Afforded the perfect opportunity to give Evertonians a glimpse of the future, in what was to all intents and purposes a ’dead rubber’ at Stamford Bridge, Moyes instead chose to stick with his ’old guard’ and once again underlined that he will only ever turn to youngsters when there is absolutely no other option available. No doubt had Neville & Osman been available, they too would have been shoe-ins ahead of players with greater long-term prospects at the Club.
If the team selection was curious and maddening inevitability, the manner of the first goal was too. It has been a trait of Moyes’s tenure that his most trusted lieutenants – Tim Howard, Phil Neville, Leon Osman – have often been the players most culpable on the pitch. It appears that their professionalism off the pitch affords them greater immunity from criticism when they let the side down on it.
Take the man culpable today, for instance. Howard’s howler in pushing a tame Demba Ba effort right into the path of the on-rushing Juan Mata to slot home was (according to Moyes afterwards) an isolated incident in the context of Everton’s season. Except it wasn’t. Far from it. In chronological order, Howard dropped obvious howlers against Aston Villa (a), Newcastle (h), Southampton (h), Fulham (a), Norwich (h), Stoke (a), Norwich (a), and Sunderland (a) before today’s at Stamford Bridge. The points dropped as a result of those howlers would have seen Everton qualify quite comfortably for the Champions League.
Symptomatic of Moyes’s Everton, however, has been the eagerness to sweep such catastrophes under the carpet. Howard has been making mistakes with this alarming regularity for seven years, yet he is consistently held up as an indispensable member of the first team – ostensibly because of the number of hours he puts in on the training ground. However many hours he puts in, may I suggest he considers doubling it, or better still, putting them in elsewhere.
And the irony just kept a-coming. Unfortunate to be 1-0 down to a team playing with more than a hint of the aroma of Ambre Solaire, it wasn’t long before parity was restored, though yet again it was curious that the goalscorer should be a man whose contribution to the Everton cause has been met with almost universal accord: unfortunately for Steven Naismith, the unanimous decision reached by the Evertonian jury long before today’s nondescript performance was not a favourable one.
With Chelsea seemingly happy to play the opening 45 minutes with the kind of hunger, desire and tempo you’d normally associate with a bloated buffalo, the opportunity was presented to Everton to pilfer three points from a venue which has yielded very little in terms of points throughout the Moyes era.n Once again, however, that opportunity was wasted and despite creating a handful of presentable opportunities, Everton left the pitch at half-time having failed to register any further goals. Darron Gibson in particular was desperately unlucky to see an effort rebound off the post twice and away from goal.
The second half began in familiar fashion, with the hosts suddenly reinvigorated by the half-time coconuts (well – they would, wouldn’t they, them Londoners?); now shorn of their flip-flops and shades, Chelsea began competing and within the space of 10 minutes of the second half opening, the newly crowned Europa League Champions spurned several goalscoring opportunities.
It is very rare that Moyes’s Everton are completely over-run though, and as at Anfield a couple of weeks ago, after an all-too-familiar kamikaze spell where Everton’s players appeared to be competing amongst themselves in a footballing suicide contest, they gradually worked their way back into the game. It was becoming increasingly obvious (again), however, that they were managing this despite the abysmal woe-is-me attitude of the hard-done-to, 20-grand-a-week, Premier-League-footballer, Victor Anichebe.
On this most curious of days, Everton performances all over the pitch and even off it seemed to mirror individual and collective performances over the last decade.
On the pitch:
- Tim Howard was steady and dealt with most things you would expect your goalkeeper to deal with, yet erred with a fairly routine save; Seamus Coleman, his rampages up and down the right bamboozled everybody including himself, as is standard for this ever-improving Irishman;
- Phil Jagielka & Sylvain Distin had one or two nervy moments but were generally as commanding as has come to be expected;
- Leighton Baines was once again instrumental in most of Everton’s more considered approach play but struggled to find consistency with his final delivery;
- Steven ’One Direction’ Naismith (so-called as he only appears capable of passing the ball the way he is actually facing) produced the kind of nondescript goalscoring performance which had hitherto been the exclusive reserve of Niclas Alexandersson;
- Marouane Fellaini used his height and strength to great effect, breaking up play and maintaining possession, but lacked drive and dynamism and spurned one decent opportunity following a poor second touch;
- Darron Gibson flew under the radar for the most part and, aside from one or two token hospital balls, demonstrated a decent array of passing and a willingness to shoot from range;
- Steven Pienaar was generally tidy and strong but lacked an end product;
- Kevin Mirallas flitted in and out of the game;
- Anichebe showed again that he lacks both a footballing brain and a good temperament and on the odd-occasion that he threatened to use his physique in a positive way he either turned the wrong way or fell over.
Thereafter, Jelavic proceeded to show Anichebe the kind of positions centre-forwards should take up, but also proceeded to show why Anichebe started ahead of him, missing a hat-trick of glorious opportunities to level the scores.
And that, as they say, was that. Moyes’s reign finished with a strong sense of déjà vu. On the pitch, a cohesive and at-times aesthetically pleasing performance from Everton but lacking the ambition, ruthlessness and devilment that is required to take points at the home of one of the Premier League’s top sides. Off the pitch, an irritating acceptance of the result as a grim inevitability of ’bringing a knife to a gun-fight’.
So, what of the Moyes era at Everton? There is no doubt that Moyes has restored a sense of pride to a Club which seemed to have no direction when he arrived; the mentality at Everton had been in contempt of the club’s motto and ethos for far too long. (It is worth highlighting that the mentality comes from the very top, from those who run the Club; that Moyes had to reverse the mentality is a damning indictment of Everton’s Board of Directors post Colin Harvey – which includes some of those still present.)
Moyes presided over some truly memorable occasions: The Rooney-inspired wins against Arsenal and Leeds; the Duncan Ferguson-inspired toppling of Manchester United; the 7-0 destruction of Sunderland; the 3-0 and 2-0 victories over Liverpool; Nuremberg; Kharkiv; Alkmaar, Fiorentina; my personal highlights were the magnificent 3-1 victory at Aston Villa en route to finishing 4th in 2005 and the outstanding 2-0 quarter-final replay win at Sunderland: in my opinion the two finest Everton away performances for many years.
Moyes deserves immense credit and respect for returning a level of professionalism and a universal hunger to succeed which had been missing for a long time at Everton, and he fostered a great team spirit which will hopefully endure in his absence. These are the qualities which have helped turn Everton around from struggling also-rans into a competitive, solid side.
Moyes found continuity and stability was a way of countering the financial advantage held by his rivals. In accepting this, it is also worth highlighting that Moyes’s reign at Everton coincided with a huge increase in the revenues available to all Premier League Clubs. Of course, this still didn’t equate to anything like financial parity with the Premier League clubs Everton were looking to overhaul, and Moyes operated for the most-part with one arm tied behind his back. Doubts remain, however, over how well he re-invested the proceeds of windfall received for Messrs Rooney and Lescott.
In accepting that Moyes was forced to perform footballing alchemy in the Premier League playground, it is also fair then to accept that the financial gulf between Everton and bottom-end Premier League clubs and lower league and European contemporaries was equally as inequitable. It therefore follows that Everton’s results against so-called lesser clubs throughout the Moyes era were desperately poor. The FA Cup defeat at home to Wigan this season was utterly disgraceful in isolation, but in the context of it following on from the previous season’s utterly demoralising and abject surrender to Liverpool at Wembley, it was for many the final straw. It would prove to be the final addition to a Moyes’s Cup Hall of Shame that included woeful defeats to Shrewsbury, Fulham, Dinamo Bucharest, Middlesbrough (twice), Blackburn (twice), Oldham, Birmingham, Brentford, Reading and Leeds.
Indeed, Moyes’s cup record in 11 years at Everton was poor and gives credence to assertions that Moyes lacked the positive and attacking ambition required to win knock-out competitions. Further, his Everton sides were regularly found wanting under pressure and on the big occasions; it is a quite staggering fact that in 11 years, Moyes’s Everton failed to register a single Premier League victory at Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and – perhaps most gallingly of all – Liverpool. In fact, Moyes managed just a handful of victories over Liverpool in over 20 attempts.
Moyes’s legacy remains to be seen. On paper, he has left a capable Everton squad which should continue ’ticking over’ for another season or two at least. That said, it is of some concern that many of our established players are very rapidly approaching the stage where they will need to be replaced: Howard, Hibbert, Distin, Osman and Pienaar (regardless of their credentials) are all the wrong side of 30, and with the immediate futures of Jan Mucha, Thomas Hitzlsperger, John Heitinga, Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini all uncertain, the quality in the Everton squad suddenly looks a little thin on the ground. Moyes’s refusal to blood younger players such as Stones, Duffy, Oviedo, Barkley, Vellios, Francisco Junior and Garbutt further hinders his successor too.
So, what next for Everton? The first thing that has to change at Everton is the mentality and mindset of the Chairman. Ever since Moyes ’handed in his notice’, Bill Kenwright has borne the face of a jilted lover; even accounting for the homo-erotic theatre world Kenwright inhabits, his behaviour in front of the cameras recently has been quite alarming.
There is no shame in showing gratitude for the honest endeavour and progress Moyes has overseen at Everton, and last week’s lap of honour was poignantly appropriate. However, the reverence he is being afforded by Kenwright is borderline disturbing. Listening to him this past week, you could have been forgiven for thinking that David Moyes had died.
As it is, Moyes called time on his Everton career and once he’d done so, it is my opinion that he should have been thanked for his hard work and shown the door. Everton should have installed a caretaker manager from the existing backroom staff whilst drawing up a list of candidates to succeed Moyes.
Nevertheless, he has moved on now... and Everton must too. Kenwright especially must appreciate that Everton Football Club are bigger than David Moyes will ever be, and the challenge and focus now should be to appoint a manager who can take Everton a step further. Whilst Moyes managed a level of consistency and respectability in the Premier League, now Everton must cast their net far and wide in the search for a manager who can go that one step further in the league and win the silverware that has eluded three Everton managers since Joe Royle’s side lifted the FA Cup in 1995.
It is not an easy task, and therefore it is imperative that Everton do not opt for an easy appointment. The concern remains that Kenwright, Elstone et al will ’play it safe’ by appointing one of Moyes’s backroom staff; it is hugely important that Everton understand that ’the Moyes way’ is not ’the only way’, and also that ’the Moyes way’ ultimately failed to yield what the club, or its supporters at least, crave. Therefore, it stands to reason that the Manchester United manager, David Moyes, should not have a great say on who his successor is at Everton.
Now is the time for Bill Kenwright to show the kind of leadership and direction which many supporters, myself included, have thought has been lacking for a long time. For far too long now, Everton have been dancing to somebody else’s tune – whether it be the alleged involvement of Phillip "A Friend Of Ours" Green, Tesco & Knowsley Council leading the club a merry dance over the Destination Kirkby debacle, or now David Moyes promoting how he thinks Everton should proceed – it is time for Everton’s Chairman and Board of Directors to stand up and be counted.
If they can’t, won’t or don’t – then, like Moyes, they too should hand over the reigns to somebody who can.
Reader Comments (27)
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2 Posted 20/05/2013 at 06:19:05
You mean you think Chelsea didn't care whether they finished 3rd in the guaranteed CL places or 4th and have to cut short their hols to play some qualifying games which they might lose?
More likely they never gave up looking for the win until they were in the lead and brought on defensive subs to close out the game.
3 Posted 20/05/2013 at 06:19:16
4 Posted 20/05/2013 at 07:04:26
5 Posted 20/05/2013 at 07:43:17
6 Posted 20/05/2013 at 08:23:42
I can't disagree with the rest of the article though. Massive crossroads for Everton this summer. If we can get the right manager in, and spend the new TV money wisely, we could kick on.
7 Posted 20/05/2013 at 08:33:38
8 Posted 20/05/2013 at 08:26:26
9 Posted 20/05/2013 at 08:46:32
My fear is that Kenwright has already made his mind up about the new manager. What about the rest of the Board? Don't they have any input about who should take over? I can't believe that they are happy about continuing in the same vein. We need a complete change after 11 unsuccessful years.
People only compare Moyes's tenure to the previous decade which was dire. If they compared his time with the rest of our history then he really didn't do a great deal.
10 Posted 20/05/2013 at 08:50:14
11 Posted 20/05/2013 at 08:59:45
The board really have got to try and move the club forward.
12 Posted 20/05/2013 at 09:25:26
Then he should have been put under pressure and asked serious questions about his tactics, selection, substitutions and and negativeness.
But as you said in the article I also acknowledge what he did in the early years, and for stabilising Everton and also he laid down some form of integrity around Everton.
So thank you but glad to see you go.
And for me yesterday epitomised everything about his latter years.
Too slow to make change, too loyal to too many players, not knowing how to change things and most importantly not seizing the opportunity.
Moyes had chances to make things happen in certain games but too often HE let them go.
13 Posted 20/05/2013 at 09:37:55
A good manager, who could organise most sides to get results, but always had an inferiority complex when playing away from Goodison.
His signings were good, and every manager has a few lemons. Cahill, Baines, Arteta, and Lescott (for the money we got for him) were probably his best bit of business, but we never really unearthed any world class players under his stewardship.
We have been lucky that City were prepared to pay a combined total of £34m for Lescott & Rodwell, what is their real market value today?
Still makes me angry when I hear any ex-employee offering to choose his rival for next season, what a ridiculous state of affairs. The fact Bill sounds so confused these days, makes me wonder just how rudderless we are at Boardroom level - the tail is still wagging this flea infested mutt!
14 Posted 20/05/2013 at 10:40:19
Am also getting fed-up of seeing Moyes face now, especially on the club website. It's about the club, our current players, the fans and the man to take us forward.
15 Posted 20/05/2013 at 11:34:55
Well done Rob
16 Posted 20/05/2013 at 11:43:40
17 Posted 20/05/2013 at 11:59:46
18 Posted 20/05/2013 at 12:38:48
I will admit to being pro-Moyes but agree he should have gone once his appointment at United was announced. From that point on he became a rival to Everton. He should play no part in selecting his successor. Talk about a conflict of interests!
19 Posted 20/05/2013 at 12:27:03
Reading much of the input from fellow Blues, it is becoming more and more obvious that they are latching on to the personalities of certain players in the team/squad, rather than the performance of the player, and team overall. The bottom line is that Howard isn't, and never has been, good enough for Everton, and wasn't for Man Utd! If we're looking for a replacement, remember that someone at Everton let John Ruddy leave for nothing! Big mistake!
Overall a very good article which summarised the last 11 years well.
20 Posted 20/05/2013 at 13:30:05
21 Posted 20/05/2013 at 15:37:12
22 Posted 20/05/2013 at 16:28:43
The game I thought epitomised the Moyes era - a game of two halves first promised so much - second got nothing.
Lets not forget that Moyes last act as a manager was to bring Heitinga on - a defender said it all really.
24 Posted 20/05/2013 at 18:02:37
25 Posted 20/05/2013 at 18:42:35
I got absolutely panned by some because they said a new GK wasn't a priority, but now it appears that others have realised that he costs us about 10 points a season.
As I said, he's good and that's about it
26 Posted 20/05/2013 at 20:01:04
Excellent article I knew Naismith reminded me of someone he even has the same hair as Alexandersson
27 Posted 20/05/2013 at 20:49:26
The only prem manager that seemed to trust in youth this season was Paul Lambert. He showed some nuts to stick to his guns even with the threat of the drop and next season villa will probably finish way higher up the table.
28 Posted 21/05/2013 at 19:35:54
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1 Posted 20/05/2013 at 05:08:39