Introducing a short passing style

With four competitive games now completed, Evertonians are starting to make judgements on the new era. Martinez has talked a lot about trying to combine the strengths from the Moyes era with a more a more attacking, possession-based philosophy. Most seem to agree that it's early days and the Roberto's Everton are currently very much a work in progress.

As an Evertonian living in the south of England I have to watch most of Everton's games on TV and therefore to get my fix of live football i've regularly been watching my local team, Brighton and Hove Albion over the last couple of seasons. For those of you unfamiliar with Brighton, the club underwent something of a cultural revolution four seasons ago when Gustavo Poyet took over the management reigns with the club under threat of relegation in League One. Poyet left the club this summer, but in his 3.5 years in charge embedded a possession based ethos on the team that is similar in a lot of ways to the things Martinez is trying to implement at Everton.

I thought it might be interesting for Evertonians to read a few observations on Brighton's style of play and how it might be relevant to Everton.

Defenders don't just defend

Brighton under Poyet liked to play the ball out from the back whenever possible. I believe this was for two reasons, firstly as the team had a better chance of retaining possession this way but also because it could be used to draw the opposition out of a defensive shape and higher up the pitch, leaving space to exploit behind opposing defences.

In Poyet's system central defenders split to receive the ball from the goalkeeper in more of  a 'full back' position and full backs therefore moved very wide and further forward. As the central defender split, one of the central midfielders dropped deeper to fill the space and provide a passing option the central defender who had just received the ball from a short goal kick or roll out. The central defender then had the option of passing back to the keeper, the full back on his side of the pitch or the central midfielder who was deep.

Obviously this system requires a goalkeeper, defenders and central midfielder who is comfortable passing the ball but as much as that, these players also need to be comfortable receiving the ball under pressure as all will find themselves being closed down quickly by the opposition. Staying calm, turning quickly with the ball and being able to retain it were therefore crucial traits for all Brighton's of Brighton's defensive players.

Risk vs reward

Playing this way is a dangerous game. It took fans a long time to get used to. On occasions Brighton's centre halves would find themselves dropping almost as far as the corner flag to get the ball from the keeper. Getting the ball here means the next pass is going to be very risky - one false move leads to a certain goal. When the ball came to the deep central midfielder they would often be under pressure, if they lost the ball the opposition would be clean through on the centre of goal, 25 yards from goal with centre halves still split. This led to some farcical looking goals conceded! Players in this system have to be very brave as carrying out their orders leaves them with the very real possibility they will look stupid when it goes wrong.

However, there is a reward for this risk.The more pressure you can withstand from an opponent yet still retain the ball the more you will have pulled them out of position and this in turn leaves space. Space which can be exploited for attacking means.

Getting the right players in the right positions

When the system was finally bedded in and the right personnel were in the right positions it really started to work well for Brighton. They won the League One title in Poyet's second season (first full season), narrowly missed play-offs in their first season in the Championship and made the play-off last year. This was a success given Brighton's relatively small budget for the division.

Centre back Gordon Greer was the first piece in the jigsaw. Always available for the goalkeeper he started almost every move. Liam Bridcutt was fantastic at getting space to receive the ball facing his own goal and then turning his man quickly to release the ball to the more attacking midfielders, taking opposition players out of the game. Having the right goalkeeper was also very important, it meant be willing to give the ball to team mates in positions that were risky, even if it was against their instincts. Poyet persisted with keepers Casper Ankegren and Peter Brezovan for two seasons despite numerous handling errors from each primariy because they contributed to the style of play Poyet wanted. Despite being the more assured goalkeeper Steve Harper's loan from Newcastle was not renewed, in my eyes mainly because he was uncomfortable playing from the back. Poyet finally found the long term answer last year in Tomasz Kuszczak.

The attacking phase

I've talked a lot so far about how Brighton move the ball from the back to the midfield but I haven't really addressed how they turn this into attack.

Under Poyet Brighton usually played with only a single striker, either Glenn Murray, Craig MacKail-Smith or laterly Leo Ulloa. There was usually a more advanced central midfielder, sometimes Vicente, but they rarely played through balls to the striker, more often their movement was lateral, looking to play one -twos with the wide players to get them in behind the defence. The wide players in Brighton's squad in this era were numerous -most were pacy and tricky like Lua Lua, Orlandi and Buckley. Their aim was to get round the back. For periods Ashley Barnes, a more conventional striker, played in wide positions using his height to match up to opposition full backs and arriving late in the box to finish moves from the opposite side of the pitch with a fair amount of success.

What this means for Everton

This piece isn't really intended to show how a team can be successful playing a total passing style. Brighton didn't win the Championship so they can't claim to be a blueprint for success. What can't be argued though is that they are a club who successfully implemented the style so that it became completely embedded through the squad and for that reason I think it's relevant to Everton.

I think Roberto Martinez will be looking to get Everton playing in a very similar way to this in the future. You’ll notice that I have focussed a lot here on the defensive phase, the reason being that is so crucial to this style of play and it’s what sets it apart from the way we have played in the past. We’ve always played good football higher up the pitch but working the ball in our own half was never really something Moyes looked for and as a result it’s where most changes need to be made to our current squad.

There are rumours this morning of Everton looking to sign another central defender, something a lot of Evertonians will be surprised by, but I think this fits with a need that Roberto Martinez has for a more ball-playing centre half in order to make his system work. You can see it’s importance by the fact that a lot of other teams looking to adopt this 'play from the back' mentality have ended up using midfielders in the traditional centre back positions (Mascherano at Barca, Martinez when he was at Bilbao). Speaking of midfield it looks like Fellaini will be leaving and we may find James McCarthy and Gareth Barry coming in his place. I think an overhaul here is also very necessary to make the new system work. You can’t deny that Fellaini has the ball winning/retention abilities of a classic defensive midfielder but what he lacks a little is movement and this makes it harder for him to provide a passing  option to centre backs who have just received a short pass from the goalkeeper. Barry is probably more adapt at this and I think he’d be a decent signing on loan and could rotate with Darron Gibson. McCarthy too has some experience of getting the ball from the defence at Wigan and so their acquisition should allow us to play the ball out from the back more effectively. McCarthy will probably be more of a replacement for Osman than Fellaini and his greater mobility should allow him to get forward and allow the team to move from the defensive phase to attacking more quickly, allowing us to capitalise on the opposition having been pulled out of shape than we do currently.

One huge thing I noticed in my time watching Brighton under Poyet is how important the goalkeeper is to the system. The keeper simply has to be able to pass the ball well when receiving it in open play. They are one of the main passing options a centre back will have when they are given the ball, if when the keeper receives a pass back they just kick it long then they may as well have just taken a long goal kick in the first place. Instead they will need to be comfortable controlling the back pass and moving the ball over to the other side of the pitch and keeping possession. In my opinion Howard has been an excellent goalkeeper for Everton and he deserves a chance to adapt to the system but as Martinez gradually builds his team and we move more towards this style of play I wouldn’t be surprised to see Robles being given a go. Robles has been victim of a few high profile ‘rics’ in his short career so far but the famous goal he conceded for Wigan kicking the ball into an approaching forward came from his insistence on looking for a short passing option on receipt of a back pass. This is exactly the type of scenario I saw at Brighton regularly, it’s heart of the mouth time for fans but it is actually a crucial part of the system so if we’re going to adopt that style expect to see something similar at Goodison over the next few months. If you can find a keeper who can do this effectively but at the same time be a good shot stopper as Swansea have done with Vorm then it can help set the tone for the rest of the team.

In the attacking midfield phase I think in Pienaar, Barkley and Mirallas we already have the right people to make the system work. I’d also suggest that if relieved of his defensive duties Osman can still be very effective in an ACM role where his physical limitations are much less of a problem so his strengths can come to the fore. What remains to be seen is whether any of our strikers are actually capable of bagging a goal. This is the thing that perplexes me most because unless you get very very lucky like Swansea did with Michu then we are unlikely to find a 20 goal a season striker within our measly budget. This worries me because even with the rest of the system in place we will still need someone to finish our chances and right now there’s no one in our squad that I’m convinced can do this. Fingers crossed Roberto pulls a rabbit out of the hat on that score today!

Deadline day arrives

As I write we are about an hour away from August 31st. Traditionally this is a date to strike fear into the heart of Evertonians everywhere - transfer deadline day. Darmesh Sheth, Jim White and Brian Swanson....the merchants of doom! This year however, I feel no fear.

To date this has been the best summer transfer window that Everton have had in ages. So far it appears we are building on the progress made in January and this positivity has been reflected in our excellent start to the season. We look a more balanced side than we have since selling Lescott. As this is Everton we can never completely rule out Baines or Fellaini being sold tomorrow but for once it would be a massive surprise.

Truth be told im so happy with our business so far that any extras are just a cherry on top. I fully expect a few loans to come in though - one of them a striker where we appear light in decent cover for Jelavic. But with all of this in mind I feel i'm in a position to really enjoy all of the ups and downs that deadline day will bring and i think it promises to be a very interesting one. With so many teams changing managers this summer there are a number of clubs rebuilding, which has led to some surprise sales and purchases already and it seems that this trend will continue tomorrow.

As we approach midnight on the 30th Aug here are the things that have interested/amused me most about this window so far:

- Brendan Rodgers openly touting virtually all of last years RS signings to anyone who will listen. They'll be paying them to leave by midday tomorrow.

- AvB sweeping out half of the spurs squad (there's got to be a few here we could take) and effectively writing off their season whilst the new team gels. P.s not a criticism, i think next year they'll be awesome if they dont bottle it like Abramovich did last year.

- Spurs having to put up with their chairman doing a Kenwright on them - holding out selling a prized asset til the last minute to get a top price and then going beserk trying to spend the money (in Bill's case half the money). This morning Sky sources had Levy flying to Marseille to open talks with Loic Remy, by the time i got home from work Marseille had denied all knowledge and AvB was saying they were never interested. Its a long way to go to get a no. I think Levy wouldve been better sending a delegation.

- Citeh signing Richard Wright

- Martin O'Neill spending £12million on Steven Fletcher in what I firmly believe is the WORST value for money signing in recent history. While i'm on MON i can see him leaving Sunderland in all kinds of mess - his tactics are outdated and his strategy appears to be to spend every penny he is given no matter how good the players available are. Expect him to flounce when the board eventually turn off the tap having realised theyve only gone one place higher in the league table in two years time. And then expect them to be in financial difficulties.

- QPR signing Julio Cesar, Esteban Granero and as i speak, it appears, ex-blues target Stephane M'Bia. They're going for it for sure but does bringing in this type of player to a club like QPR ever work? Or will it end in dressing room bust ups, player strikes, manager sacking, relegation and then administration. Sure they're being bankrolled by some very rich folk and Fernandes is by all accounts a decent bloke but then billionaires seem to have a nack of seperating themselves from the football club entity when things go pear-shaped - see Sasha Gaydamak, Craig White, Carson Yeung, West Ham's Icelandic owners etc etc.

- West Ham and Southampton, two teams with recent history of financial mismanagement taking the opportunity to spend ridiclously beyond their means again the minute the opportunity has arisen. Southampton in particular apparently spending 11.6m on Gaston Ramires seems ridiculous (if it actually happens). He could be amazing but f**k me he's one player - unless he's Messi he wont keep them up single handedly. Surely they couldve spent that money more wisely on a few more modest signings throughout the team?? Did they not learn that the two teams who kept the most consistency from their championship teams last year (Norwich and Swansea) were the ones who stayed up easily, whilst QPR who spent all over the shop narrowly escaped relegation on the final game of the season.

So anyway, fingers crossed for tomorrow. Ive got this image that Moyes will be sitting there watching and ready to pounce on one of the quality players that will no doubt make a surprise move tomorrow. We can only hope.

Looking ahead

Well that was a long old break eh?! Been busy with other things so the blog's had to take a break but started to wonder tonight about what the summer might hold for the blues.

Traditionally transfer windows have been a time to dread but since the phenomenal business that we did during January I must say that i've become much less twitchy about the next few months.

First up I think it's more or less certain that we are going to lose one of our 'big' players this summer. This article in the Telegraph paints a very vivid picture of why that's the case. So who to go? A lot of the talk suggests it might be Fellaini but I think we'll get another year out of the big Belgian, sadly I fear that it will be Leighton Baines that bids farewell to us this summer. Now firmly established as the heir to Ashley Cole's spot for England and as a consistent Premier League performer for several years he's a safe bet for any Champion's League side in need of an attacking left-back. What's more, the conspiracy theorist in me can't help but think his absence since our season effectively ended at Wembley isn't just a coincidence. Perhaps that's over dramatic but nonetheless, with rumours of interest from Bayern and Manchester Utd, I think he'd be coveted and we all know that an auction is the best way to get a top price.

As amazing as Leighton has been for us over the last few years if we've got to sell anyone i'd rather it was a defender. We know that Moyes can spot a defender, we know that Distin can play there and we also know we have two highly rated young left-backs coming through. Players like Baines don't grow on trees but if his sale could fund the purchase of a cheap, steady replacement and allow us to re-sign Pienaar and another creative midfielder or striker it would make up for the loss in my opinion. Baines has been our best attacking outlet for a long time but there are drawbacks to having your best attacker playing full back - it's an obvious defensive weakness for opponents to exploit, it's predictable and it also leads to a lot of crosses which I think (and i dont have the stats to back this up) isn't the most effective way to score goals. Any well drilled defensive unit can set up to deal with them quite easily.

I wouldn't even begin to speculate on who might come in with what's left over from our big sale. Well, i mean obviously Pienaar has got to be a good bet (hopefully we had some sort of first option/cheap buy-back clause when we sold him) but that aside anyone coming in is likely to come from left field. I still think we'll be in the market for a back-up for Jelavic as Straq will probably go back to Argentina and even if Pienaar does return we'll probably want to sign another wide, creative midfielder (possibly on loan). Oh and of course, a steady eddy left back who doesn't mind getting forward a bit.

One comment I would make about our targets is that more than ever a player's success in the Premier League seems to be dependent on their ability to fit into the system that a team plays. Just look at the players in the promoted teams this year - players like Hoolahan, Bennett, Allen and Brittan have been very effective despite playing most of their careers in a lower league. Brittan in particular is amazing in that he has played for Swansea in every division, for a player that has played that low a level to still be one of the most effective midfielders in the Premier League indicates to me that times are changing. Teams and systems trump individual brilliance more than for a long time and therefore finding the right type of player is more important than who the actual individual is. I would love to see Moyes scouring Europe and Championship for a very specific type of player - we all saw the effect Donovan had so let's look for the best copy we can find. Bit of pace, good tactical awareness and good movement. 15's for these rather than Donovan's 18's (in Football Manager speak).

So that's what I see happening. We'll see how it pans out but as ever I wouldn't have thought we'll see much action until about midday on the 31st August!

A corner turned?

It's been a strange week for Evertonians. After umpteen transfer windows spent praying not to lose players rather than looking to sign them and a lacklustre season on the pitch this week came out of nowhere. And it was good. No scrub that, it felt BLOODY BRILLIANT. For the first time in ages it feels to me like we might be at the start of a road back to the good old days.

Darron Gibson celebrates his first goal at the old lady

It's a long road of course and if I know Everton we'll get beat by Wigan tomorrow, but let's live for a second in the moment of Tuesday night and savour it. It's been a long long time and us blues deserve it.

The day started well with the signing of Nikica Jelavic looking a formality and rumours abound of several other deals in the offing. It took a slightly unexpected turn when the news of Louis Saha's departure to Spurs became known but despite coming out of left field for most it seemed to feel like the right move. As talented and lethal as he is on his day, this season Louis's days have become less and less frequent, in fact he probably hasn't really shown what he's capable of once. In any case, if there was a sense of loss for Saha it quickly dried up when rumours surfaced that we might see Steven Pienaar coming back as part of the deal.

So we came to 8 o'clock and attention turned from SSN to the match. What a cracking performance it was. The type of grafting, stoic performace that we had started to take for granted a couple of years back but which has been missing all season. Despite our lack of possession I thought we looked like a side with some self-belief again. We looked dangerous on the break and a lung-busting shift from the big Argentine Stracqualursi, full of confidence after his FA Cup goal last week, pressurised the City defence and allowed our attacking midfielders to get forward. Goodison was rocking, like only it can for a game under lights and with an hour gone it looked like City were starting to run out of ideas. I said to my mate on 60 mins that I fancied us to nick a goal now and within 2 minutes my premonition came true when a quick break from Drenthe, lead to a cross from Bainesey to Donovan who having miscontrolled had the presence of mind to lay the ball back to the onrushing Gibson who rifled a tradmark drive into the top corner of Gwladys Street goal. Pandemonium.

At the final whistle David Moyes was punching the air and smiling like a kid at Christmas. It was a fantastic sight! It brought home to me how long it is since we've seen that from him and boy have I missed it. For all his faults I've got love for that guy.

So to the cherry on top. The return of Steven Pienaar on a six-month loan which might turn into something more permanent further down the line. The finishing touch to my most satisfying day as an Evertonian in a long while. We have never replaced the movement that Pienaar gave us in his first spell and to my mind, movement is the absolute key to scoring goals in the premier league. I see no reason why Pienaar wouldn't be able to slot straight back in. He's hungry after barely getting a kick in the past year and we all now how well he worked with Baines and Cahill last time. We could have some delicious attacking midfield options choosing three from Pienaar, Cahill, Osman, Drenthe and Donovan in a 4-2-3-1.

Oh I can feel it. Optimism and excitement. And i don't think i'm the only one. I saw it in David Moyes' eyes during his post-match interview. As a team i've always felt we mirrored our manager. I think Moyes is a character who can get depressed and negative, he can be aprehensive and when that happens it comes through in his team. At times this season we have looked straight out terrified - to attack, of making mistakes, of daring to try something and it not coming off. But when Moyesey is buzzing I see a different team, one full of effort, verve and self-belief. That Everton dicked on Newcastle to qualify for the Champions League. It dominated the shite over two legs when they were actually a good side. And it took United and Chelsea to pieces within a matter of weeks in 2010.

I know this is all a bit much off of one performance, but what I also know is that we can beat anyone when we're on our bipolar highs. I feel now that we might finally be starting out on the road back to those days. We're a long way off of cup finals and Europa league nights but we had to start somewhere and if this is that first step, then I want to get the fuck on board.

Come on you blue boys!!!!

A brick is laid....

Everton signed a player today. Yep, you read it right. Everton signed a player. And not a 17 year old, a real one who can play tomorrow and everything.

He may not be the centre-forward we are all yearning for but the arrival of Darron Gibson today from Manchester United for a knockdown fee of £500k that may rise to £2 million is a start at least.

As i said in my post from a couple of weeks back, David Moyes has to start rebuilding the Everton team and doing so with players a few years short of their peak, who have been written off elsewhere. Gibson fits this bill perfectly. I just hope we can get a couple more in to join him, even if this means letting some deadwood go.

Of course, the chances are Gibson isn't going to be the new Arteta overnight but it feels to me like the first step back in the right direction. The first brick in Moyes' big rebuild. I hope it continues but this is Everton so someone will probably come and piss on our new wall by the time Monday comes.

A long road back

I'm not normally one to knee jerk but tonights 2-1 defeat at home to Bolton Wanderers summed up all of Everton's current problems. It brings to the end a run of four games unbeaten. On the face of it, a positive run but one that anyone who has had the dubious pleasure of watching the games knows has been achieved in the most pragmatic and unnattractive style imaginable.

 I LOVE this guy but should he have been sold?

Injuries to three key players did us no favours whatsoever tonight but even before then there wasn't a lot to suggest that we were going to improve on our recent performances. In fact, I can only think of the Aston Villa game this season where we have looked a genuinely good team.....that was the 4th game of the season.

That we have been able to play so poorly yet still pick up enough points to have a chance of making a Europa League place says a lot about the mental strength of our team, our preparation and also about Moyes' match craft. But to my mind our squad is now back to a similar level (in comparison to the rest of the league) to the one that Moyes inherited in 2002 and as a result he's adopting the same, grinding approach that characterised his early years in charge. In those days most Evertonians were happy to take the points however they came, but after the highs of the 2007-2010 era this feels like a mighty big fall from grace.

Football punditry: The good, the bad and the ugly.

The role of the football pundit is a weird one. Clearly most of the viewers or listeners are tuning in primarily to watch the game. Yet you only have to look at twitter during a live game or listen to a lounge full of viewers to know that the co-commentators and pundits can make a massive difference to people's enjoyment of the game.

No doubt who you prefer to listen to depends on your taste. Are you looking for someone who will hype up the excitement? Someone who will add some real insight to the action taking place? Someone with a soothing voice?

For me the best pound-for-pound pundit working on tv/radio is Pat Nevin. When he's co-commentating he's adds insight as well as describing the action in a way that's easy on my ears, when he's in the studio he'll nearly always highlight something interesting from the game and on magazine programmes he's able to be both interesting and do the amusing banter the genre requires. I'd like to think these observations aren't coloured by the fact I know he's got some Everton in his heart.

Coming up on the rails is new boy, the freshly retired Gary Neville. He's contributed more to my enjoyment of Sky games in the last four months than Jamie Redknapp has in the last three years. Aside from Neville (and Redknapp) Sky have some other half decent analysts - Graeme Souness can be interesting when he's not being partisan and Ray Wilkins has a lot to add despite the far too regular shouts of 'my word'! At least he's stealing from a broadcasting legend I suppose!

Where things go really downhill are on our main two terrestrial channels. Somewhere along the line the producers on these channels must have decided that anything too complex will cause the masses to turn-off. The worst two in my book are Jim Beglin and Alan Hanson. I can only assume they must have made a pact to provide shit punditry during retirement over a half-time cuppa in the Anfield bootroom at some point in 1983. If they did, they've stuck to their word.

The Goodison time machine

The January transfer window is fast approaching and it appears that David Moyes is trying to reprise an Everton squad of yesteryear. Not content with just picking up James McFadden on a free transfer, Moyes has agreed a deal for Landon Donovan to return for a two month loan spell. Rumours are now gathering that he might complete the set by striking a deal to loan back Steven Pienaar for Spurs for the rest of the season.

It would be an interesting move. One that most of the football world would probably find a bit beffuddling. But I think most Evertonians would probably welcome the South African back. For all the bitterness around him leaving for the money (and Champions League), I think people realise the key part he played in the football we played during his previous spell and appreciate that all the more having put up with the last few months of dirge.

For me, the biggest thing we've been missing this season is attacking movement and that's something that Pienaar has in bundles. Couple this with the pace of Donovan and the directness of Drenthe and we might just get to see some interesting football again soon. 

It IS a step backwards. You shouldn't go back. It probably won't be the same.
But right now, it might just be for the best.

When is fair play unfair?

Empty seats at the Reebok

There has been a lot of talk over the last few years about the growing predictability of the premier league. A pattern that began in the mid-late 90s seems to have accelerated in recent years, with the gap between the top teams and the rest of the premier league becoming wider and wider.


The forthcoming UEFA fairplay regulations are intended to redress some of the imbalance, limiting clubs spending to a proportion of their turnover. Theoretically, this would prevent rich owners coming into smaller clubs and spending hundreds of millions on new players without a sustainable business to fund it. However, it's a plan with flaws. Clubs will find loopholes, such as signing massive sponsorship deals to increase turnover. This is supposedly limited as part of the plan but as yet Manchester City do not seem to have been called to account for their incredibly fishy sounding stadium naming deal with Etihad. With the regulations pegged to turnover, it also means they essentially protect the status quo even more so than currently. The rules benefit huge clubs like Manchester United and Bayern Munich who have already invested in massive stadia and set up huge merchandising operations around the world. Smaller/medium-sized clubs who have challenged at the top of European football after investment from rich owners such as Villareal would be less likely to repeat their feats.

Rodwell takes his chance

When Mikel Arteta left Everton in the final hours of the last transfer window, many Evertonians doubted that Jack Rodwell would be able to step up and fill the void the spaniard left behind. In the intervening weeks Rodwell has taken the first steps towards doing just that.

They are different types of player of course, but Rodwell has at last started to show that he might just fulfill the potential he showed when he first burst onto the scene in 2009. Rodwell appeared to be losing his way last season and at the start of this but I always felt that had a lot to do with confidence. It was obvious that Rodwell had good technique and the right physical attributes but he was struggling to impose himself on games. He didn't appear to be sure of his position (possibly due to being deployed in too many different roles) and to me his head seemed clouded with self doubt. As anyone who's played at any level will testify, when you're confident everything you try seems to come off, but as soon as the doubt creeps in the touch is heavy, passes are overhit, underhit and every game starts to become an arduous road full of pitfalls. For a young player the temptation in this situation is to play safe, to make sure you don't make mistakes - you can see why they would play it simple and avoid showing for the ball unless it's absolutely necessary.

Since Arteta's departure, Moyes has publically stated that he's looking to Rodwell to tie down a place in the centre of the Everton midfield. He's played him regularly and in the same position. Gradually, I've started to see that match condition returning in him and with his performances gradually improving his confidence has returned.

Whilst Jack might not be the creative force that Arteta was he has racked up some impressive stats for pass completion (over 90% in a couple of games) and has thereby replaced one important aspect to the spaniard's game that many feared we would miss. And as we know, controlling possession means a lot in the premier league today.

In terms of personality, Rodwell seems a modest lad by the standards of many professional footballers these days, you can look at him stepping up in Arteta's absence in two ways. Either he's thriving with the responsibility of the team relying on him, or he's more comfortable with less pressure on his place in the team. His performances culminated in him being called up to the full England squad - and judging by the way he took that opportunity (most observers agreed he impressed in both games) I would say that young Jack might just be one of those players who needs responsibility. Future club captain anyone?

Let's hope Rodwell can keep it up. I think he may just have turned the corner and he could turn out to be a lot better player for the experience of overcoming such a wobble. Believe lad!

My favourite players (in no particular order): 2. Dejan Savicevic

Before I start, apologies for letting this blog slip over the last few months. Winter's coming....more effort will be made!

To get things moving again here's the second in the 'my favourite players' series.

Up 2nd is another Eastern European who played in Italy - Dejan Savicevic. Savicevic was a Milan and Red Star legend, a classic enigmatic number 10, inconsistent but at times sublime.

For the sublime see Savicevic's performance in Milan's demolition of Johan Cruyff's Barcelona in the 1994 UEFA Champions League final. I remember watching this game as a 16 year old - the way Milan beat Barca this night was jaw dropping. Capello's Milan handed out a trouncing of the most emphatic kind on the biggest of stages. Savicevic created the first goal for Daniele Massaro with a typical surging dribble and then put the tie to bed by scoring Milan's third with an outrageous lob from distance. It was an absolute peach, a brilliant combination of quick thinking and technique. He then clattered the post before Marcel Dessaily put the cherry on top of the cake with a fantastic fourth.

No words could illustrate Savicevic's talent better than the video below. It's quite long but worth watching to the end i think as it shows footage i'd never seen before from his international games for Yugoslavia and from his time at Red Star. His dribbling skills are awesome, somewhere up there with Maradona and Messi i'd say. Bloody brilliant!

And to cap things off I found this whilst researching his youtube catalogue.

The Cahill Conundrum

Tim Cahill has been a great player for Everton since his arrival in our 'darkest hour' during the summer of 2004. The 31 year-old Aussie has clocked up 54 goals in over 200 appearances. In recent years though, as the teams style of play has involved, a growing number of fans have been calling for him to be axed from the side. They point to his lack of passing ability and pace as the reason for this.

I can see their point. I think it's unlikely that we'll see him deployed in the centre of midfield in anything other than an emergency for these reasons. I also think his effectiveness in the role of second striker or in the hole in a 4-4-1-1 is decreasing rapidly.

Yesterday in the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, Moyes played Cahill as our loan striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation and I thought he had a really good game. It's in this role within this specific formation that I think Tim can still be a really useful player for us and in my opinion is probably why Moyes sanctioned the selling of two strikers in the transfer window with only one replacement.

In the 4-2-3-1 we saw yesterday, the presence of two holding midfielders in Fellaini and Rodwell allows the three more advanced midfielders to get a lot closer to the front man. I think this makes the ability of the front man to run in behind and stretch the opponents defence less important as runners from the advanced midfielders can provide this threat. It creates the feel of an attacking four and as with Messi at Barcelona means that the centre forwards can come deeper. Cahill may not have the ability to play a twenty-yard through-ball but his short passing, movement and as importantly his vision for it is very under-rated by Evertonians. His assist for Osman is a prime example. Cahill's job yesterday was to control the ball, and bring Osman + either Coleman or Bily into play. The three players then work the ball in groups of three to create an opening. It's what you see Barca do all the time. I think Tim did this very well yesterday.

The problem for Cahill comes when the full-back (usually Baines) joins the three. At this point Cahill's build-up job is done and he should be heading towards the box to get on the end of the cross. However, because he doesn't have the pace of a Rooney or Messi who play the 'false-nine' role so well, the cross will either reach an empty box or the momentum of the move will be slowed as the wide players wait for Cahill to get there. It's for this reason I think that when Saha is fit he will play this role in Cahill's place. He's equally adept at building the play but has just that little bit extra pace and stikers instict when hitting the box.


So how about Cahill in one of the advanced midfield roles when Saha is back? Well i'm sure he can do a job there but I think Coleman, Osman, Bily and Drenthe all probably offer more than him there. Whether that's pace, range of passing (ie.can switch it if needed) or long range shooting ability so unless they're all out I would say no.

So in conclusion I still think Tim Cahill has a role to play at Everton but it's a striker rather than as a midfielder. Given the fitness of Saha and that Velios and Stracq are so unproven I still think that's a big and important one and when considered as above might be some comfort to Evertonians worried about our lack of forwards.

Lastly, just a couple of notes about the 4-2-3-1 formation. You may have guessed this, but I think it's our best option right now. Splitting the midfield as it does allows us to keep more bodies further up the pitch and given our lack of pace this is key to us offering an attacking threat. Whereas a faster team could get numbers forward on the counter, we can't so it makes sense to allow more players to stay up field more often. Having Fellaini and Rodwell sitting does that. I think it get's the best out of Osman which is crucial now that we have neither Pienaar or Arteta to provide a creative spark in the final third. I was impressed with the way Coleman played in it yesterday too, especially since it was his first game back. He looked more effective in the wide role of a 4-4-1-1 last season and seemed a bit confused when moved to the slightly more narrow role in a 4-2-3-1 but he looks to have done some work on it in pre-season. Perhaps it was having the ginger cafu playing behind him rather than ole pip. Anyway, we all know the result and it was a shame not to win but i'm taking the positives from what I consider was a very good overall performance.

That familiar feeling: Everton kick-off 2011/12 Premier League season with a defeat

Well this was one of the least surprising surprise results of the weekend. Everton in slow start shocker!
On the upside at least we weren't last on Match of the Day for once.

The blues kicked off for 2011/12 with a home defeat to QPR. Queens Park bloody Rangers. Predictably the problems we encountered were very similar to those that dogged us for most of last season. We had the chances to salvage at least a draw but missed them and a defensive error cost us (Jagielka clearing poorly then getting sucked towards the ball like a 12-year old).

What to do now? Attacking is clearly the problem area. Options are so limited up top there are only a few things we can do. If Saha is fit he plays and Moyes will probably go 4-4-1-1. If not then it's Beckford or Cahill in which case I think we should revert to 4-2-3-1. Playing two holding midfielders is frowned upon as being too defensive by a lot of blues but it gives the other three midfielders the freedom to get near to our striker and build attacks with our creative players higher up the pitch. If we do this and Becks is up front on his own we should use him to run in behind and stretch the play rather than as a target man to build from (as this just isn't his game). This means we want lots of good movement from 3 attacking midfielders (who should be Osman, Barkley, Arteta/Cahill) all looking to create space and demanding the ball.

Will someone be sold this week? I doubt it, but never say never.
Will Moyes throw in a wild card, such as starting Velios? I wouldn't have thought so. I'd love it if he did though.

Ho hum. A dissapointing result against a poor side. Options limited. Backs against the wall. A club in crisis. Seems like Davie's favourite recipe for an 8 match unbeaten run.

COYB

The summer of discontent

This summer has seen an increasingly public showing of discontent amongst Evertonians.

Another summer without adding to the playing squad has seen anger rising to the surface and a number of organised groups have appeared to campaign on behalf of Evertonians on a number of issues.

Their efforts appear to be successfully attracting the attention of the national media and the clubs issues have become the subject of several national radio phone-ins and national newspaper articles.

The Old Lady

The aims and objectives of the two main campaign groups, Evertonians for Change and The People's Group, are loosely to strike up a dialogue with the club, for there to be increased transparency around finances and the vision for taking the club forward. There is also a desire for the board to agree with changes to move forward.
EDIT: As of yesterday afternoon all of the main campaign groups have joined forces under the banner of The Blue Union. Their statement is here.

However, whilst these aims are both clear and realistic i'm not entirely sure that satisfying them would be enough for the majority of angry fans that I see writing on message boards and forums. Most of these fans want the board (and/or Kenwright) out and I can see their point - it's hard to make a case that the board have moved the club forward off the pitch in any way during their tenure. Results on the pitch have much improved but most would accept that's down to Moyes rather than the board (although they have obviously supported him in his work).

The problem is that 'Kenwright Out' alone is too short-sighted an objective for a serious campaign. The first logical question by any outside party will always be 'And replace him with who?' at which point realistic answers are required. If the majority of Evertonians really do want the board changed (and I think they've every right to) they need to consider the 'what next' question and come up with some good suggestions.

I've ruminated on this many a time myself and here are my thoughts......

Last 3 games of 2011/12 - the control vs unpredictability dilemna again

The 2010/11 Premier League season is drawing to a close and Evertonians can look forward to visits from two of the top 4 to Goodison, sandwiching a trip to West Brom. First up are Man City who will be hoping for a win to secure their place in the Champions League for next season. Everton then have an opportunity to avenge the 4-1 defeat against West Brom earlier in the season before finally hosting Chelsea on the last day of the season. Depending on results in the meantime the Chelsea game could play a key role in deciding the destination of the league title. I can't stand meaningless final games of the season so really hope this one means something, it would be great to see Everton trampling on Roman's dreams!

Follow, follow, follow, follow: Mikky's back!

Everton's mid-season injury crisis finally seems to be easing and two of the 'big hitters', Cahill and Arteta, returned to the starting line-up against Wigan last week. Whilst allowing for the two players getting up to match speed the match at the DW Stadium was notable for returning to a pattern that has been evident for the majority of the season, but missing in recent weeks. Against Wigan, Everton mounted long periods of pressure on the Wigan goal, winning many corners but rarely actually creating clear cut chances. This pattern was only really broken during the injury crisis when the team were robbed of Arteta, Fellaini, Cahill and Rodwell.

I've talked about this problem all season. Essentially I think it's a dilemna between control and unpredictability. When we have Arteta in the side we have more control, his pass complettion stats show why, but building attacks in a controlled manner is not always a good thing. As we've seen time and again against the lower teams who put more emphasis on defence, it only leads to frustration. Whilst he was injured the players available meant that we played a slightly more direct game which seemed to allow us to dispatch the lower teams more easily, resulting in wins over Fulham, Wolves and Blackburn.

The good news is that the control that Arteta gives us is absolutely neccessary when playing against the top 6 teams. Without it you get performances like our recent one at Old Trafford, where we defend admirably but are subject to wave after wave of attack without being able to muster a clear cut chance of our own. The best little spaniard we know should be in the starting line-up against City today and with our recent records against them I really wouldn't be surprised if we got some kind of result from this. The same applies to the Chelsea game, it'll be the forth time we've played them this season and as yet we haven't lost so there should be some confidence amongst the players.

For next season, whilst buying a new striker will be seen by most as the biggest priority, I actually believe Moyes' most important task will be finding the right balance between control and unpredictability in each game. A one-size-fits-all approach to this doesn't work in the Premier League, so he needs to find a way to dial up and down the players personal style of play to suit the situation. I would say we need to improve the squad to do this, except we've shown we can play both ways this season with players we already have. It might be that Moyes needs to select his line-up to suit the oppo more often, rather than just choosing his best 11 but however he does it, if he can nail this, i reckon we'll have a much better season in 2011/12.

Against all odds: Everton defy injury crisis again

Just when it looked like the 2010/11 season was going to fizzle out as meekly as it fizzled in Everton have only gone and woken up. A stellar sequence of five wins, two draws and just one defeat from the last eight games have resulted in a move up to 7th place in the Premier League and given the blues an outside shot at qualifying for Europe.

Criminally underrated Osman is on great form

And yet even more astoundingly this purple patch has coincided with a crippling injury crisis which has seen Fellaini, Arteta, Saha, Rodwell and Cahill all absent. Amazing! Or it would be, were it not frankly completely predictable.

Year after year, when the chips are down, when the team is on the ropes, when the star player injury hoodoo has struck David Moyes' Everton teams have gone on phenomenal runs of form. So why is this?

Unlocking the door to a parked bus

A particularly mixed metaphor it may be but Everton's inability to do this has pretty much been their problem all season and was once again last night in the 1-1 draw against Birmingham City.

The story has been the same week after week. Against pretty much everyone aside from the 'big six' Everton dominate possession and territory, sustain minute upon minute of pressure, clock up double-figures for corners and attacking free-kicks yet somehow fail to find the back of the net resulting in a draw or, after an error, a loss. Against any team that takes the game to us we play a high tempo pressing game without the ball, disrupting the opposition's rhythm and through interceptions high up the pitch or counter attacks find the space to create clear-cut chances and score goals. It's amazing how consistent the pattern has been. If I was a betting man i could've won a fortune this year. If those 'big six' teams had adopted the same approach as Birmingham et al our season could be even worse. I've no doubt that if Chelsea still had a coach as pragmatic as Mourinho in charge they would have sat back and picked us off on the break with ease, saving us a couple of extra cup games and leaving us a point worse off in the league.

Whilst I do think this is partly down to personnel, in particular the lack of pace in midfield and of a consistent goalscorer up front, I think it may have something to do with the system we play too.

My favourite players (in no particular order): 1. Pavel Nedved

What a player Nedved was. His combination of technique, intelligence and work rate made him one of the best players of the nineties and noughties. He also had a foot like a traction engine! A playing career spanning 18 years, in which he earned 91 caps for Czech Republic came to an end in 2009 with his retirement.

I liked Nedved for a few reasons.

First and foremost his style of play, he was everywhere, always trying to affect the game. And when he got on the ball he always seemed to make things happen.

Secondly, he played for Czech Republic who were my second team at international tournaments during his time (I had a huge soft spot for them after their brilliant display at Euro '96).

Lastly, Pav was the creative genius in my successful Juventus team on Fifa 2004 that won me many a mini-league in my shared house at the time. You could tell how good he was that John Motson couldn't help but scream his name in the accompanying commentary no matter where is was on the pitch "NED-VED!".

Anyway, here's a compilation of his Juventus years:



And here's him hitting the bar against the dutch in one of the best games i've ever seen (at Euro 2004). I almost left a dent in my ceiling i jumped up so high!

What makes a good owner?

As i've noted recently, pressure is growing on the Everton board to provide some answers as to why the club apparently finds itself in such financial turmoil.

In the circumstances i've found myself wondering what it is that makes for a good football club owner. Here's what i think are the big 3:

1) Financial resources and business acumen

I don't think Everton need a mega-wealthy benefactor to come in and fritter away his billions to be successful. I think the club already has a lot of the ingredients to win things. Whilst they will need a certain amount of wealth (more than Kenwright) to allow the club to access credit on more favourable terms, I believe it is equally important to get an owner with business acumen. If someone could get the club punching just a little above it's weight through running the business more professionally, I really believe it could bring success. It's a travesty that administrative errors led to Everton losing a valuable young player (Gosling) for nothing and that the board wasted millions unsuccessfully pursuing plans for two ground moves. 

2) Someone with vision

For most Evertonians their beef with the board isn't really the lack of personal money they have injected into the club, rather it is the complacent, short-sighted way that they seem to have managed the operation for years and years. This has seemingly led to the club being outmanoeuvred by competitors with similar or fewer resources than Everton. I think we need someone with the vision to be proactive rather than reactive and make the most of opportunities when they arise.

3) Someone who values and communicates with fans
The fans are a football club's customers, the money they spend attending games and buying merchandise is a club's biggest source of income other than from television rights. These days the internet means that fans have access to more information and opinion about their club than ever before. For businesses in every sector the growth in internet use has made it increasingly hard to control the messages that their customers recieve about them. Now anyone can publish, the message that customers recieve tends to be whatever the masses say it is. The phenomena is even affecting dictators!

Social media is about having a two-way conversation and gradually this is what football fans are beginning to expect from their clubs. They want a chance to ask questions and recieve answers, give feedback and receive acknowledgement. The current board of Everton Football Club don't seem to have cottoned onto this yet, but I would like a new board to make addressing it a priority.

Bizarre transfer window puts pressure on Kenwright

In the aftermath of a rotten January transfer window for Evertonians, attention has now focussed sharply on the clubs finances and ownership. The inexplicable loss of two strikers on loan and the sale of Steven Pienaar without any replacements coming in was probably a worse than result than most of us could possibly have imagined.

This bizarre state of affairs, added to a patchy season on the pitch seems to be awaking the national media to the clubs financial situation. On 2nd February the BBC's Phil McNulty pondered 'What next for Moyes & Everton?' and on 4th February Andy Hunter of the Guardian wrote about Everton's 'dangerous drift'. This type of publicity may well push the debate on the merits of the current board from message boards and forums (where it has been raging for years) out into the stands, pubs and living rooms. If that happens pressure is sure to grow on the board and Bill Kenwright in particular to provide some answers as to why the club finds itself in the current predicament.