Everton show Pep

"What's tackles" said Pep Guardiola, dismissively saying "I'm not a coach for the tackles. What I want is to try to play well and score goals" after Man City got roasted at Leicester at the weekend. Not only is that poor English, it doesn't work in English football. Every student of the game, especially one who has played in a competitive men's league at any standard, knows the old saying "you've got to earn the right to play". When I was a (very limited) player in the 70s and 80s nothing hurt me more than being beaten by a team of inferior players who had won because they were fitter and more committed. And nothing pleased me more than beating a team of  skilful fancy dans because we just wanted it more.

Last night Everton stumbled their way ineptly through the first quarter of the home match against Arsenal before proving two old truisms: the crowd love a tackle and Arsenal don't like it up them.

Aaron Lennon over ran the ball after a good run but didn't flinch; McCarthy and Barkley went in hard for the loose ball. My recollections might not prove precise after video replay, but you get the gist. The crowd roared approval and the Keystone Cops nature of Arsenal's goal, with errors by Valencia, Williams (twice), Barkley and Stekelenburg was forgotten. Suddenly Goodison Park was the bearpit of old again. The place that is a nightmare for visiting teams, instead of the welcoming "help yourself" buffet that it's been for many months. When they play that way, it's a nightmare for the visitors because Everton compete like Burnley, but can play in flashes like - well, maybe not Brazil or Barcelona but certainly like an Alex Ferguson team, breaking quickly and directly, getting down the lines and getting in crosses. Indeed, just like the team of Ball, Kendall and Harvey or Reid, Sheedy and Gray. Because those classic Everton title-winning teams had skill and pace and guess what? They loved a tackle and could definitely look after themselves in another old football saying.

Everton rode their luck at times in their 2-1 win last night. But they deserved it for playing with passion and commitment. Although the generally anonymous Ozil put a fairly easy chance over the bar at 1-1, Everton's pressure created a host of situations where the ball could easily have dropped favourably long before Williams headed in the winner. It speaks volumes that Arsenal's best player was Koscielny, who had a very good game.

Speaking of Williams, let's hope that fires him up as well as the team because he looked very shaky in that difficult opening period, when several Everton players looked as if the connection between brain and feet had got mis-wired.

So Everton remembered some basic facts about football. I'd been talking in the queue at the chip shop beforehand with other fans. We were all pessimistic, but the gist of it was "at least show some passion".

But it sounds as if Guardiola has never learned these basic facts in his priveleged football upbringing. Can City win the Premier League unless he does? I hope not, because City is my least favourite club. Apologies to the City fans I know, but it's not a random dislike, it's because I was caught up in what was clearly a planned hooligan ambush inside Maine Road in 1972/73 (the season of Francis Lee's many penalties) in which the visiting fans were entirely blameless and the clueless design of the stadium contributed (there was absolutely no segregation, which had been standard on Merseyside for many years). As a result I said I would never attend a City home match again and I never have. And never will, as I hold a grudge: I had a personal boycott of the Halifax Building Society for 20 years after they turned me down for a mortgage and will only do business with that bank now when it suits me. I did actually go back to Maine Road once, to see  the Rolling Stones, but driving into Manchester past the ground some years later when it was being demolished brought a large smile to my face.

Mind, unless Guardiola gets several new defenders in the transfer window, they won't win the league anyway. At least not playing with a back three of Stones and two full backs with an inclination to attack! And, after seeing Arsenal get thoroughly rattled yesterday, don't back them either. I'd say put your money on Chelsea, who are playing like a proper team: solid at the back, a good balance between defence and attack, energy to spare in midfield with Kante and Willian, a magician or two in the team (particularly Hazard) and a mean centre forward who is more likely to rough up your centre backs than get roughed up, but who is back to showing great composure in front of goal. Shame it's the wrong team in blue that I think will win the league, though at least Everton looked good enough to compete last night, which was a blessed relief.

"It's a grand old team to play for....."