that Jutkiewicz and Agard carry more goal threat than Cahill and Fellaini ? you need your head examined. Overall poor, poor article ? that just underlines your lack of football knowledge.
ps Stefan although I don’t know your own footballing pedigree, I reckon I’ve probably earned enough from playing, coaching and managing at semi pro level to suggest i know a bit about the game.
Hey Jim, I heard we had a decent 11 year old striker, do you reckon we play him upfront on Fri.? You have no idea what the kids are like. Do you see them train every day? If you know so much, apply for the managers position.
Even before Chelsea went down to 10 men, we were playing well and creating stuff while at the same time stopping them from creating anything.
Personally, I?d take Cahill up front ahead of any of the others mentioned. He can do a job up there, with support from the other 5 midfielders. There is a big difference at playing with no strikers as opposed to playing with no recognised strikers.
Nothing I?ve seen of the other young strikers (with the exception of Baxter) leads me to believe they are ready for even a short appearance in the PL, and certainly not against the likes of Alex/Terry etc.
As regards cherry picking games (like the Chelsea Cup semi last year), I?m personally more concerned about how Moyes is dealing with things now than how he did stuff in the past.
I think against Chelsea we played really well with this 4-6-0 formation you are moaning about and created more clear cut chances than we have done in most games strikers have played in.
Well done Everton for playing well and getting a well deserved point against a team of world superstars.
The point is Jim, Moyes tried them in pre-season and they looked nowhere near EPL quality. I will bet you whatever amount of money you want that Lukas will never make it as EPL striker.
We weren?t negative neither against City nor against Chelsea ? we were dominant and controlled the game ? it's a shame it didn?t work out against Chelsea, we had 6 shots on goal they had only one and about Pienaar?s goal I reckon last year SWP goal after climbing on Lescott.
As for dull and negative systems, it's way off the mark to suggest that 4-4-2 will bring you more success or goals than 4-5-1, which by the way is used by Chelsea and Liverpool at the moment and they are not doing bad. Moreover, a few years ago Stoichkov (great player) was a manager of Bulgaria and in his second game in charge he went 2-4-4 against Malta, we were loosing 1-0 or 2-0 by half-time?
Let's get realistic; we cant compete financially with the top four nor Aston Villa, Man City or Tottenham, yet we have over the past few seasons finished higher on average than those.
All you complainers who don?t consider the financial constraints, who long for days gone past and complain at the slighest downturn in form are no good for this football club. And those who wish to see us go 4-4-2 and attack attack attack should realise that we are, without a shadow of a doubt, better with a 4-5-1 formation. And I, like any true Evertonian was elated with that city result, to see us go there and win with no forward and to put in a great first-half performance. And then to do the same against Middlesbrough as well as securing a draw against Chelski despite our attacking problems.
And Jim, with respect to quoting your findings on one Man City game against West Brom, I think is crazy. Man City are a different team at home and have put in some big performaces, like 3-0 against Arsenal, 6-0 against Pompey and 5-1 against Hull and to secure a win there was a great result. To go attacking them, considering their pace and skill, would be to play into their hands and it would have been tactically niave.
Your article is nothing short of ridiculous, Jim. Those players who you believe should be given a chance are quite simply not good enough. Don?t you think that Moyes sees them in training everyday? Don?t you think he checks on reserve games? Get your head out of the past and enjoy what we are achieving with less money than those around us. We have gone from fighting against relegation when Moyes took over to a top six team and Moyes deserves credit for that.
And who knows where we would have been this season if Moyes would have had money to spend? Instead we had an outlay of £16 million for Fellaini which was obtained from the sales of Faddy and Johnson. All I can say is well done to those who realise what Moyes has achieved and who realise how good the recent results were considering the injuries and those who think otherwise need to reassess their expectations.
I think Everton?s main problem is the genuine lack of pace up front, I believe AJ is missed and Moyes needs to wheel and deal in January. Odemwingie sounds like a good signing, someone that has pace and can stick the ball in the back of the net, and get our home form back to making Goodison a fortress again. Had our home form been as good as our away, we?d be top of the league, so let's get behind the blues against Sunderland
COYB!
Merry Christmas.
I’m not a doom and gloom merchant I’d like to think I can see beyond the ’short termism’ of Moyes and want more for the club. Yes he gets some decent results that will keep us in the top half of the table but I want more. I want to see Everton at Wembley at the least, I want to see us playing decent attacking football. Can we compete with the Sky 4? no, not with our present finances, but surely to God we can at least play to win matches. Today will show Moyes’ intent - Vic (our only fit forward) is available - will he pick him? and if he doesn’t and we win, those who challenge my view will feel vindicated and I will be slagged off. But who’s view will progress Everton?
The ’shortterminism’ of moyes is another invalid comment. He clearly had a plan when he took over and has brought in good players to progress the club now and in years to come. The only money he spent in the summer was on an extremely highly rated 20 year old and im sure if he had been given money to spend we would be in the top four now, but unfortunately the only money spent was obtained primarily from the sales of faddy and johnson.
And you maintain that we don’t play to win and you also maintain that we cannot compete with the top four in respect of finances(although u can chuck a few other teams into that particular financial cateogory). yet two years ago we finished sixth, last year we finished fifth and this year we are sixth, three points off arsenal. So we are therefore on average the best performing league team outside the top four over the last few seasons and the only team to break into the top four but you still complain?
And you complain about the cup runs, but you should again take into account that the lack of squad depth due to finances is a big reason for that. And last year, the one year under Moyes when we had some kind of squad depth, we got to the semi’s of the carling cup and the last 16 in the uefa, and we were extremely unluckly not to progress against fiorentina as we completely dominated them in the home game.
And you question if Moyes will start with Vic if he is fit. When has Moyes not started with a senior striker when one is fit? The last three games Cahill has started because there WAS NO SENIOR STRIKER FIT. And we obtained 7 points from 9 in those games. And I doubt any team in the premiership would have achieved that with their four first choice strikers injured.
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1 Posted 22/12/2008 at 23:34:33
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