The draw in itself, represents to most Evertonians, a victory, as financially, Liverpool for the past 20 years have been the Goliath to our David. However, for those who remember the days of the School of Science and the Championship-winning teams of the 80's, it seems that nothing will do but a win against a far-superior team in terms of finance.
Maybe the reason I cannot bring myself to watch the derby, or the reason I watch it in total fear and trepidation, is that the negative tactics Moyes seems to employ seem to betray an ambition that is deep-rooted at the heart of our football club. Despite not holding much financial clout in today's market, every Evertonian demands a level of success for our club, which admittedly, may not be the same definition of success that is demanded at Anfield or Old Trafford, but it is still far higher than what our bank account should allow. This high-reaching ambition is born out of the rich history that started with St. Domingo Vale, and the desire that every Evertonian seems to share, to see the club at the mantle of English football once again.
Moyes went to Anfield hoping for a draw, which I see no problem with. They have a better squad on paper, according to most, and have invested much more money into their recent squad to suggest that we are definitely underdogs in any game against them. I was extremely annoyed at the beginning of the season when Moyes played for a draw against Liverpool at Goodison, as I felt it stunk of fear of the opposition, and attempting to contain the opposition, as opposed to a pose goal threat ourselves. I feel that it is this that may hold us back in the years to come. Moyes' fear of the so-called Sky Four at home, seems to handicap our players and I believe that if Moyes told them to go at the opposition, we would see the fruits of this ambition.
Some may argue against me when I say that I think Everton's first team is closer than what most people think to the first teams of the top four. Our squad is far inferior, considering we have about 13 fit senior players at the moment to choose from, one of which is alcoholic, mid-life crisis Andy Van Der Meyde. But our actual first team, when all fully fit, to me, does not seem to contain any obvious weak links and I think we are fairly sturdy all over the park, with battlers and born-winners in each position.
Not only does this lack of ambition deprive us of equal opportunity against Liverpool, but also against the other Sky Four. This is backed up by the games against Manchester United and Chelsea this season at Goodison Park, games in which we came away with a 1 - 1 draw, and a 0 - 0 draw respectively.
In the first half against Manchester United, we backed off and tried to contain the opposition threat, so-much-so infact, that Darren Fletcher, their holding midfield player, was able to roam into our box unchallenged to slot past a helpless Tim Howard. The players out on the pitch had been given the gameplan of Moyes to not concede the first goal, but our defence, being far from watertight at the time, couldn't help itself. For the rest of the first half, we created next to nothing and seemed to have run out of ideas, and this pattern continued into the first 10 minutes of the second half, until, that is, what has become quite a famous tackle by Phil Neville on Cristiano Ronaldo, ignited the passionate furnace of Goodison and drove the team on. From then on they played with belief, and a shaky backline from the Champions ensured that Fellaini was able to equalise around the 60 minute mark. It was in these precise moments that the true ambition of the Evertonians was prevalent, the Everton fans sensed blood, and therefore were roaring the Everton players to attack the current Champions of Europe, which they duly did. And they simply could not handle us, Ferdinand slipping up and allowing Yak in, who could only hit the post in his attempts to breach the Manchester United defence for a second time. Maybe it was the noise and passion around Goodison, or maybe it was the desire and ambition of the players, whatever it was, it was fair to say that Manchester United were content with the draw at the end of the game. We could have taken all 3 points provided Yak would have scored his opportunity, but the positive is we did not look like losing. It is true that the best form of attack is defence, not only is it harder for the opposition to score, but probability states that you yourself may win the match. This held true in the Chelsea game also.
Moyes was hoping for a draw against a team who had won every away game they had players this season. The game started like most encounters between Chelsea and Everton in recent times; boring and contained. Both teams struggle at times to create natural width, and for this, the games often become contained, congested battles in the middle of the park, and this match was no different. However, that was until John Terry was sent off in the first half for an awful tackle on Leon Osman, the Everton fans again sensed blood and it was them who roared the team on attack the now vulnerable Chelsea. Moyes, on the sideline, knew that not going for the win would have only created pressure and brought criticism from the Everton faithful. And so, from the end of the first half, until the end of the match, Everton relentlessly attacked Chelsea, only to see a Steven Pienaar goal on the 80th minute chalked off (and rightly so, I should add). But the fact of the matter is, we went at Chelsea, the second best team in Europe, and they could hardly get it out of their half, let alone pose a threat themselves. On our day, due to the character of the players, we are hard to play against for any opposition.
I was involved in a discussion recently about Manchester City, and what they were going to do with all these millions they suddenly find at their disposal; the answer, I constantly say, lies in the ambition of the manager and the team. There is no denying the ambition of the owners, nor some of the players, yet I find myself emphasising the word 'some'. The dressing room at Eastlands is said to be completely fragmented, with rules for Robinho, and rules for the rest. I do not doubt how far players like Richards, Ireland and Dunne want to take that club, but I constantly find myself coming back to the Robinho issue, an issue centred around quite possibly the biggest diva in world football. It was obvious from day one, that he was only signing for Manchester City for two reasons; they offered him a fat paycheck, and he had his heart set on leaving Real and could not turn to face a sea of screaming fans at the Bernabeu provided he did not leave. For this, Manchester City do not seem to worry me as an Evertonian, because here at Goodison, I feel the fans, along with all of the dressing room, and the Chairman, share an undying ambition. However, I believe there is still a question mark over the ambition of David Moyes. When he first came to Everton, he would attack any teams when they came to Goodison, as seen by the 1-0 wins over Mancheser United and Liverpool, along with the 3-0 win over Liverpool. Maybe it is that as Everton have increasing success, Moyes feels more pressure, and with that, there is a growing sense of fear of defeat within him.
From my point of view, it is obvious who the main threats are, but I suppose it comes down to ambition when it is all said and done. Provided Manchester United meet Spurs in the Carling Cup final, I would imagine that Europe this year will be extended to the top six, an elite group that we find ourselves comfortably within at the minute. So we can stay where we are, get Europe and it'll all be gravy. But, being a blue-blooded Evertonian, I cannot help but wonder what Harry Catterick would make of the plan beset before him, I feel he would object. A club with a tradition as rich as ours should be aiming higher than that, as high as possible in fact, in spite of the relative poverty we seem to be plagued with. So for me, the main threats are Aston Villa, and Arsenal.
And reading back the last sentence I have typed, I cannot help but notice, with a nostalgic tear in my eye, that football still manages to throw up surprises. In a league where it seems everything is about bank accounts these days, the three teams battling it out for 4th, 5th and 6th have not spent astronomical amounts of money, whereas low-lying teams such as Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City seem to have bottomless bags of money and resources.
However, with all that being said, I think only someone of ignorance would suggest that Everton can survive without external investment, we need to have some money for Moyes to work with. Our squad is at least 5 players short, and 5 good players at that, and it will be Moyes' job, as it always is, to strengthen properly in the summer to ensure a healthy squad for the forthcoming season. The one glaring occurrence regarding Everton and transfers lately seems to be that none of our key players want to leave, Arteta, Cahill and Lescott have all been approached in the past, yet they plough on with the same commitment and dedication to Everton, not even stopping for a second to bask in the glory of their individual merit and achievement, and with this fact in mind, even if we do not have the resources that some clubs may have at their disposal, we will always finish higher up than what our checkbook merits and permits.
It became apparent to me last night, whilst watching the Tottenham game, just how weak a squad they have these days, in relation to their squad of 3 years ago. And the reason is that, in stark contrast to Everton, when a club came in for one of their key players, they jumped ship faster than a bullet from a smoking gun, shall we say; players such as Keane, Berbatov and Carrick. These players have never been replaced, and although they may have, in my opinion, one of the best managers in the world at the helm, I cannot see them being a threat for the next two years at least. And it is out of other team's errors, that you realise your own team's strengths, and our strengths lie in the commitment of our players, who always seem to pulling together, along with Moyes and Kenwright, in the same direction.
The below-par start to the season that we suffered I do not think can be attributed to the players, who gave it their all. I think it comes down to bad management, not just from a football perspective, but from a business perspective also, in that we found ourselves deliberating an incredible amount over players, meaning that we ended up signing players in a hurry, and giving them baptisms of fire. I understand Moyes stalling over Joao Moutinho, in doing so, trying to reduce the price of the player, but could he not snap up Jacobsen, Saha and Nash early on in the summer?
In summary, I think the School of Science that once pleased so many inside Goodison, has been on it's summer holidays for a long time, but that is not to say that the cleaners are not still maintaining it, nor that the teachers are not in the meeting rooms, organising the timetables for next year. I think now, new classes have been added to the curriculum, classes of character and undying commitment in the face of incredible adversity, classes of teamwork and friendship, classes of individual and collective ambition, and classes of gratitude and love towards the fans. Classes that may have been extra-curricular activites in the days of Harvey, Kendall and Ball, Sharpe, Sheedy and Gray, but now seem to be a necessary fixture on every student's calendar if we are to constantly pass our assignments and avoid the detentions and disciplinary problems that our colleagues may find themselves faced with. The School of Science is ready to be opened again under Principal David Moyes, and we will see what new students enrol for the new academic year, and what they can achieve beyond that.
“The story that is Everton from the days of Dixie Dean,
the story we will carry on for the glory of our team.”
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