Everton FC

May 30th, 2011

Merging and Musings

By: Brian |

For those of you who are new to the blog, or have just been living under a rock for the past 6 months, the Offside Network was purchased by the SB Nation, who themselves have a fantastic Everton site called Royal Blue Mersey. While both of our sites worked well together for the remainder of the season, we came to realize that our efforts were best put together on one site. That is why for the foreseeable future this will be the last post on The Everton Offside. I have moved my writing over to Royal Blue Mersey, where Tom and I are the editors with a fantastic team of writers to work with. Hopefully over the next several weeks some of the great content from this blog will be merged with Royal Blue Mersey, but for now all new content will be published over there.

In addition to the new writers, we are looking to flesh out the site a little more, things like expanding our coverage to include Youth, Reserve, and Ladies teams at Everton, revisiting the history of Everton, and hopefully a podcast about all things Everton. If there is anything you are interested in seeing on the site, drop us a line at everton.theoffside.com, or sign up on SB Nation and join us here. Hope to see you all over there, and until next time COYB!

May 26th, 2011

Everton Season in Review: Part 2

By: Brian |

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Once again we have a post from a new writer here on Everton Offside. Taylor comes to us from the US and his experience writing for one of the oldest college newspapers in the country. His thoughts on Evertons season are below, and my thoughts follow his in the remaining paragraphs. As always leave any thoughts or questions in the comments below.

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May 25th, 2011

Season Review: Part 1

By: Brian |

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Afternoon everyone, over the next few days you are going to be reading some thoughts on the season from both the regular writers, as well as some new people we are looking to bring on board the the Everton Offside, Royal Blue Mersey. Today we have a review piece from Daniel, so leave your thoughts and comments below, and until next time COYB!

Rather than type out the usual boring negative stuff about the season past I thought it would be a little bit more germane to reconsider the season in the round. For all we hoped for, nay even longed and half-expected, a really big season, it’s clear that, right now, we don’t have the resources to sustain a serious run at the pinnacle – which many would argue is now 4th place (which can be up for grabs) and the chance of Champions League football.

The reality is we have a fairly tidy squad and some extremely good players amongst them but – sadly here’s the real problem – neither enough game changers (although you can only admire the progress of Leon Osman when all around him were out injured) and certainly not enough depth. The current financial problems all clubs face has at least been dealt with in a pragmatic fashion by Everton – namely by reducing the wage bill significantly – but that hasn’t helped us achieve the hoped for breakthrough after several seasons close to the ‘pinnacle’.

So perhaps with that in mind let’s turn to the season past. 7th place is by no means a poor achievement – even allowing for the fact that many observers would argue all the teams below Everton are weaker in many respects. I certainly would have been disappointed with much less than the 7th place we’ve achieved.

The Premier League is money driven (even if we allow ourselves to wonder how well managed the money is) – the so-called Big Three (Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal) awash with Champions League earnings, Tottenham joined that club last season and Manchester City need not worry (at least in terms of where the next fiver is coming from – if not their legitimacy in claiming a place in European football if the new UEFA rules are appropriately applied) and of course, without dwelling too heavily on our regard for our nearest foe you cannot ignore their pedigree and ability to compete close to the top of the table.

So, putting those (6) teams to one side then it’s clear that the remainder (Everton included) cannot rely on the bonus of European football as a staple diet and source of income. Many of these sides have extreme difficulty in attracting and retaining the best players not already snapped up by the aforementioned and therefore it seems almost inevitable that the season for many sides is all about ensuring the requisite 40 (or so) points to retain their PL status.

Now Everton have bigger ambitions than this – and with a great supporter base (many local) we have managed to eke out an existence and earn a place close to the top table where the rich pickings and trophies are on offer. The expectation levels have been raised in the past few seasons by an ambitious manager, a normally motivated squad and a fanbase desparate for some silverware. So what is it that seemed to go wrong at the start of the season – it wasn’t necessarily (at the time) a surfeit of injuries – that lead us to finish in 7th (pretty much par for Everton)

Perhaps it was a number of factors worth discussing with regard to the whole season -

1. Trying to play too much football against sides that aren’t willing to play football (our results against the top 6 were good).

Everton played some very good football this season – there were times we were excellent but then there were times we were pretty ordinary. I happen to fall into the category of a realist. I don’t want Everton to lose, or play badly but you have to accept that – right now – Man Utd for example are better than us. You also probably have to accept that sometimes the team will fall short but it’s not that many times our performances (if not always the results) have been that bad – I can think of Stoke and Bolton away, Newcastle at home as particularly poor. West Brom (away) was very ordinary – we just didn’t grab a point, home to West Brom was poor-ish (but don’t forget either the fantastic strike by Brunt nor the utterly abysmal refereeing by Mason in a game we were dominating until the 70th minute when, down to 10 men, we faded) There were of course some abject games and results like the 0-0 draw at home to Wigan and the unfortunate loss at Villa (more about bad luck later) . But I am prepared to accept 2 or 3 slips a season are inevitable and sometimes the opponents are better too!

2. Too small a squad

The perrenial problem – and this season not helped by the departure of Pienaar (at least we got a fee), Yakubu, Yobo and Vaughan on loan and limited number of arrivals. Perhaps there was an element of dissent in the camp leading to departures and poor performances as well but I’m not sure we have concrete evidence of this. The lack of fit players often meant we were down to 11 or 12 recognised first team regulars by the Spring but the results and performances at this time were mostly very good.

3. Lacking a fit proven PL striker for much of the season and the financial clout to find a replacement

The dirth of players in the squad was further emphasised by the lack of a fit striker – Yakubu seems to not be the answer post injury. Saha (always an injury worry) had a first half of the season to totally forget, did well in January and February and then promptly returned to the injury table. Victor (2011 version) seems to struggle to recognise the post and crossbar (and whilst he seems more willing to forage alone compared to Beckford we could just as easily play Brett Angell up front if it’s a body up front we want!) Beckford started badly, learned the difference between rugby posts and goal posts by poaching a few good goals as well as an improved positional sense and then promptly went into sulk mode at Wolverhampton – he needs 4-4-2 which suggests a place on the bench again within the current set-up. Cahill as a striker was, for a long period, the leading scorer in the PL in terms of games scored in but since sustaining an injury at the Asian Cup has not been the same player, although his cameo performances of late have surely been appreciated by the club and fans alike despite his obvious lack of fitness. As a final note I think it’s worth mentioning Vellios looks an exciting prospect with a lovely languid style (not dissimilar to Berbatov).

4. The inability to motivate except from a position of adversity in which we traditionally thrive.

This is a topic for a later discussion but I believe the management and players could consider a change of mentality and a different playing style. Winning is tough, winning regularly – especially on the road very hard (nothing is a given any more)

5. Poor team selection

The over emphasis on 4-5-1 can sometimes be a real downer to supporters – especially at home. Do you sacrifice the security 4-5-1 gives (especially if keeping it tight against better sides can pay dividends) in return for going for it – or is it more a case of not having the right players for 4-4-2 (or similar) plus the pausity of options with a small squad?

6. Some players off form

Mikel Arteta, Yakubu, Saha (1st half of the season) and many others have fallen short of their best. Perhaps this could be explained by:

7. Injuries and absences

and recovery from injury – to which you could add Fellaini who can be a major player for Everton – but again he’s been out most of the season.

8. Luck

Basically Injuries but many would argue Everton just aren’t a lucky team and never have been. Some teams win despite adversity. Others just get penalties and dubious goals… whereas Everton get Lee Mason v Wolves and West Brom, Anelka falling into Tim Howard and so on. Oh and Beckford turning up late meaning we had to go 4-5-1 vs Reading instead of applying more pressure on them earlier in the game.

9. 2nd Half Syndrome

Our 2nd half of most of the past few seasons has been excellent – is this because we thrive on adversity or is it some players are fitter at the back end of the season? Maybe but it’s a conundrum for the manager and players to solve.

Summary:

Who played well:

Jagielka, Distin (a couple of errors apart), Baines, Osman (particularly towards the end of the season), Coleman (mostly), Neville (generally), Beckford (mostly), Howard (allowing for a few clangers)

Who didn’t play well

Johnny Heitinga – although I symphathise with a World Cup centre-back playing somewhat out of position – it’s clear he was press-ganged to fill a space – too often we’re down to 12 or 13 regulars and the solution can’t be to drop Distin or Jags to accommodate Heitinga. Billy – I wish he didn’t run away after he’s distributed the ball – he needs to be switched on for more than 3-4 minutes a game. Rodwell – suffers from not having a regular spot in the side – a regular position and, ultimately, injury and perhaps the confidence to take on players. Arteta – but we saw signs of a revival.

Highlights:

A lot of quality goals, some very good performances, some exciting players, some good prospects. Beating Liverpool at home. Some good games (Man U, Man C, Spurs, Blackpool at home for example) – a tremendous result at Chelsea in the Cup.

Lowlights:

A number of poor performances (and not forgetting the two cup exits!) and a few players mentioned above. In additional the potential loss of players in the summer.

Prospects:

With an improved mentality going into next season, a bit more luck in front of goal, a few less injuries, some better refereeing and a following wind Everton could definitely pick up those extra 10 more points than this season. Perhaps if the players realised that their best performances in the past two seasons against each opponent would have netted almost enough points to win the league then a replication of those performances across just one season would see Everton get closer to the summit. If Mikel Arteta can rediscover his pre-injury self, Leon Osman maintain his recent form, Jack Rodwell find his true self, Ross Barkley break into the side (and get a run of games), Marouane Fellaini become a dominant footballer and Tim Cahill play a cameo role – all backed up by solid captaincy, a top centre-half partnership and another great season from Leighton Baines and we’ll be right there.. Some silverware in a Cup competition – especially if we don’t run into a big side with their first XI on the pitch could be a real possibility.

I’d like to see the likes of Gueye, Vellios, Barkley given a chance and perhaps a formation that puts our best players on the pitch (4-1-3-2 with Fellaini or Rodwell in the deep lying role – the midfield looks reasonably flexible and can accommodate Coleman or Cahill where injuries omit others ) - perhaps the sale of Yakubu, Vaughan and Yobo (and others) will bring in a couple of decent players and a couple of Championship level bench warmers.

Howard

Neville – Jags – Distin – Baines

Fellaini – Rodwell - Osman – Arteta

Cahill (or Beckford) – Saha

You have renewed that season ticket now haven’t you? Roll on August!!

May 25th, 2011

Talking Tactics: Everton v. Chelsea

By: Brian |

4 Comments

Afternoon or evening to everyone depending on where you are reading this. Today I’d like to introduce a new writer to the Everton Offside and Royal Blue Mersey blogs, his name is Darren and comes to us via England, but I will let him introduce himself at a later date. His first article is a more in depth look at the tactical match ups for Everton in the Chelsea game. As always let us know what you think in the comments below, and check out both here and Royal Blue Mersey in the coming weeks for more of Darren’s thoughts and analysis.

Before the game and thinking about both teams, it was obvious that the threat to our three points was going to come from Chelsea’s dominance in the midfield and movement off the ball. Obviously this would enable them to string more passes together, create more chances and with chances comes goals – or so it would seem.

Chelsea unleashed £50million worth of world class player in Anelka, Essien, Lampard and Malouda to create the chances for the blunt Torres. It looked to me like their game plan was to get one of their attacking minded players to either a) drop in to drag one of our centre backs out to create space for the Spanish international substitute to exploit or b) get out wide, thus stretching our back four and dragging our midfield about a bit allowing the very intelligent Lampard to exploit the holes created.

The second option worked very well with the England man successfully completing 53 of 59 passes, the majority of which were played from just in front of our back four to Anelka, Malouda, and the on rushing Cole and Ivanovic. However, despite creating numerous opportunities, only one fell to their record signing and it wasn’t set up by Lampard. Torres had ONE shot, from outside the box, and it was blocked. Another operation required for the excellent Phil Jagielka to remove Chelsea’s number 9 from his back pocket (but he should be OK for pre-season). In comparison to the 11% of Chelsea’s play which took place around this area, Everton managed only 253 Successful passes in total and 6% of our play took place in the “hole,” highlighting the lack of movement in the current squad.

From the back, Tony Hibbert, Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin were absolutely solid. Leighton Baines’ defensive qualities are questionable. However, I wouldn’t swap him for any left back in the league including the one in black with orange trim on Sunday. Leighton bombs up the left hand side of the field like no one’s business and for the past two seasons has been our main outlet – embarrassing at times that your main threat is a left back. This places extra onus on the right back to tuck inside by 10 to 15 yards when he does so, allowing the other 2 centre halves to shuffle across to cover and effectively play as a back 3 until Baines recovers. Baines spent more time on Sunday at the Chelsea by line than our own (6% vs. 2%). This has been the story of the season and the reason why he has made more successful crosses and assists for goals than any other player in the Premier League this season. Player of the Year by a long shot and fully deserved.

The midfield comprised of a World Cup final centre half and the rather frustrating Jack Rodwell. Heitinga does a job there, no doubt, but he does tend to run around like a headless chicken – a dangerous game to play in the middle of midfield allowing your back four to be exposed especially with the likes of Lampard in opposition. However, he had a steady game and we didn’t concede, not bad considering the queue for the treatment room at present.

This week, the manager has come out and told the press he requires £15mil to build a team around Rodwell. I think he has the Birkdale youngster mixed up with a certain Belgian. I can’t personally see what Rodwell brings to our team when he plays, but perhaps this illustrates that he is in fact a centre back and not a midfielder. Rodwell’s strength is breaking up play and passing the ball simple. He also has a very good engine. In my opinion, his weakness is going forward, joining in the attacks, and his ability to see the bigger picture. At times this season, Saha and Beckford have made very intelligent runs off the ball and when the centre of midfield contains Rodwell he has failed to see these runs. In his defence, he is just a kid and the amount he has to learn is learnable in the time he has left in the game. However and again my own view, I would be more than happy to cash in to either Manchester club or a London club for a minimum £15mil so that Moyes has no option but to build a team around Fellaini. Leon Osman also played in the middle of midfield. Osman has been excellent since Christmas and stepped up when Arteta was injured. Again, he had a great game. Neat and tidy on the ball, always losing his man to find space for the pass, linking up well with Coleman down the right and getting stuck in when needed.

The boss went with Arteta on the left and Coleman on the right. Coleman was up against Ashley Cole who, like Baines, loves to attack. Both Coleman and Leon Osman exploited this very cleverly. When Chelsea decided to attack with Cole on the overlap he passed Cole onto Hibbert. The centre of midfield tracked back to cover. This left Coleman in space as the outlet to look to attack. When Coleman was unfortunately and harshly dismissed, Osman moved into this area to look to receive the ball and you could hardly notice the one man disadvantage.

Arteta did well as the game progressed. He started to put his foot on the ball, move inside onto his stronger foot (and have Ivanovic on his weak side) and tried to thread in Beckford. It’s unfortunate that he did suffer injury as I think Arteta could have had a big finish. As it is, I would cash in on him too and get fresh blood in.

The goal scorer, 10 goals in his first season freebie Jermaine Beckford had an excellent yet frustrating afternoon at the office. His movement up front is very good at times and he gives us something which we have lacked for years in pace. However, his finishing justifies why I wouldn’t have paid any money for him. He found himself one on one with the goalkeeper on three occasions and converted one. His goal was excellent, no doubt, yet it was the most difficult chance of the lot. He’s had that sort of season. His goal at Anfield was superbly taken on the turn and struck just as the ball bounced. However, one on one, 6 yards out, he puts the ball out by the corner flag. Encouraging first season for Beckford and I can’t help wondering what he will be like with a consistently fit Saha or another striker next to him.

All in all, Everton held our shape very well, especially at the back. The two central midfielders were disciplined throughout and left the flair stuff to the four players ahead of them. I only hope we can find a midfielder who can move into space as well as Osman but who has the ability to play the killer ball forward.

May 23rd, 2011

Everton v. Chelsea: A Fitting Finish

By: Brian |

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After 38 league games, 6 cup games, and untold stories about finances and player transfers, the Toffees managed to close out their season with a common theme from the entire season. Once again Everton was able to put the screws to a more expensive and arguably more talented side as they came out 1-0 winners against Chelsea. Out of the 12 games Everton played against sides that finished above them, they recorded at least one point against each team, for an excellent total of19 points. Jermaine Beckford was the goal scorer once again, and Leighton Baines may be asked to return his goal of the season trophy of the field before chipping Cech to send the Goodison faithful into celebration. For a video of the goal and more observations check below.

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May 18th, 2011

Help Wanted

By: Brian |

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Sorry for the lack of updates on here folks, I’ve been transitioning to my summer job and haven’t had internet. Anyway, both the Everton Offside and Royal Blue Mersey are looking to add the writing staff. There are multiple positions open, and if you are interested email us at everton@theoffside.com and include your name and how often you would be able to write for the site. At minimum we are looking for people who can contribute an article every other week on a set schedule, and ideally who can contribute every week. No experience is needed, all you really need is a passion for all things Everton. Hope everyone enjoys the final weekend of the EPL, and until next time COYB!

May 2nd, 2011

Everton v. Wigan: A Familiar Friend

By: Brian |

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After a fantastic run of form by Everton over the past 7 games, the squad final reverted back to their usual form from earlier this season as the Toffees drew away at Wigan 1-1 in a game that provided little in the way of attacking prowess from the visitors. A penalty by Baines cancelled out a first half N’Zogbia strike after Mikel Arteta missed his penalty chance in the first half. Once again Tim Howard had a fantastic game and did well to keep N’Zogbia and Moses from finding the back of the net again. Here are a few more thoughts on Saturdays game.

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April 28th, 2011

Everton v. Wigan: A Lactic Affair

By: Brian |

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With 4 games remaining in the current campaign, the Toffees begin the final stretch by heading to Wigan for a rematch after a 0-0 draw in December where the Toffees dominated every facet of the game except the score sheet. Everton will be looking to grab all 3 points in this fixture to keep the pressure up on sixth place Liverpool who remain 5 points clear after their victory this past weekend. As for Lactics, they are in the thick of a relegation fight and will need something from this game if they have any hope of remaining in the EPL next season.

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April 26th, 2011

A Review of the Red Devil You Know

By: Brian |

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Another game at Old Trafford has come and gone, and once again David Moyes’ side has failed to take points. After a thoroughly uninspiring first half, Everton were slightly better coming out after the break but ultimately were unsuccessful in their attempt to become only the second team to gain points at the historic stadium. Tom over at Royal Blue Mersey has the review of the weekends match, and check back here at Everton Offside for the preview for this weekends game against Wigan

April 21st, 2011

Everton v. Manchester United: A Review

By: Brian |

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With this years season winding down, Everton head to Old Trafford for their final matchup against the Red Devils after the Toffees were able to grab a stunning draw at Goodison Park in injury time. Tom over at Royal Blue Mersey has his preview up, and he certainly thinks Everton can grab a victory. Check out his preview here , and as always feel free to leave your comments about this weekends game. Once again the game is an early one in the US with a 7:45 am ET kickoff on ESPN2, and until next time COYB!