FAN ARTICLES

Panic stations in the Stoke home support!

It appears to be that time of year again when the football season is upon us and Everton visit one of the teams who are based where I live. It appears to be a strange coincidence that last year I was living in close(ish) proximity to Birmingham and went to the Villa away game which we lost 2-0. So what goes down this season? Um, injury crisis (including our new signings!), uncertain early season form and another tricky away trip for me to witness in amongst the home fans.

A new job hastened my move northwards to the potteries so Stoke City are now the closest premiership team for me to catch one of our games at. Getting to Goodison is harder than ever these days because of the lack of a direct train to Liverpool despite being geographically closer than I was before. Ah well, will have to wait until I?m on the road, then it?ll be easy. So for the time being it is away games close to me and the odd match at Goodison when work / finance / studies allow.

An awkward team to select for Moyes with the reports beforehand casting doubts over Osman and Yobo alongside the definite misses of Jacobsen, Saha, and Pienaar. Personally I was hoping Cahill would be fit enough to start so we could at least not have to run the risk of Jags in midfield. We all know he?s like a fish out of water there. And Moyesy sprung a surprise! Cahill was in the starting line up alongside Castillo and Fellaini. Half of me was elated, the other half worried. Would the new boys bed in? How fit would Cahill prove to be? Either way, a midfield compliment of specialist midfielders was a welcome boost despite my doubts.

The game started off stodgily with Everton having a better shape and balance to them than in the previous 3 games. I was initially slightly dubious about Moyes?s decision to put Big Vic on the right of midfield but personally I thought he had a good game and was a good strong outlet down there for us. Lecott at left back at the expense of Valente or Baines was a wise move as it added height and power to defence and allowed Jags to play at centre back where he had a solid game. We didn?t look particularly cohesive as a unit though, but this is to be expected considering the two new midfielders have barely trained and don?t speak English.

Castillo hit a couple of wild passes early on and I was fearing the worst, but he grew into the game and took up some handy positions, made some sensible and timely tackles and played the ball frugally and sensibly. With any luck he?ll develop and grow into the team and we?ll look the better for it. Fellaini is a mammoth of a man! What impressed me was his composure on the ball and he refused to be bullied by the Stoke bruisers who seemed to be especially targeting him. He didn?t really dominate in the air as much as you might expect though. Still, early days.

Not much happened in the first half except for two or three spells when we managed to get the ball on the deck after extended bouts of Stoke hoofball and put together a few passes. Stoke were all about huff and puff with an admirable work ethic, but with little end product except a couple of raids down the sides of the Everton penalty box which ended with Fuller or Lawrence being forced wide. No real threats to Howards?s goal. Rory Delap hurled in a couple of his trademark throws first half but we looked comfortable. I thought ?he must have had a lucky day against Villa?.

We began to assert some pressure in possession towards the end of the half and I could smell blood. Sure enough a neat little exchange between Arteta, Fellaini, Cahill and the Yak ended with the Yak calmly placing the ball wide of the stoke keeper. A great finish. For such a big man the Yak has excellent balance and he has an amazing ability to caress the ball into the net. He knows that placement is more important than power at times. We saw out the half and I settled down to read the programme and not draw unwarranted attention to myself from the febrile and very vocal Stoke hordes.

The second half kicked off and we were in control. Stoke seemed strangely subdued and the crowd were quiet. Everton pressed forward and were moving the ball nicely. Free-kick to us on the right hand side of the box and the ball was lofted in from Arteta resulting in a glanced header from Anichebe that crossed the line even though Cahill followed in to make sure. 2-0! Surely we were home and dry now? The Toffee away contingent were in full voice, the Stoke crowd subdued and we had control. I smugly settled back expecting us to tank these artless cloggers and show them what the Premier League is about.

How arrogant of me! This kind of attitude breeds complacency and I have to ask if this was what went through some of our players minds. Stoke were not looking particularly threatening but they won a soft thrown in down their right. Up stepped their dangerman. When someone normally says ?dangerman? you think of Thierry Henry or Christiano Ronaldo, hell Mikel Arteta or the Yak fit the description! But not Rory Delap, the journeyman?s journeyman. But by the end of the match I was filling my pants every time he lumbered over to the by-line to take a throw-in 50yds from our goal. For Stoke?s first goal he hurled in a howitzer that Howard punched into a ruck of players, I think Yobo half flailed at the ball (could be wrong, was hard to see) the ball bounced out to the lurking Olofinjana and he hammered in a volley that Howard couldn?t get a sniff of. 2-1, the Stoke hordes woke up and their team got their fight back. We lost our composure.

Shortly afterwards a piece of sloppy play by Arteta led to a Stoke break with Ricardo Fuller hurtling towards goal with Yobo ahead of him blocking the ball. I was right in line with play and Yobo fell over, Fuller got the ball rounded Howard, Goal! 2-2. Or maybe not, the linesman / ref ruled it out for a push. We were lucky, I didn?t see a push, Yobo just had one of his ?moments?. A lucky, lucky escape. Especially as 5 minutes later Stoke were level. That world class throw-in taker hurled another humdinger into the box, pandemonium and the ball whizzed past Howard having hit the Jag and ended up in the net. I felt for the Jag, he had an great game aside from that, making several excellent tackles and well timed headers.

Stoke really had the bit between their teeth and went for it. They lack any form of guile. They just bully teams and are very committed. Their physical presence and never say die attitude makes them hard to play against. The crowd could smell blood and we looked rattled. At this point I have to praise Phil Neville. He was in my line of vision and I could see and hear him encouraging and cajoling his teammates; defiantly a rallying and calming influence. I often take the piss out of him for his limited ball skills, but credit where credit is due today; he put in a solid performance and kept his team going in the face of the Alamo.

Having withstood the storm the referee decided to make up for disallowing the Fuller ?goal?. A break down our right led to the ball being played towards the Stoke penalty area... hand ball! After a lengthy pause, a free kick was given ? much to Moyes?s disgust. He couldn?t contain his frustrations and was ordered from the dugout. My mates watching the game on Sky were texting me all throughout the game and informed me it was a penalty as the handball was 2 yds in the box. Still, swings and roundabouts, we should have been 3-2 down by rights...

As I was texting my mate about the penalty I heard a roar from the Everton away contingent. I looked up and saw Tiny Tim Cahill wheeling away from the goal to race to the corner flag to do his by now familiar boxing routine! Fantastic. Um, sorry I can?t report on the goal. See? That is a lesson to us all, don?t text at games! I?m assured by the aforementioned friend it was a great header. I?ll watch Match of the Day later for verification!

Credit to stoke, they didn?t give up. We had roughly 10 mins to weather the storm and we stood up and held them at bay. It was agony. The ball was constantly lumped towards our box and we were on the back foot. Fair play to Stoke they didn?t let us settle at all, they were really, really desperate to get something from the game. First Moyes sent on Rodwell for Cahill who had had a decent, battling return topped by a vital goal. Rodwell?s first contribution? To skew a clearance for a throw in and in the process turn my pants a deeper shade of brown. Seriously, the Stoke crowd were trying to suck the ball into the net and those throw-ins are hard to deal with. You can?t play offside and Stoke hem the keeper in. That ball can go anywhere. Luckily we held out.

The 4th official gave 5 mins of extra time. My pants couldn?t take much more. They had to. Yobo sliced a clearance into touch on the stoke left flank. In whirled the ball from Delap but mercifully Howard caught the ball. One last chance for a break from us, a couple of Stoke shots into the side netting and then the final whistle! Hallelujah! That was a game of peaks and troughs. We deserved to win it for the fighting spirit we showed. We could have totally capitulated but we stood firm. Our superior technical ability was the difference too.

Stoke have little guile or technique aside from Fuller, Lawrence and Olofinjana. We?ve been there. Only a few seasons we were using similar tactics to get results and coming unstuck against teams who demonstrated better technique and invention. It?s nice to have the boot on the other foot.

Hopefully when the new midfield boys settle in we can dictate this kind of game rather than only showing our technical superiority in flashes. We do need to start keeping clean sheets again, especially at home. Two away wins out of two is great, but we need to turn Goodison into a fortress once more. So on the whole we rode out luck (but to these blue spec tinted eyes) we deserved the win. Onwards and upwards!

Liverpool at home next, should be interesting.... [Editors Note; Err... Andy, there's something like three games to play before that!!!]

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