On the derby scrap and Seamus Coleman

Although it's against Chelsea — and I've pretty much stopped expecting us to beat any of the Sky Four now, preferring to be surprised now when it does happen — I'm glad our next game after the derby defeat has come around so soon because it'll be nice to reflect on something other than the crushing disappointment at Anfield on Saturday.

The new adage that it can be harder to play against 10 men than 11 these days certainly seems to hold true but the fact that our attempts to break Liverpool down were so weak and so bereft of any guile has me genuinely concerned, particularly for our hopes in the Europa League.

A couple of things said in the aftermath of Saturday bemused me, though, first of which was the contention by David Moyes and that objectionable arsehole, Steven Gerrard, that fans love to see a good scrap on the field during a local derby.

Now, perhaps I'm in the minority but what possible joy can you get from watching two teams assault each other with their studs? Where's the fun in wincing through every full-blooded tackle in fear that your best players are going to get seriously injured... and then have those fears confirmed with Marouane Fellaini getting hauled off on a stretcher?

The derby wasn't always this way but as the atmosphere off the pitch gets increasingly bitter and as the two teams get closer in terms of ability, the more the players seem to start these games under the mistaken impression that damaging opposition players physically is evidence of a burning desire to win. If I wanted to watch a kicking contest, I'd watch Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Now, while I can't deny that those YouTube clips of Tim Cahill pinning Xabi Alonso to the ground by the neck in a Goodison derby a few seasons back don't elicit a wry smile because of how much I can't stand the Dark Side, at the end of the day, I'd far rather we played the bastards off the park like we did at Arsenal a few weeks back.

And, yes, I say that fully cognisant of the fact that Liverpool wouldn't let us play that way in the first half. Jamie Carragher's freight train-esque poleaxing of Steven Pienaar set the tone early on and though he was no angel himself (I think his tackle on Mascherano was more clumsy than malicious, however) the South African was kicked from pillar to post all game with very little support from Martin Atkinson.

Moyes's other confusing comments after the game concerned his players. Having made so much in the build-up to the game of his team's "top-four quality", he ascribed the Blues' failure to overcome a 10-man opposition to a lack of "special players in forward areas."

And yet, while Liverpool had perhaps their worst offensive line in recent memory, one that troubled Tim Howard just twice all game, his was a side boasting Louis Saha, the team's top scorer and a very special player when he's on top form, Pienaar, one of the jewels in Moyes's crown, an admittedly less-than-sharp Mikel Arteta, Landon Donovan, and, by the manager's own boasts, an in-form Tim Cahill.

Donovan especially impressed with his willingness to rise above the physical scrap and was perhaps the only forward player to emerge from the game with any credit for Everton. Yet since the Manchester City game he's been wasted on the right flank because of the near total lack of attacking ability shown by Phil Neville recently. Donovan has been criticised for his positional sense in recent matches and was slated after the cup defeat to Birmingham for coming inside too often. Well, I think if every time my fullback got the ball, he completely ignored me and chose instead to lump into the box, I'd want to go inside to look for the ball as well!

Which brings me to my current bugbear with Moyes and that's the refusal to play Seamus Coleman. Yes, I've heard all the arguments about his youth (he's 21, FFS), his inexperience (he's played in Lisbon and in Athens, brought us back from the dead against Spurs and not shown a shred of fear doing it), and his supposedly shocking display in the first game against Benfica. On the last point, as I've said before, I must have been watching the wrong game because apart from being caught out badly for Di Maria's first goal ( in retrospect, and even that's a harsh assessment), I don't recall him doing all that badly — to the contrary, I thought he did pretty well for his first ever game and for playing on the wrong side of defence.

The other refrain from those who would stand resolutely behind Moyes on this issue is that the manager must know which players are his best in each position but I was one of those bleating about him perservering with Joleon Lescott at left back when I believed that Leighton Baines was better and it was months before he was finally given the chance to prove it... and he hasn't looked back.

The fact is that to these eyes, Coleman has shown himself thus far to be the equal of Tony HIbbert defensively and superior to him and Neville going forward in every measurable way. He's done more than enough to warrant a starting berth and I, for one, hope he gets it before Donovan goes back to the US not having had the opportunity to really show us what he's made of.
Lyndon Lloyd     Posted 09/02/2010 at 21:21:59

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