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TheGame - Times Online - WBLG: Is Martin O'Neill all he is cracked up to be?

you obviously don't need to buy players from abroad to be a good manager. But the fact that he has bought just six in nearly nine seasons is a bit of a head-scratcher

via timesonline.typepad.com

At last - someone in the mainstream media (Gabriele Marcotti) questioning whether Martin O'Neill is all he's cracked up to be. For the record, I think he's up their with Harry Redknapp in the way that his popularity with the media bloats his professional reputation.

Tim Cahill, Tim Cahill

A few months back I came out of the club shop and walked along Goodison Rd before the Sporting Lisbon match. I spotted a guy stood near a TV camera that I recognised, but couldn't quite place him. I was with my Dad - an Australian - but he didn't notice him. So I'm gutted to see this excellent documentary about Tim Cahill and realise that is was the legendary Steve Waugh! I can't believe we walked straight past him without being on to it.

"2-0, and we spent fuck all!"

It's probably not good form to antagonise one of my most loyal and appreciated readers, but I couldn't resist. I'm sure next season will be different, so I'll milk it whilst I can! (NB: check out who the camera pans to when the second goes in!)

Here's something for the Mancs to think about:

• Transfer fee for entire Everton starting XI: £31.5m
• Robinho: £32.5m

'Nuff said.

Update: It wasn't just the away end that were singing it. Touched a nerve, clearly.

Association Football

I remember nodding along to Steve's post:

It's funny reading people coming from a non-football-playing country talking about football (I guess they would've called it soccer instead of football...) 

According to James Hamilton:

the word [soccer] has fallen into relative disuse in England, but only very recently. And the evidence is that it was, until recently, a “down-to-earth” “working class” word

the ancient rumour is that an Oxford student, Charles Wreford Brown, coined “soccer” from a contraction of “Association Football”

The Laws of the Game

In response to a previous post (on Graham Poll), dearieme made a bloody good point:

Why is it that, in football arguments, no-one ever cites the bloody rule? Please, put me out of my misery, show us the rule (as it then stood).

It's been in the back of my mind throughout subsequent arguments, as I suppose the emergent, commons-based nature of the beautiful game blinds us to the codified statutes that do exist. Still, one has the right to moan about refereeing, but should do so from a position of knowledge of the laws of the game. This is a point made by Keith Hackett, in The Observer:

Match officials do know the laws and apply them to the best of their ability - but time and again pundits criticise perfectly valid decisions. The Match of the Day analysis of the Aliadière decision was a case in point. They suggested the goal should not have been given, that the striker should have been flagged for 'gaining an advantage' after being in an offside position from the long ball. That is simply wrong.

He also provides a digestible overview of the current offside law:

If a player ticks any one of those three boxes, he is offside. The three-part definition is remembered as 'PIG' - if a player doesn't Play, Interfere or Gain, he is fine.

To help ground debates on refereeing in the laws of the game,  take a look at the FA website, or alternatively download the actual laws (.pdf). They still leave room for debate. There's still an issue of rules vs. discretion. But reference to the rules should be a minimum expectation we place on so-called "pundits".

Dissemination of rumours

On Sunday morning I heard that Steven Pienaar had been done for drink-driving. It's just made the local (and national) papers today. Why do you think it's taken so long to go from being common knowledge amongst Evertonians, to public knowledge?

The transfer dealings of Moyes

I won't harp on about yesterday's result, but a couple of nice points from The Observer:

his talent for blending home-developed colts with cast-offs from bigger clubs while also taking calculated gambles on foreign talent

Moyes has made some errors in the transfer market, mainly in 2005/06 when he was trying to build a team capable of Champions League football too quickly. The likes of James Beattie, Andy Van der Meyde, Per Kroldrup, and Matteo Ferrari all came in during this period and were all out of their depth. The genius of Moyes' transfers have been this combination of three things:

• Home-developed colts - aside from Jack Rodwell, this isn't about Dan Gosling (who has a knack for important goals but little more) or Victor Anichebe (who scares the shit out of foreign teams but does little more) - but Tony Hibbert, James Vaughan, and most importantly Leon Osman. Ossie was our best player against Sporting and should have been man of the match against United.
• Cast-offs from bigger clubs - e.g. Phil Neville, Tim Howard, Louis Saha have all been cheap, and have found their level.
• Calculated gambles on foreign talent - Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar, Jonny Heitinga, Landon Donovan - these are all automatic starters with transfer fees of about the £5m mark. They'd all have gotten in the United side too

What Paul Hayward missed out on is two other types of signing that Moyes has excelled at. Firstly the blockbuster - Moyes' transfer philosophy is one big signing per year. The last 2 have been Fellaini and Yakubu. Which other clubs can boast that the last 2 times they've broken their transfer record it's paid off? Secondly, and most importantly, Moyes' unbridled knack of picking up a bargain from the lower leagues. In particular, Tim Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Jolean Lescott. All came from the football league, all have gone on to Internatonal honours, and have seen their transfer values skyrocket.

Moyes must have the best transfer record of any Premiership manager, purely because of the lack of funds at his disposal. I know how controversial these studies are, but whilst the media help Rafa Benitez paint this misleading idea that they can't match the resources of the other "Big 4", in just over 5 years he's seen a turnover of about 120 players, with a net spend of about £85m. Yes, they're skint now, but that's partly due to a lack of return on investment. As Hayward concludes:

There is a debate to be had now about which side of Stanley Park is the rosier. Liverpool have more assets but much greater debt. Everton have stability and evolutionary force. And they have Moyes.

This was the point of my previous post, and even my defense of Bill Kenwright. Even off the pitch I wouldn't swap our finances with any other club, and David Moyes is the reason. Last time I checked he'd had a net spend of about £3m a year. To rebuild the School of Science for that is phenomenal.

Melted cheese unites the winter tribes | Dara O'Briain | Sport | guardian.co.uk

This would be the piece that wonders why the British sports media are so shy to point out that the Liverpool captain has the tendency, in the latter stages of a match, in the deeper recess of the opposition's half, and at moments of great need, to lose his balance. I believe the term used is "went down easily". This is harsh, though, as whenever he goes down, even as he falls, his arms are already outstretched, as if to say "Why me? Why must I be the victim of this terrible inner ear problem? What redress can I get for this terrible affliction to my cochlear canals? A free-kick maybe?"

via www.guardian.co.uk

At last! The mainstream media picking up on the fact that Steven Gerrard is a diver.

The 10-man advantage

A couple of quick points before I move onto the meat of this article. The first bad tackle in the match was Carragher on Pienaar int he first minute. That was a far worse challenge than the one Pienaar was ultimately sent off for, and set the tone of the match. I don't think Pienaar ever released the ball without receiving a kicking. It was obviously their game plan to target Pienaar and Fellaini, leaving the foot in at every chance. This culminated in Kyriagkos's two-footer, and Steven "shit house" Gerrard's lunge on Pienaar (whilst he was on the floor). The difference between Everton and Liverpool fans is that we know Yakubu has a tendency to dive and we don't like it. Whether it's genuine rose-tinted spectacles or just a lack of understanding of the game, I think pretty much everyone else acknowledges that Gerrard is one of the worst divers in the Premiership. Also, Liverpool are an awful team. Without Torres on the field, and with Gerrard too busy either falling over or kicking people, they are impotent going forward. Ngog? Seriously?

I've always been skeptical of commentators and fans that refer to a "10-man advantage", feeling that any half-decent side should make an extra player count. To some extent this is just the difference between tactics and implementation - whilst in theory there's more space on the park to exploit, in practice it changes the way the opposition play (both in terms of their ambition and their resilience). After yesterday's Derby I wouldn't pretend that the result was down to anything other than the fact that they outplayed us in the second half (all over the pitch), but I did notice something that is worth commenting on. In short, it made me realise that sometimes there's actually two reasons why having fewer players can be turned into an advantage:

1. The galvanising effect: This is what most people have in the back of their mind when a team "responds" after having a man sent off. Especially if the red card is deemed an injustice, it can act as a catalyst for increased tempo and camaraderie. I was never a decent player, but can remember the effect of a sending off on the mental attitude of the whole team. It could act as a catalyst for concentration levels to rise and a sense of injustice spurs action. Intuitively you'd think this effect is stronger if you're at home, but perhaps that adds more pressure than support. Maybe it's an away performance that you'd expect this to really kick in. Regardless, when 10 men sit back and park the bus (as Liverpool did) it can get very hard to open them up. If they nick a goal through awful defending at a set piece (as they also did), it becomes even more difficult to break them down
2. The fear of payback: But possibly there's a second advantage. The first half of the Derby was fantastic - real blood and thunder stuff. Pienaar was lucky not to see red with a mistimed tackled on Mascherano, Fellaini might have seen red when going over the top on Kyriagkos, but make no mistake, the Greek's two-footer was of a different degree and a totally deserved sending off. At that point, however, after the referee had allowed things to spill over, it became obvious the countours of the game would change. Andy Gray made consistent reference to how Moyes would be telling Everton players to stay on their feet and avoid jumping in. It was obvious to everyone watching that there would be more players sent off, and chances were they'd be an Everton player. My claim is that this attitude not only carried over until halt-time, but explained why our second half display was so meek. Sure enough, Pienaar is eventually sent off for one of the most benign challenges of the day. If it wasn't for Gerrard's play acting it'd be hard to see it given as a free kick. But as soon as the ref blew there was a resignation of inevitability - he's off. The fact that it came in injury time (allowing Liverpool fans to argue that it was 11 vs. 10 for the second half) is beside the point. It was confirmation that the referee was looking to level things out, and the anticipation of this affected our play.

I'm not trying to detract from the simple truth that we were out-thought and out-fought in the second half, but at halftime I had an awful feeling that we'd be pulling out of tackles for fear of payback. If we'd have gone down to 10 men sooner maybe that would have played to our advantage (since the game would have opened up and we could have played with less fear). But as it was the referee managed to have a major influence on our Derby disappointment. Again.

Reflections on Rooney, in praise of mediocrity

I hadn't realise but it's David Moyes' 600th match in charge of Everton this weekend. That's an impressive record for a manager we might take for granted, but there can be no underestimation of how good a job he's done. He's built the best squad in the clubs history for something like a £3m net spend a year. As people reminice with their best moments under his spell, the following leap to mind:

1. Duncan Ferguson's header against United (video here)
2. Lee Carsley's winner against the Shite (video here)
3. Phil Jagielka's pen against United (video here)
4. Andy Johnson's second goal against the Shite (video here)
5. Mikel Arteta's goal against Fiorentina (video here)

But I'm a bit more nuanced than just picking the great goals. For me personally it was being stood at the top of Wembley way watching an army of Evertonians on the march (again). It was celebrating Arteta's pen in Nuremburg, and it was watching *that* Rooney goal on a night out. 

I've been thinking about Rooney recently, given his phenomenal current form. I've been looking back at some of the things I wrote, back when I was bitter. I'm mildly amused. Ever since Rooney left I've felt that he's failed to deliver his potential. When I first saw him play as a 16 year old there was little doubt he would become an world-class player. But when you remember his goal against Leeds, his performance against Turkey, and the genuine excitement that gripped a stadium *whenever* he got the ball - there's little doubt that he's sacrificed elements of his individual game for the way United play. (Remember, one of the reasons he fell out with Moyes was because he was playing left wing). He always seemed to be playing within himself which was why it was a shame to see him playing elsewhere.

However since Ronaldo left we've seen a different Rooney, far more akin to the player he used to be, and could still be. The difference is probably that as at Everton Rooney is the focal point. United are far from being a one man team, but they've only got one forward player that is a genuine world-class player. Quite simply, Rooney is playing like he did for us because like when he was with us he's now head and shoulders above his teammates. He is Manchester United.

Even though I've been in pubs outside Goodison spouting filth after watching him kiss the United badge in front of the Park End, it's now obvious to me that his venom is aimed at particular fans (and understandably so) than Evertonians generally. We all know he still cares about the club and his actions with supporters is mainly banter. I wouldn't call it "Scouse humour" but he's clearly on a wind up with people a lot like himself.

This season hasn't been great, and it's telling that an early exit from the FA Cup was treated as good news purely because of the return of Mikel Arteta. After the thrills of last season's final, consistent European adventures, and even toppling the "Big Four", things are a bit more mediocre. But unlike previous years (and the majority of my time as an Evertonian), we expect to beat most Premiership teams. We have players such as Fellaini, Pienaar and Arteta that are school of science all the way through and simply a joy to watch. It's an indictment of ambition, but Fellaini's pirouette against Citeh was almost as satisfying as a sustained battle for 4th place. We're now back to moments, and at long last the ability for an Evertonian to look forward to watching his team play, knowing that we're not going to get relegated, that we're playing good football with a squad of professional internationals that play with pride and purpose. If we could quality for European football again this year it would be a fantastic season, but having hit the glass ceiling in terms of trophies it's almost futile to dream.

And to some extent this is all down to Rooney. By selling him we stayed afloat, brought in Howard, Neville, Saha. At the time £23m seemed like nothing (especially after Lescott), but it pays for Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar, Phil Jagielka, and Leighton Baines. It's a good time to be an Evertonian.

There's been a real cooling of the atmosphere with Rooney recently (for example the exclusive interviews he conducted last month for Everton TV. What's the probability he'll play for the Blues again?