Fulham put in a good first half whilst Everton were poor in parts. The Blues turn it around in the second and
Yakubu gets a hat-trick; another home win and now the Toffees are unbeaten in
ten.
Goodison Park
in filthy conditions presented a real English football experience. December in Liverpool
was wet, cold and windy, perfect for a game of football.
The conditions made the pitch
greasy and some of the players had a hard time adjusting. Plenty of fans traveled up from London but the ground was
quiet in the first half. Second half was
much better for both the home side and home fans. The managers have met previously with Preston not suffering a defeat to Wycombe in three
outings. The Moyes revolution began with
a home win against a Fulham side that shares no personnel with the side brought
to Liverpool by Sanchez today; with the
obvious exception of Mohammed Al Fayed.
PALE AND UNSMILING - JUST ONE COFFIN PLEASE!
Moyes; pale and unsmiling; went
with an attacking 4 4 1 1 formation.
Howard in goal, Yobo and Lescott in tandem in the back with Baines and
Neville as fullbacks. Carsley sat back
in the middle with Osman, Arteta, Pienaar providing the attacking options and
helping Cahill; acting as a withdrawn striker; and Yakubu up front.
Sanchez puts it on the line with
an attacking 4 4 2 formation away from home.
Niemi helped by a back four of Omozusi, Hughes, Stefanovic and Konchesky. A midfield quartet of ex-Blue Davies, Davis,
ex-Red Murphy and Kamara ; dropping back into midfield; supported a front two
of target man Kuqi and the more nimble and skilful Dempsey.
Fulham get up and at the home
side early on with some quick and smart play, they win a corner kick and Kamara
gets to the near post; a problem for Everton this season; before his marker,
his flick is wide of the far post. Yobo
gets in the right place to clear from Davies and Howard punches clear from
Dempsey. Fulham are bringing it to
Everton and the home side is rattled.
Carsley steps up to break the next Fulham attack and the home side break
quickly with a ball out to Arteta, a brilliant corner kick delivery and
Lescott; up for the set piece; gets in at the near post and forces a sharp save
from Niemi, the ball comes out to Pienaar who forces another corner, Arteta’s
dead ball delivery masterclass continues but Fulham clear, the ball bounces
around somewhat before it comes to Carsley who is shaping to shoot when Fulham
forward Kuqi steals the ball from him with a lovely piece of back
tackling.
Both teams have the right foot on
the pedal and the game is free flowing and end to end, this belies the greasy
pitch and the atrocious weather.
Pienaar shows good touch with a
flick for the overlapping run of Baines, the cross is driven in low and it
takes two to prevent Osman getting in a shot.
Kamara and Dempsey combine on the
left and get corner kick, it’s taken short and Pienaar forces the tricky Kamara
back and concedes a corner, the ball is delivered in the middle and Howard
claims well.
Kamara goes into the book for
foolishly encroaching on the Everton free kick, Arteta’s delivery is good but
Niemi is equal to this one.
You have to hand it to the commentators for this match – one of them really,
really, really doesn’t know anything about football – who in their right mind
would compare Phil Neville to Kevin Ratcliffe and Brian Labone the other ####
didn’t tell him he was totally wrong either – Setanta should stop filling the
Green Room with hallucinogens or just hire some proper commentators.
A GREAT FOOTBALLER...
ANOTHER GREAT FOOTBALLER... ...AND PHIL NEVILLE
Murphy hauls down Osman and
Arteta’s free kick takes a deflection of the wall and dips goalwards, Niemi is
sharp in turning it over his own crossbar.
Arteta delivers another peachy ball and a wide open Cahill at the near
post heads so wide it’s a throw in. A
glaring chance spurned.
THIS ONE WENT FOR A THROW IN!
Fulham comes out with a good,
quick break, Davies puts a nice crossfield ball into Konchesky and the willing
fullback’s touch lets him down and Yobo mops up.
Everton are playing a passing
game despite the conditions, their build up is patient and measured and full of
inventive running, Fulham are more direct but any ball that gets through to Kuqi
seems to cause the home side some consternation.
Konchesky plays in Dempsey on the
left, the American fluffs it and it goes for a goal kick.
Pienaar flicks a ball on for an
overlapping Baines run, again, the lively fullback races into the space and
then pulls up clutching his hamstring.
That’s not good, especially with no left fullback on the bench.
Baines comes off, Jagielka come
on, Neville goes to left back and Jagielka slots in at right back.
The change goes badly for
Everton, for the rest of the half they look slow, staid and bereft of ideas in
attack and flustered if still secure in defence. Surely a change in personnel cannot be that
demoralizing for the home team?
Fulham take advantage with some
fine and incisive play. But lack a final
ball to take advantage of the Everton malaise.
Their first attack flounders at
Dempsey’s feet, then they get a close offside decision go their way when
Everton fall back to a “hoof it long to the big front man” philosophy.
Davis’s free kick is woefully over
everyone.
Kuqi and Dempsey get their wires
crossed in a promising position. This
really ticks Murphy off, his ball in was pretty neat and ultimately
wasted.
Fulham break from an Everton
corner kick, Davis
is shaping to shoot when Osman comes back to force a corner with a good display
of tackling back.
Everton look shaky on the corner
but Murphy’s shot from outside the area goes wide.
Everton make a tactical switch
with Lescott going out to the left, Jagielka coming inside and Phil going back
to his right back spot.
This doesn’t change Everton’s
poor first half form much though.
Arteta fires one in which is easy
for Niemi.
A Davies free kick is wide, then
he is let down on the break with a poor pass for his defence splitting run, he
has to break his run and Everton have time to regroup.
Lescott gets up a gallop on the
left but the pace of Omozusi allows the Fulham fullback to clear ahead of the
Everton fullback.
Howard claims a Konchesky cross
to finish a half in which Fulham dominated after Baines went off but didn’t
have the final ball or pass to cut through the Everton defence and be bale to
beat Howard.
The Moyes half time team talk was
definitely on a par with that of Advocaat in midweek. The Everton players took the field in the
second half looking like a different team from the sorry looking figures that
trudged off after the first forty-five.
Sanchez’s bluster about winning and Wimbledon
obviously didn’t stick in the minds of the Fulham players.
Everton pressure from the whistle,
an Arteta free kick is well delivered but Lescott can only head it behind.
Yakubu is sloppy in his first
touch.
Lescott sees an effort blocked
and Fulham break then break down, Everton come out and a Yakubu ball in is met
by Cahill in the area but the Australian slips under a Stefanovic
challenge. Eventually Fulham clear but
only for a throw in, Neville shows his long one and Yobo is tugged in the
area. Fulham scramble the ball clear
only as far as Lescott, when the ball comes back in Cahill is offside but no
flag is shown, Everton don’t stop play and Pienaar lofts a beautiful ball
behind the mass of defenders on the edge of the area, Cahill volleys goalwards
and Niemi saves with his legs but Yakubu is in the right place at the right
time and finishes the scrappy; if effective; move with a tap in.
ONE WITH HIS RIGHT!
The goal elevates the crowd and
the home team but Fulham respond as well as they can. They stifle both Yakubu and Arteta on the
edge of the area and break with the ball, Kamara has his shot blocked and
Neville’s header out is poor, it comes to Murphy who from twenty yards lets rip
a lovely volley which Howard does well to get his hands to.
Everton are finding a rhythm and
Neville gets forward down the right and plays in a nice cross, Omozusi; without
a call from his ‘keeper and Pienaar lurking; heads behind. Arteta’s “How to take corner kicks – 101”
continues and Niemi does well to palm the delivery away, Yakubu puts the ball
back in and Fulham scramble the ball away.
Fulham’s more direct strategy still troubles Everton but Kuqi isn’t as
difficult to beat as he was in the first half.
Hughes does well in tackling
Arteta and in the heart of the Everton defence Yobo is displaying the art of
winning the ball without conceding a foul.
Slack marking in the middle
allows Kamara to cut in from the left and run at Everton. His neat lay off to Dempsey allows the American
to turn and fire a swirling volley at Howard, his USMNT compatriot palms the
ball down and to the side, Lescott emulates his ####ian partner and robs the
ball from Kuqi in the area without giving away a needless penalty. Quality defending. The ex-Wolves man calmly hoofs the ball downfield
when he gets clear.
Fulham are nothing if not game
and come straight back at Everton only to be rebuffed again.
Arteta gets on the ball wide
right and cuts inside, he eschews the shot and dinks a cross to the back post
with his left, Omozusi half clears and Osman has a shot. Niemi’s save is decent but his block of
Pienaar’s follow up is brave and better.
Cahill, Arteta and Yakubu work together
down the left but Omozusi’s pace enables him to get to the ball and clear.
Arteta’s delivery is perfectly
met at the near post by Jagielka and an unmarked Yakubu leaps daintily to head
in his second.
ONE WITH HIS HEAD!
Fulham keep on plugging away but
after Kamara and Konchesky combine well on the left and force Jagielka into
clearing for a throw. When taken the
throw is a foul one, Everton have regained possession with a soft mistake.
Lescott shows his desire to join
in the Everton attack with a run along the touchline of seventy yards before he
wins a corner kick. Arteta finds Jagielka
at the near post again but the flick on goes behind.
Dempsey comes of for Sanchez’s
impact player, Healy.
Around the sixty fifth minute
Everton put on a cheeky display of possession, it takes a little over twenty
passes; all well cheered and olayed by the home fans; before Omozusi breaks it
up with a foul.
The possession is wasted and
Fulham come forward again, Neville needed to be sharp to clear Davies’s ball
in.
Pienaar; really starting to find
his feet, on both sides of the ball; plays a lovely ball across the pitch for
Arteta to run onto, the Spaniard looks favourite but the pace of the young Omozusi
wins that race.
Arteta tries a lobbed corner kick
which has Fulham scrambling to clear but isn’t really as effective as one of
his whipped in, flat, perfectly flighted balls he’s been delivering into the
teeth of some awful, North West weather all afternoon.
Yakubu gets clear on the right
and cuts inside, he doesn’t shoot and plays in ball for Arteta, the Spaniard is
grateful for the offside flag as his fluff of the easy tap in was
terrible,
Yobo clears from Davies, then
Kamara out leaps Howard to the return ball in, it falls to Everton who coolly
clear the ball out of the area.
Healy puts a cross behind as
Fulham; despite their lack of really talented players; still come at
Everton.
Seol comes on for Murphy and
Fulham seem to go to a 4 3 3.
Yakubu gets forward looking for
his third; he shoots wildly due to the lack of quick support. He gets into space on the other side moments
later but without support a corner is his only option. This is cleared and Fulham come forward,
Pienaar tracks back and wins the ball in his own half, a powerful run across
the park; right to left; pulls Fulham wide open and he cuts inside to play the
ball perfectly into Yakubu, the big ####ian feints left as goes right and
passes into the far corner past a well beaten Niemi for his hat-trick.
THAT'S THREE!
Fulham still have the legs but
not the heart or the skill to penetrate a strong and buoyant Everton, whose
defence is occasionally a little soft but has held firm.
Johnson and McFadden come on for
Yakubu and Cahill and occupy much the same roles.
Pienaar plays in Arteta who
crosses for McFadden; the Scot goes for the near post forcing Niemi to push the
ball behind.
Healy gets into a good forward
position after some neat Fulham build up, he cuts inside and when the space
opens up chips one goalwards, Howard is off his line but fast enough over the
sodden ground to cover his goal. Pienaar
makes a run down the left and cuts the ball inside to Osman, the Englishman
find the Scot and McFadden cuts inside and tries to place one past Niemi, the
Finn is match for the shot. Johnson gets
open but his back post cross is a touch to pacy to enable McFadden to get a
touch and probably a goal.
Healy; bright and full of running
since he came on; gets a neat chip turned behind by Howard.
Everton started well then went
all pear shaped when Baines went off and they changed their players
around. They were tough enough at the
back with some superb defending from Yobo and Lescott to resist Fulham and
Howard had a good game in difficult conditions.
They got a break on the first goal, took full advantage of the bodged
call and never looked back. Wonderful
defending and slick attacking play saw them outplay the visitors. The three points are valuable as they now
have four away games on the bounce. Mikel
Arteta’s dead ball delivery was wonderful, time after time he put the ball into
a dangerous area which in the conditions was nothing short of brilliant,
Pienaar’s play is making the choice as to whether or not to make his loan
permanent easier, mostly. Lescott will
still get better.
Sanchez was good enough not to
moan too much about Cahill’s offside but his team wasn’t that good despite
plenty of possession. In a first half
where they had the ball and the attack they could do nothing with it. Then they just couldn’t match the home side
in the second half. They were at their
most dangerous from set pieces.
Bennett did well in the foul conditions
and kept his cards to a minimum, he got no help on the Cahill offside from his
assistant. Very good refereeing
performance.
The Cottagers away form last
season was awful; just one win away from Craven Cottage; Lawrie Sanchez didn’t
send them down and will want to impress now he’s been given the reins full
time.
Transfers:-
IN: Lee Cook (QPR,
£2.5m), David Healy (Leeds, £1.5m), Paul Konchesky (West Ham, £2m), Chris Baird
(Southampton, £3m), Diomansy Kamara (West Brom, £6m), Steven Davis (Aston
Villa, £4m), Aaron Hughes (Aston Villa, £1m)
A promising
Championship midfielder, a manager’s favourite, another manager’s favorite, a
Premier League wannabee and two Villa rejects.
OUT: Michael Brown
(Wigan, undisclosed), Heidar Helguson (Bolton, £1m), Claus Jensen (released),
Tomasz Radzinski (released), Mark Crossley (Oldham, free), Mark Pembridge
(released), Matty Collins (Swansea,
free)
Goal:-
Warner is reasonable cover,
Batista is a prospect and Niemmi is a vastly experienced Finn who can be a bit
dubious under pressure but is a good shot stopper.
Quality ex-international who is
sometimes fallible, better than average and reasonable cover.
Defence:-
Volz is a popular and solid right
back, Bocanegra is one of the better American players, adaptable at the back
and a threat at corners, Queudrue is a solid defender but might be on his way
out, Christanval brings solid international experience and an ability to play
in front of the back line, Knight is gaining consistency and favour at the
club, Rosenior provides good competition for the German, Hughes is a solid pro
and will bring Fulham experience, Pearce is good, experienced cover at the
back, Omozusi and Briggs are prospects, Baird excelled in the Championship and
will want to repeat the feat in the Premier League, Konchesky is a manager’s
favourite and Zakuani and Milsom are prospects.
Two good pros and a mixed bag, if
they settle quickly they may stop the drop.
Midfield:-
Davis is a solid attack minded
midfielder, Bouba Diop excites the crowd with a thunderous shot, goals and a
strong work ethic, Smertin brings creativity and adaptability to Fulham,
Bullard is a solid pro with a good work rate, he is currently recuperating from
ligament damage, Dempsey is one of the better Americans and will look to have
more impact this season at Fulham, Davies is a solid journeyman right sided midfielder,
Elrich is a promising squad player, Cook is a promising young player with
experience, Elliot will hope to win back a place in the first team; he’s a
solid defensive midfielder and James and Timlin are prospects.
An average midfield which; again;
will need to adjust to each other to play well.
Attack:-
Kamara is a solid Championship
striker and will want to do better than his two goals in West Brom’s relegation
season, John will be working hard to get back into the first team, McBride is
experienced and pops up with crucial goals, he is looking to continue his rich
scoring vein of last season, Healy is a quality international with good
Championship pedigree.
McBride is getting on and the
others may struggle to get goals in the Premier League.
Manager:-
Excelling with his native country
but keen to be a club manager, the ex Crazy Gang member has over ten years of
management experience.
Integrating the new players will
be tough and by the time things even out Fulham will be in trouble, no cup runs
and team that will struggle to hit the magic 40 this season. Their away form will remain terrible.
Liverpool FC
Raphael Benitez has one goal, the
Premier League, having been Champions League winners is great but the league is
the Grail at Anfield. Flooding the
English game with a variety of Latin superstars Benitez is putting his stamp on
the red half of Liverpool.
Transfers:-
IN: Ryan Babel (Ajax, £11.5m),
Yossi Benayoun (West Ham, £5m), Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid, £21.5m),
Lucas Leiva (Gremio, £8m), Sebastian Leto (Lanus, £1.8m), Andriy Voronin (Bayer
Leverkusen, free), Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao, £270,000), Nikolay Mihaylov
(Levski Sofia, undisclosed), Krisztian Nemeth (MTK Hungaria, free), Andras
Simon (MTK Hungaria, free), Ryan Crowther (Stockport, undisclosed).
A hot young Dutch prospect, a
solid international, a Spanish stud, a Brazilian Karel Poborsky imitator, an Argentinean
winger, a Ukrainian Karel Poborsky imitator, a Spanish prospect, a Bulgarian
‘keeper, two Hungarian prospects and a young English prospect.
OUT: Craig Bellamy (West Ham,
£7.5m), Djibril Cisse (Marseille, £6m), Luis Garcia (Atletico Madrid,
£3.5m), Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Recreativo Huelva, £2.7m), Jerzy Dudek (Real
Madrid, free), Bolo Zenden (Marseille, free), Robbie Fowler (Cardiff,
free), Danny Guthrie (Bolton, loan), Adam Hammill (Southampton,
loan)
Goal:-
Reina is young and good at spot
kicks, sometimes error prone but normally solid, Carson is the understudy and Martin and
Mihalyov are prospects, Mihaylov. If
Reina gets injured Liverpool will
struggle.
Defence:-
San Jose is a prospect, Finnan is
a solid right back who likes to get forward and cross, Hyypia is experienced
back up at the back, Agger is a quality centre back with an eye for goal who’ll
want more first team play this season, Arne Riise can play left back or left
midfield and scores the odd goal, Aurelio will want to be ready and fir the for
upcoming season, Arbeloa is a versatile right back, Carragher is the rock upon
which Liverpool fortunes rest, a excellent centre back and Liverpool stalwart,
Paletta is a promising Argentinean, Roque, Darby, Threlfall, Smith and Hobbs
are all prospects and Insua is promising, young cover.
Great home form, reasonable away
form. They have the tools to blunt any
Premiership defence but often had bad games last season.
Midfield:-
Kewell, when fit, adds creativity
on the flanks and can score goals, Gerrard is red blooded and one of the better
box-to-box players in the Premier League, he scores important goals and drives
the Liverpool máquina, Benayoun
will be a competent squad player, Alonso is a quality deep-lying playmaker,
Pennant is a promising young winger with pace, Mascherano provides quality
cover for the back four, Leiva is a promising young midfielder with
international experience, Sissoko will compete for the holding midfielder role
with the Argentine, Leto brings pace and height to the right flank and le
Tallec and Leto are prospects.
Gerrard will play but who will
support him, a stable midfield will fight for the Premier League, an unsettled
and frequently rotated midfield will only fight for the Champions League.
Attack:-
Babel is able to play wide or up
front and will be a useful back up, Benayoun will provide good cover in the
middle, Torres will hope to keep his better than a goal every three game
average to the Premier League, Voronin is a quality Bundesliga striker with
international experience, Crouch is a crowd favourite who is a better starter
than a sub, he provides a potent aerial threat, Kuyt will want to avoid a
sophomore slump but plays the roving role with class, he’ll struggle to start
and Lindfield with El Zar are prospects.
Torres will suffer the same fate
a Forlan and fail to light up the Premier League; Voronin will be classy and
will help Crouch if the two start.
Everton FC scored more goals away from home last season.
Manager:-
The Fat Spaniard, as he is popularly
known in Liverpool is quality with a record to prove it, he insists on his
rotation policy and that will make or break his Liverpool
career, sure the Champions League is big bucks but the Premier League is the
ONE.
Expect a top four place from the
Reds, they’ll make the Champions League semis at the least and do well in one
other domestic Cup. They won’t win it
this season though.
Manchester City FC
Some terrible recent history full
of awful players, play and bad management City hope to emerge out of the
shadows of their hated cross town rivals; the money of the ex Thai Prime
Minister and the management talents of Sven Goran-Eriksson are seen as the way
forward for Manchester’s local team.
Isaksson is a solid, experienced
starter, Schmeichel; if he’s half as good as his dad… and Hart is an
understudy.
An inexperienced keeper who will
need a solid back line to protect him.
Defence:-
Richards is good young cover,
Ball is an experienced left back, Onuoha is strong cover at the back, Sun provides
solid consistency at the back, Mills will challenge for the right back spot,
Dunne is the heart and soul of City with good international experience, Corluka
provides height and vision at the back, he’s still young, M. Mills is a
prospect, Garrido is experienced cover in defence and may be a starter.
Dunne is very good and the two
new signing will figure, they will need to be much less horrible than last
year, much tighter and stingy.
Midfield:-
Dabo is solid cover in the
middle, Johnson is a good prospect with first team aspirations, Ireland likes
to get forward and wants to fight for a first team spot, Geovanni has pedigree
and can play as a front man, Petrov is better known for his national exploits
than his club exploits, Hamman is quality with bags of experience, Miller is a
prospect, Fernandes is a hot young thing from Switzerland, he may start and
Elano brings class and quality with attacking flair to the middle of the park;
he elevated Brazil in the Copa America.
Some young studs and established
talent with a hint of class, when they work well they will be better than
average, who will cover the back line?
Attack:-
Mpenza is experienced cover up
front and can score, he still has pace, Bianchi brings goal scoring; sometimes;
in the tough Italian leagues to Manchester, Vassell no longer has the
lightening pace that took him to the England team, Dickov brings experience but
no goals to Manchester, Samaras is a quality Greek forward who will provide
good cover, Corradi still hasn’t quite adjusted to the English game but is a
tough competitor, Sturridge is a prospect and Bojinov will be a good addition
to the squad with plenty of foreign experience.
(At the time of press the Bojinov move is likely but unconfirmed.)
This unit will need to do the business
at home or face the drop, settling in will need to be quick and measured. They have potential to be good.
Manager:-
Sven’s record is excellent at
club level and he just stayed too long at England. The one worry is that the club game has passed
him by during his tenure as England’s
public enemy number one.
A butcher as an owner and a coach
hired on past glories, I can see City escaping the drop this season but they’ll
wallow in mid table mediocrity at best.
