COLUMNIST PAUL TRAILL

Match Report - Can we just throw this season in the bin?

By Paul Traill :  23/01/2011 :  Comments (30) :

The day started well enough I suppose, picking Gary and (after some confusion) Ste up, parking up and getting the pub. It?s then when things slowly started to get a bit worse when upon entering the pub Liverpool scored a goal on the TV, before adding a second, and then a third to give Liverpool their first win under King Kenny. Quite big news in football terms I suppose. Quite how it constituted full billing on ITN national news and the incredibly lengthy montage of clips from Liverpool fans on Radio City later on I just don?t know. The world can rest easy?LIVERPOOL ARE BACK?apparently.

Anyways, we got into the ground slightly after Z-Cars boomed out. The team was unchanged from last Sundays derby with Jagielka and Saha both fit enough for the bench, though Vaughan intriguingly left out despite featuring in the derby last week. West Ham arrived with captain Scott Parker returned to the team after injury, and Piquionne starting up front following apparent toothache. We won the toss and so attacked the Park End in the first half, Peter Walton refereed, I believe this is his last season as an official. I hope that?s his last visit to Goodison as every time he?s come he?s been pretty poor in my opinion..well, not ONLY my opinion by the sound of things!

We started sluggish and it was Mark Noble for West Ham who had the first real opportunity of the game, lofting over when he had more time than he probably realized following an acute pass from Parker. Still, we battled back into the game, not through quality, more so through grit and it was Beckford who had our best chance of the half, though Green was out quick to smother just as Jermaine got his shot away. I thought we were just beginning to get a bit of ascendancy in the game when West Ham took the lead. Passes were getting smarter, challenges were getting more committed and the crowd were just getting into it I felt, when Goodison crowd favorite Luis Boa Morte got free into the box and squared the ball back for Spector to smash home into the empty net with Howard already committed. It was generally poor defending by Everton, the ease at which Boa Morte was able to get into the box and the lack of cover provided for Spector was also poor. What ever happened to staying with runners?

Anyhow, that?s how we found ourselves, again, and things could have been much, much worse before the break. West Ham twice came close to making our task twice as difficult. First Boa Morte just strayed offside before slotting home, but the real let off came when Piquionne headed goalwards but only onto the inside of the post, with the ball trickling agonizingly across the goal line and out for a goal kick. ?Wake up Everton? was the general cry from the Gwladys Street?in more industrial language than that by the way.

Speaking to Ste at half time and we wondered what Moyes would change as something had to be done. I wondered if Rodwell or Bilyaletdinov would be plunged straight into action though it was in fact Saha who got given the nod to replace Beckford as Everton started the second half with a lot more purpose, and a lot more belief?where was that performance in the first half? Despite our general better play we were still unable to garnish any breakthrough and it was actually West Ham who had the better opportunities in the early stages of the half as Everton toiled.

Another change was required and Bilyaletdinov was introduced at the expense of Anichebe with Moyes opting to move Fellaini into a more advanced role. The change proved fruitful with Fellaini supplying chaos into West Ham?s back line. The goal came from substitute Bilyaletdinov after Fellaini nodded down for the Russian to rifle a drive right-footed past Robert Green. Game on.

You hoped this would trigger Everton to take the game to West Ham a bit more but this didn?t happen. Coleman did come close twice. Once when he should have headed goalwards rather than volley from the rebound of a Green save following a Saha drive, and the other time when he hit a peach of a shot left footed past Green but unfortunately just past the post also. Though not playing great, we seemed the only team that could win it, until?

Parker?s drive into the box earned West Ham a corner which was played in though cleared only as far as Parker who got the ball out wide again. My mind flashed back to the Vidic goal against us back in September when we failed to pick up men after clearing the first corner. This happened again with Piquionne rising unmarked to impressively plant his header into the net past Howard. Unfortunately for the Frenchman he was a touch to giddy with his celebration, jumping into the West Ham support to earn himself a second yellow card and therefore a red one. A harsh rule, but players know the rules, so why do it?

Everton made their final change with Neville being dragged off for Rodwell. I?d like to say the red card spurred Everton on a bit though I?m not so sure it did as there didn?t appear to be any great purpose of urgency about the lads. In the end it was Fellaini who took matters into his own hands, taking the ball down on his chest with great determination and taking his shot on the bounce to drill it past Green. We?d saved a point but I couldn?t really celebrate. You can take the odd dip against the poorer teams at home but I?ve just had enough of these ridiculous performances at Goodison this season. We may have had a chance to win it at the end when we attacked with numbers. Arteta had a great chance to play in Saha but instead opted to shoot from outside the box but blazed horribly over the bar. That was pretty much it.

Just too many poor performances at home this season has cost us dear. Newcastle United, West Brom, Wolves, Wigan, Bolton and now West Ham. You?d really expect 18 points form that, maybe the odd howler and draw so lets say 13 points. Had we done this we?d be sitting ahead of Spurs in fifth place! Clearly it?s the home form which has undone us this term as away from home we?ve been just fine.

Listening to Graeme Sharp on Radio City on the way home and he raised some good points. Firstly, the strikers just aren?t doing enough, so why the blazes let Yakubu go out on loan? Secondly, clearly, we need new faces to freshen things up, and as quickly as possible. Thirdly, clearly, we need someone up front, now if you need to get a striker in on loan in January it?s a pretty tough job as any striker available on loan in January is most likely not any good.

I?ve said it before and I?ll say it again, I just can?t understand how everybody else can spend and we can?t. When I see Sunderland, Wolves, Stoke and even West Brom outspending us in the summer and we stand still it makes you wonder just what is going on. Even now, I?m seeing Santa Cruz go to Blackburn on loan, Carew to Stoke on loan and even Danny Wellbeck and Mame Biram Diouf out on loan in the summer?and we?ve stood still?moreover, we?ve let Yakubu go out on loan and now it looks like Vaughan is on the move also. This needs sorting out and quickly. Maybe I?ve got it all wrong and in a few years we?ll see these clubs with cash collapse with heavy debt, though I just can?t see it somehow. We need investment fast. I don?t think Moyes can take us any further without it.

Thankfully it?s the FA Cup next and a welcome relief from the league. Chelsea surely can?t win the cup three years in a row?let?s make sure that?s the case next weekend.

Player Ratings:

Howard: Not a great deal to do really. 6
Baines: Not one of his better games. 6
Distin: Pretty solid at the back. 6
Heitinga: Started the game like his old self but seemed to lose concentration as the game went on. I?ll be pleased to see him replaced by Jagielka next Saturday. 6
Neville: Has looked out of sorts for me since all this Spurs talk came out. Interestingly for me, there?s been no comment from Neville regarding all this and he?s never short of a word or two. Not leading like we know he can. 5
Fellaini: Easily my man of the match. Patrolled the midfield in the first half and did his job well when pushed further upfield scoring one and making one. 8
Arteta: Did well. Kept on trying and always looked for the ball. Could have done with more from those around him I thought. 7
Osman: Kept the ball well. Improved when moved into the centre to accommodated Bilyaletdinov and Fellaini in a more advanced role. 6
Coleman: Not his most effective game but his willingness and determination is a popular trait with the supporters. Probably should have scored. 6
Beckford: Worked, though showed some wild touches before being subbed at the break. Was probably harsh subbing him but Moyes had to change something. 5
Anichebe: Didn?t contribute as expected following his new contract. Fair to say he hasn?t won the supporters back yet. 5
Saha (for Beckford): Took him a little while to get going but was full of life when he did do and made a decent contribution. I imagine he?ll be back in the team next week. 7
Bilyaletdinov (for Anichebe): Like Louis, I think he?s played his way into the team for next week with that goal. Did well. 7
Rodwell (for Neville): Not on for long, difficult to judge.

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