Sunday 15 January 2017

In A League Of Their Own

Everton are back. Well, back to where they often were in the latter part of the Moyes era, that being a league of their own.

When you look at most league tables, after the leading group there is an extended mid table area, with a lot of teams bunched together covered by relatively few points. In that part of the table a team can move up or down several positions by having a couple of good, or bad, results.

But the current Premier table has a top 6 and then a huge gap of 11 points before the top of the mid-table teams starts with West Brom in 8th, followed by 7 teams spread over the next 8 points. In that gap of 11 points sit Everton in 7th, miles off the top 6 and a European place, but well ahead of everyone else. In a league of their own. They would need at least 3 wins (and the teams above them to lose all 3) to move up. And at least 2 defeats to move down.

So they are the best of the rest, after the teams in contention. It was 5th in Moyes's day, but since then Man City and Tottenham have spent enough to make the big 4 a big 6.

But, just as Moyes's best Everton sides sometimes did, Koeman's version showed they could turn over one of the current "big" teams in their 4-0 win against Manchester City. Everton's players looked relaxed and confident beforehand and they went on to remind us of some football truisms: possession isn't everything, the name on the back of the shirt isn't a guarantee of performance and teams have to be able to handle adversity.

In his post match interview, a haunted looking Pep Guardiola lamented the fact that, after City had had the majority of the play, made several chances and arguably could have been awarded a penalty, when Everton eventually got a chance, they took it. And then, straight after half time, they got another and took that. Which Pep thought was mentally very tough for his poor dears, who "got punished". Hmmm. There was nearly half the game left when Everton went 2 up and Pep's team folded to a weak 4 goal defeat. The biggest league defeat in Guardiola's managerial career.

In his gilded career as a player and manager, Guardiola will have had to deal with plenty of  defeats. But not as many in such a short period against theoretically weaker teams. I don't know if Pep has enough bottle to succeed in the Premier League, especially after his strange comments about retiring after this job, when he has only just arrived. Like a few other managers (Arsene Wenger, for example) he seems to think that ultimately "quality" will always show through. But I subscribe to the view that you have to earn the right to show your quality, by battling and scrapping if necessary; by working harder than your opponents. And then having the composure to use your "quality" when you have earned the chance. Like 18 year old Tom Davies, who worked his socks off in his man of the match performance for Everton today. Davies had played a key part in the first goal and put in a real shift in midfield, heading the ball off Everton's goal line when the score was 1-0. Towards the end of normal time, with the game not quite dead at 2-0, Davies got the ball half way inside Everton's half with only Lukaku ahead of him. He set off on a 50 yard run, the ambition of which initially seemed to be to ease pressure, perhaps by winning a free kick. But half way into City's half  he pulled a nice trick to turn inside two City players and pass inside. Though barged over he got back to his feet to receive a diagonal through pass from Ross Barkley. His first touch wasn't great, but gave him a shooting opportunity against the onrushing goalkeeper. He kept his composure to dink the ball over the keeper, as one of the pundits said, in Kenny Dalglish 1978 European Cup Final style.

Davies may not keep his place in the team every week but the England Under 19 captain is looking like another tremendous graduate from the Everton academy.

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

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