Everton Preview

[Fife Rover]

I watched the whole match and the after match analysis on Setanta. Very impressed! Both commentators were fair throughout the match and were honest in their assessments of the overall play. They made Rovers clearly the better team in the first half, but more or less honours even in the second. The pundits at the end made Rovers overall the best side but gave Everton credit for fighting back in the last quarter and credit again to Rovers for pushing hard to get a winner in the last few minutes. They constantly referred to Samba as outstanding in defence and Roque as very skillful in attack, but not good in his part leading to Everton's goal.

The post match analysis was good with Sherwood and McMannaman as well. Very fair I thought.

Good result at Everton Rovers, and with a bit more luck would have been a win. All in all the Setanta experience was far and away better than the Sky experience.

[RoversFanUSA]

Over all disapointed with the fact that we didnt win. we should have put it away in the first half. Cant complaine with a point but would have liked to see all 3. Reffing was right out trash.

[krislu]

Should have won it in the first half, but at the end 1-1 was a fair result. I think Samba was our best player today, Dunn also had his best game for Rovers while Warnock did get a good few vital challanges in.

As for Benni, he needs a good kick up his backside!

[Collie]

Alright lads, I'm Cocker's mate who did the preview for the game.

First up, I thought 1-1 was just about right in the end. I always find it very hard to judge how Everton games have gone, but I thought it was a weird game in some ways. We were the better side and were playing some good stuff and creating some openings during the first 15, but we conceded a terrible goal (from our point of view), and you dominated the rest of the first half. I was impressed with some of the football you played, although I think we helped by being completely incapable of holding on to the ball. Hibbert and Neville were guilty of some criminal passing.

Second half was a bit better from our point of view, although to be honest I was surprised that we managed to equalise as we've not been too good at that in recent years. If you'd nicked a 2nd, which you looked capable of, then it would have been game over. At the same time though, I felt that we just about deserved our equaliser.

As for rating your players - I thought Samba was awesome, particularly in the first half and at both ends of the pitch. He was just winning everything. I think we helped him though by continuing to belt high balls up to Johnson and McFadden until very late on. It was only when Anichebe came on that he was put under any pressure. Still, I was very impressed. In my preview I wasn't very complimentary towards Emerton or Warnock, and that seemed to bite me in the ass! Warnock I thought was excellent all game, and I thought Emerton was very solid too.

I've read some of the comments about Mike Riley, and I do agree to an extent. Neville should definitely have been booked for the 2nd of 2 rash tackles he made in quick succession in the first half, and Johnson was very lucky to get away without a booking for his studs up tackle too, and yeah some refs could even have given a red for that (although I don't think that would have been right). On the flipside though, your goal did come (admittedly not directly) from the ridiculous free kick that Riley gave to you when Carsley kicked Savage in the mush. Savage's head was at knee height, and it was a really poor decision.

Anyway, I reckon we'll both be round about each other come the end of the season challenging for Europe. All the best for the rest of the season (apart from the obvious).

[frosty]

Thanks Collie. Your analysis is a fair and unbiased reflection of the game. Good luck for the season

[RevidgeBlue]

Before the game I'd have taken a point, however the way the game panned out I thought it was extremely disappointing that we failed to come away with all three points - and at the end of the season afternoons like this will probably be the reason we're a lot nearer midtable than challenging for 4th spot.

The game should have been well and truly killed off in the first half. I thought at half time failure to do that might come back to haunt us and so it proved. In the second half we seemed happy to sit back content in the knowledge that we could soak up anything Everton threw at us and it almost worked but for an unnecessary and unforced error from Santa Cruz in a defensive area which led to the equaliser.

Overall I thought we had three heroes today right down the spine of the team - Samba, Dunn and Santa Cruz.

Samba was superb yet again today and I have to agree with something nicko said midweek, I don't think there 's a better centre back in the Premiership. He even left Andy Johnson standing for pace at one point in the first half for goodness sake!

I've said it several times before but I hope we get his contractual situation absolutely nailed down such that it will take a Rio Ferdinand like 30 m to prise him away should "the big 4" come sniffing round which they surely will.

Dunn also had an outstanding game and if he can keep that up, for 1m plus add ons may prove to be amongst the best of Sparky's transfer scoops.

Santa Cruz worked tirelessly up front, and his work ethic put strike partner McCarthy to shame. Another goal, which his overall game deserved, and he is starting to look a real asset.

The only downside was the "performance" of McCarthy who seemed to be merely going through the motions and really might as well not have been on the pitch. Combined with his demeanour when he slouched on against Arsenal, I can't help wondering if he's off elsewhere before the transfer window closes in six days time. If he isnt, he needs to buck his ideas up sharpish.

So two points dropped really the way the game went but if we can beat Citeh next week it will be a tremendous start.

[tchocky]

Four candidates for MoM for me:

1. Samba

1. Dunn

3. Warnock

3. Emerton

In the end I went for Dunn because the Everton strikers were rather toothless. And Samba was really just his usual (excellent) self.

[brfcs5359]

I'd have to agree with nearly everything said already. Went to the game.

McCarthy, Pederson, Bentley had off days and dulled our attack or we would have won comfortably. Cruiz was excellent< SAmba MOM and Dunn excellent. Much shraper and instinctive. He wanted to boss the mdfield and did a lot of defensive work.

The goal ws a shame. When the ball was played out wide it is schoolboy to move up 10 and cause the attacking all sorts of problems. Instead we stayed on the 6 yeard line. I said to my mate as soon as it happened, we got problems ere we've not stepped out. Otherwise the defence was superb. Last year we only kept one clean sheet on the road and this cost a direct UEFA qualification IMO. Two away games, no clean sheet! Lets hope.

We went on to the game and one big worry was Johnsons pace against Oijar and to not get caught switching. All match Samba took on Jphnson Oijar the other striker. No matter what Everton did Rover skept this paiaring match up and Samba won every header ( as you would expect) but outpaced Johnson every time. Johnson had a poor game and for him and his manager this was poor preparation. Johnson shold tagged onto Ouijar and forced Rovers hand. Probably why is not an international player IMO. Clearly Hughes had DONE his homework.

Moyes made all three subs by the 60th minute or so and The Toffees inproved. Surely he knows his best team?? Clearly not. Leascot was impressive. Arteta was their only creative player and you have to worry for them if he is injured. Particularly with Yakuba the temptation with todays Everton team will be to punt it long to the Yak.

The games's 90 minutes and all teams make mistakes so I don't consider it 2 points lost. We should beat them at Everton at Ewood. Looking forward to City on Saturday which may be a more difficult game.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I thought a draw was a fair result but we could have had all three points if we would have come out after half time. We should have subbed McCarthy sooner their goal had been coming for about 20 mins, we just sat back and allowed them to pen us in, they had us hanging on at the end. Having said that I would have taken a 1-1 at 5.15.

Scores

Freidel-5- Looked shaky at times today especially on crosses, could last weeks howler have unsettled him.

Emerton-6- Good performance on attack and defence.

Samba-8*- Awesome in the first half, kept us in the game in the second, unlucky with the header.

Oijer-6- Stupid early foul left him on a knife edge, got better as the game went on.

Warnock-7- Classy performance today, Hughes has signed a good 'un here, how much did they pay for Baines ?

Bentley-5- Quiet game today, just because we've got a striker who can head the ball doesn't mean we can launch it at him from anywhere, needs to impose himself on the opposition more.

Savage-5- Ran around a lot, other than that what does he bring to the team?

Dunn-7- His best game to date, got up and down well and very unlucky with that left foot shot.

Pedersen-5- Same as Bentley. He's got a bad habit of trying to be flash and play it out of defence in our box, it'll cost us one day.

Santa Cruz-7- Very impressed with him, looks a class act all round- not at left back though.

McCarthy-5- Typical mixture of flash flicks and dribbles that go nowhere, Is he playing for a move ? Taxi for Benny ?

Subs Derbyshire for McCarthy- Came on too late , we had surrendered our advantage and nearly all the game was being played in our half.

Mokoena and Roberts. Came on to run down the clock.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Overall an impressive display - which I thought we deserved the 3 points. But I was always worried when we couldn't get the second goal that would have made the game safe.

What we seemed to desperately lack was somebody with genuine pace - we had a number of good passing movements that were let down by a lack of pace to move the ball quickly from defence to attack. Oh for a Damien Duff (Rovers vintage that is) - or somebody of similar pace.

There were a number of plus points :-

1. Samba just gets better - I was worried that he may be a flash in the pan - but he just seems to get better. I think though - it should be noted that Nelsen and (in this match) Ooijer do make up for his lack of experience at times. But either way (as Nicko pointed out) we have a £20m+ centre half at Rovers - and probably with Nelsen, the best centre half combination for a long time (probably even better than the year we won the Premiership).

2. Dunn seems to be getting better with every match - still worried he will get injured every time he is tackled - but his influence is growing. He is also a far more responsible and complete midfield player than under Souness

3. We still have (IMO) our best midfield player to come back from injury - this current good run should mean that we will be able to slowly introduce Reid rather than rush him back. Hopefully he will be fully fit by November / December - which will be like buying a new player (p.s. anyone know the latest on his injury ?)

[joey_big_nose]

Very impressed by Dunn. He is now an extremely effective central midfilelder who does the dirty and flash work. Essentially our long term Savage upgrade I guess. Im looking forward to him and Reid getting stuck in in midfield.

Pleased with everyones performance, and Samba MOTM, with the exception of mcCarthy who was bordering on the pathetic (did he have a single shot? he is a striker...) and Pedersen whose dead balls were good but offered little threat beyond that.

[Eddie]

Benni was certainly not great today, but a few people seem to be making much more of it than I think it deserves. He did actually link up nicely with Santa Cruz and Pedersen at times and did hold the ball up well. For all the ball and pressure that we had we actually didn't create many chances for our strikers, so he had little chance to really show off. Of course he could be better, but he wasn't horrible and if you didn't notice him then I think you weren't watching the same game. For me today he was no worse than Pedersen (lucky not to do a Santa at the back a couple of times and really lacked a bit of quality with his ball) and Bentley (who played well up until it came time to put the ball into his box and then either overhit it or underhit it, which is very unusual for him).

[Texan Rover]

Savage-5- Ran around a lot, other than that what does he bring to the team?

It's incomprehensible to me that people can still write things like this. How can anyone who has watched Rovers play over the last two seasons fail to understand that the pressure Sav puts on opposition players in possession is absolutely pivotal to the way we play football?

[Eddie]

Savage was great today. I don't think we would have got the ball out of our own half had it not been for him.

[eddiewac]

Savage could've been in on goal had his technique been better though, I don't see why we hardly use Tugay now, i mean i thought we were saving him for teams like Arsenal but he didnt play then either...

[USABlue]

Only two candidates for MOTM for me, Dunn or Samba.

Have to agree with that, Samba edgedfor me but Dunny had a really good game. Honourable mention for Bert MK2 though he had a fine game also. I did not think Riley did too bad, yes to book Ooyah then let go what he did was ridiculous, IMO Neville did enough to warrant a red. Other than that it he called the game even I though. There was even a few I raised my eyebrows in surprise that he gave our way.

Now look at the bookings in this game and the number in the Arse game, befuddling isn't it. More so when you consider the physicality of this compared to the Arse match.

I thought a point was fair we did nothing up front in the second half. Bentley was poor, McCarthy?? was he even there?. I'd have had Roberts on for him with 15-20 left then Matty. I think Roberts physical prsence up front would have opened them up a bit.

[Cocker]

Alright lads, I'm Cocker's mate who did the preview for the game.

Aye, Cockers mate that didnt go to the pub with him and watch it after being in India for 6 months - Boooooo

[Rover Down Under]

It just popped into my head yesterday when I kept seeing these enormous long legs snaking in from nowhere and it reminded me of something from my childhood...

He really was immense yesterday, the "7ft 2" comment was a classic, we have a real gem here - Samba, Dunn and Rocky held it altogether, Emo & Warnock were good, Bentley at times good, others average, Peders & Sav OK, but where was Benni? If I hadn't seen the lineup I wouldn't have known he was on the pitch! Should have put Derbs on in 60th min and chased another goal, one-sided refereeing AGAIN.

[philipl]

Have to pick up on some of the ratings.

Savage is back based on this game and the Arsenal game- he is disrupting the opposition and keeping posession for Rovers.

Bentley is off the boil but I thought Pedersen had a better game today- his distribution was good, his set pieces were not howlers and Santa's goal came about through a magnificent bicycly kick from MGP.

Was watching Benni and Santa carefully and I thought there were some good signs of an excellent front partnership. All credit to Benni for being last season's super-hero and for not playing Mr Big Boots at Santa's expense. It is a great shame there isn't the sophistication in the Rovers football crowd to appreciate that the ease with which Rovers attacked in the first half was hugely down to what Benni was doing off the ball. Moyes was not going to be stupid and leave a 24 goal striker unattended.

PS Brilliant picture of Samba Rover Down Under!!!

[Rovermatt]

I missed the game yesterday because my poxy Flybe flight home from holidays was delayed by two hours. However having watched the highlights I thought we looked very good. Everton are a good team and Goodison is a nasty away trip. Santa Cruz and McCarthy were lively and once again Bentley and Pedersen displayed class on the flanks.

I'm quite pleased with our start to the season. We've dispatched an inferior side in Middlesbrough, nabbed a point from Arsenal and survived an away game at Everton, all while looking relatively solid at the back (Van Persie's goal aside) and creating plenty up front. The return of Reid will only make us stronger.

[MCMC1875]

To the catering assistant at Goodison:

-pie please.

-what sort would you like?

-what have you got?

-steak.

-steak it is then.

Priceless!!!

[OhmiBRFC]

Samba MOTM for me, Everton jsut couldnt cope with him upfront and he had Johnson in his back pocket all match.

[USABlue]

All credit to Benni for being last season's super-hero and for not playing Mr Big Boots at Santa's expense. It is a great shame there isn't the sophistication in the Rovers football crowd to appreciate that the ease with which Rovers attacked in the first half was hugely down to what Benni was doing off the ball. Moyes was not going to be stupid and leave a 24 goal striker unattended.

Not playing Mr big boots??? What the hell was all the mouthing off in the close season? Yes you are right clearly not a football scholar as yourself then. I did not notice all this fantastic off the ball movement, still in my defence it is a bit hard to see all that on the telly. I thought Benni did not show most of he time, when Cruz got the ball he had more work to do because of Benni's off the ball positioning, I'm sorry but I did not even know he was in the match first half and I was looking for him. He'll pick it up though, then us unsophisticated types will be singing his praises again.

[philipl]

The Everton defense looked empty when we were passing our way through it in the first half. Benni usually had a couple of blue shirts for company.

Moyes made them more compact at half time and Benni did not offer much then but he's the sort who would have buried the shot Matty scuffed in injury time even if his contribution had been a bit sparse the rest of the half.

[RoyRover]

I'm happy with a point from this game, because Everton have been playing well and are always strong at home. There's no doubt that we could have won, Howard made a great save from Dunn and then Bentley had a freekick tipped onto the crossbar. It was good to see Santa Cruz scoring again. He only needs a few more goals to be have had a good first season in the Premiership . If we can get a win in the next game, with McCarthy scoring, then we will have made a very good start to the season.