Being positive I’d say it was our third clean sheet in four and, saving a cup draw misfortune, we wont have to worry about a desperately negative Swansea City coming to Goodison Park again.
Such was the general aversion for goalmouth action this game quite simply belonged in the Walter Smith era.
Everton 0 Swansea 0 – Dire Draw Halts Blue Momentum
By @Markthablue
You get games like this in a season. It can’t all be sweetness and light but following a slow burner of a start to our campaign this was a game we needed to win in order to carry the upward momentum our season so badly needs.
Our League record now replicates a Martinez tactical switch with 3 wins, 4 Draws and 3 defeats. Oh how a 4th league win would have been welcome here.
Lets be fair, we are only 4 points off fourth placed Arsenal with Sunderland away up next. We are in contention but for me, such has been the bipolar nature of our season so far, we needed to win this to banish the frustrating start to the season and continue the slowly built up momentum of the past few weeks.
Why didn’t we win? I don’t think anyone could have foreseen quite how negative Swansea would set up. With such a dismal record at Goodison Park walking in a mile before them, maybe it was understandable. But the 10 men behind the ball tactic strangled the life out of a game that wasn’t helped as a spectacle by Everton’s passing being at its worst level this season.
Roberto just hasn’t got us going yet. The lack of a plan B when teams shut up shop as Swansea did on Saturday is starting to irritate. We all want to see school of science football and Martinez deserves credit for wanting us to play that way 100% of the time but sometimes in order to win football matches it’s not against the law to sacrifice your principles.
With the passing game failing I felt we should have looked to hit Lukaku earlier once he had come on and got Swansea thinking and facing their own goal. They were practically in auto pilot such was the predictability in our play. In fairness, it was the first time in the league we haven’t scored but against Swansea we looked like a side who hadn’t scored all season.
The lack of pace and poor passing made it a cert for the last match on Match of the Day and to be honest, this game wouldn’t have looked out-of-place on the Football League show shortly after.
As bizarre as it sounds the opening to the game was in stark contrast with what was to follow, with the promise of an open free-flowing game Everton could have scored after 25 seconds.
Eto’o seeing his shot on the turn saved with ease by Fabianski while at the other end Sigurdsson found Bony, played onside by Baines, who having composed himself dragged his shot wide much to the relief of the home side.
Fabianski was lucky to get away with making a hash of McGeadys low drive, treating the ball as if it he’d taken it out of the oven with no oven gloves on. The ball went out for a corner with every chance it could have gone in.
We huffed and puffed with no real end product, like putting the kettle on a dozen times and never making the cuppa, we looked devoid of ideas in open play and with set pieces now taking on a greater importance, it was disappointing to see Baines 25 yard effort curl tamely wide.
Swansea were every bit as obvious as us. The very clear sole tactic of sitting back sometimes with every players behind the ball before looking to exploit us on the counter attack. To be fair they were denied a clear penalty when Shelvey’s goal-bound effort was blocked in true goalkeeper style by the floored Alcaraz. Thankfully the ref saw nothing, that was one we got away with it.
Defensively at least we looked to have turned a corner, but in true Everton style, we have regressed in our attacking play and we badly need Mirallas back. It’s so obvious to say with him being out injured but the pace he offers can’t be underestimated – not just individually but as a team we attack quicker with the Belgian on the pitch.
We telegraphed everything to Swansea and the boredom soon turned into anguish as yet another injury for Alcaraz occurred. Just for old times sake. You have to feel sorry for the guy. He was just starting to get a run of games together and to be fair Alcaraz and Jagielka have looked decent as a partnership.
It was a shame to see Alcaraz go off in what promises to be another lengthy lay off and yet another injury concern in a position of concern for us all season. It’s things like this that contribute to our kangaroo petrol start to the season. Consistency is on top of the to-do-list for Roberto and his men as we enter a key period of the season.
With Distin still in the bad books and nowhere near the squad it was left for Barry to drop back into centre back with Mo Besic coming on to fill the void in midfield. This affected us severely for me and the midfield looked rudderless at times. Barry’s dictation of play is every bit as important as his positional sense, no slight on Besic but the game needed some life injecting into it.
Fair play to Ross Barkley for wanting the ball as much as he did but it just wasn’t his day, massively not helped by him being played out wide which for me was a complete waste of his talent. He’s not a winger and our threat going forward was neutered as a result.
Barkley’s day was summed up in the second half with a howler – missing his attempted right footed cross he connected with his left and ended up on his backside – but this goalless draw on a day of frustration for the blues wont even register when people look back on Barkley’s career. Just one of those days.
Swansea did threaten despite my insistence their tactics were almost anti-football at times and Bony set Shelvey free but the soon to be sent off midfielder shot wide with Montero better positioned.
At the risk of making the game sound entertaining McGeady cut in to bend his 64th minute effort wide but it was too little too late to save him from the subs bench. Mcgeady, along with an equally disappointing Steven Naismith was largely ineffective from the start. Lukaku and Pienaar came on, changes I felt could have been made 10-15 minutes earlier by Martinez who continues to baffle with his in-game management this season.
Naismith’s recent form has started to dip. I have no desire to enter into a Osman esq rant over this but suffice to say Mirallas can’t come back soon enough. We’ve gone stale as an attacking force just when we can ill afford it.
Everton were handed a break on 71 minutes when Shelvey obstructed McCarthy on a lung bursting surge forward, earning his second yellow and renewed hope amongst the blues that an unlikely win could yet be gained.
This was the only time for me during the game that we started to believe we could score. Jagielka, an ever-growing threat for our opponents, saw his header bounce onto the roof of the Gwladys Street net.
Ashley Williams was heroic in reaching a teasing Pienaar cross with Romelu Lukaku ready to grab the headlines. Lukaku frustrated his teammates and the crowd soon after. Unable to get out-of-the-way of Baines’ goal-bound effort, cementing the thought the decisive first goal just wasn’t going to happen.
The last vestige of hope disappeared with Lukaku failing to connect to Eto’os wickedly driven cross that may have not have counted in any case with Lukaku looking in a offside position. Full time had arrived and easily the most frustrating result of the season had been rubber stamped.
Swansea barely tested Howard who could have swapped the deck chair he used at Burnley for a hammock at Goodison such was the lack of action he faced. Our average start to the season still offers great hope for us but we must become more streetwise against teams who have no intention of letting us play.
No players truly stood out for us. Everyone tried hard but the combination of frequently rushed passes, lack of movement and an opponent who looked like they’d brought a knife to a gunfightmentality, meant there will be very few games if any this season that will match this for ugliness.
FT: Everton 0 Swansea 0
Next stop Lille at Goodison on Thursday. A great chance to put a good win behind us and regain our mojo ahead of a hugely winnable trip to the Stadium of Light on Sunday.
It sounds ridiculous to suggest, such is the simplicity of it, but we have got to start playing players in their best positions.
Barkley is not a winger and never will be. I’d be looking to get Barkley and Lukaku back in tandem, they simply bring the best out of one another. Pienaar and Baines aside, they are our most effective combination and one we must look to utilise as much as possible.
There remains much to work on but we have the quality to make an impact on the top four. We do however need key players in their own positions and delivering.
I’m looking forward to the Lille match already, if only for the fact we can then forget about this match. A win and a few goals should be in reach against a limited French side who look like their bringing 1 fan for every thousand we brought over to Stade Pierre Mauroy a few weeks ago.
Embrace the fan base blues,we are simply the best in the business.
“Overall, it was a good clean sheet because you can leave yourselves exposed. Maybe our tempo in possession was not as sharp as it could have been.” Roberto Martinez
Let’s hope the defending and attacking finally get together as we enter yet another crucial period for the blues this season.
The happy balance must be struck!
Sin Miedo
Mark Ellis