SATURDAY 13TH JANUARY, 2000
FA CARLING PREMIERSHIP
Attendance:- 32,290
Referee:- A. D'Urso
Everton (4-4-2):- Myhre; Watson,
Weir (Capt) (sub Cleland, 8), Ball, Unsworth; Alexandersson (sub
Tal, 77), Pembridge, Hughes, Graveson; Moore (sub Cadamarteri, 77),
Campbell
Subs not used:- Simonsen; Gemmill
Booked:- Hughes (foul on
Leonhardsen)
Spurs (3-5-2):- Sullivan; Doherty,
Perry, Young; Anderton, Sherwood (Capt), King, Leonhardsen (sub
Davies, 63), Clemence; Rebrov, Korsten (sub McEwen, 63)
Subs not used:- Walker; Thelwell, Gardner
No bookings
On a crisp afternoon in Merseyside, both
teams fielded patched up teams with injuries to key players. In
fact the missing players Gerard, Carr, Tarrico, Xavier, Gough,
Sol, Gazza, Freund, Ferdinand, Iversen, Ferguson – with
Jeffers Pistone and oh go on then Fatcha on the bench could have
actually put together a fairly decent team. The loss of Sol and
Ferdinand put Graham into ‘backs against the wall’
panic mode where we seemed intent on coming away with a clean
sheet from the start – not that we defended that brilliantly
– we just offered nothing in attack which combined with
Everton’s ineffectiveness to produce an away point.
Being Victorian Dad, the Goonersaurus
continued on his idiotic punishment for Armo’s late arrival
against Newcastle, by naming Korsten up with Rebrov. Chatting to
Evertonian’s before the match, they were very downcast about
everything to do with Everton – from the quality of players,
lack of funds and general direction of the club – they were
here for the taking if only Spurs had the sufficient desire to go
at them. There was a big cheer at from the Everton fans at
Watford last week when the final score at Orient was announced,
as they were convinced that they were going to be our first away
win of the season. We of course knew different. So with the lack
of players, morale and will to win on our side – the game
and the result was no big surprise.
After too much Anti Graham singing at Orient
(while I want the bastard out, it seem counter productive to sing
this sort of stuff during the match), its was great to hear non
stop support for the whole of the match. I was very fortunate to
be in the middle of the group who led much of the singing and
even led a couple of “Yid army” chants. The players
also came over to applaud the fans which they did n’t at
Brisbane Road, which rather frustratingly shows some devotion to
Graham.
The game started as it continued – dull
periods of play punctuated by either team giving the ball away as
soon as they tried to pass it forward in the opposition half. Ex-goon
Campbell had the ball in the net – very much similar to
Newcastle’s first goal in that another crap pass from
Sherwood was intercepted but this time fortunately as Pembridge
passed to Campbell he was offside. I was under the impression
that shooting after the whistle had gone was bookable – but
like many things during the game, the ref erred on the side of
Everton – not that we deserved anything for our woeful lack
of ambition.
Everton’s injury worries went from bad
to worse, as one of the few successes of their season David Weir
had to be replaced by Cleland inside 10 minutes. Sullivan was
forced to make a couple of saves as Everton seized upon Spurs’
lack of ambition. The first was a run of the mill save from a Max
Moore effort after Young was guilty of not getting the ball away,
but the second was an excellent save from Graveson. Graveson is
their equivalent of Freund and it sums up the day when he looked
the best player on the Everton side. Sullivan also saved from
Alexandersson when the Swede should have done better than shoot
straight at Sully from about 10 yards, but reserved his best save
of the match by pushing a Campbell header round the post from a
right wing cross.
This certainly flatters Everton who were a
poor side, but I am unable to punctuate it with action from the
other end as apart from a couple of long range efforts that never
looked dangerous and an ordinary free kick from Anderton, any
Spurs attacks broke down as we entered the last third. It was as
if Clem and Anderton were given specific instructions not to go
down their respective wings and just chip balls in for Rebrov (or
Korsten if he could be bothered) to contest in the air. Sherwood’s
passing was as bad as ever but managed to get a few tackles in
playing in a much deeper midfield role, Anderton offered very
little and played like a fairy, Leo still seems well below his
usual level of reasonable consistent performances and Clem could
not get into the game enough from his position on the left
handside. The only person who kept the team going was Ledley King
who was my outfield player of the match for Tottenham –
strong in the tackle and simple but decent distribution.
If its not bad enough being conned into
coming to Tottenham from the Champions League anyway, Rebrov is
double cursed by having to try and get the ball by winning
headers from aimless oofs forward. On the rare occasions he got
the ball on the ground, Everton defenders descended upon him and
he was usually isolated with the midfield under strict orders not
to get in the Everton box.
The normal “Burt and Ernie”
teamtalk at halftime inspired even more ineptitude from Tottenham,
as Everton realised there was plenty of space to exploit behind
the Spurs wingbacks. We were lucky to get away with the best
chance of the match, when a Campbell header came back off the
post and needed a very alert piece of defending from Luke Young
to clear the ball off the line as a goal looked inevitable.
The Goonersaurus – who usually reserves
his substitutions until right at the end when they can have no
effect – (or brings on defenders when we are losing like at
Charlton) – actually made a tactical switch just after the
hour mark – removing the struggling Leo and the abysmal
Korsten for Davies and McEwen. I notice that Graham has made no
comment on Korsten or tried to justify his inclusion in the team
– the gooner twat.
From a long way out, this had 0-0 all over
it, unless one of the defenders made a bad mistake. Spurs looked
marginally better with Davies, who will hopefully get a run in
the team now and McEwen who’s effort put Korsten to shame (although
I think he is a bit light weight for the Premiership)
Spurs had their best period of the match as
the final whistle approached and Everton started to worry that
their bad luck would rob them of a point. The term “best
spell” is a relative term – they showed some initiative
going forward, and even managed a shot on target from King. A
good example of the poverty of our tactics was a free kick
awarded about ten yards inside the Everton half with only minutes
remaining. Rather than get the ball in the box – something
that had hardly happened all afternoon – captain marvel
Sherwood squared the ball to Young who was not expecting it and
was forced into challenging for the ball as it arrived as the
pass was so poor. Young managed to get the ball to Clemence, but
the move broke down without the ball getting in the box. Dire.
The referee put us out of our misery soon
after. After the match, Evertonians to a man said that we were
the worst side they’d seen this season by far and could not
understand why we did not go to win the game. What was it the
great man said “its about going out there and doing it in
style, not boring the other team to death”. Joe Hulme, Terry
Neill and Gooner Graham – we’ll never be any good with
a Goon in charge, they just don’t understand.
Sullivan (8/10) – Did n’t
have a great deal to do, but made some good saves where necessary
and always looked in command.
Doherty (7/10) – Continues to
impress now he has switched back to right half and did his job
well for the team
Perry (6/10) – Generally played
well in his defensive duties, but failed to use the ball well.
Young (6/10) – Given a chance
because of the Sol Man’s absence and played well out of
position and made a very important goal line clearance in the
second half to keep us in the match
Clemence (6/10) – Did what he
was asked to do adequately, but was not allowed to express
himself in the game
Sherwood (5/10) – As much as
people laugh at Carlton Palmer and Lee Sharpe as Graham Taylor’s
England men, they will laugh at Sherwood as a Keegan selection.
He had his usual repertoire of bad passes but redeemed himself by
battling on when things were n’t going for him and making
some fair tackles.
Leo (5/10) – Anonymous, and
probably still feeling the effects of his recent injury. Can and
will do better
King (7/10) – Another good show
from Ledley – if only he could be the Paul Stewart to
someone else’s Gazza we might just have a midfield
Anderton (5/10) – Not given much
licence to get forward and offered very little – if he’s
one of our star we’re in the shite. Maybe its time for him
to clear off and give someone else a go
Korsten (1/10) – If its not bad
enough being shite, to add to that being Lazy makes it criminal.
And lets not forget – this is the man Graham purchased to
replace Ginola.
Rebrov (5/10) – Was given no
service and was hardly in the game at all
Sub Davies (6/10) – Tried hard
in the mire of the Tottenham midfield, and should be given a run
in the team at the expense of Leo or Sherwood to see if he’s
good enough for the Premiership
Sub McEwen (6/10) – Get a fair
mark for the effort he demonstrated, although never looked like
being the hero.