FAN ARTICLES
Stubborn Moyes Loses His Balance
Comments (59) : Despite the massive optimism going into this season the outcome has thus far been nothing short of disastrous. Numerous reasons have been put forward ? Moyes is too negative, Moyes is tactically inept, Arteta can?t be arsed because he has a big contract, Heitinga can?t be arsed full stop, what does Round do? Cahill dictates the shape of the team, Saha is a lazy git, Howard makes too many errors ? I could go on.
All the aforementioned are worthy of discussion, some may be valid comments, others not. However, for me the real route of our current problems lie in a failure by the manager in the summer to balance the team.
All the best teams have balance; we have none. We have been in desperate need for a right-sided midfielder for as long as I can remember and Donavan gave us a glimpse last year of how much of a difference one player in a particular position can make to a team. With a threat down the right, suddenly teams could not concentrate all their efforts on stopping Pienaar & Baines as someone had to look after Donavan ? this inevitably created more space for others and our attacking play improved immeasurably.
It has also been proven that we needed a new striker. If we had added these two positions I firmly believe we would currently be much further up the league and probably challenging the current top 4. Now I realise the standard answer to the above solution is ?where are we going to get the £25m from to buy these players?? and I appreciate that we basically have no money. However this is where I believe Moyes?s stubbornness in the summer halted our progress.
Moyes took the attitude in the summer of "If I am not being given any money I will accept that on the basis that you don?t sell any players without my say-so." Ebenezer Kenwright could hardly believe his luck in getting off so lightly in yet again failing to support the manager with anything resembling a transfer kitty and gratefully agreed.
Moyes has rightly championed the fact that he believes this to be the best Everton squad since he has been manager and I agree to an extent. However, as mentioned earlier, it lacks balance... and my criticism of Moyes is that by trading well in the summer we could have addressed the positions we were ? and still are ? lacking in. If we have no money, we can?t afford to have high value players sat on the bench ? they need to be on the pitch.
In the summer, we had 4 centre halves all worth decent money ? one should have been sold to fund incoming transfers. It was widely reported that we turned down £15m for Jagielka in the summer. This I find astounding! Yes, Jagielka is a fine defender but he is also one of the worst passers I have ever seen play for Everton ? there is little doubt we would be a better team with Heitinga playing centre back with Distin and Donavan in the team than what we are now with Heitinga sat on the bench.
We also should have sold one of Rodwell, Arteta or Fellaini ? we simply will never play all three and again, given our lack of money we can?t afford to have one sat on the bench. The sale of one of these plus the spare cash from the Jagielka / Donavan deal could have purchased a proven striker without doubt.
I understand that people will say that you need a squad, what about injuries, and I accept that. However, if we have no money, surely we need to concentrate the funds on what is on the pitch, not sat on the bench. The other irony is that, should injuries occur we have a manager who, for all his faults, is actually excellent when having to cope with injuries ? as we have always said, he knows how to organise 11 players to being hard to beat.
For all these reasons, Moyes's stubbornness in the summer at refusing to sell any of his players has resulted in us missing a real opportunity to improve our team and to me the poor displays of this season are really only highlighting the deficiencies we have had in the team for many years.
Reader Comments (59)
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2 Posted 18/12/2010 at 16:13:30
If anyone does anything 24/7 for 10 years without success, they are an abject failure ? and that's not his only shortcoming regrettably.
3 Posted 18/12/2010 at 17:04:30
However, I believe we could have improved the squad in the summer. I would have taken West Ham's offer of £6M for Yakubu, not given Saha a new contract, and sold the Russian waste of space. Surely with that we could have got in Donavan and/or a decent young striker.
4 Posted 18/12/2010 at 17:14:12
The point I do agree on is that, after last season, we all knew that right side was one of our weak parts and if Moyes knew he wasn't getting any money, he needed to wheel and deal. Heitinga is another that i would sell as he doesn't look as if he really wants to be here.
5 Posted 18/12/2010 at 18:07:31
However, my point is that, like it or not, we are stuck with Kenwright and his pathetic management of the club... and, as such, the only way to improve areas of the team that are deficient in is to raise money by selling players in positions where we have an abundance of talent.
I stand by the fact that, if we have no money, we can't afford to have expensive players sat on the bench ? they need to be on the pitch. I singled out Jagielka and the others because it is a fact we could have sold two of them and improved the team. I am not sure there were any buyers for the likes of Bily etc...
6 Posted 18/12/2010 at 18:35:11
7 Posted 18/12/2010 at 18:55:44
But does Moyes use his nut and utilise the most appropriate players in the most appropriate positions? No, he plays Arteta in defensive midfield...
I do agree that we should've sold to fill the right midfield position during the summer... but Moyes must also take responsibility for not being able to adapt the team to get the best out of them.
8 Posted 18/12/2010 at 18:57:40
9 Posted 18/12/2010 at 19:15:03
Well said ? particularly the standing still part ? it was bound to catch up eventually, the signs are dreadfully ominous.
However, a couple of posters on other threads can see us qualifying for Europe (I knew I didn't drink enough).
10 Posted 18/12/2010 at 19:12:41
But ,at least, the Swiss angency who handle all the transfers would have £5M to spend on players of their choice. Just think what we've missed! Yes, Kenwright must go!
11 Posted 18/12/2010 at 19:34:32
- Has has no pace
- He is not a brilliant dribbler (though he is better than most of our side in fairness)
- He cannot cross a ball to save his life
- He will never track back
The reason why Donovan was such a success was because the ball stuck to his feet and he could leave most players in his wake when we were on the break. I don't really care if he comes back to be honest, but that is what you want from a winger ? bags of pace and the ability to drop a ball on a pinhead from the wing ? Arteta is not the answer, I'm afraid.
He has lost confidence since he came back from his injury and, whilst he can still do a slide-rule pass, his heart is not in it. Hence why he's been playing side-swipe passes from deep in midfield (where he played at the start of his career at Rangers, remember). He should have been taken away from corners and free kicks years ago too.
12 Posted 18/12/2010 at 19:38:58
Why do people who support Kenwright continually insist on presenting this 'lowest common denominator' argument...
'Whataboutery' that only presents the negative alternatives is idiotic.
13 Posted 18/12/2010 at 19:41:11
Doddy, sounds like you are coming around to Kenwright selling out at long last, even if you do use the worst example in the current league to base your comparison on. As many have said before, you don't know until it happens and simply being too scared to do it doesn't make it a wrong move. The way the club is going, Doddy, we'll need to sell the likes of Rodwell and Baines in the summer to meet the bills, never mind replacements. Just how much has your beloved Black Bill raised this summer for replacements and additions to the squad and how many of them have actually played?
14 Posted 18/12/2010 at 19:49:47
Selling up these days is almost a passport to relegation and even the revered Randy Lerner has hardly rocketed the Villa into the top four, has he?
15 Posted 18/12/2010 at 20:09:38
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Yeah, I have United, Chelsea, Arsenal and City all to go down this season..
Cut the scaremongering bollocks out Doddy. It's charmless.
16 Posted 18/12/2010 at 20:06:54
BK has failed to do this for a decade, the current income of the club appears to be: next season's Sky money, already borrowed against to pay existing creditors; Goodison Park, with multiple mortgages on it; Bellefield, still waiting for movement on the development (we're in a global recession if you hadn't noticed so house prices not as boom as they were); and, finally, the players registrations/contracts being his only assets left.
The latter appears to be our only source of income and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise the only players you can make decent money on would be your better ones, thus weakening the squad... which would have the consequence of affecting league table results ? a spiral you'd need to stabilise surely? How would you stabilise that spiral in reduction of quality in your squad if your current youth players aren't breaking into the first team and you can only unearth so many diamonds from lower leagues???
Do you get the problem yet? Less and less money as he is failing as the chairman of the club and the cupboards are bare... but for the players who you need to remain in the league and compete. Oh, whilst you're thinking about that, any chance you could ring your contacts in the club and explain to us all what and how much (financially) BK is beholden to Green?
Ever since Desperation Kirkby went pop, we haven't made a significant player purchase or has any "ringfenced" (cough, BULLSHIT, cough) money evaporated?
17 Posted 18/12/2010 at 20:32:53
18 Posted 18/12/2010 at 20:38:28
Well, let me see.......
19 Posted 18/12/2010 at 20:47:00
So are you going to ring Goodison or give us an answer to my original question on what he has over Black Bill?
20 Posted 18/12/2010 at 22:21:38
21 Posted 18/12/2010 at 23:42:25
22 Posted 19/12/2010 at 00:21:34
23 Posted 19/12/2010 at 00:24:07
Saha starts against West Brom and we are woeful and don't start looking for a goal until Saha goes off and Beckford comes on; that time... too little too late.
Saha starts against Wigan and we look toothless up front again until he is replaced by Beckford: too little, too late.
Any of this sound familiar? ? and who is responsible for it?
24 Posted 19/12/2010 at 01:41:15
Our main players:?
Jagielka ? Crap!
Arteta ? Crap!
Fellaini ? Barely played
Pienaar ? works hard but no end product.
The whole team/tactics have been terrible and pretty damn tedious to watch!
25 Posted 19/12/2010 at 01:57:25
Didn't he win Player of the Year twice whilst playing out wide for us? At least he was more advanced and causing problems for the opposition further up the pitch, rather than fannying about in front of his own central defenders.
26 Posted 19/12/2010 at 02:31:00
27 Posted 19/12/2010 at 04:45:45
Come on, you Blues, and sign Donovan ? If Bill can't see the financial potential of having two of the most famous players in 'soccer' playing for your club, then it is time to jog on.
28 Posted 19/12/2010 at 09:49:45
"I'm struggling to think of one player who can say "I've been worth my wages." How about Cahill or Distin?
Gavin, "why would a Spurs supporter want to buy into Everton?" ? Why would it make any difference if he was a Spurs fan or not? Do you mean only someone who actually supports the club would have an interest in buying them?
29 Posted 19/12/2010 at 10:57:58
The point I was trying to make in the article was that we could have funded the purchasing of a striker and right winger by flogging two of our marketable players. Maybe if we had signed these two players, the chances created this season would have been scored and we would be higher up. I remain convinced Moyes was too stubborn for his own good and missed an ideal opportunity to improve the TEAM.
Gavin,
Whilst I take on board your comments regarding selling players weakens the squad, that was not what I was advocating. I was talking about replacing a centre-back and a centre-midfielder with a right-midfielder and a striker of equal value to the ones sold. If you like, re-distributing the wealth within the squad.
I remain convinced that if we have no money then ALL our high value players need to be on the pitch if fit. If Moyes was picking his full strength team at the moment Rodwell and Heitinga would be on the bench (Moyes's team ? not mine, incidentally). Thats £25m sat doing nothing and we cannot afford that ? it's the TEAM that matters at the moment...
30 Posted 19/12/2010 at 11:02:17
I am not in the Moyes Out brigade... yet... but I do believe his dealings, or lack of, in the transfer market has always been his Achilles heel. It's a basic principle that, as we have got no money, then the manager has to do a degree of horse-trading and that means at times selling players you may not particularly want to in order to buy the type of players we need elsewhere.
I know that fans then turn this to "Why are we a selling club?" etc ? separate issue ? but it is the reality for the time being. It's totally shortsighted of Moyes to adopt the "no-one leaves" position because the outcome of that is the woefully imbalanced squad we have now which is massively short of pace.
He really does have to compromise that principle now because we are starting to stand still and that means be overtaken.
We all have our own ideas of who we would trade but my view would be Heitinga, Bily, Yak, Saha the obvious choices and perhaps most controversially Rodwell if we get a daft offer as I am not sure he would get in before Fellaini for me.
For different reasons, I would also consider selling Jags (as I think he is so poor on the ball) to try and get someone in like Shawcross or Gary Cahill and see if we can make a bit of cash to spend. Of course we don't know the financial detail of such deals so it may not be possible but it's that type of thing Moyes, (unlike Redknapp, Bruce, even Allardyce) seems unable to do.
One last point: you see teams at Goodison with unknown foreign players, particularly Eastern European and South American, that you have not heard of really. Again, the likes of shite such as Bolton, Blackburn, Stoke, Sunderland seem to get hold of these players relatively cheaply and unearth the occasional gem. We very rarely do. Again it's difficult to understand why that this is the case.
31 Posted 19/12/2010 at 13:25:03
The displays so far haven't been that bad, we simply don't put teams to the sword. It is what being a bluenose is all about: 'disappointment' and 'Evertonian' are stamped into all our souls.
The sad thing is that I can't see it changing soon, not unless this Qatar royal family story has any truth... but I'm not gonna hold my breath.
32 Posted 19/12/2010 at 13:48:05
I understand your point but was that your opinion before the season started? Mine was that we should've let the Yak go and looked for a replacement and a right-sided midfielder, but also thought Coleman could do that job and said so on another forum before the season started.
Moyes is stubborn and, to be honest, some of his subs and tactics baffle me, but I also think that with the rub of the green in a few of the games, we would be up where most of us expected to be pre-season. The last game against Wigan could've ended 5- or 6-1 to us and other games before that, Villa away, Chelsea away, Bolton home etc etc.
Looking at the squad at the beginning of the season and a strikeforce of Yak, Saha, Anichebe, Beckford and Cahill, how many of us could honestly say that only one of the above five would be performing anything like their best?
33 Posted 19/12/2010 at 14:55:31
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We also had a right winger who gave us balance... and whose inclusion was indicative of what we could be with a decent player on the right.
We started the season without that person or an adequate replacement. That's the exact point of this thread...
34 Posted 19/12/2010 at 14:46:13
Isn't that why everyone was crying out for Coleman to be played on the right after a couple of showings last season?
And he's been there all this season bar a couple of games.
35 Posted 19/12/2010 at 15:34:13
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Are you serious? The 'lack of balance' that this threads about... the one that's been obvious to most fans for a very long time. Coleman was a move of desperation that hasn't worked.
36 Posted 19/12/2010 at 15:20:21
Actually at the end of last season we'd ground to the halt that we are currently witnessing. We struggled badly against Wolves, Pompey and a few others right at the end of the season which actually cost a Europa slot to the Shite. Unfortunately, we've just carried on in the same vein. But I think you're right that some of the displays haven't been as grim as some on here make out.
Mike, spot on.
37 Posted 19/12/2010 at 16:26:34
38 Posted 19/12/2010 at 16:47:28
Being honest it was my opinion at the start of the season. I thought we were crackers to turn down an apparent Arsenal bid of £16m for Jagielka when we had Yobo, Heitinga and Distin ? at that stage, two of them were going to be sat on the bench and, as I keep repeating, if we have no money then our value needs to be on the pitch.
With the sale of Jagielka, we still could have had Heitinga at CB with Distin with Yobo as cover and we could have bought Donavan and stil had money over towards a striker. With that spare money and extra money from the sale of Yakubu, we could have afforded someone like Gyan and, had we cashed in on one of our centre-mids, we could have afforded even better. By doing this, we would be better than we are now, simple as that...
39 Posted 19/12/2010 at 16:48:06
40 Posted 19/12/2010 at 18:02:11
41 Posted 19/12/2010 at 18:07:22
You seem to be talking up Duffy quite a bit. I have got to ask what you are basing your opinion on? He has only appeared a few times for Everton and, as far as I am aware, has only played a dozen or so games at international level ie for the under-16, -17, -19 & -21 etc. Are these the games you have seen him in and thus led you to suggest he should be in the first team now and that he is the best central defender at the club by a long way?
42 Posted 19/12/2010 at 18:25:13
43 Posted 19/12/2010 at 18:50:10
44 Posted 19/12/2010 at 19:07:28
So based on watching Duffy playing in a handful of Under 16, 17 and 19 football games you would rather see Tevez and co running at him instead of say Heitinga, Distin or Jagielka on monday night? I can't see many agreeing with you on this one.
45 Posted 19/12/2010 at 19:51:48
Coleman if anything has been one of our better performers. The problem is, he rarely gets a full 90 min on the park and, even then, he's been deployed at right back. When played wide right, he's often expected to drop back and cover the aging and ineffective Neville. No doubt Donovan would be obliged to do the same.
46 Posted 19/12/2010 at 21:58:48
Of the last 12 games, Coleman has played 80% plus of the minutes from these games so I don't think you could suggest game time is an issue. Also, you mention he has been deployed at right back. As far as I can remember he has played right midfield in these games and not right back as you suggest. With regards tracking back and covering the defender, of course he is expected to do this, that is part of working as a team. Pienaar is expected to cover Baines, Donavan would be expected to track back and cover Neville or Hibbert etc. If they did not do this then they should be dropped.
47 Posted 19/12/2010 at 23:15:17
In my view the three best players to come out of Ireland lately are: Niall McGinn, Shane Duffy and Seamus Coleman. We are lucky enough to have two of them. Shane is commanding in the air, he is quick (for a centre back) and can pass the ball out of defence. He is comfortable on the ball and believe me, is good enough to play first team football now.
48 Posted 19/12/2010 at 23:24:14
There have been occasions when he's been a candidate for MotM only to find himself dropped to the subs bench for the following games and therein lies my point. His appearances are often punctuated and sporadic and his role is constantly changing not just from game to game, but within games.
As for comparing roles played by Baines and Neville, Baines is bombing forward at every opportunity, Neville rarely gets beyond the half-way line and offers Coleman nothing. Coleman is constantly dropping deep to bail out Neville and this has an adverse impact on his ability to get into attacking positions.
Like I said, Coleman has rarely played wide right for a full 90 minutes but it would be interesting to know what % of those 17 games Coleman has started wide right and finished wide right. If it's more than 50% I'd be very surprised.
49 Posted 20/12/2010 at 02:01:11
Talking of a lack of balance... how about the fact that we have half a dozen right backs but just Baines on the left. If Bainesy gets injured, we'll be looking very inadequate there.
This is a potential problem Moyes must have been aware of since Lescott moved on over 12 months, and 2 transfer windows ago!
50 Posted 20/12/2010 at 04:18:01
You mean Moyes was right all along?
51 Posted 20/12/2010 at 09:45:29
"However, I guess you would consider that as having played right midfield"
Yes I would, because he has been playing RIGHT MIDFIELD. Whether he has assisted the right back with defensive duties during games (which I imagine everyone would fully expect him to do) or not, since the Fulham game up to the present day he has been playing RIGHT MIDFIELD.
Which games this season has he been close to being Man of the Match and then dropped for the next game?????
52 Posted 20/12/2010 at 10:11:22
So the question now has to be:? Why the fuck has he gone back to the negative shit we have all witnessed this season? After all, the playing staff hasn't changed since last season (bar the absence of Donovan) so we know the players have the capability to get results and entertain at the same time.
I hope for all our sakes that Moyes can adopt some of this positive stuff for tonight's game at Eastlands. If he goes there with the usual mindset that we have seen so far this season then I don't think we are going to achieve the same result there as last season.
The clock is ticking for Moyes and if he's got any sense he should take note of what we, the fans are saying, because if we, as a club, continue in the current downward spiral his position will become untenable. Everton fans simply will not accept too much more of this crap that we are being served week-in, week-out.
53 Posted 20/12/2010 at 10:39:08
54 Posted 20/12/2010 at 10:47:17
We need a proper right-sided player. Coleman has done well, but definitely needs to be rotated as he seems to be running out of gas.
Letting Gosling go for nothing looks like an appalling error, to be compounded by Vic departing. Neither are the world's greatest players, but they gave us options.
Osman on the right is definitely not the answer, and Arteta needs to recover his form before coming back to the team. Coleman is a squad player.
This January window is Moyes's most important. It could also be his last. Let's hope he gets Landon or another decent right-sided player with pace. Otherwise, I hate to think how many more games we will struggle to win....
55 Posted 20/12/2010 at 11:50:42
Hibbert hasn't got the organisational skills that Nev has but that should be instilled into one of our back four. They certainly get payed enough.
Neville is just not a good enough footballer for what we need in our time of crisis. Hibbs is not brilliant either but i'd like to see him work with Coleman. I can't see Moyes doing this but it will sometime in the future be a contributing factor in his demise.
56 Posted 20/12/2010 at 12:56:06
I remember that he was pretty decent, could dribble (although not at much pace) and could definitely cross. He was probably our best player at the time and the problem was that he was wasted out wide when we didn't have the quality of player in the middle that we needed. Like many, I'm coming back to the idea that Arteta could be effective out wide for two reasons:
1. He's not playing all that well in the middle, whether it's personal form, Moyes's instructions, or the opposition targeting him to mark and forcing him to drop so deep to pick the ball up that he can't do anything useful with it.
2. In Rodwell and Fellaini, we do have the quality of player in the middle to mean we don't need Arteta there in the same way that we did.
Back to the OP's point about balance. You are right, of course, but I'm not sure transfer dealings are as simple as you seem to assume, and the attempted redistribution you suggest represented a risk in itself.
However, even accepting that Moyes's choice of squad stability over that risk was a reasonable one, two things occur to me; one is that any half-decent right winger would have done. Jermaine Pennant has played quite well for Stoke having cost them nothing, and I for one think he would add to our team simply by being a natural right winger who can dribble at pace, cross and occasionally score. The other is that, in Gueye and Bilyaletdinov, we have two options for the left wing that could have been tried, allowing Pienaar to play on the right. Thus we could have at least attempted to balance out our attacking threat a little, forcing the opposition to rethink, without any risk or outlay. That Moyes has failed to try even this simple manoeuvre is far more open to criticism for me than trying to re-jig the squad through transfer dealings.
Concerning the right-hand side, I think Coleman needs to be introduced to the right-back slot, and assuming no incomings, I'd have Arteta ahead of him. This is especially at home. If Jagielka and Distin (and possibly Heitinga) can't organise a back four without Neville there, then they're not good enough to play for us.
57 Posted 20/12/2010 at 14:20:01
How many of you criticise Moyes for playing people out of position?
How many of you repeatedly called for Seamus to be played as a winger?
It strikes me that there are a lot of double standards being flung around at the minute.
58 Posted 20/12/2010 at 22:42:14
I think he may well have done the same against the Gunners and both of these games followed the Fulham game you mention. Shall I tell Moyes or should I leave it to you?
I'm sure we can both agree that was a sublime delivery to Cahill for tonight's opener and not for the first time either.
59 Posted 21/12/2010 at 01:07:07
Coleman outstanding against Blackpool??? I don't think so. We must have really different ideas of what an outstanding performance is. In my opinion, an example of an outstanding performance would be Distin's performance tonight.
"I'm sure we can both agree that was a sublime delivery to Cahill for tonight's opener and not for the first time either." I would agree. He put in a good cross for Cahill's derby goal as well. Good job he was on the right of midfield tonight like he has been since he broke into the starting 11.
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1 Posted 18/12/2010 at 15:41:19
You need a larger squad with better players to compete in this league, which we have; however, we never added the 'two' quality signings we needed in the summer to push on.
Everton are a prime example of if you stand still in football you go backwards. I firmly believe this has now come home to roost and, until changes in the hierarchy at Everton are made, we will continue to fall down the pecking order.
How BK can carry on as chairman beggars belief. It's his duty to to move the club on, just like any chairman of any business. Chairmen have business acumen, they look at different revenue streams and how to make the business a lot more profitable. Unfortunately, it seems this man just sits on his arse as does fuck all!