Last night wasn’t pretty to watch. We were systematically taken apart and not only had no plan B but looked at times like we had no plan A. With Chelsea losing and the Arsenal/City game ending in a draw we had one of those moments in a season where a team can really make a statement. Instead of currently being 1 point in front of Chelsea in 5th and 4 points behind Arsenal in 3rd we could’ve had a 4 point cushion over Chelsea and be breathing down the goons necks. However, before you think this is a massively depressing match review let me put last nights result into perspective. We lost, but none of the teams around us won so it didn’t hurt as much as it might have done.
It was out first defeat since losing to Bolton on 06th November, or if you prefer, our first defeat in 2 months. If we can react well from losing and go on a similar run we’ll enter March still in the chase for the top 4 position we so desperately want, we’ll probably still be in the Champions League and we won’t have lost to United or Arsenal. Teams lose games. That’s nothing new and this season it’s hardly surprising with any team, although Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Wolves last night was a bit of a pools breaker.
Like everyone else we’ve had a tough festive period and the only other team before last nights games with a 100% record, Man City, managed to play a game and not get a shot on target at all. As the saying goes, you can’t win them all. I’m going to break this review into three sections, Everton, The Players and Harry Redknapp.
Everton
I thought they were excellent last night. When we played the reverse fixture earlier in the season I was very critical of what I called their “non football” and “anti entertainment” strategy. I believe football is all about entertainment and as such when I see teams play with little or no attacking endeavour I don’t like it. Last night, Moyes did what he should’ve done a long time ago and played with two strikers. If I was an Everton fan I’d be slightly annoyed that my team couldn’t play like this all the time. They were agreesive, but on the whole fair, closed us down high up the pitch when they could and attacked quickly and directly.
In Fellaini they had a player who just held his position in midfield and let those around him push on while he helped keep tabs on our attacking threat. Something we didn’t have at any point in the game. Coleman, for the second time, spent the second half tearing us a new one and deserved his winning goal having spent large amounts of the game helping to shackle Bale and then being released to attack seemingly at will once Bale went off injured.
The Players
Try and think of a Spurs player who had a good game last night. You can’t can you? The entire team was knocked off their game and just weren’t at the races from the first whistle. I could highlight players who were worse than others, in particular Jenas, who I felt was out of position for both their goals but also offered little in attack. However, that really wouldn’t be that fair because Modric was poor too. As were Lennon, Bale, vdV and Crouch. There were moments from them all but not enough to warrant a special mention and reprieve.
Defensively we were all over the place and a lack of cover from the midfield meant whenever Everton got past Modric and JJ, which wasn’t hard, they had a free run at the back four. Both our central midfielders were very square so if Everton found the right pass it was simple to bypass our midfield. They all gave the ball away too much throughout the game but more so in the second half meaning we came under wave after wave of Everton attack.
No-one stood up to be counted once they crossed that white line and while I believe the manager has to take responsibility for the game, the players are equally to blame. We needed a leader. No, we needed a few leaders. We needed Dawson to command the defence, Modric to sort out the midfield and keep possession while vdV spearheaded the attack. We could’ve also done without Gomes having one of his flappy mental nights.
Harry Redknapp
It’s an interesting stance that many fans have when it comes to Redknapp, one which I don’t agree with. Last night as I watched on a very hit and miss live feed of the game I tweeted a few times about a lack of substitutions and tactical nous, even as early as half time when it was obvious we needed someone to either sit deep or someone on the pitch more accustomed to breaking up play and protecting the defence. The response I got from most, not all, but most, was that Harry Redknapp has been the best manager we’ve had in decades and we shouldn’t question him because of one defeat.
Harry Redknapp IS the best manager we’ve had in decades. The success the team has had on the pitch highlights that, but no-one at the club is infallible. Even the great Bill Nic made mistakes and I’m sure fans of the time would say so. Most of the time Redknapp gets it right. He’s got a wealth of attacking options and some world class players in the side so he picks them and sends them out to play football. That’s about it really, as both he and vdV have confirmed in the past, but that’s fine when it works.
Last night it didn’t and it was clear fairly early on that it wasn’t working. Ok, so we managed to equalise and if Crouch and Bale knew what offside was, we should’ve gone in at half time 2-1 up which if we’re honest would’ve been fortunate to say the least. So, even though we’ve been overrun in midfield and already conceded a goal because both of our central midfielders were too far forward after 3 minutes, we’ve somehow managed to go in on level terms.
No changes were made at half time, either to personnel or system and unsurprisingly Everton continued to create the better chances. Then Bale got injured which when you look at our bench and you see Niko as his obvious replacement that’s one injury we don’t want. In fact if you look closely at the replays of Bales substitution you can see Coleman in the distance licking his lips in anticipation of a foot race with a player slower than David Beckham. Again within a few minutes it was obvious we needed to change something on the left but we did nothing.
Then 2-1 down and needing a goal came one of the strangest substitutions I’ve ever seen. I’m no fan of Pav but he’s more likely to get a goal than Keane and why would you risk the possibility of injury when he’s so close to being sold for an amazing £7m?
I’m more than happy to say what a fantastic job Harry Redknapp has done at the club but last night he got it wrong. Who’s to say had he picked the right team or at least changed it when it wasn’t working anything would’ve been different. The players, who to a man had poor games could’ve been the same and Everton might’ve still won but at least we would’ve given it a go. The “we’ll score one more than you” philosophy is great to a certain extent. It’s why we’ve been entertained so much this season but when things aren’t going quite the way you want them to, we’ve got to learn how to make a change and one that will effect the game in a positive manner.
I started this off by trying not to be too negative and I really don’t mean to come across that way if I have. As I said, teams lose games and losing 1 in every 12 games I’ll take every season for as long as I live. We’re a team still learning, players still learning, a manager still learning and a set of fans who have been so spoilt in the last 18 months that we’re devastated when we lose an away game to a decent side.
The futures still bright and it’s always been lilywhite.
COYS
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Everton totally deserved this one. We really looked off the pace and many players looked like they were tired. Everton were first to the ball most times. Sometimes one or two players are a bit off, but last night it felt like just a couple of players, notably Dawson and van de Vaart were in the game. Some like Hutton and Jenas were really really poor. With a good 11 game streak, I guess we should not be too harsh on Harry and the boys, but I was a bit disappointed with Harry’s tactics. When Bale went off, I was hoping he would bring on Palacios and move Modric to the left, and Hutton was having a really tough time – as if though he had not shaken off his injury. I hoped that Corluka would come on. As for Keane, I guess it was a fitting anonymous 10 minutes
Spoilt? We haven’t won anything meaningful for 20 years!
Hutton and BAE were pretty appalling, but once again it’s the mid fielders that weren’t up to the task and considering we played 5 to their 4, it was fairly obvious Everton would put pressure down both wings. I’d love to the Opta stats for the fouls Bale has against him? as it seems the ploy is now to double mark or boot him off the field. Did anyone else think that Gomes was at fault with both goals, I certainly did?
In the normal course of events I am quite prepared to debate the issues, using reason, logic, the rules of well-rounded sentence construction, punctuation, a large vocabulary, the odd rhetorical flourish and various other artifacts of joined up thinking. But once in a while you read something so smug, opinionated & downright wrong that your response can only be two words, one of which is a sewar word. Yesterday I called you a ‘presumptuous tosser’ for your one-sided article belittling one of the great clubs of English football, & talkiing like it was a stroll in the park for Mighty (don’t win the league much) Spurs. Today I have two more words for you: ‘HUMBLE PIE’; & I rejoice to see you eating a large dose. Now bite down hard & swallow. I’m going now.
@TMWNN granted and good point but given how poor we’ve been for those 20 years, we have been relatively spoilt in the last 18 months.
Wtf is this bloggs guy talking about?
Redknapp was doing Moyes a favour yesterday…to ensure he doesn’t resign (as was the expectation before Everton’s win). why else would he play Jenas for an entire 90mins when he has five years of tangible evidence that he is at best Championship/relegation material?
I have to agree with much of the analysis. Especially the central mid issue.
The is no Modric-Jenas partnership.
Jenas does’nt have the discipline to sit back (like the usually poor Fellaini did so well yesterday) and protect his far superior teammates. He is the donkey in the team. Everyone knows he has no skill (one trademark turn and running with the ball 3 metres away from him notwithstanding). Even he knows he is poor, pathetic and unfortunate. He should simply get the ball, give it to Modric and run back to cover. Unfortunately – he thinks he is the second coming of Diego Maradona.
I would give him away free. Even to the goons at Ars*nal…anywhere