Everton 0 – 3 Brighton
At last – the new season after weeks of boring internationals and cricket.
Up at 5:50 am and at the Taunton pick-up point for the stipulated 7:30 am. Just over 70 hopeful if not expectant West Country Blues piled onto a double-decker coach and we battled our way through heavy traffic to arrive at Stanley Park around 1:30 pm.
Just enough time to walk to the Harlech and enjoy a beer in the sun with Ian (our new chairman), Danny, Neil, Derek (he used to be a two-handicap golfer so I made a mental note never to get involved with him on a golf course), and the great sight of John McFarlane, looking fit and well for another season – he first went to Goodison in 1946!
My seat was in the Upper Bullens by the Gwladys Street corner flag and looking around shows just why we have to leave. How many coats of blue paint have been layered on to the ancient brickwork, I wonder? She is still a lovely sight!
The game started, scrapping for 10 minutes or so, then we started to get a foothold. Both sides hit the woodwork, we had a goal ruled out for offside, and it was apparent that Doucoure had not spent any time in the summer reading up on the offside rule. Surely no professional footballer should be so poor at keeping onside?
Our one new player who I will refer to as Tim was outstanding and was everything Onana was supposed to be but never was. Strong and aggressive, passing well, ghosting past opponents at will, and had a decent curler which just didn’t curl enough. I thought he looked shattered after an hour and his play became scrappy but that will improve with game time.
Their goals were preventable – certainly in the second half, we were wide open in just about every area of the pitch. Gana was all over the place apart from where he should have been and our ancient defenders just couldn’t seem to cope.
Why play four defenders and defensive midfielders over 30 years old when one is a winger (Young) and one wasn’t rated last season by the manager and didn’t get hardly any game time? If O’Brien needs experience, he won’t get it on the bench. Play the lad and let him learn.
If Dyche had been given just one new player by Thelwell, he’d use that as an excuse why we were so poor, lamenting the lack of new blood. So Kevin gives him four (excluding Jack Harrison) and Sean – yes, you guessed – plays just one… and two of the others didn’t even get on as subs!!
There was a mass walk-out after an hour which baffles me. You go there to support your team, win or lose, and leaving with half-an-hour to go is a concept that bewilders me.
The booing at the end I can understand though it’s not for me. Dyche has to accept that his own performance yesterday and that of about nine of his players was poor and the supporters are entitled to question his decisions and understand if possible the reasoning behind them.
My ratings:
Pickford 6 – little to do apart from collect the ball from the net.
Young 4 – it’s all been said.
Tarkowski 5 – pulled around way too easily.
Keane 4 – good passing but seemed isolated.
Iroegbunam 8 – excellent til he tired.
Gueye 3 – very poor.
McNeil 3 – not in the game and too easy to stop by showing him inside from left to right.
Harrison 7 – looked sharp though crossing must improve.
Doucouré 3 – he is not a Number 10.
Calvert-Lewin 5 – some decent hold-up play but he really does need us to buy someone to support him… Oh, hang on – there are two new guys on the bench who might help him out!
This was very predictable and one fears there is worse to come next week at Spurs. Three at the back rarely works for us and our best hope is to get a new guy in at full-back before Saturday. Problem is Sean doesn’t like playing the new guys… so Holgate it is!!
This looks like last season all over again, waiting for a really bad start before playing younger guys rather than the oldies.
Home by 11:30 pm – uneventful journey!!